Catered

Produce as Décor

Michael gives advice for using great-looking local produce as décor for your next party.

Late summer is the time of year when produce is at its peak. Gardens are overflowing with their bounty and the local market has some of everything in stock. While we almost always think of fresh produce for its edible characteristics, late summer and early fall are perfect times to use fruits and vegetables for other applications.

Besides cooking, I see vegetables used primarily for table décor. Baby eggplants, artichokes, bright red Roma tomatoes and lemons provide a very "Tuscan" feel to a tabletop. Throw in a few jumbo sunflowers in a tall cylindrical vase and you have a centerpiece that your guests will think cost a fortune.

Sometimes just using a vase filled with a main ingredient makes a very dramatic point. We recently catered an event where the salad station décor was a tall glass vase filled with whole heads of romaine lettuce with a simple arrangement placed on top. For more casual parties, vases filled with lemons, limes, or oranges add a very summery feel to the room. They also work as great décor for bars.

If you are looking for a truly unique effect, try setting up a signature drink bar. In the example shown here we featured an apple cocktail. You can replicate this look by layering apples across your table and covering them with a sheet of plexiglass. Use plexi that is at least ¼-inch thick. It will take about 2 cases of apples to fill a 6-foot table so talk to your grocery’s produce manager or visit a local orchard to get the best prices. While all of the fruits do not need to be the exact same size, it does help if they are similar. Once the weight of the glass gets on top there should be enough fruit to hold it up securely. If one piece of fruit is a tad too tall, just trim off a little bit from the bottom and no one will know. The same effect can be made by using pomegranates, lemons, oranges, or any other solid fruit.

If you are not looking for something as big as a centerpiece, fresh produce can do wonders to food displays or even individual plates. For a French-inspired look we often add clusters of red and green grapes and fresh strawberries (with the stems on) to a cheese display. Fresh fruit of any kind is appropriate for a luncheon garnish. If the affair is not formal, wedged or cubed fruit will do. For something more elegant, use balled melons or a fanned strawberry with raspberries and blueberries.

For a more rustic look, think beyond the fruit and look at the packaging. Fall harvests often come in wooden crates or burlap bags. These are a great way to recycle something that would have normally be thrown away, plus it adds a unique twist to the décor.

Of course, if you can’t think of any gorgeous uses for purple potatoes or heirloom tomatoes, you can always "stick a fork in ‘em" and enjoy them for what they are – delicious foods just hitting the peak of their lifetime. Whatever you do, though, HAVE FUN!!!

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THE GOLDEN APPLE MARTINI

• 1 oz Citron Vodka
• 2 oz Apple Juice
• 1/2 oz Apple Jack or Calvados (apple liqueur)
• Sparkling Apple Cider

Combine first 4 ingredients and shake well; pour into a martini glass and top with Sparkling Cider (about 2 oz.)

GREEN APPLE MARTINI

• 2 oz Sour Apple Schnapps (Sour Apple Pucker)
• 1 oz Vodka (use apple-flavored vodka for a more intense flavor)
• 1 dash Sweet & Sour Mix

Shake over ice and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a green apple wedge.

(Recipes courtesy of Lon Lane’s Inspired Occasions)