Some years ago my husband and daughter attended a business event in Brittany and Paris. Our brand-new son-in-law and I joined them, and when the Paris part of the event concluded, the four of us headed to the south of France for some fun. The young couple chose to stay in a romantic hotel in Nice, while hubby and I opted for L'Hermitage in Monaco.
What a glorious time we had! Shopping, a spa day together at L'Hermitage , eating fabulous food, even gambling at the famous Casino! Each day the weather was warm and balmy under an intensly blue and cloudless sky... with palm trees swaying lazily in the breeze blowing off the water.
On some of these days my daughter and son-in-law drove up from Nice to join us. On one such day the four of us decided to take a drive down the coastline to the Italian part of the Riviera. When we arrived in San Remo we were hungry and thirsty from our drive and chose the Hotel Royal San Remo for our lunch stop.
Old fashioned, elegant and gracious, this place was magical. We were escorted through the grand lobby outside to a grape arbor set above a pool area that sat just above the azure sea.
We were seated at a table set with crisp white linens and in the center was a small bouquet of lavendar in a crystal vase, that deliciously scented the air. Above us fat, ripe grapes hung from vines. Occasionally a bird would fly in and steal a grape then fly away with it's treasure. We ate a sumptuous lunch of salad, pasta, shrimp, cheeses, crusty, just baked bread, and a lovely wine. When our very empty plates had been cleared our waiter and busman appeared, each with full hands. The busman placed a huge ceramic bowl half filled with ice and water in the center of the table. The waiter then stepped forward with a large basket filled to the brim with deep red, ripe cherries. These were the plumpest, almost black cherries I had ever seen. He turned the basket upside down over the iced water and we watched as the little ruby fruits splashed into the bowl... as the waiter stepped away he simply said, "Enjoy"...and enjoy we did! The four of us, (like everyone else seated around us) dipped our hands into the icy water, over and over to retrieve this luscious treat. I savored each time a cherry's skin broke between my teeth allowing the sweet, chilled juices to run on to my tongue. Never before had I enjoyed cherries like this! This memory steals back every time I serve cherries...and I always serve them in a huge bowl filled with ice and water...and sometimes I can feel the kiss of the warm Riviera sun on my cheek and smell the sea breeze...mmmmm....
Sooooo... fruit and summer...perfect partners. Couple that with easy and you get Fruit Pizza! I used to make it from scratch but it is so much easier to use the prepared cookie dough....
FRUIT PIZZA
1 package cookie dough (in dairy section of market) any kind you like...I use sugar cookie dough
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp milk
4 tbsp orange marmalade or apricot jam
2 tbsp water
assorted sliced fruits (banana, kiwi, grapes, strawberries, blueberies, etc)
1- Heat oven to temp specified on the package of cookie dough. Roll out dough and spread onto a 12" pizza pan (any size pizza pan is actually fine!)
2- Bake until large, soft cookie is just beginning to color and remove from oven.
3- While crust bakes, blend cream cheese, milk and sugar in a bowl
4- When crust cools, spread softened cream cheese covering the whole crust
5-Arrange fruit on cream cheese
6-Heat and stir apricot jam with water...cool a bit and brush over fruit to glaze...refrigerate ...then serve slices like pizza...
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