Fruit is a wonderful thing.

Having fresh fruits and vegetables available year round in sunny South Florida helped me lose weight. Granted, while in most of America, you can get fruits and vegetables from California, Mexico, Chile, and other warmer climate areas year round, there’s little to compare with the simple pleasure of making lemonade with the lemons from your own backyard or having a freshly picked orange from the grove, or a tree-ripened banana or mango.

When I child in Upstate New York, there were apple trees everywhere. We had one in our backyard, as well a pear tree, and every fall, we’d try to outpace the squirrels to get them. We’d make cider, pies, apple sauce, apple butter, and apple crumbles. While I sometimes long for those days, I’m happy in South Florida and with our variety of tropical fruit.

What Fruit are You?

Fruits are also highly symbolic. For example, the Apple of Knowledge, or the pineapple symbolizing wealth. They can also resonate with astrological signs.

Aries: Cherries. In Western culture, cherries symbolize youth, innocence, and the dawning of the spring. It’s sweet, slightly tart, and not terribly complex. It’s a vibrant flavor that comes in bright red, and it always perks up everything.

Taurus: Bananas. Bananas are like the gold. They have plenty of minerals and are sweet and creamy. They’re easy to handle and filling, too. They can also be used to make a variety of comfort foods, like banana bread. This simple fruit may be taken for granted, but it’s always there when you need a little comfort.

Gemini: Grapes. This vine fruit spreads across the ground, hence the phrase “the grape vine,” meaning gossip. Grapes come in so many varieties and are used for so many reasons, from wine to table eating, and are meant to be shared. They come in abundance, and spread quickly if not contained.

Cancer: Apples. Apples are a homey fruit, reminding us of childhood, comfort, and home. Apples are perhaps America’s favorite fruit. Apple pie is America’s favorite pie. It’s a nostalgic flavor, and it reminds us of togetherness, because the fruit comes in the fall, a time when we want to be cozy and close.

Leo: Oranges. Bright oranges are juicy, lively, and demand attention. They make great cocktails and drinks. There’s something social about this tropical fruit that screams party. It’s the fruit of Florida, the state of sunshine, fun, and self-expression.

Virgo: Cranberries. They may not be everyone’s cup of tea as they’re not very sweet and they have a slight bitterness to them, but they’re healthy and clean. Cranberries help flush toxins out of the system, tenderize meat, and add flavor balance to meals. It’s the workhorse of fruit, under appreciated, but very much needed.

Libra: Peaches. The sweet and floral taste of summer reminds us of fair weather, genteel living, and kindness. It’s literally soft and fuzzy. It’s a perfect balance of sweetness, tartness, juiciness. It makes wonderful pies and drinks, but it’s so delicate that too much of anything else will overpower it.

Scorpio: Pomegranate. Pomegranates hold a secret. Inside are many crimson little seeds, juicy and enticing, and if you know how to get to them and aren’t too rough or too impatient, you’ll get your reward. In antiquity, pomegranates were the fruit of the underworld and represented death, sex, and regeneration.

Sagittarius: Pineapple. Pineapple is the fruit of travels to far-flung places, and they symbolize richness and worldliness. It’s bright and juicy. They also have a secret: there’s an ingredient in them that tenderizes meat, making it easy to melt even the toughest with a little coaxing.

Capricorn: Grapefruit. Grapefruit is astringent and not everyone’s cup of tea, but those who acquire the taste are usually adults who can appreciate something that’s complex and find the sweetness within. They’re a great palate cleanser and go wonderful with woodsy flavors like rosemary.

Aquarius: Lemon. Bright, cleansing lemons may not be everyone’s favorite because they’re more tart than sweet, but they brighten everything they touch, and they can be used equally in sweet and savory dishes. Lemon always tastes better when mixed with other ingredients.

Pisces: Coconut. Yes, I know it’s not a fruit, but this deep, rich flavor invokes dreamy escapes into the tropics where we envision a life of ease surrounded by beauty and the aloha spirit of family and togetherness. Coconuts make desserts richer, but also make wonderfully complex curries and stews.