Renny Reynolds, a New York party designer, shows how to make your table a landscape of exotic fruit.
First, you need to lay out a mat (figure A) that has been wired together with twigs. It will give shape to the whole table.
Position a grapevine basket or a piece of driftwood on one end of the mat and surround it with mangoes and papayas (figure B). Artichokes are great to add to for their texture and color, and pineapple flowers add great color.
To create a pineapple candlestick, cut the top off the pineapple and slice the bottom so it will set level. Core out the center so you can place a taper candle inside. Fold over red striated tea leaves, tape them together and use a straight pin to add them to the bottom of the pineapple (figure C).
Add galax leaves and four more tea leaves around the top of the pineapple. Place the candlestick on the table and surround it with fern and additional fruit (figure D). You can also place tapers in oranges.
Throughout the entire display, fill in any blank spaces with dried flowers of your choice as well as star fruit, kumquats, roses, tulips and freesia (place flowers in plastic water tubes to make sure they will last through the evening).
Use palm fronds for place mats and add colorful plates and napkins -- tie bows in contrasting colors around the napkins. The crowning touch, which you need to do at the very last, is to place a gardenia in the center of the bow on each napkin (figure E). The basis of the table decor is the colorful tropical fruit -- it really adds zing to the table.
We at DIY believe all of the recipes from All in Good Taste are accurate and reliable, but since we have not tested them personally, we can claim no responsibility if the desired results are not achieved.
RESOURCES :
The Great Exotic Fruit Book: A Handbook Of Tropical And Subtropical Fruits With Recipes
Model: 0898156882
Author: Norman Van Aken with John Harrison
(1995)
Ten Speed Press
Website: www.tenspeed.com
Tropical Fruit Cookbook
Model: 082481441X
Author: Marilyn Rittenhouse Harris
(1993)
University of Hawaii Press
Honolulu, HI 96822-1888
Phone: 808-956-8255
Fax: 808-988-6052
Email: uhpbooks@hawaii.edu
Website: www.uhpress.hawaii.edu
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