Summer Fruit Pizza

I decided I wanted to try a fruit pizza.  It was supposed to have a sugar cookie crust but here in Lillooet they do not sell any kind of sugar cookie mixes so I decided to go with chocolate chip.  Fruit and chocolate go together so I thought it was probably doable.  I know that they have to be eaten quickly so they do not get soggy so I thought I would do them in pie pans so that I could get 2 for each package of cookie dough.  Then I could have twice the fun decorating too!!

They baked up really nicely in the pie plate!

They fit pefectly on a dinner plate for decorating too.  Obviously meant to be!

I decided to try an icing that I had read about a long time ago and had always wanted to try.  Something light and cream cheesy... mmmmmmm.

A super simple yet delicious icing.  One jar of marshmallow creme and one package of cream cheese.

Let cream cheese soften on the counter for 10 minutes.  Mix with the entire jar of marshmallow fluff.

Voila!

Spread icing over the entire pizza, all the way to the edges of the cookie crust.

Decorate with your favorite fruit.  I decided to make a fruit sun with strawberries, pineapple and oranges.

I made a simple syrup glaze with 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup water.  Bring water and sugar to a boil on the stove over medium heat.  Let cool to room temperature and brush over fruit with a pastry brush.  Serve ASAP.

Summer is here!

P.S.  I still have 3 more pizzas to decorate!  Yay!!

Edible Arrangements

I love edible arrangements.  They look amazing on a table.  They are super duper expensive to order.  If you live in a small mountain town you can not even order them... not cool.  I want one and I love a challenge.  Actually not true.  I like challenges that work out in the end.  Ones that don't drive me insane. Is this doable??  Yes.  I have decided that it is.   I WILL make one. I spent a stupid amount of time looking up images of edible arrangements.  People are amazing. I decided that summer would be the best time to try them because there is more fruit and it is affordable.  Nothing worse than paying $18 for a watermelon and finding out it is not tasty or delicious.  NOT COOL.  There are also a lot of really cool containers at the dollar store in the summer - lots in the gardening section.

Where to start??

 Buy some really cute containers.  Buy some little cookie cutters - flower shapes seem to go well with all the cute little garden containers.  Buy wooden skewers.  Buy Band-Aids for all the times you will stab yourself with said skewers.  IT WILL HAPPEN.  Buy fruit.  From all that I have read and researched - grapes are good. Strawberries - great.   Pineapple also good.  Watermelon - not so good.  It is okay for small pieces but falls apart really easily.

The first one I tried had a watermelon base.  The watermelon did work to make tiny butterflies - cut out with a mini cookie cutter.  I used a toothpick to stick the pineapple flowers on the watermelon base.

The second one was made with a mini watermelon as the base.  I used grapes on the skewers because it was prettier than wood.  The pineapple flowers were made with a medium size flower cutter and a red grape on top.  The strawberries I left the stem on and turned upside down, like a closed rose.  I cut an orange into round slices.  It was harder to get these to stay on the skewer but they looked pretty.

For the last one I tried a container.  Lots of people use floral foam in the base of the container.  I used half a head of lettuce.  Cover the lettuce with kale leaves.  The skewers will hold it in place.  Very cute.

A few more views of the arrangements.  My kids actually loved them.  I had to cut up a million pieces of fruit as they were eating them as fast as I could cut them.  I was so sticky I had to have two showers.

 I will make some of these for end of the year parties at school.  This will keep me out of trouble with the Healthy Schools Program which frowns on me wanting to bring cupcakes for every possible occasion and event.  Just kidding.  Fruit is good.  So are cupcakes... just sayin'.

There are so many different ways to do edible arrangements and they are so much fun to make and eat that I taught my son how to do them for a summer business project.  Everyone wins!  Yay!