We serve fresh fruit in some form for every meal at our house. The reason for this is that Zachary, our son, decided as soon as he could speak, that vegetables were not something that he would eat willingly. After many years of battling this, the pediatrician and I decided that we would compensate for this by greatly increasing his fruit intake and making sure that he always had his vitamins. Over time he has added back some vegetables into his diet, but the habit of the fresh fruit has stayed.

I was so looking forward to this recipe, because I have never made fruit this way. I found this to be such a refreshing dessert for a very warm Saturday in May. It starts with freshly squeezed orange and lemon juice. You add in peeled apples, pears and bananas. You then can play with whatever fruits are seasonal. I added grapes, blueberries, and watermelon. I took the optional choice of adding Maraschino liqueur into the mix. This is then chilled for at least 4 hours. I added in strawberries at the end, mixed it well and then served.

The Maraschino liqueur was a great addition to this mix. I was expecting something cherry flavored, but it actually had flavors of honey and almond with a slight sweetness. I had to look it up to see how it is made and found out that it is made from Marasca cherries, but the pits are also used and that it what gives it the almond tones. Very nice. I have to say that I was not the only one confused by this liqueur. When Michael ordered this the first time from our liquor distributor, he actually sent Cherry liqueur. Michael had to send it back and set the guy straight. Luckily, we were able to get the right thing in time to make the recipe.