Christmas Success

Christmas was a success. My family loved the strawberry jam. Everyone kept asking if I really made it. Yes, I really made it and you can too. Just some sugar, crushed up strawberries, and pectin.

For my grandmother I had this idea to make an edible arrangement Christmas tree. But because I was coming from out of town I wasn't sure how that was going to work. I went to Michaels for some of the stuff. I got a small styrofoam cone and small Christmas cookie cutters. They came in a pack of 6 but I only used the gingerbread man, Christmas tree, and candy cane cut outs. Then I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and got the big star cookie cutter. I cut out the pineapple with the small cookie cutters, and then put them on ice and hoped that they lasted 3 more days until Christmas. Then the night before Christmas I cut out the star from the cantaloupe and put the whole arrangement together. I used toothpicks to put the pieces of fruit into the cone. When I cut out the star on top, I left the outside of the cantaloupe on. The only fruit I used was blackberries, cantaloupe and pineapple. I had intentions of using strawberries as well but they went bad. I think this turned out quite well for my first edible arrangement though and my grandma almost ate the whole thing in one sitting. She loves fresh fruit. I put a plastic bag around the arrangement and stuck it in the fridge overnight and then took it out and put it in a gift bag in the morning. Here is the final outcome.