Edible arrangements

I've clipped recipes and cooking ideas from magazines since I was a very young girl, probably because I've always been interested in cooking and eating. A few weeks before Easter I saw an advertisement for one of those edible arrangements and thought I'd like to try it. So for Easter Sunday with my children, I put one together. It wasn't the most beautiful thing you've ever seen, but I didn't think it turned out too bad. And, the grandchildren loved it, which was the primary reason I spent the time, so I was happy.

I learned a few things in the process. I think skinnier skewers would work better. When I tried to stick the wooden barbecue skewers I had into the pineapple, it split the pieces of pineapple. It also split the first chocolate bunny I tried. Another thing, whatever you're going to wind around the sticks should be done before you put in the sticks or skewers. Also, if I was doing one again, I'd use much shorter skewers.

My first step was to cut the foam piece to fit into the Easter bucket. Then I prepared the fruit, washing, drying and cutting into bite size pieces. Finally I stuck the skewers in and arranged in the foam. Taking tips from a floral design class I took with Central Florida Community College once, I tried to use odd numbers and arrange them with some kind of symmetry in the basket. Basically, this echoes my philosophy that you can try almost anything. Here are the photos: