Fruit salad with honey-wine dressing

Today I get to make my fruit salad with honey-Vouvray sauce. I probably spent $35 on this fruit salad, so it is not cheap. $5 worth of strawberrys, $5 worth of raspberries, $2 worth of pears, $2 worth of lemons, $1.69 can of peaches packed in juice, $12 bottle of Vouvray, and $8 bottle of honey.

Okay, so the Vouvray is leftover from an earlier day, and technically the recipe calls for dry white wine. But I like Vouvray.

And the honey was a total splurge, but I had to try it, just once... and this French dinner tonight is a special occasion (which I will be fed a multi-course meal for free).

And hopefully, there will be some fruit leftover for the family...

The recipe comes from the internet. I've never tried it. I think it's from one of the "about" sites. I discovered it last year when I went looking for something for one character to make in one of my novels... And this sounded perfect. And the lavender honey is my addition, since the character at hand is a chef, and he's working in a well-stocked kitchen of someone who loves food.

Fruit with honey-wine sauce
http://frenchfood.about.com/od/salads/r/bastillefruit.htm
The web site recommends this for all your "Bastille Day picnics." Yeah. Alright, well, the exact quote is: "Accompany this luscious fruit salad with a baguette, assorted cheese, and a spicy-sweet sparkling dessert wine for a lovely Bastille Day picnic." Ironically, I tracked the original recipe to double-check the fractions and it added a kiwi. A kiwi isn't very French now, n'est-ce pas?

1/2 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons plus two teaspoons honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 pint strawberries, hulled
2 pears, cored
2 peaches, pitted
3/4 cup sweet cherries, pitted
1 kiwi (optional)

1. Process the first five ingredients in a blender until smooth. Chill for twenty minutes.
2.Cut fruit and toss with desired amount of dressing.

Now, I bought canned peaches because it is not the right time of year for peaches. For the same reason, I substituted raspberries for cherries. And I am not putting kiwi in a French fruit salad. I already mentioned that I have Vouvray and lavender honey... One review of this recipe suggested that the combination of honey and sugar made it way too sweet, and in light of the fact that I'm also using a sweet wine I will cut back on the honey. Maybe start with two tablespoons plus a teaspoon. But if I add sugar, I'm going to use organic sugar because it seems to have a better flavor. Okay, and my last comment is, am I the only person terrified to attempt "lemon zest?" I always skip it. I don't have a zester, though I do have a mini-grater... Maybe today I'll attempt it.