Haunted Forest Platter

This imaginative forest is totally edible.

Recipe Ingredients:

3 stalks of broccoli
3 medium beets
Wood toothpicks
3 hard-boiled eggs
Assorted vegetables such as cherry tomatoes, pea pods, kohlrabies, radishes, sweet red peppers, sweet yellow peppers, and shredded carrot
Ripe olives, pimiento-stuffed olives, and/or tiny sweet pickles
1 ounce spaghetti, cooked and drained
Liquid green food coloring

Cooking Directions:

1. To make a haunted forest, first create trees. Cut bottoms from stalks of broccoli to make 6-inch broccoli trees. Slice beets about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick to make a base for broccoli trees. Break wood toothpicks in half. Insert three to four toothpick pieces into bottom of each broccoli stalk and then insert into a beet slice. Stand broccoli upright. Cover to keep moist.
2. To make egg ghosts, use a small knife or 1/2-inch aspic cutters to hollow out eyes and mouths to form a face. Cut small pieces of ripe olive to press into hollowed-out areas for eyes or mouth, if desired. Cover to keep moist.
3. Using your imagination, create creepy creatures with tomatoes, sweet peppers, pickles, olives, and radishes.
4. Place broccoli trees on serving platter. Cover surface of platter with shredded carrot. Hide egg ghosts in forest along with creepy creatures. Scatter piles of vegetables such as pea pods, beet slices, kohlrabi slices, olives, pickles, and/or any other desired vegetables. Add strips of red pepper to the broccoli branches.
5. To make moss, add a few drops of green food coloring to a small amount of water in a medium bowl. Add cooked spaghetti and let stand about 5 minutes. Drain and place over broccoli trees. Keep platter covered until serving time. If necessary, spritz platter with water to keep it moist.

Recipe provided by Better Homes and Gardens - BHG.com a member of the Home and Family Network for the best of cooking, gardening, decorating and more. © 2003 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved.