Angelica is an edible flower that ranges in color from pink to blue to lavender. Angelica buds have a bit of a licorice taste so they go great with poppy seed cake or lemon cakes. They also make a nice garnish for Edam cheeses and caraway type cheeses. An angelica blossom also makes a good garnish for drinks made with Sambuca or Pernod.
Almost any cake or pudding looks great garnished with dark or white chocolate curls. Simply use a paring knife to slice the curls off of a chunk of chocolate that has been cooled in the fridge in a while. White or dark chocolate curls look great on bed of whipped cream on hot drinks such as caffe lattes or hot chocolate.
Apple Blossoms are a really nice interesting garnish and like apples they are edible. They go well perched on the edge of a glass of brandy and of course you can sprinkle them on Apple Brown Betty’s or apple cake.
To make a lacy pattern out of icing sugar for the top of a cake simply take a doily, place it over the top of the uniced cake and sprinkle the icing sugar over it. Lift the doily gently and you have an elegantly decorated cake.
Marzipan is not just used for cake decorating. You can buy premade sheets of marzipan and use them the same way you would use modeling clay to make any shape you want. Marzipan looks great garnishing any kind of cake or cookie. To make marzipan carrots to decorate a carrot cake simply roll tubular carrot shapes out of orange marzipan and top them with a button of green marzipan.
If marzipan hardens while you are making cake decorations this does not mean the marzipan has gone bad. Simply add a bit of water, the same way you would add water to modeling clay, and it will become soft and pliant again.
To make a strawberry fan, use a paring knife to slice thee strawberry from a point slightly below the top stem to the bottom. Continue making thin slits from one end of the strawberry to the other. Gently spread the segments of strawberry apart to create the strawberry fan,
If you want a add an unusual splash of color to the top of a white iced cake or a fruit fool try sprinkling the top with edible violet blossoms. Violet blossoms also look nice frozen in ice cubes or on top of a salad to give it a dash of purple.

If you are sick of just sticking the same old stalk of celery in a drink don’t despair. Try sticking flowering alliums, which come from the onion family into a drink. These types of “onion flowers” impart a delicate taste to the drink.

A nice way to garnish a bloody mary or ceasar would be to puree some pesto with some sour cream and drool it on the top in a squiggly or spiral shape. Then top it with a sprig of parsley

To give a glass rim an usual “frosting” try dipping the wetting the rim of a glass and dipping it in Jerk Spice or some other type of exotic herb or spice.

If you decide to decorate with olives why not intersperse them with chunks of cheese as well.

The blue blossoms are edible and they have a mild taste that is reminiscent of cucumber. Borage makes a very interesting garnish sprinkled on top of ceasar. They look quite pretty floating in any drink.

To make stuffed mushrooms slice off the stem of a whole, clean, mushroom. With a small teaspoon (1/8 or 1/4 teaspoon), or small melon baller, scoop out the inside of the mushroom. Fill with a favorite dip or fill with bread crumbs and blue cheese and melt under the broiler for a few minutes.

For an unusual garnish for a martini stuff a big black olive with blue cheese and spear it. The blue cheese will also subtly flavor the drink.

To make carrot curls simply use a vegetable peeler to cut a long strip off of the carrot. Spear each curl with a toothpick and then chill them in hot water until they are ready to use. These look great coiled up in a Bloody Mary.

Chrysanthemums are tangy yet slightly bitter buds that in colors from red, white, yellow and orange. They range in taste from faint peppery to mild cauliflower. They add a kind of Asian flavored twist to tomato-based cocktails. They look gorgeous suspended in tomato aspic. Sprinkle the petals in a salad or on the surface of a bowl of tomato soup to add visual interest.

To make a really unusual looking garnish a bloody Mary simply drop one whole dandelion blossom into the center of the bowl or the glass. Make sure you buy your dandelion blossoms from a specialty market. Dandelions add a slight peppery taste to dishes.

Want to make a beautiful vegetable platter? Try these ideas for making beautiful garnishes.

To make a tomato rose simply pick a tomato of any size. Make sure it is a gel variety like a Roma tomato. Take a very sharp knife and start peeling it like you would an apple. Keep peeling until you have the longest length possible and then coil the peel into a rose shape. Using pink, red and orange tomatoes can create a lovely bouquet for a centerpiece.

Use your cookie cutters for something other than making cookies. Small cookies cutters can be used to press shapes (heart shaped for instance) out of carrots, cucumber coins, apple slices and any other vegetable that can be sliced thinly or flatly.

Borage is the plant that they make evening primrose oil out of. The blue blossoms are edible and they have a mild taste that is reminiscent of cucumber. Borage makes a very interesting garnish sprinkled placed at the side of a vegetable platter.

Chrysanthemums are tangy yet slightly bitter buds that in colors from red, white, yellow and orange. They range in taste from faint peppery to mild cauliflower. They add a kind of Asian flavored twist to platters. They look gorgeous suspended in tomato aspic. Sprinkle the petals in a salad or on the surface of a bowl of tomato soup to add visual interest.

