Every year the ladies on my block get together for large Christmas/ Hanukkah dinner party.  I was signed up to bring fruit to the party, and I decided to make something different than just run of the mill fruit salad.  In the past, I have always brought a giant floral table center piece to the same party, but I didn’t bother to volunteer to make one this year, mainly because dinner was going to be buffet style this time around. I figured a homemade edible arrangement could combine my floral arranging hobby with the potluck dish.  Making the decorative fruit arrangement was a little like creating any other flower arrangement, but it took me twice as long, especially because I was a total newbie at fruit carving.  Due to my inexperience, I wasted a bunch of pieces and a lot of time figuring out the easiest method for cutting out the fruit flower shapes. It was a good thing I bought three pineapples and I am glad they were on sale at Sprouts last week.  At first I tried cutting the pineapple flowers out by hand.  That wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be and looked a bit inconsistent. When I switched to using a metal cookie cutter and a fruit baller it went much smoother.  Granted, my fruit arrangement ended up far from perfect, but I think after I try making a few more, I will get the hang of it and get faster.

I used to think these things were over priced for what was in them, but after making one myself, I now understand why places like Edible Arrangements charge what they do.  Although it was relatively easy to make, once I got the hang of it, it was still time consuming (plus added time for the learning curve,) and there was a lot of leftover bits of fruit that weren’t pretty enough to be used in the arrangement.  The extra cut up pieces went into a fruit salad for the family and lunches the next day, and the even uglier bits went to the chickens.  The chickens thought it was Christmas day already with all the yummy bites they got.

Supplies

• wooden skewers
• craft / floral foam
• cookie cutter for flower
• knife
• assorted fruit, including melons, pineapples, grapes.  I also used blackberries and kiwi.
• Lettuce for the foliage base to hide the foam
• a sturdy container – I used a Christmas Cookie Jar shaped like a present that I picked up for $2 at a yard sale.

Merry Christmas from Hanbury House!