On a recent trip to Mexico, I encountered that fruit cups are a very popular item sold in the streets filled with tourists.

I think that the idea of the fruit cup is a delicious one. I observed and interviewed a village woman who made a pretty good living with her street-side fruit stand.

Lucia prepared her fruit for all to see. She sliced and cut watermelons, canteloupes, honeydews and some strawberries. Later, she placed the array of fruit in a clear cup with a fork. Tourists and locals then purchased her fruit cups from an ice chest. Lucia placed salt shakers, and chili powder in shakers on a make shift shelf for individual tastes.

Once Lucia ran out of supplies she cleaned up her area and placed all of her tools in her ice chest and rode away on her bicycle. That is one independant woman. She needs to head to college and study finance! Lucia can add it up in her head and convert her prices from pesos to dollars faster than my calculator!

On my route back home, I saw an older man with his grown sons selling watermelons on a dirt road. This was close to Rivera, Texas. These watermelons were huge and I thought they would be at least $5-7 each. I asked him where these watermelons were from. I expected him to say Brehnam or somewhere up in that area. He pointed toward the dirt road and said: "De alla". That means, over there. His acres were just down the road. I bought 2huge watermelons for $5. Those were the sweetest watermelons with the best texture imaginable! My daughter and I could not get enough. I just wish that I would have bought a dozen. They were so red and so dellicious. I will never buy one in the grocery store again.

Today I will share Lucia's idea with everyone.

LUCIA'S FRUIT CUPS with a flair.

Ingredients: watermelon, canteloupe, honeydews and strawberries, salt, chili powder, limes, oranges and powdered sugar.


Cut the watermelon into 2-inch chunks and set aside. Use a melon baller to gut out the canteloupes and the honeydews and set aside. Clean the strawberries and remove all leaves, stems and visible dirt and set aside. Zest a bit of lime and orange skin. Chop the zest finely and set aside. Juice lime and orange juice in a bowl, add powdered sugar to make a sweet nectar.

Place prepared fruit in a beautiful bowl. Sprinke with the sweet nectar. Place bowl in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Serve and enjoy. Remember to say: "iQue Rico!"

Some people like salt and some like chili powder on their fruit. Place the shakers out for them.

I would like to thank Lucia for taking her time to edu-tain me. She was informative and entertaining all at once.

Bring a bit of Mexico into your home. Make some fruit cups.