August will always hold a special place in my heart as the ripest, richest part of summer. Back east, the peaches, tomatoes, and corn were other-worldly good, the Atlantic ocean was warm, and the mood was carpe diem.
I'm sure there are plenty of good reasons, but I'm not a fan of school starting before labor day. It just feels wrong, even here in the endless summer of Southern California.
I loved this article in the New York Times that shares my sentiment.
We test them almost to death, we make them play sports till their arms fall off and their knees implode. Now we're taking away our children's summers. Do we not like them anymore?
We all need August … sweet, idle August.
August is when we would pack up the family car and head off to lakes at their warmest, sweet corn at its sweetest, s'mores at their s'moriest.
If you carve away at August, you carve away at childhood. It's just one more way we're inadvertently undermining the needs of the American family.
Sigh.
So in honor of the stolen final weeks of summer, I'm sharing my very favorite summer fruit salad (inspired by this recipe), which highlights some of the finest late season jewels – nectarines, peaches, apricots, cherries, and blackberries.
The balsamic, fresh mint, and honey are not cloying, but rather emphasize the flavorful sweetness of the ripe fruit.
Serve this summer fruit salad on its own, over yogurt for breakfast, or with a scoop of my favorite homemade vanilla ice cream while you savor the best parts of summer.
Summer fruit salad ingredients
- 4 nectarines*
- 3 peaches*
- 4 apricots*
- 1 pound sweet cherries
- 1 bunch mint leaves
- 1 pint blackberries
- 2 tsp. high quality balsamic vinegar
- 3 T. raw honey – buy raw honey here
*Feel free to use whatever combination of summer stone fruit is available in your area.
Summer fruit salad method
- Pit and cut stone fruits (nectarines, peaches, apricots, and cherries) into bite-sized pieces.
- Remove and discard stems of mint and chop mint leaves finely.
- Toss all of the cut fruit together with mint, blackberries, and balsamic vinegar.
- Drizzle honey over the mixture and toss again. Allow fruit to marinate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
How will you celebrate the final days of summer?
Thanks for making my fruit salad! Sounds so good right now… A great reminder to make a batch before summer is over!
The fruit salad sounds delicious; so many of my favorites! Sadly, local peaches and blackberries are past their season here.
Here in Georgia, we start our summer break just before Memorial Day, but go back in early August. My husband is a teacher, and I like it this way. Spring starts early here, with lots of warm weather in early March. June is simply gorgeous, beautiful and sunny without being quite so hot. There aren’t so many ninety plus degree days, and the heat index is lower. July it really starts to heat up. August is usually brutal; everyone spends much more time indoors anyway, so the kids might as well be in an air-conditioned classroom. It doesn’t get to be what most consider “fall weather” until October, sometimes not until near Halloween.
Much of Georgia and Alabama, as well as parts of Mississippi, follow this schedule.
I love fruit but never think to make fruit salad…thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe
Wish we ever had August as a holiday! In Scotland, we had most of July and the first 2 weeks of August for holiday and it was NEVEWR enough.