Step Inside the Super Bowl of Pumpkin Weigh-Offs | Black Watermelon Seeds

After hand pollinating the female plant and planting it directly into the soil, the baby pumpkin – the size of a fingernail – exploded into the behemoth it would become, gaining as much as 52 pounds per day during the summer.

The Crepe Shack by Mawa’s Kitchen, on the ice skating rink-side of the new D& E/Four Mountain Sports shop, was literally oozing visitors. When I stopped by, at least a dozen people were sardined into the space—befitting the "shack" moniker at just 295 square feet. A crew of five, including chef-owner Mawa McQueen herself, was busy building crepes still steaming from the hot griddles. McQueen says she served more than 600 crepes that day—no wonder the cooks were almost too worn out to tell me how it went when I returned a few days later.

Fifteen years prior, Moko still had her nose in law books when Omar began spending hours at bookshops drooling over classic cooking tomes. “I’ve always loved to eat,” Omar says. “I grew up in a Lebanese family where food was always very important. But it was really books, especially Thomas Keller’s French Laundry Cookbook, that gave me the desire to just drop everything and learn to cook.”

Here in Half Moon Bay, 130 miles west, John Muller’s plans are straining the entire city, pitting neighbor against neighbor, past against future. The choice is about more than farming and economics, reaching into the community’s sense of values. Voters must decide whether to welcome commercial cannabis inside their community and help the farm or stand firm against marijuana and possibly smash the Mullers’ pumpkin business.

My favorite might be the Nantucket bay scallops ($42), tossed with a chewy, textural mix of potato, hominy and chicos, spiked with a bit of poblano chile and topped with paper-thin slivers of spicy Spanish chorizo. The scallops may be supple, but this dish bites back.

We had to get to the weird, eventually. Who better to start us off than Lady Gaga? Jezebel reports that "one mannequin with puffy pink [body] hair" is a must-have for Gaga. So are Queen posters. Then it starts to get specific.

While the garlic poaches, pick the sage leaves from the stalks. Coarsely chop the chestnuts. When the garlic has cooked, remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and slide the pasta into the same pan of water for 12 minutes to cook. Slice the larger cloves of garlic into quarter’s, the smaller into half’s. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the saucepan.

As children, many of us were warned in jest that swallowing watermelon seeds would make melons grow in our bellies.

For my birthday this year, I went to Rose’s Luxury. There are no reservations at Rose’s; you stand in line in one of DC’s most photogenic neighborhoods and patiently wait to be seated. The service is hospitable, and the atmosphere is cozy. All of the food comes out on small plates with some of the most imaginative combinations of technique and flavors. Rose’s cocktails are equally as delicious. It’s an all-around dope spot.

"… the eggs in the flowers develop with two sets of chromosomes (2n), instead of one. When the eggs are pollinated, they create triploid cells … These cells are capable of maturing into fruit, but the seeds in that fruit are not genetically viable – so they can’t be fertilized and develop the hard, black [seed coat]."

The Mullers’ problems had only begun. They had planted six Atlantic Giant pumpkin seeds, hoping for a huge showing in the city’s October world championship, but by July, it was clear that cold weather and bad luck would lead to one of their worst showings in years. Their biggest pumpkin would top out at less than 400 pounds, 800 pounds smaller than their record.

“To say there are no other crops that a farmer could grow in Half Moon Bay is ridiculous,” said Virginia Turezyn, who works at a business advisory firm and is running for city council on the same ballot as Measure GG. “They could grow Brussels sprouts. They can grow other stuff. . . . Everybody thinks [cannabis] is a cure-all and a panacea, but I’ve read tons of research that highlights tons of negative implications for the community, for crime, for youth and for the stench.”