Editor’s Note: Gloria is taking a deserved late-summer break. Her column will return next week with a special family guest writer and then Gloria will return. She thanks readers for their well-wishes and encouragement.

Meanwhile, enjoy this recipe from the Amish Cook archives, perfect and refreshing for a hot late-summer day!

SUMMER MELON SALAD

One container of strawberries

Two containers of blackberries

One half cantaloupe melon

One half watermelon

One half of honey dew melon

One half of canary melon

One half of a pineapple

Wash all the fruit that needs it. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop out balls of melon or cut it and chop it. Put all the fruit into one big bowl. Mix thoroughly. Serve and enjoy.

Gloria Yoder is an Amish mom, writer, and homemaker in rural Illinois. The Yoders travel primarily by horse-drawn buggy and live next to the settlement’s one-room school-house. Readers can write to Gloria at 10510 E. 350th Ave., Flat Rock, IL 62427