Thanksgiving food can be its own source of decoration. Beautiful cakes, pies, appetizers and casseroles make exceptional table décor. If you have a natural talent to bake, take a bit more time to decorate, and make dessert your table centerpiece. Spend a bit more time on one or two dishes and you have a beautiful table that is both eye catching and belly pleasing. Food is the most practicable and budget savvy way to add color and style to your Thanksgiving celebration.
Serve Hor d’oeuvre as colorful as they are delicious. Appetizers and finger foods, when cleverly arranged, make lovely displays that add to your harvest decorations. Try using tall glasses and vases to hold vegetable sticks and chunks. Present a platter of citrus with sprigs of herbs. Display fruit both whole and sliced to expose the vivid inner flesh. Arrange fruit, flowers and vegetables into a shallow dish and spread into a fan effect. Place this eatable art about your home and table and it will look as though you spent big bucks on design when actually you simply shopped smart!
The Thanksgiving table is about ABUNDANCE and the best way to present plenty with an eye on budget is to use food that won’t go to waste. Plan ahead and use next week’s menu as your guide. Buy produce to be used in future recipes, breads for next weeks meals, and supplies that will serve double duty as dinner and decorations! Raid your fridge and pantry and you can present a festive and colorful table display for very little green.
Use your skill at baking to create the perfect Thanksgiving statement! Don’t wait till after the meal; place your beautiful dessert in the center of your dinner table for all to see. Let your talent be your guide and create an autumn sweet treat that will make your Thanksgiving picture perfect, and by keeping your signature dessert front and center your guests will anxiously anticipate their final bites.
Not skilled at baking? No worries…arrange lovely pre-baked desserts into a beautiful display or try one of these Trash Lassie favorites for fast and fun presentations that combine store bought items to quickly create exceptional holiday treats without turning on an oven!
- 40 fudge stripe cookies (or round, flat cookies of your choice)
- 1/3 cup frosting (used to "glue" the pieces together; chocolate works best)
- 20 chocolate covered cherries or similarly sized truffles with rounded tops
- 20 pieces candy corn
- Writing icing in white and black to make eyes on the turkeys (optional)
Place 20 cookies on a flat surface striped side up. With frosting, attach a chocolate covered cherry to the top of each cookie, to cover the hole on the bottom. Position another cookie perpendicular to each base cookie so the stripes are aligned; attach with frosting. With a dab of frosting, attach one piece of candy corn to the front of each cherry for the head. If desired, use one two dots of white writing icing topped with a slightly smaller dot of black writing icing on each piece of candy corn to give the turkeys eyes. Let stand until set, about 20 minutes.
Place one Nutter Butter into the cupcake. Make turkey feathers by sandwiching a toothpick in between two layers of fruit leather and insert as a semi-circle behind the cookie. Cut additional fruit leather into turkey face. Use one or two dots of white icing to make eyes and place one dot of black in center.
- Sugar Cookies
- 16 oz chocolate creamy frosting
- Orange decorating icing
- Candy corn
- Black decorating gel
- Miniature candy-coated chocolate baking bits
Spoon chocolate frosting into re-sealable plastic bag and make a small hole in bottom corner of bag. On each cookie, pipe frosting on outer edge on half of cookie. Arrange candy corn over frosting for turkey feathers. Pipe orange icing onto each cookie to resemble thanksgiving turkey face and feet. Use orange icing to attach baking bits to turkey face for eyes. Pipe black gel on baking bits for centers of eyes.
