Tipsy Fruit Salad

My friend Missy and I had an abundance of frozen sausage from the summer farm share. We decided to go Iron Chef and create our holiday party around this secret ingredient. And because it's fun to be silly and immature when you are an adult, we decided that all non-sausage items had to be ball shape. Yes, my parents would disapprove. Hopefully they won't read this post.  Just as they feared, here is proof that I was corrupted by our high school basketball t-shirts. I was in high school in the early nineties - you know when those "Big Johnson" and "Co-Ed Naked" t-shirts were popular. (Perhaps the Big Johnson T-shirts were only a hick, backwoods Maine popularity?)  So along the same lines, one of our team moms thought printing "Lady Cougars Know How To Handle Balls" on t-shirts was appropriate for 16 to 18 year old girls to wear. Thus began my downfall into immaturity and inappropriateness.

I took a cantaloupe, a melon, and a papaya and used a melon baller to create fruit balls for my salad. Unfortunately the snow put a damper on the party and not too many people were able to part take in Tipsy Melonballs. I find the original recipe (below) a little ridiculous - why would one actually measure out fruit for a fruit salad? I think it's best to get 1 to 2 of each fruit you like and then cut it up and throw it in the bowl - don't worry about measuring, that is crazy! I used raspberry preserves for the sauce because that is what I had. It tasted great, but it turned the sauce a brownish color which was a little off putting. I also think you can cut back (or exclude) the confectioners' sugar, especially if your fruit is ripe. Now that sounds like the beginning of a good t-shirt.....

Tipsy Fruit Salad
Source: About.com
 
Ingredients
3 Tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
3 Tablespoons Grand Marnier liqueur
2 Tablespoons apricot jam (I used raspberry preserves)

Fruit of your Choice, such as
1 cup mandarin orange sections, drained if canned
1 cup seedless grapes
1 cup hulled strawberries, cut in half
1 cup blueberries
1 mango, peeled and diced into 1-inch chunks
1 cup peeled diced apple
1 cup peeled diced pears
1 cup miniature marshmallows, optional

Directions
Place lime juice, sugar, Grand Marnier, and jam in a small bowl. Whisk until combined. Set aside.

Place your fruit (and marshmellow) into a large bowl. Drizzle on the Grand Marnier dressing and gently toss to coat all of the fruit.

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Check out these post ballin' photos. I love these two colors together and I wish I was a little more artistic and had a better camera to create a cooler photo. The texture, shadows and shininess in the remaining fruit was a great contrast.