Edible Bouquet

I made this edible bouquet for a friend’s birthday recently using radishes and carrots and jalapenos on kebab skewers and it came out cute, so I wanted to share it with you! I am flying to NYC tomorrow, so follow me on Instagram + Twitter for my foodie adventures in the city! @theforestfeast…Bon appetit!

EDIBLE BOUQUET DIY

items to include: radishes, strawberries, jalapeno peppers, scallions, carrots, tomatillos, long leaves of dinosaur kale, long sprigs of rosemary, flowers

• Start by laying a piece of square newsprint, wrapping paper, or piece of fabric on the table. Place it so that looking down, it looks like a diamond, with one corner at the top. Fold that corner down part way so that you have a straight edge along the top.
• Start to place the items on top of the paper/fabric. Using long kebab sticks, attach items like radishes, jalapenos and tomatillos. Lay those down alongside other long vegetables and herbs.
• Add flowers if you like!
• Wrap the paper around your bouquet. You can leave the bottom open, or fold that corner up to enclose. I liked my carrot fronts sticking out!
• Tie with ribbon or twine and give it away!

Stuffed Sweet Peppers with Avocado and Pesto

These avocado/pesto stuffed peppers are a great appetizer for entertaining (or to bring to a holiday party, you could just use red peppers with the green filling!) You can often find these mini sweet peppers in bags at the super market. To make the filling a little richer, you can also add 2T cream cheese. Try to get the avocado mixture as creamy as possible with a fork, and I have found that the heavier freezer type ziplocks work the best for piping. Enjoy, and happy weekend!

By Erin Gleeson for The Forest Feast

Persimmon and Brie Mini Sandwiches

I know it’s been persimmon-palooza around here for a while, but this will likely be the last persimmon recipe until next Fall. I had some left over persimmon after making this salad for Thanksgiving, so I sliced them into wedges and made these little appetizer sandwiches, which people seemed to really like! You could use any kind of cheese, really…but do make sure you choose Fuyu persimmons (the squat tomato looking ones that are eaten when crunchy and don’t leave a pasty taste in your mouth like those soft oblong ones). If you can’t find persimmons, you could also use pears or apples. This is an easy cocktail hour snack to serve before dinner, and can easily be made ahead. Enjoy!

Persimmon Cranberry Sauce for Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! Jonathan and I left the woods for the beach and we’re spending the holiday weekend with my family in Santa Barbara. I am blogging for Better Homes and Gardens now, so I tried their New Cranberry Sauce recipe this year and it’s delicious! It has onions, garlic and persimmon, which give it a fantastic flavor. For more photos of this dish and my beachy Thanksgiving, check out today’s post on the Better Homes and Gardens website.

Persimmon Squash Salad

Persimmons are my favorite autumn fruit and I was so excited to share this recipe on Design Sponge on Friday- it’s a great, alternative Thanksgiving side salad. Trees around the Bay Area are bursting with persimmons right now and my friend, photographer Topher Simon, let me come over and pick from (and photograph!) his tree. Be sure when eating persimmons raw you choose the Fuyu variety- they are more squat and crunchy. The other more oblong variety leave a pasty taste in your mouth when eaten raw- they  are meant for cooking with.

Check out the Design Sponge post of this recipe for more photos and detailed instructions. Enjoy!

By Erin Gleeson for The Forest Feast