World's BEST Easiest FRUIT TRAY PRESENTATION

 OH BOY... a Fruit Tray

But not just any fruit tray.  This one is (for the price) just about as good as it gets.  Love the dramatic presentation.  But also LOVE LOVE LOVE the cost.  This tray comes in at about $12 for the tray.  Which, sadly, is a good price considering you are using 6 different types of fruit.

Fruit ain't cheap.

I have done lots of fruit trays.  Some I have spent as much as $50 for (Nuts, dipped chocolate fruit, wider variety... You get the idea).

But, pound for pound, here's my favorite,  Not only for the variety, the colorful presentation, the ease of making this up... But of course for the price.

We are all on some type of budget.

Keep scrolling down for an ingredient list and easy HOW TO instructions.

ENJOY!

 OK... Here's what I did...

World's BEST Easiest (Inexpensive) Fruit Tray
Presentation

Ingredients

• 2 Large seedless Oranges, sliced thin
• 1 Pound Seedless Red Grapes
• 1 Pound Strawberries, slices
• 1 Fresh Pineapple, cored, peeles and cut into chunks
• 2 Kiwi Fruits, peeled and cut into slices
• 1 Musk Melon, peeled, seeds removed and cut into chunks
• LARGE Serving Platter

Cooking Directions

1. Precut all the fruit.
2. First, arrange the orange slices around the two sides of a large platter.
3. Arrange the Grapes on the top and bottom
4. Starting from the bottom, add the Melon.  there will be lots of melon, arrange this on half of the remaining empty space on the platter.
5. Add the Kiwi on top of half of the melon (there is less kiwi than melon.  This way the kiwi sticks out above the melon.
6. Add the Pineapple on half of the remaining empty space.
7. Add the Strawberries to the remaining empty space.
8. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
9. Serve chilled and ENJOY!

Salted Chocolate Clementine Cuties - 52 Snacks for Children's Church

Cuties indeed, these were such a huge hit for our Children's Church hour.  Recently my wife volunteered for us to provide snacks this year for our nursery slash Children's Worship hour.  These little gems were possible the best thing we made for the little heathens "All God's Children".

Simple, easy and CHEAP.


OK... Here's my fair warning.  Recently I was offered a chance to review this book, Dessert & Booze hacks by Peggy Wang.  What follows is my honest review and recommendation.  Except for the review copy of the book I was not offered any other compensation.
My recommendation... I LOVE THIS BOOK!

The book is not as much a collection of recipes as it is a collection of ways to expand your existing pantry to entertain or simply add a fun dish to a simple meal.  Most "recipes" only have three or four ingredients (almost all are already in your pantry).

Nutella and bananas make ice cream!
Kit Kat Brownies (I love to raid the kids Halloween bag).
A five minute Bread Pudding
Bite size caramel Grapes
or Cinnamon Toast Scrolls...

Your mind will real from the ease of all of these ideas and the tastiness.  BTW, don't let the booze in the title scare you.  This is almost all Dessert ideas with only the last few pages devoted to alcohol dishes (but I can't wait to try the Margarita Shake).

I see a lot of cookbooks.  Most I come away with a few ideas and maybe a recipe or two (when I am lucky maybe five).  But, this book is the exception.  I have dozens of ideas that will become a part of my life.  From Children's Church Snacks to those Church PotLucks to just a Tuesday night fun addition to a meal, this book is going to get a workout.

Here's the legal stuff... "I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review." But the review and opinions are 100% accurate and mine!".  Love this book and highly recommend it!

 OK... Here's what I did...

