How to decorate second courses for children. Beautiful decoration of dishes for the festive table

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The taste and aroma of the dish are of paramount importance. But it is important to pay attention to the aesthetic side of the meal. Indeed, in the process of eating food, not only the taste buds of our tongue and the organs of smell are involved, but also the eyes. This is why the presentation of dishes is so important. A photo of beautifully decorated dishes causes a rush of saliva even in a well-fed person. But the gray mass, smeared on a plate, no matter how tasty and healthy it may be, is not attractive. This article will be devoted to catering - the art of laying a festive table in any situation, and carving - the skill of decorating dishes. You can, after a few trainings, having practiced at ordinary family meals, master all the necessary skills to surprise your guests at a banquet.

We're setting the table

Probably, there is no need to say that the tablecloth should be in harmony with the napkins, and those with the dishes. By the way, however strange it may sound, dishes look best on ordinary white plates without any decorations. An exception may be a "thematic" table. If you are planning to feed your guests with dishes, let’s say, of Ukrainian cuisine, then dumplings will look great in painted clay plates. But then all other accessories should be matched “to the theme”: embroidered tablecloths, glechki, kukhli and other ceramics. The original shape of the plates - triangular, square - immediately sets the guests on the fact that something unusual will be served on the table - Japanese cuisine or a vintage salad. If you are using ornamental dishes, it is important to make sure that the food does not cover the pattern. Table decoration with dishes is also very important point in meal preparation. Surely you have a dish that you consider crown. Place it in the middle of the table to keep your guests' attention on it. It is this dish that can and should be decorated. Everyone else should be on the periphery (but not on the edge of the table). Use this principle with every meal change. The second rule of catering is simplicity. Overloading with decor can backfire and make your holiday table look gaudy and not very pretty. The design of dishes should also be subject to the principle of the right combination of colors. You should not put burgundy vinaigrette and brown mushrooms next to each other. But we will talk about the color palette of the table a little later.

Public Orientation

Birthdays, weddings, christenings or housewarming - the decoration of the table depends on the reason for the holiday. Children's decoration of dishes is good only when the hero of the occasion and all the guests are not yet fifteen years old. Otherwise, funny little animals carved from vegetables, or figurines of princesses and pirates made from molasses will look silly. You should also adapt to the audience and in the design of the table. You should not put crystal wine glasses on the children's table - little guests will not appreciate it anyway. But cheerful multi-colored cups (necessarily with tubes) will be just in place. For adults, the design of dishes is best stylized as floral motifs - leaves, flowers. Abstract decorations in the form of a spiral of cucumber, clear laconic lines of onion feathers, and the like are also suitable. At the wedding, in addition to a multi-tiered cake with figurines of the bride and groom, dishes are served that remind of marriage. These can be salads, decorated in the form of intertwining rings. At a housewarming or christening, it is customary to wish prosperity and well-being. Then you can arrange cold cuts in the form of a "horn of plenty".

Principle of timeliness

Registration festive dishes requires an investment of time. Therefore, some decorations should be prepared in advance. But even here we need to think about whether this or that decor will lose its shape, color and taste. For example, fresh herbs revitalizes, refreshes the dish. But two hours later, we see a sad picture: a drooping sprig of dill, a softened lettuce leaf. Some decorations tend to color the dish. The beetroot flower should be placed on the salad immediately before serving, otherwise an unaesthetic pink spot will spread under it. On the other hand, beet decor elements can be stored for a long time in wine vinegar without compromising tone and color. Boiled vegetable decorations are best kept in the water in which they were cooked. So they will not let the juice out and will not wind up. Very often, at banquets and receptions, instead of sandwiches, baskets with various fillings are served. So that the dough does not get wet, you need to fill them only with “dry” salads, and even then not earlier than half an hour before serving. But the design of hot dishes, on the contrary, requires a pre-prepared decor. If you do not want the dish to cool, chop the greens and cut out the decorations from the vegetables ahead of time. After pulling a piece of meat out of the oven, just go around the edges with a silicone brush with oil - this will make the golden crust even more appetizing.

