Candied Watermelon Rinds

First is peeling all the green off of your rinds. I use a veggie peeler to get the bulk of it, and then a thin blade knife to trim it up some.

You don't want a lot of green color on your rinds. It should look like the right side of the rind in the top picture - not the left side! It's okay to leave some of the pink on your rind. It makes it prettier when they're finished.

I cut mine into short strips, but you can cut yours into longer strips, chunks, or whatever else you wish. -- However, strips are easier to lay across a cooling rack without falling through the wires.

Put your rinds into warm water, and bring them to a boil.

Boil them about 5 minutes - it doesn't matter if they're cooked all the way at this point.

After 5 minutes, drain them and allow them to cool.

Mix 1 quart of water and 1/4 c. salt.

Add your rinds to the brine mixture and allow to soak for at least 6 hours (I did say there was a lot of waiting)

Drain your rinds - cover them with water - gently mix them around, then drain them again. Repeat 3 more times.

(not rinsing enough will make your candy salty)

Once they're all rinsed, add them to the pot and cover them with water again. Bring to a boil and cook until tender.

Drain and set aside.

Now, in your pot, combine 2 c. sugar, 1 1/4 c. water and the peel of 1 lemon. Cook until this reaches the "soft ball stage"

If you don't have a candy thermometer, cook until the liquid forms a squishy ball when dropped into cold water.

Once your sugar reaches the correct temperature, add your watermelon rinds.

Make sure to stir this to keep them from burning.

Once the sugar syrup gets thick and starts to form long, sticky threads - transfer the rinds to a cooling rack. (putting the racks over something - like a cutting board - is good idea!)

Let the rinds dry until they're still tacky to the touch, but not wet. I let mine sit overnight. If you try and coat them in sugar too soon, it'll cake on.

Carefully coat each piece in sugar. Only do a few pieces at a time, or they'll stick together.

Once coated, lay them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment (or waxed) paper. These can be eaten now - but if you're going to store them or wrap them for a gift, you'll need to wait overnight again for these to finish drying completely.

** drying times may change with where you live, the temperature in your house, etc.