This year around my birthday, I decided to host a Fruit and Vegetable themed party with Appetizers and Desserts. 6 of us were able to attend (Mom, Dad, Carol, Deborah, Renae and me). I asked my Mom to make a floral arrangement in a carved cabbage as a vase. She did an amazing job!

TABLE:

• Tablecloth – Green

• Napkins – Spring Green cloth

• Napkin Rings: Silver Herbs

• Place Cards – Dry Erase place cards

• Vase & Flowers – Cabbage carved with a glass inside to hold the flowers, Hydrangeas, Rose a Sharon, Dalias (all but the Dalias were from my garden – they were from a farmers market).

• Plates – Rectangular

• Homemade Menu Cards

MENU

Drinks

• Cucumber Water

• Lemon Water (lemon slices in water)

Appetizers

• Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes (cream cheese, mascarpone, garlic clove, fresh rosemary)

• Baked Parmesan Zucchini

• Chilled Green Corn Soup with jalapeno garnish

• Carrot Fritters

• Lime Watermelon Skewers – Watermelon cubes with sprinkle of fresh lime juice and lime zest

• Homemade Bread

• Cherry Bagels – This recipe, I added chopped dried cherries

• Fresh Blueberry Jam

• Tomato Basil Hummus

• Pistachio Butter

Desserts

• Peach Ice Cream with Peach Slices

• Avocado Lime Coconut Squares

My critique of the meal: 

I put more effort into garnish than usual and my guests noticed! The pistachio butter was easy to make but was a surprise hit. I tried many new recipes for the first time including adding dried cherries to my normal bagels. I loved the baked zucchini. The only thing I would not make again is the carrot fritters. They had a nice flavor but I wanted them to be crispy and didn’t enjoy making them. As usual for a party with frozen desserts, we scooped and portioned ahead of time and put back in the freezer. It made it easy to serve the dessert course. I think that all in attendance enjoyed this unusual themed party!