BiO-Lmcnltr Faming, Saturday, Dacambar 11,1903 JOYCE BUPP York Co. Correspondent LOGANVILLE (York Co.) Mandy Brown became an artist when she participated in the coun ty 4-H demonstration program last summer. But Mandy didn’t use paints or brushes in her artistic demonstration. She used food. In Mandy’s award-winning demonstration, she showed how to make attractive food decorations with ordinary fruits and veget ables that most people have in their refrigerators. Her grand mother, Ruthann Keeney, some times prepares decorated foods for her customers at a York farmers’ market. She helped Mandy with her ideas and shared some of the special tools that make it easier to create attractive food garnishes. Now, Mandy, who is 11 years old and a sixth-grader at Dallas town Middle School, is planning to help with the family’s special Christmas holiday meals. She will use some of the food garnishes she learned to make and demon strated, plus a few new ones she has been trying since then. Some food garnishes can be made with a regular paring knife or a vegetable peeler. Mandy often gets smiles from her demonstra tion audiences when she makes a carrot “dumbbell.” The dumbbell is made by cutting a thin carrot stick and sticking an olive on each end. A celery fan can also be made with a paring knife. Mandy cuts After halving a pepper with a garnishing tool that cuts scalloped edges, Mandy scoops out the seeds and pulp to make an edible container for holding salads. Girl Uses Food To Show Artistic Flair .sections of celery about two inches long. The she makes sever al cuts in one end of the section, each cut about an inch into the cel ery. When the cut celery slices are refrigerated in ice water for an hour or two. the small cuts spread apart into a fan'shape. Certain special tools are designed just for decorating with foods. One of the tools Mandy uses for her demonstration makes crinkle cuts. The crinkle cutter has a wavy blade of metal and can be pushed through raw vegetables like potatoes or apples. The wavy edged blade gives the sliced veg etables or fruits a prettier finish than slicing with a plain, flat knife. “Any time you cut apples and ate not going to serve them right away, you must dip the cut edge in lemon juice to keep them from turning brown,” Mandy explains. Mandy had plenty of apples to practice with for her demonstra tion. Her parents. Scott and Bren da Brown, are part of the family’s Brown’s Orchard and Retail Market business. Another tool for food decorat ing looks like a V-shaped knife with sharp, jagged edges. By repeatedly pushing the blade into an apple or orange, making V shaped cuts side-by-side com pletely around the fruit, Mandy cuts the fruit in half. Each half then has a pretty, scalloped finish. Mandy inserts a toothpick into the center'of each half and sticks grapes or cherries on the toothpicks.' ■^v Mandy offers a selection of her food garnishes for her mother, Brenda, to sample. This tool is also handy fa* - cut- cucum j )ef can make a very long “Be careful, because the tools ting a pepper or tomato in half. you U se to prepare these foods are Mandy then uses a spoon to scoop g vcn a g | asg 0 f frui t j u ice or sharp.” Mandy always reminds “I 1 .* 6 an J? flc ? h m iced tea can be made more attrac- her audiences, middle. The scalloped outside MaiK j y tells her audience, by For her demonstration, Mandy sheu that remains is a colorful a lemon wheel on the edge made posters that help explain her container for serving cold foods glaiS A i emon wheel is decorating ideas. In addition to hire chicken salad. And, you can made . cutt i ng a cross-section competing at county and regional “I*® dC ?^!l Ve ““S from a lemon, leaving the thick level, Mandy did her demonstra- For a birthday party, Mandy skin By nuking a cu t don for the Loganvillc Communi halfway across the round section, ty Club and York County 4-H Sj, the lemon wheel can be slipped Achievement Night program. She The melon fruit can be scooped partway down ovcr gj-g Q has also done other food and sew from the center and muted with glflgg ing demonstrations during her 4-H other fruits to serve in the basket c j u |j activities. A spiral tool is what Mandy uses to make an unusual food garnish that resembles a Slinky toy. The tool has a plastic, screw like center which she pushes into a radish or cucumber. Mandy then turns the handle of the tool, which has a knife-edge that cuts around and around as the spiral part turns in the middle. A radish makes a small spiral garnish, but a whole The wavy-edged blade of a garnish tool makes It easy to A spiral cutting tool used by Mandy carves a potato form crinkle-cut French fries, garnish that looks like a wire spring.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers