The Covered Dish - Orange Fruit Sauce

By the time the night wraps up, I ‘might’ know the dish focus of this column. My husband, Ervin, and I just returned from a whirlwind trip back to Kansas City, MO, Cameron, Platte City and Harrisonville We started/ Friday night revisiting all our good memories and funny stories about George Short covering his 91 years in Platte County, Missouri. It was a good time with family and friends as we retold stories and memories from the life of this fine man.
Late Friday night we journeyed on up to Cameron, to the home of my sister, Judy.
The following morning was supposed to be a big balloon lift-off over the city. The smoke coming down from Canada canceled the event until Sunday. So we set our alarms for 6am and got up to watch about 38 balloons take off. It was an absolutely beautiful sight, drinking our morning coffee while watching the balloons pass over and land. I sat there thinking about my mother, Betty, who had a deep passion for hot air balloons. Mom adored them, and through the years she collected various art forms of hot air balloons.
We circled the city of KC so I could spend a few minutes at Trader Joe’s. I’ve never seen it as busy as it was today. I spent quite a bit of funds on items at this store. One thing for sure we won’t run out of fresh maple syrup, sweet n’ sour sauce and several other items for a while.
As we left town we circled around to Harrisonville; to call upon relatives experiencing a loss this past week. It was quite a full weekend, with the hot air balloons taking first place and Trader Joes in a quick 2nd!
In the recipe department I’d like to pull from the simplicity of cooking. Sometimes we try to enhance foods too much in an effort to ‘find something new’. A few herbs, spices, fresh fruits and vegetables can take something ordinary into a spectacular dish.
Fresh fruit is so refreshing in the heat of the summer, but why stop there, add chopped fresh mint and a fruit sauce to take it to a whole new level. So this week is a simple fruit sauce to implement in a variety of applications.
Visit the markets picking up the freshest produce, rise early with the sun and caress the day with the perfect cup of coffee, good friends, and positive reflections. Tap into new experiences and enjoy! Simply yours, The Covered Dish.

Orange Fruit Sauce
1 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 cup squeezed orange juice, (from the orange)
1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon grated/zested orange peel
Mix the sauce together with a whisk and/or spoon. Cover and refrigerate.
This goes great with fruit kabobs or over the top of a bowl of fruit. Allow guests to put together their own choice of fruits on a skewer, then provide the dipping sauce.
This yields enough for 6-8 kabobs.