The color palette of the table and dishes

The dish you have prepared should lie harmoniously on the plate. If it is colorful (salad from bell pepper, vinaigrette or olivier), choose an immaculately white dish. Decorated plates enliven mashed potatoes, rice, pale golden potatoes. According to the color scheme, the dishes and the food placed on it should not compete, but harmoniously complement each other. However, it is important not to get carried away: decorating dishes in the right colors should not be done to the detriment of their taste. Combine only those products that are suitable for each other. In the design of the dish, you can work both on color contrast and harmony. First example: pale potatoes on the side, dark brown boeuf bourguignon and brightly dressed bell pepper on the side. Salad "Mimosa" with pomegranate seeds scattered on top. White boiled rice and juicy green onions. Compliance with the principle of harmonious transition of colors will also fit well into the design of dishes. Photos of various festive dishes often demonstrate this. Here, for example, a pale green lettuce, pink shrimp, white sauce. Or golden french fries, brown meat, dark dressing. Fried fish with orange crisp, yellow lemons, green salad. A successful color scheme will help you create vegetables and fruits, boiled eggs. Cooks often use patrelle seasoning, which turns light-colored vegetables (potatoes, turnips) brown.

Basic rules for decorating dishes

Let's briefly repeat what was said above. What are the basic principles for decorating a festive table and its dishes? Simplicity and conciseness uniform style(children's holiday, national cuisine, etc.), timeliness, colors. Let's add to this accuracy. The cut lines should be clear and even, the decorations should be masterfully made. Therefore, to decorate dishes, you need to purchase special tools. You should not use inedible elements for decoration - from paraffin and even more so from glass. An exception can only be skewers that fasten canapés or paper papillots, which wrap the bird's paws so that you can take it without getting dirty or burned. These crisp white doilies can also be lace cut to make a chicken or duck look pretty. The design of the sweet table dishes involves the use of all sorts of paper umbrellas and other props if you are serving ice cream or cocktails. All other decor elements (for a cake or pastries) must be edible. There is another principle that can be called the rule of proportionality. It lies in the fact that a large portioned piece needs a coarsely chopped side dish. So, french fries are often served with Wiener schnitzel. Whereas rice is more suitable for stews or small pieces of fish.

Preparing and serving meals

Now let's figure out when and how to bring food to the table. Cold drinks are present from the beginning to the end of the meal. But the food is not. The festive feast consists of such changes of dishes: cold appetizers, hot, dessert. This is a generalized diagram. Of course, before inviting guests to the table, you can take them with some kind of aperitif, serve soup for hot, and then the second; after dessert, offer fruit to the ladies, and cognac and a cigar to the gentlemen. But this is particular. We will proceed from three classic meals. Each of them has its own set of dishes. And his "crown dish". It is placed in a large salad bowl (it can even be on a leg to distinguish it from other dishes), a round or oval dish, an oblong herring (if it is stuffed fish). A snack plate is placed in front of each guest. Then the dishes are removed, and for the next change of dishes they take out their set. The first is served in a tureen with a lid, and deep plates or broth cups (with two handles) are placed in front of the guests. If the design of cold dishes is carried out at the expense of fresh vegetables, then for hot dishes they use a combination of the main dish and side dish, sauce and vitamin accompaniment. This latter can be canned peas, corn, mushrooms, boiled vegetables. Creams and fruits are used to decorate desserts.

Put on a plate

Very often, empty plates are placed in front of each guest, and large dishes with refreshments are placed in the center of the table. Then everyone has the opportunity to eat what he likes best, or what his diet allows him to. But sometimes we are forced to resort to serving portions of dishes. Then each guest receives his plate, as if he had dinner in a restaurant. And here the design of festive dishes plays an important role. The guest is forced to eat what was brought to him, without the right to choose. Thus, the dish should seduce him, captivate him with one look. So, what lies on the plate is visually divided into three elements. The central one should be slightly raised in order to say with its bulge: “I am the main meal here.” It can be meat, fish, breaded cheese. On the side, observing subordination, we place a side dish. As we remember, it should be suitable for the main dish both in terms of taste, structure (large or small), as well as color. On the other side of the central element is a refreshing component - fresh or canned vegetables, herbs, mushrooms. This design of dishes for the festive table is classic. If you are using sauce, it should be poured under the center piece, not over it, so that the guest can see what is being served.

Salads and appetizers

The design of cold dishes involves the decoration of large plates, from where guests impose portions on themselves. Therefore, you can decorate not one cold table dish, but three. As a rule, these are cold cuts, “crown” salad and aspic. This last dish can be turned into a picture - after all, all the elements are securely fixed with a gelatinous mass. It is enough to master the art of carving to create a real masterpiece. For the masterful cutting out of vegetables of all kinds of stars, roses, chrysanthemums, lilies and animals, there is a whole arsenal for sale. kitchen utensils. In addition to sharp knives and an egg cutter, you should have a few noisettes or "Paris spoons". These are scissors that have a hemisphere with cutting edges instead of blades. With such a spoon, you can not only form perfect ice cream balls, but also cut melon or peach pulp. You will also need different devices to remove the core from the fruit, notch different sizes, a serving ring, a culinary syringe with nozzles, a silicone brush and a set of knives: for peeling and for curly slicing vegetables, without which the design of snack table dishes is unthinkable.

Hot dishes

If it is not a suckling pig or fish, the carcass should be butchered. But in this case, make sure that the dish is cut so that it is more convenient for guests to take a piece on a plate. The use of feathers as decoration for poultry dishes is not recommended for hygienic reasons. Also, some guests may be shocked by whole carcasses of rabbits, pork and veal heads. Modern people prefer not to think about what they eat killed animals. But this does not mean at all that decorating hot dishes is impossible. Vintage spiral from fresh cucumber will decorate meat, and openwork slices of lemons - fish. Do not forget that the design of dishes for the festive table includes vegetables and aromatic herbs. But we will try to make the main element itself as attractive as possible. If it is fried or baked, emphasize the appetizing crust. To do this, before serving, dip a silicone brush in vegetable oil and run along the sides of the escalope or ham removed from the skewer. Garnish can also be presented aesthetically. The serving ring will help you form the perfect circle of mashed potatoes. Press the boiled rice into a round bowl, and then invert it onto a plate. Decorate the resulting dome with three mint or basil leaves.

Children's table

This is where you can not be afraid to go too far with the decor! Little "nehochuha" usually remain indifferent to salads and hot dishes. They are not interested in what kind of delicacies you got for them and how long you stood at the stove. They came to a friend's birthday party to eat cake and run around. So children's decoration dishes is designed to arouse the interest of young guests in food. Salads themselves can take the form of hedgehogs, mushrooms, cartoon characters. For the girl's birthday, do not spare flowers from radishes, carrots, beets and hard-boiled eggs. The boy and his comrades will be attracted by cucumber boats carved from the dog's sausage. Children of both sexes with the same appetite eat stuffed eggs if they remind them of "Angry Birds" (angry birds) from the cult cartoon.

We know that children are not always willing to eat, and even if they do not mind, they just get bored of sitting in front of a bowl of porridge. Beautifully designed main courses for children can be a real lifesaver for parents whose children are not big hunters for serious food. But even if you have no problems with feeding, an unusually served side dish will be an excellent decoration for a children's holiday table.

In the photo below you will see interesting ideas decoration of side dishes and meat second courses for children of different ages.

Ingredients

Rice - 100 g
Processed cheese (briquette) or hard - 100 g
Sausages or boiled sausage - 50 g
Lemon slice - 1 pc.
a piece of carrot

Cooking

Boil the rice until cooked, let it cool a little, put it on a plate and form two slides from it with a teaspoon - oval and round.
We cut the melted cheese into slices 3-4 mm thick, the main thing is that they do not break. We connect the two pieces and cut out the lower paws with a knife - this way they will turn out symmetrical.

We also cut out two front ones at once, then we make triangular ears and a tail. We put everything in the right places.

From a slice of sausage (1 - 2 mm), we cut out 2 circles and 6 ovals with a mold - smaller ones - these will be pads.

According to the shape of the cheese ears, we make 2 of the same from sausages, only smaller so that the cheese layer is clearly visible. We spread the pads and “palms” on the front paws.

Remove the pulp from a slice of lemon and lay out the remaining crust instead of a collar. We decorate it with a small circle of carrots.
Black "stripes" - triangles, if desired, we make either from nori seaweed (sushi is twisted into it) or from thinly chopped olives.

Ordinary buckwheat can become your child's favorite dish if it is beautifully presented.

Ingredients

Buckwheat - 100 g
Milk sausage - 1 pc.
Chicken egg - 1 pc.
Carrot - 1 pc.
Olives - 1 pc.

Cooking

To begin with, boil all the ingredients except the olive, clean the egg and proceed to the design of the dish.
We spread buckwheat in a round slide, cut off about 2 cm from each side of the sausage, and divide the tips in half. We put them in place of the paws.
We put the whole egg in place of the head.
We make rings from boiled carrots: cut off a couple of slices and make round holes in them with a mold. The rings should be large enough not to slip off the egg. Inside we put the cut edges of the olives - the eyes are ready!
The mouth, if desired, can be made from a piece of bell pepper.

Ingredients

Sausages - 3 pcs.
Sausage - 1 pc.
Olives - 1 pc.
Green onions - a bunch
Salad - 3 sheets

Cooking

We boil sausages, they will be useful to us because of their shape - with them the elephant will turn out to be more well-fed, and sausage - it is needed for decoration.
We chop the onion and put it on the washed and dried lettuce leaves on a plate - this will be a “grass”.
We cut off 6 thin slices from the boiled sausage, make cuts according to the size of the slices on the sausage closer to the beginning, put 2 of them inside, as shown in the photo.

We cut the remaining sausage lengthwise and make 3 narrow thin strips about 3 cm long. In the place where the trunk will be, we make a hole with a toothpick and put a strip into it - the trunk.

We also arrange the rest of the sausages.

Ingredients

Potatoes - 2 pcs.
Cucumber - 1 pc.
Radish - 1 pc.
Salad - 1 sheet
Cracker - 1 pc.

Cooking

We prepare mashed potatoes, as usual, the main condition is that it should not be too liquid so as not to spread! We spread it on a plate with an oval, imitating the uneven structure of feathers with a spoon.
Instead of the head of the owlet, we lay out a cracker, and below we attach a triangular leaf of lettuce in the form of a tail. Instead of a cracker, you can take a slice of black bread or diet bread, cut out with a round mold.
Cut 5-6 thin slices from the cucumber. Two will be the eyes, and three are cut in half and put in place of the wings one under the other on both sides.
We cut the radish very thinly and put two slices of suitable diameter on top of the cucumbers - the “eye”. Decorate with green peas on top.
Optionally, we place a triangular piece of radish, imitating a beak and two cucumber sticks in place of the “eyebrows”.

The idea to arrange a salad in this way was given by a famous children's cartoon.

Ingredients

Medium beets - 1 pc.
Sour cream - 2 tbsp
Egg - 1 pc.
Carrot - 1 pc.

Cooking

Boil the egg and vegetables, as for a regular salad.
We rub a part of the beets on a fine grater, season with sour cream and put them on a plate in a round slide. Carefully form the ears and wings with a knife.
From the boiled egg white with a mold, cut out circles - “eyes”.
We clean the carrots, cut into slices and first make a “beak”, then strips for a hat.
From the remaining beets we make "paws" by cutting out a few sticks. Alternating carrots with beets, lay out the cap.
We finish by making small details from beets: “pupils”, pompoms, tassels on the ears, etc.

If in the process of laying out the salad on the plate there are traces, wipe them with a napkin. We decorate the dish with flowers and stars from carrots and squirrels, and parsley.

Another idea how beautiful and fun you can serve rice!

Ingredients

Rice - 100 g
Chicken egg - 1 pc.
Bulgarian pepper (red) - 1 pc.
Boiled chicken meat - 50 g
Cheese - slice
Greens, mushrooms - optional

Cooking

Put the boiled rice on a plate in the form of a hare figurine.
We cut out “eyes” and “teeth” from protein, carrots and a mouth from pepper, and we make pieces of olives. We put everything in place.
We make a “handbag” from a piece of boiled meat. It can also be made from cheese or pepper. It all depends on what exactly you need to feed the child!
We make the sun from the yolk, and cut the rays from a slice of cheese.
You can decorate the plate with greens and halves of fried mushrooms.

Ingredients

Spaghetti - 50 g
Boiled carrots - 1 pc.
Canned corn - 1 tbsp
Olives - 1 pc.
Greenery

Cooking

Without breaking, boil spaghetti and lay them out in a slide.
From a slice of carrots, we make “eyes” and a triangular beak with a round mold.
We put corn in front of him
We make paws from parsley or dill cuttings, and put round pieces of olives on top of the carrot “eyes”.

Ingredients

Baby sausages (they are smaller) - 2 pcs.
Spaghetti - 100 g
Bell pepper yellow - 1 pc.
Ketchup or tomato paste

Cooking

From boiled spaghetti we make a “cloud” on the edge of the plate, and cut out a circle and triangular “rays” from pepper. Putting out the sun.
We cook sausages and put one whole, and cut the other - and put the halves in the form of wings. From the rest we make a "tail".
Draw portholes with drops of ketchup.

Ingredients

Barley - 100 g
Sausage - 1 pc.
Cucumber - 1 pc.
Egg - 1 pc.
Green onions - a few feathers
Olives, greens.

Cooking

Boil sausage, pearl barley and egg.
We put the porridge on a plate in the form of a cat's face.
We make cheeks and ears from slices of boiled sausage, and eyes from pieces of protein and slices of cucumber. Cut the olive into pieces and put in place of the vertical pupils.
We select onion feathers by size, put 3 pieces on each side of sausages - these are mustaches. "Cat" for the children's table is ready!

Cut out a circle from rye or wheat bread. 2 smaller circles of egg white will become eyes. Draw paws with ketchup, and cut out claws from bell pepper.

A "smile" can also be made from ketchup, and pupils from pieces of olives!

We form a machine from mashed potatoes on a plate. With ketchup we denote the headlights, and 2 stacks of chopped slices of cucumber will become the wheels. green onion we designate the contours of the windows, and put the boiled sausage on the "roof".

Mashed cockerel

To beautifully serve a seemingly banal dish to a baby - potatoes with a cutlet, no need to philosophize!

Every hostess knows how important a beautiful serving of dishes is, especially when you are preparing to receive guests. And when setting the table, it is important not to forget about salads. The very design of salads is not so much a complicated process as it takes time and patience. But one has only to approach this creatively, and your culinary masterpieces will surprise guests not only with taste, but also with all their interesting appearance.
And really, how can one forget about one of the most important and popular dishes when decorating a festive table? Don't underestimate them.

It doesn't matter if you're going to celebrate an important event or you just want to have dinner with your family, you just have to put a bright, decorated salad, and it will instantly transform an ordinary meal.

And despite the fact that in any kitchen there are festive and everyday dishes, this is one of those that always fits perfectly into the menu. Many of them do not even need to be decorated, they themselves show a riot of colors and elegant brightness, and the rest are in no way inferior to their “holiday” counterparts, one has only to show imagination.

Remember how much the hostess has to do before an important feast: buy groceries in advance, and think over all the dishes, and cook, and set the table, and don’t forget about yourself. And how can you serve cooked food beautifully at such a frantic pace?

And in this case, salads will come to your aid. Their design will not take much time, especially if you find a couple of options the day before, with photos and descriptions.

Over time, you will get so used to it that serving even the most a simple dish will amaze guests and your family with its sophistication. And each time it will take less and less time. And then you definitely have time to do both manicure and makeup before the holiday.

How can you decorate a salad so that even a real gourmet is interested in your creation? To get started, stock up on greens - they will help the dish look fresh.

To decorate salads, it is better to use those ingredients that are already included in its composition, or those that you are sure of, since everything should be combined with each other not only in color, but also in taste.

But if with salads without dressing (or dressed with oils) everything is simple - they do not require additional decoration, then what about others? After all, many others imply the presence of mayonnaise or other sauce that hides bright color products.

Here, take a boat (also called a round cut) into service: it will help you serve an appetizer in the form of a neat ring. Such a device can also be found in a square shape. If there is no time left to go to the store, do not despair.

An ordinary circumcised can also cope with this task. plastic bottle or baking molds. Simply place them on a plate and scoop a portion of the salad inside, crushing it well with a spoon to keep it from falling apart. Then remove the "frame" and - voila! - the salad is ready for further serving.

On top, you can put a chopped egg, mushrooms, bell peppers, olives, olives or greens. With this serving, the dish will look very stylish and neat. And you can make such a basket for salad, as in the photo.

There are moments when time is so short that even such simple details have no time to be distracted. Then again you have to postpone for the next time both serving and decoration. But there are options for such cases. They do not require any preparation and absolutely do not depend on the composition or dressing.

If you are planning several salads at once, then do not decorate them the same way, it will be boring. It is better to diversify the decor, but so that they all look harmonious with each other and the main dishes. Do not forget that everything is good in moderation: an excessive passion for decoration will nullify all your efforts, the table will look awkward, and the dishes will look unappetizing.

It will not be superfluous to remember some tricks. For example, products and colors:

If you need a burgundy color - take beets;
red - pomegranate, tomatoes, bell pepper will help you;
need green? Take peppers, canned peas, cucumbers and any greens;
if you want to add blue - mix the juice of red cabbage with rice or boiled egg;
corn, yolk and pepper will give you a yellow color;
cranberry juice - pink;
missing white? To help you, peeled radish cottage cheese, cream, boiled egg and rice;
if you rub the protein and mix it with beet juice, you get purple. Such a small mastery of the laws of artistic mixing of colors right in the kitchen.

If you have enough time, and you want to learn the art of table decoration in full, then pay attention to carving. This is a kind of decorative decoration of vegetables and fruits, in fact, it is an artistic carving.

Carving has been on the wave of popularity for many years, many famous chefs even organize competitions in this discipline. To do this, you will need a curly knife. Now on sale you can even find special sets with many devices.

Remember a few tips on what and from what you can cut. For example, cucumbers can be arranged in a spiral (using special tool from the carving set), serpentine, stripes and ribbons. Large fruits and vegetables can be made into baskets.

Flowers can be cut from tomatoes, eggs, and even radishes! The only thing, do not forget to first immerse it in cold water - this will remove the bitterness.

Ordinary lettuce leaves can be added to the “picture” of carved decorations: line a serving dish with them or add a couple of leaves on top. Mint, lemon balm and basil leaves are also used for decoration.

Seasonings will also help to change the color: paprika, curry, parsley, ground black pepper. Even ordinary tomato paste can bring a touch of originality to the design of the salad.

Thus, you can decorate absolutely any vegetable salad. But there are a couple of tricks with fruit. Buy a noisette at any dishware store. This is a special spoon for "cutting" balls and hemispheres of different sizes from the pulp of fruits. It looks like an ordinary spoon, but with metal hemispheres of different diameters around the edges.

You can cut out balls of watermelon and peaches, melons and apples in the manner of ice cream balls, and serve them in waffle cups, dough baskets or crystal bowls. Don't forget to decorate the top with berries and mint leaves. This salad is perfect for dessert and even children will like it.

In addition to all of the above, there are a few more points when decorating salads:

First, the main point, of course, is the compatibility of products with each other. Usually there are no questions about this, the main thing is not to use incompatible components, such as, say, meat and kiwi. It is better to pay attention to lemons, olives with olives, eggs and bright vegetables.
Secondly, decoration requires no less sense of style than any other art. It is important to clearly think over the composition, choose accents, determine the center.
If you decide to decorate dishes, then you should also choose suitable dishes that will not distract attention from the main elements. For example, a bright salad bowl combined with complex decor will turn your dish into a fractional and gaudy something.

Do not forget that the final look of the dish depends only on you, so it’s worth practicing. Give preference to clear lines and even cubes. Use well-sharpened knives. Your accuracy in cutting vegetables and fruits is already 50% success.

Don't forget about color balance. You, like an artist, must see and feel the most winning combinations. Add some contrast for light salads with tomato and bright bell pepper, and for dark salads, take greens and cucumbers. You can even use the colored zest of citrus fruits like oranges or lemons.

Make sure that the decor does not divert attention from the main dish, but only complements it. It is better not to get carried away with excessive decoration, let everything be modest, but tasteful.

If you need to use any non-edible ingredients, be sure to let your guests know, especially if you need wooden skewers or toothpicks for canapes and decorations.

You can also use raw vegetables. But still, it is worth striving to ensure that all the decor is not only beautiful, but also edible.

Beautiful salad decorations

Separately, it is worth talking about decorating the table for children's holidays. Any children's holiday, especially if it's a birthday, requires parents careful preparation. You must create such a cheerful and joyful atmosphere so that the holiday is remembered not only by the hero of the occasion, but also by all his invited friends.

It would seem that there is no place for salads on the table at all, because most children do not eat them. But no matter how! If you show originality and prepare delicious salads with an unusual design, the children will definitely appreciate them. It all depends on your imagination: you can create whole plot compositions on plates! Children's joy and surprise is definitely worth the effort.

When decorating children's salads, in addition to decor, pay attention to the following points:

Avoid spicy, salty and fatty foods. On the children's table there is no place for fried, smoked and snacks with mayonnaise and an abundance of spices.
Avoid bold experiments: do not replace the products familiar to your child and add something new. Give preference to traditional dishes, choosing ingredients that children will definitely not refuse.
If you have a holiday with the participation of very young kids, then exclude citrus fruits, as well as bright fruits and vegetables. Remember, they can trigger an allergy attack!
The same attention should be paid to any fish if you plan to put it on the table or add it to salads. It should not contain any bones.
Take on "armament" a couple of recipes for canapes. Children eat them with great pleasure: they are small and on convenient skewers. For their preparation, give preference to neutral fruits and vegetables, berries, cheeses, eggs and mushrooms.

Decoration for children's birthday: beautiful, fun and edible!

Little tricks for decorating salads for the festive table

Any home celebration creates an upbeat and joyful mood, immersing everyone in an atmosphere of genuine fun. Especially if you don't have to spend a lot of time preparing meals and setting the table.

And any hostess wants not only to demonstrate her culinary skills, but also to surprise guests with a beautifully decorated table. And here salads will come to your aid again. Easy to decorate, they will become a bright highlight that will certainly be remembered.

Salad decoration for the holidays

We are especially careful when choosing what we will cook for the festive table. We look at the recipes in advance, decide on the final version of the menu, and make a list of the necessary products.

And, of course, every housewife has a couple of recipes that must be prepared for a gala dinner. But even if these are the most common olivier and vinaigrette, you don’t need to give up the idea of preparing them if you decide to amaze everyone with an original serving.

You only need to decorate them slightly, and you can be sure that your guests will definitely appreciate even these familiar dishes.

To make them not only tasty, but also spectacular, show your imagination and ingenuity. Don't forget to be careful! Registration will not take much time, which will definitely play into your hands. If there is enough time, then you can try ways of more complex decoration.

From the first time, such decorations can take more than twenty minutes, so it is better to try them out in advance and get used to it, especially if you are planning a complex composition. After several workouts, even complex elements will not take you more than ten minutes.

Pay attention to recipes with carved flowers and other figurines from the pulp of fruits and vegetables. To create them, you need some preparation, but the result is worth it.

You can give preference to simpler methods:

you can even make a voluminous “rose” from bacon or ham;
for fruit salads, use figuratively cut kiwifruit or peeled citrus zest;
Another way to effectively serve salads is to focus not on the top decorations, but on the ingredients themselves. So, if it does not require mandatory mixing, then you can experiment with this.

For example, vegetable dishes will look advantageous if they are laid out in layers. The dressing can be put side by side in a separate gravy boat or spread over the formed dish on top and sides. Use not only mayonnaise for this, both sour cream and unsweetened yogurts are perfect.

From above, the composition can be completed with almonds, hazelnuts or pine nuts.

If the nuts do not fit your dish at all, then pomegranate seeds also perfectly replace them.

And you can do without them, adding carved flowers from vegetables or laying out an edible drawing to the dish. Using sprigs of parsley, radishes and chopped olives, you can create a fish and a penguin, as in the next photo.

You can also experiment with volume molding. For example, winter salads can be served in the form of forest cones, and seafood - in the form of fish.

All of the above ways of decorating dishes are not at all the limit. It all depends on your imagination!

Get creative and you'll end up with a variety of designs for the same salad but for different occasions. Change shapes and come up with new unique recipes for decorating New Year's and everyday dishes. Each hostess will have it all differently, because everyone has their own vision of beauty.

One thing remains unchanged - the atmosphere of the holiday and good mood, which bring beautifully decorated dishes. Use these skills in everyday life or just on holidays - it's up to you.

Learning how to decorate not only salads, but also other foods in an interesting and unusual way is not at all difficult: just be patient and spend some free time. Together with a great desire, this will be enough. Having mastered even the simplest elements, you can already combine them in different ways and create many bright compositions.

There is no “ceiling” in this art, even after learning how to perform the most difficult things, you can continue to go further, improve your skills and come up with new original ways of serving both salads and all other dishes for any occasion.

And you can at least every day pamper your family with a spectacular serving of a regular dinner, bringing the mood of celebration and magic into everyday life!