Saturday May 11 2013 (edible bouquets)

Edible Bouquets

So the hubby got me an edible arrangement for Valentines Day, It was beautiful and delicious, but it was also pretty darn pricey. I get my mother flowers every year for mother's day, so I thought this year I would mix it up a little and give her flowers that she could eat. Technically she could eat a lot of flowers, but I have a feeling they wouldn't taste great. So here is how I made her mother's day gift.

First I got some plain Terra cotta pots (these are 6") and I painted them using Acrylic craft paint. I did a couple coats of each color because the terra cotta wanted to show through. I chose Terra Cotta pots over plastic for the weight. You need something heavy to balance out the weight of the fruit.

I got some floral foam and cut it so that it would fit fairly snugly in the pot. They make special knives for cutting foam, but I don't work with it that much so I didn't invest in one. They also make pot inserts, but I couldn't find one in the 6" size.

Cover the foam in plastic wrap so that it doesn't rub off on your fruit. I tucked it in along the sides using a popsicle stick.

The next thing I did was prep the fruit. I chose pineapple, grapes and strawberries for this bouquet, but you could easily add pretty much any other kind of fruit you desire. I dipped the strawberries in chocolate, because my mom likes chocolate covered strawberries.

I cut the pineapple into 1/2" slices and put them on paper towel to dry up some of the excess juice. Then I used a flower cookie cutter to slice the pineapple into flower shapes.

Next I cut some bamboo skewers to just longer than the pot is tall. I stuck it through some baby spinach leaves to help cover up the foam. (you could use pretty much any kind of leafy veggie/herb) Then I stuck it into the pot and put the strawberry on the skewer. Put the skewer in before the strawberry or you may squish the strawberry while trying to push the skewer through the foam. I did strawberries all the way around the outside of the pot.

Next I did some skewers with grapes to add some height. Like with the strawberries it is best to put the skewer in first then add the grapes on next.

Finally I added in some pineapple flowers by cutting the skewers longer than the strawberries, but shorter than the grapes. This is the final product; pretty, tasty and fairly healthy as well! 

This is the second arrangement that I did for my mother-in-law. She has a strawberry allergy so instead of strawberries I opted for watermelon. I recommend using the mini-seedless watermelons over the large one as they seem to be firmer inside and therefore hold up better on the skewers.

This was actually a pretty fun activity and the boys loved eating the "reject" pieces. I plan on doing some smaller versions for the Rooster's teachers later this week as thank you gifts. I delivered these today (yes I know mother's day isn't till tomorrow) because I plan on planting the pumpkins tomorrow and didn't think I would have time to do both. I recommend making them as close to delivery as possible, but if you do have a time lapse between creation and delivery/display refrigeration is highly recommended for optimum freshness.