In the winter time, I use large halved oranges with their juice, sectioned with a grapefruit knife, a bag of whole frozen raspberries, 1/2 a bag of frozen black cherries (halved) and a few splashes of Chambord. Right before serving, I add two sliced bananas. That's the basic recipe but I occasionally add a medium can of cut-up sliced peaches (but none of their juice or syrup).

Nice menu. I'd add some finely diced green onion and parsley to your basmati, a bit of lemon zest and a toasted nut...pecan or pepitas.

I make a fair number of fruit salads year round. I look for fresh. And keep it simple...a crisp apple or pear. (something crisp)...a sweet berry like raspberry or blueberry...then a citrus that is most in season. Not everything looks good in the winter months. A bit of lemon and a dash of honey or maple syrup and a splash of apple cider vinegar.

If you keep bananas around, the young ones might like that and can be sliced last minute with the fruit.

If your have fruit preserves in your fridge, a dollop of that can add a bit of fruit 'gravy' to the salad. A fresh fruit salad goes well with chocolate so it may carry over to your chocolate dessert plating. Nice idea me thinks.

I don't know if it's too early now, but a cousin who lives not far from you made a lovely early in the year fruit salad from strawberries, kiwis and persimmons (I don't know if they were Japanese persimmons or regular). It was beautiful and everybody loved it.

I usually do a layer of whatever melon is ripe, a layer of tree fruits (whatever is ripe) and a layer of berries.

I would just serve sliced oranges before your chocolate cake, preferably Valencias or another sweet variety.

I have used this fruit salad many times over the years to many outings and at home.

Drain pineapple tidbits or chunks, sliced bananas, shredded coconut, small marshmallows. Use a can of apricot pie filling blended well for the sauce, pour over fruit and blend well. It has a nice color and texture, most of all simple and quick.

We always use a mixture of fresh fruits that go well together and then add our own whipped cream whipped from heavy cream - we do not add a sweetener to the whipped cream since the fruit is sweet. Was at the grocery store Friday and saw grapes (both red and green), nectarines, a number of varieties of apples and pears, pineapple, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, bananas, mangoes. A very good selection of fresh fruits.

I have several family members who can't eat bananas....don't even like to have them on the same table...so any fruit salad has no bananas anywhere near. And I hear that some people are that way about coconut.
And I don't like a fruit salad that mixes sort with hard and crisp....like strawberries and apples. My favorite fruit salad for this time of the year is strawberries...which are now coming in from Chili...and kiwi, fresh pineapple and I supplement with frozen fruit...peaches are good....and if I am feeling ambitious I will section out some grapefruit.
I use no dressing and am often asked for the recipe for my dressing! LOL! The natural juices from the pineapple is enough.

I eat mixed berries; raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries all the time and love it. However, I think citrus is best before chocolate cake.

Thank you all for the suggestions! I'll do orange and banana - maybe strawberries too. They're beginning to show up at the market. Kids will like the colours!

I also enjoyed reading abuot the fruit salads you all like or dislike. Why is it always so fascinating to read about other people's food preferences?

Now I am going to have to cut up an orange and a banana as part of my breakfast this morning. The last few weeks, our farmers' markets have been selling strawberries from Plant City FL. They are smaller and a more elongated shape than CA berries but have a terrific flavor. You could keep an eye out for them.

Your menu looks like one that everyone will enjoy.

In the summertime, I like this fruit salad for a dessert.

FRUIT WITH CANNOLI CREAM (4 servings)

1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. orange zest
3 Tbs. orange juice
2 Tbs. mini chocolate chips

1 apple, cored and cut into 8 wedges
1 pear, cored and cut into 8 wedges
1 plum, pitted and cut into 8 wedges
1 pint strawberries, hulled

In a blender or food processor, combine the cheese, sugar, orange peel and orange juice and process until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and fold in 1 Tbs. of the chocolate chips. Place the fruit on a platter and spoon the ricotta mixture over it. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips, and serve.

Note: You can also arrange the fruit in four large goblets or wine glasses and top each portion with some of the sauce and chips. Other fresh fruits can be substituted. Apricots, raspberries and blueberries are all good in this recipe.

Ruthanna - thank you for a very interesting recipe!

I frequently make a grapefruit salad, which is just grapefruit sections with a poppy seed dressing. The dressing has lemon juice, oil, honey, and poppy seeds, but I forget the proportions, but it is something like this:

1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Blood oranges are in season now, and they are great just by themselves. My tree is not very large, but I am getting a fairly good crop of them now.

Thank you Lars for the recipe! And you're so lucky to have a blood orange tree!

I'm still stunned by the comment that a 3 year old and a 5 year old are incapable of eating pot roast! If they have teeth, and it's cut up, what's the problem? In my family, me as a child (I'm 70), my sisters and cousins, son and nieces and nephews all could most certainly eat pot roast (and any other meat) by the time they were 2.

Oh dear, I've already started cooking the main dishes & made the meatballs.

Pot roast next time for sure! I must be still traumatized by my mother's tough stringy gray slab of potroast. Come to think of it even a grown able bodied man might have left a tooth in it.