Decorating with food is fun and although some vegetables can become very complicated, others like the ones I’m about to show you, are relatively simple.
Artichokes are an architectural marvel. They come tightly woven but with a little preparation you can safely maneuver to the inside of the vegetable that comes equipped with sharp barbs. My grocery store takes care of this for me; if yours doesn’t, simply take a pair of manicure scissors or any small clippers, and clip the barbs off of each leaf before starting this project.
After making sure your artichoke safe to handle, start pulling the leaves gently back from the center. They will want to return to their position, so you might need to work a paper towel inside when you get to the center.
Check your stem first, and find the container you are going to use for your artichoke candle holder. I used a small urn, which worked perfectly. You will need something that isn’t very delicate because of the weight of the artichoke. Trim the stem so that it doesn’t rest too high in the container. You want the bottom of the artichoke to be level with your container’s rim.
Using a small paring knife, cut away the very heart of the artichoke, scraping out as much as you can.
Replace your paper towel for a minute.
You want to use a small votive candle in a shot glass, not a tea candle in an aluminum holder. The leaves would pull right back over the aluminum one. The glass works wonderfully to hold the leaves back. Remove your paper towel and insert the glass votive. If it sticks up too high, remove more of the heart and try again until the glass sits almost level, just a bit above the uppermost leaves.
Place the finished artichoke in your container, then tie a ribbon around the bottom, and light your candle. Looks great, huh?
If you feel more confident now, let’s try a red cabbage. Try to buy one that has loose leaves to begin with. The bigger, the better. You will need two.
The first thing with any vegetable like this to be used as a container or centerpiece, is to find where it sits naturally. You might not have to level it, but if you do, shave a little bit at a time, then check to see if it is level. That doesn’t mean it has to sit up straight, leaning slightly is okay, as long as it doesn’t wobble around.
Start with the prettiest one. Very carefully and very gently, begin to pull the leaves back as far as you can without tearing them. If they do tear, just keep pulling it back, we will deal with it later. Keep pulling back as many leaves as you can, leaving a small portion of the cabbage intact; this will be your “bowl.”
Now, any leaves that look really frayed and bad, break off as close to the base as you can. Take leaves from the second cabbage and insert them where the bad ones were, securing them with a toothpick, if necessary.
Making sure your cabbage is still sitting level, use a knife to cut a bowl shape into the small head in the center of the unfolded leaves. This bowl should not lean to one side, it should be level, so that the contents don’t run out the side.
Cut away enough of the inner cabbage to hold your dip or sauce, you don’t have to use a real bowl, the cabbage is tightly woven enough that it will hold almost anything that isn’t liquid. Spoon you dip/sauce into the cavity, then add a spoon.
If you have some unsightly places among your unfolded leaves, simply use the leaves from the spare cabbage to cover them. Another source are the leaves you cut when you formed your bowl. Turning them upside down over bad spots works like a charm.
You can also make great centerpieces with green cabbages and white roses. Purchase your cabbage from a local farmers market, requesting that the outer leaves be left intact. Then just pull the inner leaves back as much or as little as necessary. Insert roses and baby’s breath as filler and you have a huge centerpiece for very little money.
Cut away the top and hollow out small pumpkins, red, yellow and green bell peppers, tomatoes and cantaloupe to make other containers for your dips and sauces. These add color and interest to your buffet table and are much more economical than flower arrangements – plus you can eat them!
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