Sherry Howard, who pens the Auction Finds blog, writes here about transforming  water into a tasty drink.

I come from a background where everything was fried in lard or pork fat. Years ago, I eliminated all of that from my diet. I eat no pork. I rarely eat beef and mostly eat turkey. I know that I should increase my intake of fish.

I drink a lot of water and recently learned from a friend a cool way to add pep to it. I served the drink to another friend who gave it the name ”fruit water.”

This is how it evolved:

I was having lunch at a friend’s house and she served water with strawberries floating in it. It was a bit tart for me and I asked her, “Where’s the sugar?” It was a joke because I no longer add white or processed sugar to anything. I sweeten with honey or raw sugar – and I even do that sparingly.

She said that this was a drink that she served to her son and daughter when they were growing up, and they loved it. Surprisingly, I adapted pretty quickly to her “strawberry” water.

About a month later, I was going on a long drive with a friend to pick up her daughter from college, and I wanted a refreshing drink to take along. I found a recipe in Ebony magazine for red Sangria, and kept all the ingredients except the vodka and wine.

It called for a lemon, orange and lime cut in wedges; 1 cup of cherries, blackberries and chopped pineapples and 3 cups of ginger ale.

It was delicious.

But since I don’t imbibe soft drinks that often, I knew that I had to find a healthy substitute. I love bottled water, so I now add fruit to my water (I’m sure you can also use tap water). This isn’t sweetened water (I never add sugar); in fact, it can be a bit tart. For me, it was an acquired taste, but one that I’ve learned to enjoy.

Sometimes, I add different fruits, but strawberries are always the base. As the seasons change, I’ll try other fruits.

This fruit water is my new choice of drink with dinner. I also have added peaches (and left out the blackberries) because they are so plentiful this time of year. I have found that pineapples sweetened the water a bit. When the color has drained from the strawberries, I dump the fruits and start anew.

I’ve served this water to friends, and they, too, find it very refreshing.

Related posts:

1. Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink ?