| Festive fruit and vegetable garnishes are fun to make and can spruce up any meal. Use them to add a burst of color to any plate ? from side salads to main courses. Have fun, take your time and be creative! (Think about getting your older kids to help, but be sure to supervise them closely around knives and peelers.) And remember to wash your vegetables since all of the garnishes are edible.
Using a vegetable peeler, cut thin lengthwise strips of carrot. Roll each carrot strip up and secure with a wooden pick. Place in ice water for several hours to curl. Just before garnishing, remove wooden picks. Use to add a burst of color to grilled fish or chicken.
Score an X on the blossom end of each cherry tomato. Using a sharp knife, carefully peel back the skin partway down the side of the tomato to make four petals.
Select firm radishes and wash. If leaves are present, trim the stem so that just the most tender green leaves remain. Trim off the root. Using a paring knife, cut "petals" around the radish, from root end to the stem. Do not attempt to pry the petals open; they will break. Place the radishes in cold water and refrigerate until they "bloom"; drain.
Remove a thin slice from each end of the radish. Starting at either end, cut each radish lengthwise into thin slices, cutting to, but not through the other end. At right angles to the first cuts, make a similar series of parallel cuts to the same depth. Place in cold water; refrigerate until crisp.
Draw the tines of a fork lengthwise down a cucumber or zucchini; repeat all around vegetable. Cut crosswise into slices.
Slice off the roots and most of the top portions from green onions. Make slashes at both ends to produce a fringe. Place the green onions in ice water, and the ends will curl back to resemble brushes.
Cut 1/8-inch-thick slices from a lemon. Cut halfway across each slice, stopping at the center, and twist the ends of the slice in opposite directions.
Use fresh strawberries with the green tops still attached. Slice each berry from the tip almost all the way to the stem end; carefully fan out the berry slices.
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