Nothing says summer like the big sweet juicy red meat of a watermelon.

For summer solstice I wanted to treat the SqueezeOC staff to the juiciest watermelon I could find. Only problem was I knew nothing about choosing one.

Nobody on staff knew how to choose a watermelon either, so we searched the Internet for some advice. Some sites said the watermelon should sound hollow when you slap it. Other sites said it should sound full. The National Watermelon Promotion Board says a sweet watermelon should be symmetrical, firm and “heavy for its size.” The NWPB doesn’t even suggest slapping the melon.
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It’s not too late to throw on your flip-flops today and head down to Tropical Smoothie Cafe for a free smoothie!

The cafe’s locations in Irvine and Fullerton are giving away a free Jetty Punch (strawberry-banana) smoothie to the first 500 customers who come in today wearing flip-flops.
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Want a free smoothie? Simply wear flip flops and head down to Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Irvine and Fullerton on Thursday.

The chain is celebrating National Flip Flop Day and the first day of summer by giving a free Jetty Punch (strawberry-banana) smoothie to the first 500 customers who walk into the store wearing flip flops.

Note: This is the first annual event, so there’s no telling how long the line will be. If time is an issue for you, try calling the cafes before they open to see how long the line is.

When: Thursday, June 21. Cafe opens at 8 a.m. (Irvine), 9 a.m. (Fullerton).
Where: 3972 Barranca Parkway, Irvine (in Crossroads Center); 229 E. Commonwealth, Fullerton
Info: 949-387-7303, 714-680-3008. tropicalsmoothie.com

Well it’s not as if we get 3 months off here in the adult world, but still, two weeks felt really fine. Yes, I finally grabbed some vacation time these past couple weeks, and it was well-spent. Everyone keeps asking me, “Where’d you go?” but for this vacation, I decided to just stay around O.C. and do the things I love: run, bike, read, and cook. There was very much of the latter. Here are some of the tasty things I prepared.

Curry shrimp over white rice with coconut
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I haven’t blogged about bacon for the past two months, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been eating it!

Bacon #4 is Burger’s Jowl Bacon from Missouri. Bacon can be made from various cuts of the pig: belly, middle of the back, shoulder and cheek. Jowl bacon comes from the cheek and is very fatty – a big change from Bacon #3, which was relatively lean (and heavily, overly flavored with cinnamon.)
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The Register’s Nancy Luna reports critically acclaimed restaurateurs Tim and Liza Goodell have closed Red Pearl Kitchen in Huntington Beach. The owners of Bluefin will take over that site and open a Japanese-style pub called Izakaya Zero.

The Goodells won’t be out of O.C. for long though. They plan to take over the site of Newport Beach’s The Arches, which is scheduled to close late July. Full report here.

Chick-fil-A will fire up the burners at a new store in Tustin tomorrow and you know what that means: more camping for chicken.

The first 100 adults (with ID) in line will get coupons for a free combo meal for a year.

The restaurant is located at 2889 Park Avenue in Tustin. That’s The District shopping center at the corner of Barranca and Jamboree.
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It’s not very often that a person gets the chance to hear and talk about salmon for over two hours straight. So when opportunity knocked, I just had to let the fish in.

McCormick & Schmick’s in Irvine invited SqueezeOC to a “salmon tour” last night. Judging from the rather elaborate press kit — including ear plugs, a concert-type ticket and VIP wristband — we weren’t really sure what to expect. The event turned out to be a very nice dinner where we got to eat lots of good salmon over three courses, accompanied by a few different wines. We also learned everything we’d need to know about salmon if any of us were ever to make it on Jeopardy.
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