Watermelon basket fruit salad

[Libbydale]

My Mom would like to try a fruit salad in a watermelon (basket style) for a party this weekend. Are there instructions or tips for how to cut the watermelon out there?

[Wendy w]

Welcome to the bulletin board!

I haven't done this myself but have had friends who have. I believe that you leave a 2-3" strip for the "handle" across the top half of the watermelon (widthwise) and then carve on either side of the strip about half way down. Then you carve out the inside of the watermelon and then you can use the insides. Good luck.

[Beth]

You can leave a handle or not (basket vs. boat, I guess), but it this is a first time, you may just want to slice off about the top 1/3 to 1/4 of the melon. There are tools to help cut fancy edges, but it isn't necessary. I've even seen etchings in the rind, so it's as plain or fancy as you have the time and patience for.

The most important thing for me is good fruit on the inside. A good, colorful mix of fresh fruit is hard to beat. I like to make some of the melons into balls to contrast with the slices and chucks, but save more fragile berries and kiwi to scatter on top so they look pretty and don't get smashed. Star fruit is a good topper too.

[Nirak]

I assume this is for an adult party but a silly alternitive for a kids party is to hollow out the watermellon from an end and stand it up lengthwise. Then fill with fruit salad and use fruits & vegetables attached with toothpicks to the outside to make a silly face. Or, you could make fruit kabobs and have them sticking out of the top like hair. I did this for a school halloween party (using a pumpkin as the base) because I thought the kids were getting to much candy & sweets at school. Very cute.

[Libbydale]

Thanks for the help! This is for my sister's Send-off Party for college, and she wanted a fruit salad in a watermelon. I'd seen it before, but never have tried it. These instructions will help.
I will keep in mind the watermelon man idea for when I have kids--sounds great!