ORANGE & BLACK FRUIT PLATTER

Give the abundance of the summer season a chic Halloween nod for your next picnic

Ingredients:

1 cantaloupe

1 orange

1 peach

1 apricot

1 pint blackberries

1/2 pound Rainier cherries

1 pound black grapes

Optional garnishes: purple basil and chocolate mint

After washing and drying all produce, slice peaches and apricots. If desired, toss with lemon juice to minimize browning.

Cut ends from cantaloupe. Use a knife to cut down the middle in a zig-zag pattern creating two halves.

Scoop seeds from one half of the cantaloupe to create a bowl. Cut rounds from the other half of the cantaloupe and cut our decorative shapes if desired.

Slice orange into wheels then cut wheels in half. Slice down the middle of each half moon shape leaving the pith and rind intact. Twist.

Assemble the fruit tray by first adding the largest piece, the cantaloupe half.

Add large clumps of grapes to the platter including a few in the cantaloupe bowl.

Fan peach and apricot slices around the platter.

Place orange twists on the tray next including a couple tucked into the cantaloupe bowl.

Begin to add loose fruit pieces such as cherries to the platter next.

Continue adding blackberries, additional grapes, and decorative cantaloupe slices to fill in any remaining blank space.

Garnish with purple basil sprigs and long tendrils of chocolate mint to look like vines creeping along the edge of the plate. Refrigerate if not serving immediately.