Donna’s Day: Watermelon Checkerboard Salad Junior Whirl

KIDS &FAMILY

Donna’s Day: Creative Family Fun It Has Been a Watermelon Summer — Family-Style

By Donna Erickson

Signal Contributing Writer

It has been a watermelon summer! The luscious, juicy treat has made a regular appearance in our soups, salads, grilled sides, as well as sliced up on large platters for the perfect al fresco bigcrowd dessert.

Summer days are going by too quickly, so grab a fresh melon today and let it quench your thirst, satisfy your sweet tooth and provide lots of “good-for-you” vitamins, like A, B-6 and C.

Here are some creative ideas for serving local watermelon during this peak season:

Watermelon Checkerboard Salad

For 2 servings 10 chunks of ripe watermelon and 8 chunks of ripe honeydew melon cut into 3/4inch cubes 1/4 cup feta cheese 2 fresh mint leaves chopped 2 basil leaves chopped (optional) Olive oil and white balsamic vinegar, or

Remember to keep your library card handy this summer.

A delicious watermelon checkerboard salad on a summer day. your favorite vinaigrette dressing Let kids arrange the cubes in a checkerboard pattern on salad plates. Sprinkle feta, mint and basil on top. Dress with a drizzle of olive oil and white balsamic or a vinaigrette dressing. A pinch of sea salt tastes good, too. Alternate idea Replace two honeydew cubes with cube-shaped avocado.

Watermelon Ice Cubes

Cut three cups of watermelon flesh into chunks. Remove seeds and liquefy in a blender. Pour into ice-cube trays and freeze. For a satisfying cooldown beverage on a hot afternoon, fill a tall glass with the watermelon ice cubes and orange or grapefruit juice. Garnish with a whole strawberry or a thick triangular slice of watermelon with the pointed end slid onto the rim of the glass.

Watermelon Fruit Kebabs

When serving grilled chicken or beef kebabs, keep the food-on-a-stick theme and let one of your school-age kids skewer chunks of watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple and kiwi on short wooden skewers. Strawberries look especially appealing on either end of the stick. Enjoy the fruit dipped in small dishes of fruit-flavored yogurt.

Donna Erickson’s award-winning series “Donna’s Day” is airing on public television nationwide. To find more of her creative family recipes and activities, visit www.donnasday.com and link to the Donna’s Day Facebook fan page. Her latest book is “Donna Erickson’s Fabulous Funstuff for Families.”  © 2022 Donna Erickson

Distributed by King Features Synd.

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AUGUST 14, 2022 CROSSWORD TIME PUZZLES

SOLUTIONS

Opinion Unless otherwise stated, the views and opinions expressed are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily represent the views of The Signal.

READER LETTERS

Insurance Problem More Widespread

I was reading the Aug. 6 article about the fire insurance increase for the Cimmaron Oaks condominiums. It stated it was unknown, at that time, whether surrounding properties have also seen a similar spike. The answer is yes, and worse.

I live in Double C Ranch and I, as well as several neighbors, have had our homeowners insurance canceled. We have been with AAA for about 18 years and received notice this year that our policy would not be renewed due to wildfire danger. Subsequently, our earthquake insurance was also canceled, because “without homeowner’s insurance, we can’t insure your property.” Of course, to add insult to injury, our car insurance premiums went up 15.7% because we were no longer bundled. We had paid in full, but they added that 15.7% surcharge to the months between our homeowners cancellation and our auto insurance renewal date. Our neighbors were with other companies who also canceled existing policies, many as longstanding and claim-free as ours. There was a fire a few years ago that I believe started on the freeway, then spread to homes below us on The Old Road. I do not know anybody on The Old Road, so I don’t know their status. Nobody on our street has ever experienced a fire loss to my knowledge.

We had a difficult time procuring new insurance because of the perceived fire threat. The few companies that would insure us had exorbitant premiums. One company would insure us as long as we had the California Fair Plan. Fair Plan? Our premiums would have increased from $1,516 to $5,256! We finally found a company through Costco that is out of Utah and they insured us. We’re paying $2,401.

I had read an article from a former California state insurance commissioner decrying the insurance companies for canceling by ZIP code instead of by individual property addresses. He thinks it is a despicable practice and should not be allowed. Too bad he’s the FORMER commissioner.

