Watermelon Rind Pickles

“Stop the car!” Monnie almost screamed somewhere on the road between Montgomery and Tuscaloosa, Alabama, fixing her eyes on a wagon of dark green watermelons in front of a farm stand. “Those look right for pickling.” “Right,” of course, meant melons with thick rinds, and, like my mother and me, Monnie wouldn’t even consider buying one till the man had “plugged” it to check the rind. Without question, elegant watermelon rind pickles represent the pinnacle of the art of Southern canning, and