Summer means fresh fruit and lots of it. When I was a child, summer was the only time tropical fruits could be found in the grocery stores at a price one could afford. Small neighborhood stores didn’t have papayas or pineapple because they were just too expensive. It was a time for watermelon, peaches, apricots, grapes and fresh pineapple. In many urban neighborhoods, the ‘vegetable’ man came by everyday loaded with fresh fruits and vegetables. Peaches and grapes that were sweeter than candy. Ripe red cherries that made your mouth water. 
Instead of soda and Kool-Aid® we had fresh lemonade and on special occasions limeade. I can’t forget the lemon meringue pies! Homemade using fresh lemons. 
At the end of the summer my grandmother would walk to Biddle Market or go to the larger Soulard Market and buy bushels of peaches and apples to can. I can still smell and taste her spiced peaches. Oh, she made brandy too, but that’s another story.
As the hot weather lingers over the US, go to the market and get some fresh fruit. Try something different. Persimmon, star fruit or even ugli fruit. You might just fall in love all over again.
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