Dee Ann Wood Castaic

Thanks for Scully Tribute

Re: Ms. Lois Eisenberg letter, Aug. 6, “A Treasure to Baseball.” Finally, finally, finally. A letter submitted by you in tribute to Vinny (Vin Scully) that I can agree on with you 100%. A long time in the coming. Hopefully sometime in the future you will submit another one that, if not 100% agreed upon, at least leaves some wiggle room open for discussion.

Yes, Vinnie was special. I admit personally that in much of the tribute to him I had a case of damp eye. I have five complete score books of Dodger games accumulated over the years. For every one, I scored with ear buds in so I could hear Vinnie describe what I was seeing. Thanks for the tribute. Ron Singerman Valencia

Submit a Letter to the Editor

Include name, address & phone; Anonymous letters aren’t printed; email: letters@signalscv.com. Mail to: Letters to the Editor, The Signal, 25060 Avenue Stanford, Suite 141, Santa Clarita, CA 91355.

ETHICALLY SPEAKING

The Power of Personal Choice

Perhaps never in our lifetimes has personal choice been so strenuously promoted as a sacred, individual right. And rightly so. As free citizens we have so many choices, and the freedom to make them in many ways actually identifies what it means to be free. We all agree we can choose where we live, who we live with, and what our lives will look like, at least to some extent. And one need only head to Costco to experience the Super Bowl of choice. Everything there is available to us, if only we choose to spend the money.

The problem is that, as humans, we also can make poor choices, even choices that are dangerous for ourselves and others. And therein lies the challenge of law enforcement. As a society of laws, we actually have come to agree that the freedom of personal choice must be limited, and even fully abridged in certain situations. For example, speed limit laws make certain personal driving choices illegal. Yes, you have a choice, but choosing to break the law will bring a penalty. And so it is with myriad other personal choices available to us, some of which can even mean the loss of all personal freedom.

What about good choices we fail to make? What about standard acts of common courtesy that are more and more never chosen by the majority of our citizenry? I don’t see anyone protesting for those personal choices.

So, I’m going to be the first. I want to argue in favor of choosing civility. Full disclosure, I bought a book three years ago because it looked interesting. More disclosure, I never read it! But, as I left for vacation in the Pacific Northwest a few weeks ago, I decided to add it to my “vacation reading” box. And, yes, I started reading it and found it extremely convicting as well as motivating. The title is “Choosing Civility.”

Written by P. M. Forni, cofounder of the Johns Hopkins Civility Project, this wonderful little book argues convincingly for the importance of civility in any thriving society. After stating the case for civility, Forni lists “the 25 rules of considerate conduct.”

When I turned to the 25 rules, I expected something quite profound, some spectacular, erudite group of principles worthy of years of intense scholarly work. After all, Forni led with some statements about the number of years he had been preparing the book. But that wasn’t what I found. Instead, I found a list of those thoughts and actions almost all of us heard from our parents, teachers, or coaches. The list is profound precisely because it reminds us how uncommon common courtesy has become. Let me give you a sample. Among the 25 rules, each defined, defended and declared as essential, are: pay attention; acknowledge others; think the best; speak kindly; don’t speak ill; accept and give praise; respect others’ opinions. I could go on but you get the picture. Here’s my favorite: refrain from idle complaints. Wow, now that would greatly improve us as we now are wallowing in a society that competes to be seen as the greater victim.

Consider this rule: Don’t shift responsibility and blame. Imagine if this really became the choice of our citizenry. Of course, most broadcast media and the political machine they cover would have almost nothing to say, but at this point, I’d be willing to risk it.

But what I really want to leave with you is the poignancy of the book’s title: “Choosing Civility.” There you go. Some of the best things we can do in this life demand that we make a choice to do the right thing, be the righteous person, and act and speak in the right way, the way that promotes civility, unity and the common good.

Choosing to act in a way that benefits others while upholding universal human dignity and value is quite hard today since our new national sport seems to be judgment, ridicule and denigration, with the goal being the total destruction of fellow citizens who disagree and dissent.

Well, I choose civility. Yes, I have opinions. I have convictions. I have bedrock spiritual values grounded on biblical truths. But, I have no animus toward those who disagree with me, who even consider my choices to be intolerant of theirs. I say, let’s talk. Let’s grab a cup of common courtesy over coffee and seek first to understand before we pontificate, castigate and eliminate one another from the list of those considered valuable.

As you make your choices today and tomorrow, try choosing civility.

Local resident David Hegg is senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church. “Ethically Speaking”

appears Sundays. 