With the 4th of July around the corner, you will probably be invited to some beach or backyard event, filled with BBQ, burgers, or other grease-filled items. And you will probably feel obligated to bring something. However, if you are like me, you may easily tire of party foods or secretly crave for more healthy options. Being a veggie and fruit lover, I always want to bring one or the other, or both. Yes, to share. But also, to make sure that I will not starve.

Last July, my niece and I made this festive treat. Keeping in line with the red-white-blue theme of the holiday, we used the common 10″ skewers, chopped some strawberries, washed some blueberries, and had a bag of small marshmallows. Once our preparations were done, we sat and designed our own fresh fruit kabobs.  The hyper-perfectionist in me had to let go of worrying about what order the strawberries, blueberries, and marshmallows fell, and I had to ignore whether or not the kabob was symmetric. Instead, I focused on the quality time spent with my niece, as we talked, laughed, and slid on the snacks. I am sure the dish was Pinterest inspired. And I must say, we were both proud of how the it turned out. The mere beauty of the treat was, and remains, impressive. Also, I recall our fruit (and marshmallow) platter to be the hit of the party — more with the kids than anything. They would grab a stick and go into the backyard, come back for seconds (and thirds!), and mix in some much-needed fruit in their world of chips and dip.

[Originally published on previous blog in 2014]