Retirement Party, Part 2

Not everyone eats sweets and, more importantly, not everyone likes the combo of cupcakes and beer, so I decided to try my hand at making an edible fruit arrangement.

You've probably seen these before...impossibly beautiful, these are elaborate and expensive!



I honestly have no idea how they keep the fruits from being too juicy...

Here is the equipment I used:



Easter grass, a styrofoam cone, a flower pot, bamboo skewers, and small cookie cutters. If you have a crinkle-cut knife or other fruit-carving tools, by all means...go crazy. I also hear that a head of iceburg lettuce would work well instead of styrofoam and Easter grass. You would just have to carve it to fit inside your flower pot.

Cut the Styrofoam cone to size and place (upside down) in the flower pot. You might want to put some grass in the bottom first to stabilize it. Then place some more grass on top and tuck it into the sides.

I just cut cross-sections of canteloupe and honeydew and cut out flowers and circles with cookie-cutters:



A few other tips:

1. Wash the strawberries and remove the leaves, but do not cut off the tops. The less you cut them, the longer they will keep.

2. Keep the strawberries away from the pineapple. Since I used canned pineapple chunks (I got lazy!), the sweeteners might cause the berries to macerate.

3. Thread the skewers in a consistent pattern for a more uniform look.

4. If you're making this ahead, store the kabobs in a large zippered food storage bag lined with paper towel. When you're ready to party, just pull them out and stab into the grass-covered styrofoam.

The final product...Okay, it looks nothing like an Edible Arrangement, but hey, it is edible and it is an arrangement...



Next time...

I would try a "topiary"-style fruit arrangement, using different lengths of skewers and filling in any empty areas with lime leaves or even pandan leaves (or any other non-poisonous greenery). You might need to cover the styrofoam with plastic wrap to keep the fruit from touching the foam since it is not food-safe.

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