"Flower" Dusting

To close out our week of "flower" entertaining we are talking about decorating your fiesta - the finishing touches for any host.

Now that you've incorporated flowers into your food, drink, and serving dishes it's time to focus on decorating. It's summer time so everything is in bloom and ready to be placed on your table.

A "green" way to decorate is to use your potted plants as table decor. It creates a rustic yet chic look and the best part is that you can reuse the plants.

Place flower heads on cheesboards, place cards, dessert bards, and appetizer plates. Simple mums are colorful and budget friendly and their hearty heads are perfect for sprinkling around. They can last a long time without water.

Gorgeous, rich colors for an outdoor get together.

Your Daily "Flower" Serving

Continuing with flower entertaining:

Part of hosting any "food" related event is figuring out creative ways of serving it. Flowers are a great way to serve some popular dishes.

A great flower to serve mousses and other small desserts is in a tulip head. Tulips are perfect "cups" and their bright color single-handedly decorates your outdoor event.

"Flower" Drink

To continue with our outdoor entertaining while incorporating flowers today we'd like to give you some fun ideas oh how to spruce up your refreshing cocktails.

Make some flower-filled ice cubes. Do this by adding a little water to the ice tray, place a flower (or flower petal) on top and add to the freezer. Once frozen bring it out and pour more water into the tray and place back in the freezer. By freezing in stages you will ensure the flower freezes in the center of the cube.

Another great idea is to replace your everyday straws or cocktail umbrellas with edible flower stems. This will add color and special detailing to your soiree.

A bright splash of color!

Bottoms up!

"Flower" Food

image source

Hello - hope everyone had a great weekend!

Although here in the District we've had nothing but rain all weekend I strongly believe that summer is almost here :) The best part of summer (for me at least) is outdoor entertaining. This week we'll be bringing you tips on how to prepare for this social season and incorporate flowers.

Today's topic: "Flower" Food.

During the summer we are lucky to have plenty of fresh produce. With so many fabulous and readily available ingredients one can't help but make salads. Tired of your everyday arugula, spinach, or Caesar salad? At the next party how about wowing your guests by adding edible flowers to your salad. Flowers such as nasturtiums are perfect for summer salads - they add a delicate, piquant flavor. And not to mention beautiful, bright color!

Borage flowers and geranium leaves are fantastic for creating a sweet fragrant atmosphere. Use either to decorate melon and you'll forget about scented candles.

a beautiful dessert decorated with a borage flower

I can't wait to add these beautiful bold colors to my dishes!