When I am asked if I can bring a dish to a party, I am usually the first to jump up and down with joy and shout out sweet ideas. Does this party need cupcakes…a refined little pastry perhaps or a big, honkin’, decadent cake?

Well, my niece, Emme, was having a cupcake themed birthday party and the party goers were going to be making the cupcakes from start to finish at the party.  Extra desserts were definitely not needed so instead I opted for a fruit skewer platter.

But no ordinary platter would do.  I am a food blogger and most definitely a food lover, so it had to be something fancy, something that could keep up with the gourmet cupcakes that were being served and something that would tempt ten-year-old girls despite there being three trays of crazy delicious sweet treats (there were black bottom cupcakes that were THE BOMB and will absolutely be shared here soon).

My daughter offered up the idea of cutting some of the fruit into fun shapes, and I thought of skewering them onto large cocktail type toothpicks so that the girls could easily pick up the entire “skewer” and pop the fruit in their mouth…easy, neat, small and cute—That’s what I’m talkin’ about.

So here is my post, with one measly honey yogurt dip recipe, but a fresh and fun way to serve fruit at your next party.  We used a tiny flower nesting cookie cutter set that I got CHEAP at our local supply store, but I think nesting stars would be perfect for the Fourth of July, don’t you?

And for those of you naysayers out there, grumbling at the sheer annoyance of cutting out fruit with a cookie cutter(that would typically be me), it took MUCH LESS time than it looks.  We got it down to a science, didn’t cut every piece of fruit with the cookie cutters and saved ALL of the fruit “left over bits” to make a puree for fruit pops.  No waste either!

Pretty, moderately easy and socially conscious…what more could you want? Perhaps just a dessert, a real dessert with chocolate, butter and sugar and laden with calories?  No worries, I’ve got you covered; One will be popping up in the next post soon so stay tuned.

Honey Yogurt Dip
Serves one fruit platter
1 c. nonfat plain yogurt
2-3 T. mango or pineapple juice (depending on how thin you want it)
1/4 t. vanilla
2-4 t. honey depending on how sweet you want it
a dash of cinnamon (1/8 of a t. or so)

Directions: Mix everything together in a small bowl…there that’s it…nuttin’ else.