Celebrating Summer with A Seasonal Fruits Platter…and Memories

Summer celebrations were one of mums favourite times of the year, celebrating family and togetherness, summer fruits and foods, although she struggled with the heat of summer, she very much cherished the time we all spent together…

Memories of everyone chipping in to make meals, camping out in her bush garden, playing music, cooling off in the swimming hole abundant with water lilies, eating watermelon on the jetty and then floating around in a tyre tube. Cicadas so loud you could barely hear yourself think and the smell of mozzie coils wafting in through the door from the verandah. Summertime at mums at its best. 

It feels like yesterday that we were all at her place celebrating amongst the flooded gums and tropical bromeliads, tree ferns, tamarillos and lantana..Mums laughter and violin tunes ringing out into the bush. Mum always accommodating, doing so much for us three kids and the grandchildren and our partners, always so welcoming and generous and loving…

All that has faded now and is no more, living on in my memories and words on the page, if only I knew to soak it all in more often back then, to really be present to knowing that one day those moments would all just become ghosts in my mind….

Although we are making new memories and that feels lovely, I’m still wishing with all my might that Mum could be here too celebrating with us. And I’m making sure to remind myself to soak in all of the now, before my small child grows into a larger one….and the moments slip by before our eyes..

Summer berries and fruits feel like such delightful treats and are filled with so much flavour and goodness.

Berries and cherries, watermelon, and mangoes, peaches and plums…They feel like little gifts that await at the end of the year to revel and indulge in..

This simple fruit platter is perfect for entertaining, or entertaining a child! Its fun and so easy to make. 

All you need is a platter-like dish, and a selection of your favourite summer fruits.

I’ve chosen cherries, raspberries, strawberries and watermelon, garnished with red currants, mint and lime. But feel free to come up with your own combination, stone fruit or mangoes and grapes would go well too, I just love all the pinks and reds together with a hint of green.

This serving platter in the picture was one of mums, she is interwoven into everything I do and am…and it’s nice to have some pieces of her around me along with the memories…

Here’s the recipe below

Enjoy

Alli x

Summer Fruits Platter

A delicious seasonal fruit platter

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• 2 cups Watermelon diced
• 1 cup Strawberries sliced and quartered
• 1 cup Cherries Seeds removed and halved
• 1 cup Raspberries
• 2-3 sprigs Fresh Red currants Optional
• 1 Lime sliced and quartered
• 2-3 sprigs Fresh Mint chopped roughly

Instructions

 

• Slice and dice watermelon into cubes
• Wash and slice and quarter strawberries, leave some green tops on if desired
• Remove seeds from cherries and halve
• Assemble all the fruits on a serving platter, roughly mix and arrange
• Add red currants as a garnish, if desired (optional)
• Squeeze the juice of half a lime all over fruit and mix again, use remaining lime for serving, cut into wedges
• Roughly chop sprigs of mint and sprinkle on top of fruit
• Serve straight away

Notes

Note, you can choose any combination of summer fruits you like.

Other options could include

Mangoes, grapes, stone fruit such as peaches, nectarines or plums, or lychees and dragonfruit if more tropical fruits are desired.

Lime really enhances the flavour of the fruit but you can omit if desired.