Salted Chocolate Clementine Cuties

Ingredients

• 6 Small Clementines, Peeled and Separated
• 1/2 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips
• Pinch of Sea Salt

Cooking Directions

1. Peel and Separate 6 Clementines, set aside.
2. In a small microwave safe bowl, microwave 1/2 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips on medium power for 1 minute 15 seconds.
3. Remove from the microwave and stir until melted and smooth (microwave additional 15 second bursts as needed).
4. Dip the top third of each clementine segment in the chocolate and put on a plate.
5. Sprinkle a little Sea Salt on the chocolate covered part of each slice.
6. Refrigerate until the chocolate is set, about 15 minutes.
7. VARIATIONS: Tangerines or Satsumas also work if Clementines are hard to find.
8. Serve room temperature (or Chilled and ENJOY!

******************************************************

Double Click the Photo Above for
a Link to my growing list of
HUNDREDS of Recipes for any
Big PotLuck Gathering

This recipe has been added to my growing list of "52 Church PotLuck Dishes"!

A list of something NEW worthy of being shown off at a neighborhood BYODish (Bring Your Own Dish) Party, a Family special occasion dinner, Any Big Holiday Gathering or of course that glorious day when you bring a dish to share with your Church family...

Ages ago, literally almost a half century ago I was listening to our pastor talking about a PotLuck Dinner. It happened to be scheduled around a church work day when we were expected to weed, polish and do general cleaning and maintenance around the church (you know, back in the day when there were no no-wax floors and church pews smelled of Old English furniture polish). I am of course paraphrasing, but as I recall the pastor said,

"A potluck, like a church requires work. At a potluck everyone is expected to contribute.. At a church no one should come empty handed and no one should leave unfed".

I will confess that in my youth I brought more store bought plastic spoons and forks than I ever brought covered dishes and crock pots of fresh made love and caring delights. But now that I have become a hobbyist cook, I occasionally am reminded of those days and people from my youth. I reminded and I do wish that I could drop a dish of some new creation on those old tables at my fondly remembered Liberty Baptist Church.  Tables covered with newspapers and loaded with God's bounty prepared with love and caring... Enjoy

***********************PINTEREST*********************

Come and find me on Pinterest... Any of my "52 Ways to cook" Boards are worth following.  If you like this post, please take a second and "Pin" this to your own boards... Better yet, if you are part of a foodie group board please take a second and add this post to your group pins... best way to show your Love!

And BTW, if you are not yet part of a group board, drop me an email at Contact@eRecipeCards.com and request to be added to my group board... FAVORITE FOOD BLOGGERS! (be sure to include your pinterest ID when you write)  Once you are added, any pins you add will be seen by 10s of THOUSANDS of followers of the board (and growing daily).

Rules, only 2... 

1. In order to join you need to start following the group board as well as at least one of my boards.
2. And you must ONLY pin original sources, posts from food related bloggers only.  If you are a blogger, this is a great way to have thousands of potential readers see your work,  If you are a fan of bloggers, a great way to share your favorites...
   Come and be a part of ... FAVORITE FOOD BLOGGERS! on Pinterest

Baked Brie with Cherries and Chocolate - 52 Church PotLuck Appetizer (or Dessert)

YUM!

Here's one of those ugly dishes that is absolutely AMAZING!  And incredibly easy to boot!

A puffed pastry cheese wheel is topped with a handful of sweet cherries and chocolate chips.  Then wrapped in store bought puff pastry. Just a few tricks to get this right and you have... SPECTACULAR!

This can be made a few hours in advance (tricks to keeping it melty warm are in the recipe); which makes this perfect for catering or any "Share a Dish" event like a potluck or family event.  It just screams, "PARTY"!

And if you want to really show off, you can make this on a grill... Just set your grill up for indirect heat, coals on one side and a free "cool" area on the other.  This will turn your grill into an oven and at the same time add a delicious smoky taste to the cheese.

A real favorite!

OK... Here's what I did...

