The Beautiful Plate: Holiday Food Presentation Tips
In fact, each serving plate is a blank slate. Why shouldn’t an appetizer tray be a work of art? Taking the time and care to make a meal special is a wonderful gift to family and friends. Check out the festive ideas below, and let them inspire you to create your own special holiday table.
The Holiday Buffet
If you’re hosting a group, a buffet table may be the answer. After all, guests can serve themselves, freeing you up for quality visits with friends and family. One of the most decadent entertaining trends in recent years is the designer buffet table. In fact, hosts and hostesses revel in each detail of the display, crafting tablescapes filled with decor and beautifully prepared spreads of food. Below we see a Christmas buffet table. Note the metallic touches, and the way bursts of red roses add color. Thoughtfully assembled bites of food tempt guests!
In an undeniably Christmas-themed dessert buffet, stripes and swirls spread holiday cheer. Decorated cupcakes and other edibles are strategically placed, as are decorations such as candy topiary trees.
Some hosts dress up their holiday spreads with an assortment of eye-catching nibbles. But equally eye-catching is a streamlined collection of bite-sized treats arranged in neat rows on square and rectangular platters, as shown below. Check out all the details at Milk From Corn.
The Plate as a Canvas
We now move from tablescapes to platescapes. The images below feature plates that may as well be works of art! Like this Christmas tree vegetable platter, shown below:
Beautifully arranged food makes all the difference. Don’t forget the value of an herb garnish, a special sauce, or a scoop of a delicious side presented in a way that makes guests take notice and appreciate each bite.
The same stunning food preparation strategy can apply to dessert, as shown by the Christmas ice cream treat featured in the next image. To create this dish, mix chocolate chips, marshmallows and other goodies into your favorite vanilla ice cream, then place scoops in ramekins or silicon muffin cups. Let the ice cream harden again in the freezer, then remove the scoops from their containers and set them on plates with chocolate syrup and fresh strawberries.
Don’t forget that each cup can be a canvas too–get creative with your Christmas drinks! Below, we see raspberry-infused hot chocolate topped off with whipped cream and fresh strawberries and if you seek further embellishment, add some fresh mint or chocolate shavings!
