I was leafing through one of my dusty old recipe books tonight when a creased, yellowed paper fell out and onto the floor. It was a half page, jaggedly torn. Upon close examination I could see the page numbers were 89 and 90. On the bottom of page 89 I can read "...ber 1974." At the bottom of the page 90 just next to where it was torn was written "Better H..." The top left of page 90 reads "27 great food ideas from 4 basic recipes." The recipe below was obviously the basic recipe they were referring to.
How I wish I had the recipes for the "Frozen Serendipity Sour," "Brandied Fruit Shake," "Brandied Cheese Spread," "Chicken Jubilee," and the "Brandied Fruit Rolls" they refer to. If anyone is familiar with any of these please let me know.
For now, here is the wonderful "basic" recipe I'm so thrilled to have found and to pass on to you. I'm going to experiment with using it to make a cheese cake.(They also suggest that it's wonderful over ice cream.)

"An apothocary jar makes an ideal storage container"

2 cups peeled and sectioned oranges
2 cups chopped fresh pineapple
2 cups pared and chopped fresh pears
2 cups peeled and chopped fresh peaches
2 cups maraschino cherries, quartered, or halved grapes
2-1/2 cups granulated sugar
2-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
6 inches stick cinnamon, broken up
1 pint apricot brandy

In a large bowl, combine fruits and sugars. Let stand 3 hours, stirring once or twice. Tie cinnamon in a cheesecloth bag; add to fruit along with brandy. Cover loosely or pour into a jar and cover loosely. Let stand at least one week, stirring once a day. Makes 12 cups.

To keep starter going: Add 1 cup sugar and 2 cups chopped fruit to replace every 2 cups of fruit and syrup removed. If only fruit is used and you begin to get too much syrup, try this: add 2 cups of fruit and no sugar. If the brandied mixture will not be used for some time, refrigerate it. Remove and let stand at room temperature to re-activate fermentation.