Baked Brie with
Cherries and Chocolate

Ingredients

• 1 Square Sheet Puff Pastry (Thawed according to package directions)
• 1 - 8 Ounce Brie Cheese Wheel
• 1/4 Cup Maraschino Cherries, stems removed and sliced into quarters
• 1/4 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips (can use Semi-sweet)
• 1 Large Egg,
• 4 Medium Fuji Apples, slice thin
• 1/4 Cup Lemon Juice
• 1 "roll" package Decorative Crackers

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Whisk the Egg (to be used as an egg wash)
3. Flatten out the puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Place the wheel of brie in the center, top with the quartered cherries and then the chocolate chips.
4. Working from one corner of the puff pastry, bring the corner to the center of the cherry/chocolate covered Brie. Bring the opposite corner to the center and brush the seem with the egg. Repeat with remaining corners, continuing to brush the egg wash on all seems.
5. Do the same with the center edges of the sheet, washing and pressing as you move around. This should form a decorative flour like center of the pastry. Press and brush entire wheel (plus sides) one last time.
6. Bake for 25 minutes until the pastry has a golden brown and delicious look.
7. While the Brie is baking, prepare a cutting board for display/serving. Slice the apples and toss in the lemon juice to prevent browning.
8. When the Brie Wheel is ready, allow to rest for 15 minutes before cutting.
9. If you are travelling with the Brie to be served within 5-6 hours, wrap in Aluminum Foil and immediately place in a small ice chest (no ice). The Brie will stay melty warm for several hours) Wait until just time to serve before removing and unwrapping.
10. Serve WARM and ENJOY

******************************************************

This recipe has been added to my growing list of "52 Church PotLuck Dishes"!

A list of something NEW worthy of being shown off at a neighborhood BYODish (Bring Your Own Dish) Party, a Family special occasion dinner, Any Big Holiday Gathering or of course that glorious day when you bring a dish to share with your Church family...

Ages ago, literally almost a half century ago I was listening to our pastor talking about a PotLuck Dinner. It happened to be scheduled around a church work day when we were expected to weed, polish and do general cleaning and maintenance around the church (you know, back in the day when there were no no-wax floors and church pews smelled of Old English furniture polish). I am of course paraphrasing, but as I recall the pastor said,

"A potluck, like a church requires work. At a potluck everyone is expected to contribute.. At a church no one should come empty handed and no one should leave unfed".

I will confess that in my youth I brought more store bought plastic spoons and forks than I ever brought covered dishes and crock pots of fresh made love and caring delights. But now that I have become a hobbyist cook, I occasionally am reminded of those days and people from my youth. I reminded and I do wish that I could drop a dish of some new creation on those old tables at my fondly remembered Liberty Baptist Church.  Tables covered with newspapers and loaded with God's bounty prepared with love and caring... Enjoy

*************************************************************************

So,  I am pleased to list this as one of my Growing list of  "52 Grilling Time Secret Extras" or "52 Ways to Cook BBQ and Grilling Recipes"!!!

Well over 52 recipes actually as I just can't stop... Over 100 in one grilling season (I love to grill!). But not just leat... Drinks, Condiments (LOTS of different BBQ sauces), Drinks, Desserts... even specialty items like GRILLED Pizza, and fun shaped Watermelons.  Easy and these ideas will make you the MASTER of your Backyard Domain!

****************************PINTEREST**************************

Come and find me on Pinterest... Any of my "52 Ways to cook" Boards are worth following.  If you like this post, please take a second and "Pin" this to your own boards... Better yet, if you are part of a foodie group board please take a second and add this post to your group pins... best way to show your Love!

And BTW, if you are not yet part of a group board, drop me an email at Contact@eRecipeCards.com and request to be added to my group board... FAVORITE FOOD BLOGGERS! (be sure to include your pinterest ID when you write)  Once you are added, any pins you add will be seen by 10s of THOUSANDS of followers of the board (and growing daily).

Rules, only 2... 

1. In order to join you need to start following the group board as well as at least one of my boards.
2. And you must ONLY pin original sources, posts from food related bloggers only.  If you are a blogger, this is a great way to have thousands of potential readers see your work,  If you are a fan of bloggers, a great way to share your favorites...
   Come and be a part of ... FAVORITE FOOD BLOGGERS! on Pinterest