Bringing Springtime to Your Table

About mid-February, everyone starts thinking about Spring - warm breezes, flowers beginning to blossom and scents of nature coming to life. Surprise your table with this "springtime" basket when your salad course comes to your mealtime:
Fit two lettuce cups together. Fill with tossed salad and use split green pepper rings for the handles. Top with dressing and some crumbled cheese. Trim with some "marigolds" (just notch thin slices of carrots) and you have a really wonderful "salad basket."
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Sunshine Fruit:
Slice top from a large orange. With paring knife, remove orange sections and any white membranes. Combine orange sections with banana slices, strawberry halves, blueberries, raspberries, or whatever you like. Refill orange shell and sprinkle some chilled ginger ale over fruit. Trim with mint sprigs and thoughts of springtime will grace your table.
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Springtime Dessert:
1 pkg. (8 ozs.) cream cheese, softened, 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, 1 cup whipped cream, 2 quarts fresh strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries, 1 carton (8 ozs.) frozen whipped topping, thawed
In a bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until fluffy. Gradually add the cream; beating until thick.
Spoon mixture into 10 mounds on a waxed paper-lined baking pan. Using the back of a spoon, shape into 3" cups. Freeze overnight.
To serve: fill each cup with fruit and garnish with whipped topping and chocolate curls.
Aw, the beauty of the season.
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Each Season brings with it a very special appeal
ENJOY!
©Arleen M. Kaptur 2003 January