Edible decor a sweet way to celebrate
Treats add to festive season
Q: How do you feel about holiday decor that you can eat? Yes or no?
A: Yes, yes and yes to decorating with arrangements that look good and taste even better! The best gift I’ve received so far this season is a gingerbread house by artisanal pastry shop Bobette and Belle (bobbetteandbelle.com). It’s currently sitting on my console table and making my living room smell delightful. Though I have to confess that I have been eating the back of the house; at least its gorgeousness remains intact. B&B also make macaroon Christmas tree towers.
In my early days at Style at Home, Michael Pellegrino of Teatro Verde created a dream wreath for me made solely from Ferrero Rocher chocolates. You can tie or hot glue any type of treat — gingerbread men, chocolate bells, candies — to a Styrofoam, boxwood or cedar wreath.
In seasons past, I’ve been obsessed with holiday grocery store decor. When an impromptu dinner party arises, the grocery store offers fail-safe one-stop holiday shopping. I’ve nestled pillar candles amid peppermint pinwheel candies, filled footed cylinder vases with pomegranates and holly, piled clementines and cloves into salad bowls, and made a wreath using a glue gun and chestnuts. A chestnut wreath looks magnificent, but I’ve burned all 10 fingers using the glue gun. Plus, the chestnuts are heavy and the wreath needs to be secured to a giant bow and a nail that resembles a vampire stake. And, if you hang the wreath outside, the squirrels will be well fed, and you won’t be roasting the chestnuts on an open fire later in the season. I’m not trying to deter you from making a one, but you should know the facts.
I’ve also hung gingerbread ornaments on trees, grouped cloches filled with pyramids of Turkish delight, filled bowls with magnolia and Forelle pears, and strung a garland of mittens across the mantel (instead of stockings) filled with cookies, candy canes, and chocolate bars. The mittens filled with treats make great gifts for little ones who visit you during the holidays.
Last, nothing makes me feel more nostalgic than strings of popcorn. A friend recently told me that she and her mom still hang the same red-dyed popcorn string from her childhood on their tree.
I was the kind of child who ate the popcorn on the string even if it was a few years old. I’m not kidding.
So hang those candy canes, fill your glass vessels with Hanukkah gelt, and may visions of sugar plums dance in your head (and home).
Happy edible holiday decorating!