Cucumber balls are a nice surprise in a salad and make a delicious departure from the ordinary. In order to make cucumber balls simply slice a cucumber in half and then use a melon baler to scoop out the contents into ball shapes (exactly the same way you would a melon.

To make a cherry tomato flower simply dissect a cherry tomato by cutting it into four slices from the top downwards. However don’t slice through to the base of the tomato. This allows you to fan the “petals” of the cherry tomato outward. These cherry tomato flowers look lovely on a salad or on top of a dip.

To make an interesting garnish for a dip simply drop one whole dandelion blossom into the center of the bowl or the glass. Make sure you buy your dandelion blossoms from a specialty market. Dandelions add a slight peppery taste to dishes.

Marjoram buds are tiny pink flowers that taste heavily of the spice. They look nice sprinkled on disks of sliced tomatoes!

Planning For Your Next Party

For the entertainer in all of us, planning the décor and ambiance of a party is just as fun as cooking up a fabulous meal for friends and family. If you’re really looking to spice up a room for a special occasion, why not go all out? Liven up the everyday room with new elements that bring out the designer in you- and make all your friends insanely jealous.

Trying out different creative possibilities for a special occasion is the best way to inspire unique ideas. But, how does one go about testing and trying different styles and themes? Of course, no one wants to shop around and buy different accessories and decor, try them out at home, then return them at the store the next day.

This is where online shopping becomes handy. At this web site, customers can explore modern, contemporary design and furniture options with the simple click of a mouse. Online shopping is the easy alternative to running around to a million different stores, hoping various items will miraculously fit together into a cohesive design. It’s also the best way to not miss that new episode of Ellen with the amazing kid that can sing like Whitney Houston.

This web site allows you to design, re-design, mix and match, move, add, and delete items from a room just how you want it with the room planner application. Simply put in the dimensions of the room and type of room you plan to entertain in. Click the items you want, and drop them into your workspace to see what your stylish room would look like.

In seconds you can have a custom design at your fingertips, literally. The convenience of an online furniture store is magical. No lifting, moving or lugging is involved. With clear pictures and great descriptions, your creative mind does the work for you. Envision your fabulous party, with guests sipping lightly on wine with your new designer glasses, couples chatting over cheese and crackers on your modern serving plate, and your friends dribbling over the chic lounge chair in the corner of the room. Then imagine yourself in the middle of the room; smiling as you remember all the items you got at an amazingly good price. That’s when you know you have made your party truly exclusive.

Creating a wonderful space for your home online is easy and fun. At this web site you can enjoy designing a room in the comfort of your own home. There’s no one hassling you to buy, or planting outrageous, expensive ideas in your head. You are in control of everything. We entertainers can have the flexibility to change our minds and review our fashion options. In the end, being with friends and family is the most important part of entertaining. Seeing your design come to life will be the icing on the cake, and oh, it will be sweet.

Decorating With Garden Plant Stands
Decorating with garden plant stands is an inexpensive yet elegant way to add charm to a deck patio or porch. This is because plant stands allow you to arrange plants at different heights and also place them in a more artful way in general. One of the nicest effects is getting spiked plants mixed with trailing plants and creating a cascade of green. This effect is very rich looking if it is located in a hallway or a lobby.

 

Using the Rule of Three can help you arrange plants around a plant stand. This means that you should place two plants on the stand and another in a pot or planter nearby or that you should have one plant placed on the stand and two others in pots arranged nearby. This is a Japanese rule of floral arranging that can help you achieve the beautiful asymmetry that is associated with the most compelling of outdoor spaces.

 

Another key to using garden plant stands is to group similar plants together. For instance you can choose a tiered or waterwheel shaped garden plant stand to group herbs together. This is also a good idea because it means that you no longer have to stoop to collect the flavors for your next culinary masterpiece. You can also hang herbs from a basket in your kitchen for a very elegant effect.

 

The other good thing about garden plant stands is that it gets plants up off the ground and helps you create a serene and peaceful space. Flowers and other foliage can be meditated upon at eye level instead of beng tripped over in pots at ground level.

 

If you anticipate moving your plants in and out of doors at all try and purchase the type of garden plant stands that have wheels. Some of them are designed like little wheelbarrows with wheels only on the front two legs of the stand which makes them easy to trundle around. You can also get tall ones with a set of wheels that look good either in or out of doors. There are lovelyones made out of wrought iron like this that exist.

 

Most garden plant stands are very affordable with the most expensive models running at the most $40.00. However it is much more common to find them for less than twenty-five dollars. You can also get great deals on vintage garden plant stands at yard sales and also online on the auction sites.

Serve up an elegant graduation tea party complete with old style tea sandwiches, canapé, classical music, and amusing treats like tassel pasta and edible diplomas.

 

A Graduation Tea Party should be a short sweet and elegant affair where many guests are invited. It is one of the few tea parties where it is quite common to have as many to thirty guests to hundred guests at one time. Of course all of this depends on the number of guests that you want to invite at one time.

 

As graduation tea parties are quite large in number, it is usual to serve mostly sandwiches to save on mess and preparation time. A soup and Jell-O salads are also served to round out the meal a bit.

 

On the invitation ask you guests to dress casually but formally. Make it clear that classic music will be on the menu as well as several classic games of strategy and skill – poker, chess, checkers and croquet in the back yard. Winners of these games can expect to receive small party favors such as tiny silver picture frames, pens and bookmarks,

 

The design theme for this party should be black and white to match the formality of the occasion of graduation. A nice touch is to display photographs of all of the other graduates in the family on the walls and pictures from old yearbooks. One contest that could be held is “worst year book “ photograph for which the winner wins some kind of booby prize.

 

As this party is very grown up, you should use your very best silver tea service and crystal bowls. Square black and white plates also add an interesting touch to a staid looking table. White Oxford China with your laciest white tablecloths would be best for giving the whole affair a formal yet humorous flair.

 

If you like you could also attempt to make an ice sculpture of your school’s mascot or have on ordered up professionally. You can also give this type of party of personal touch by offering napkins or souvenir matchbooks engraved with a favorite saying or a motto.

 

Of course you shouldn’t forget the cake. You can get cake molds in the shape of graduation albums and all sorts of objects that relate to graduation ceremonies.

There are hundreds of themes for baby showers, and perhaps the perfect theme lies somewhere in the region of your imagination. For instance, if the mother-to-be is addicted to reading tabloid magazines, you might want to throw a shower that features a collage of celebrity babies. If she is into astrology, you might want to consider having the baby’s chart done or visiting a site on the Internet that helps you name a star for the baby. Yoyu could all black baby shower, for the Goth mom, who wants her child dressed in leather.

 

However if you are wondering how to decorate for a baby shower using some traditional themes here are some ideas.

 

The Teddy Bear Shower is a classic that encourages guests to bring a stuffed toy as a gift for the mother-to-be. Sometimes, a bear with a zipper side closure will be bought and money and/or gift certificates are stuffed inside to present to the mother.
In this case it is desirable to encourage guests to bring clothing, linen, and baby dinnerware decorated with teddy bear as gifts.

 

A cake is baked in the shape of a teddy bear and sometimes, the guests will sit on the floor on a checkered tablecloth to engage in a Teddy Bear’s Picnic. Round cookies can also be attached and iced to look like Teddy Bears. Flowers such as daisies or chrysanthemums suit a Teddy Bear shower.

Gummy bears tied with a pink or blue net make a nice party favor for guests to take home. Gummy bears can also be used to decorate a cake. A more elaborate take home gift is a teddy bear inside a plastic snow-shaker ornament.

 
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Another classic is the stork shower. This is a freestanding cardboard sign on the front lawn usually marks a baby shower that features a stork theme. This sign, which features the big bird carrying a baby in a diaper, is used to direct approaching guests to the right house. Sometimes this sign is erected on the front lawn of the mother-to-be’s home after the baby is born.

 

Roses, gladiolas and peonies suit this. A nice touch is to decorate the front door step with decorative cabbages. Stork parties are often also “diaper parties” so often guests are encouraged to bring a package of diapers as gifts.

 
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Guests can also be presented with custom-made bracelets or necklaces made from the same kind of beads they use to make baby identification bracelets in hospitals.
These are two of the most traditional ideas for decorating a baby shower and sometimes being traditional is the most fashionable way to be of all.

Decorating cakes so they are frilly and feminine is a real art. One of the most interesting of these cakes is the Pink Champagne wedding cake . This is not a new thing…the Pink Champagen Wedding Cake is actually a 100-year-old tradition. The cake was invented during the roaring twenties and it is basically a white cake in which all of the liquids (like water or milk) have been replaced by pink champagne. This gives the cake a distinctive fruity flavor.

 

In fact to make it at home all you have to do is buy a white cake mix and simply substitute pink champagne or even a rose for the liquids specified in the baking instructions. The frosting is also easily made out of butter, sugar, milk and champagne as well. The cake never naturally turns out pink so a few drops of red food coloring are added to the frosting to give it a delicate pastel rose hue.

 

Very few bakers nowadays make this retro style of cake but you can find it at the Kansas Steak Company online if you want to order one for a special celebration. However making one yourself is relatively inexpensive and also super-easy.

 

It is very traditional for wedding cakes to be decorated with edible pearls. Edible pearls are not anything fancy. They are simply tiny balls of fondant that have been rolled into tiny balls. They are then dusted with real edible pearl dust to give them their solid and shiny appearance and are often unmistakable for the real thing.

 

Real edible pearl dust can be bought online and eating it is supposed to have the same effects on a man as Cialis. Interestingly pearl dust is also sometimes sprinkled into glasses of poured champagne at weddings to make the drink less acidic and also make them glow a bit in the dark.

 

Edible pearls look great with natural wildflowers and that is a real decorating trend nowadays. Some cakes that are more feminine look fantastic with shiny ribbon wrapped around them or very polished strips of fondant.

 

If you a Cinderella bride then you will definitely want to look into the wedding cakes that are shaped like castles. Palace themed wedding cakes also suit people who are having the literal “fairy-tale” wedding such as a medieval wedding or one based on Disney. Believe it or not you can even get wedding gowns that are based on the gowns of Disney characters nowadays!