A Fruit Tray and Dip

Today I made an assorted fruit tray with a Lemon Fruit Dip. Fruit trays are so versatile; just to name a few ways a fruit tray can be used –  as an appetizer, served at meals as a side, served at occasions such as baby showers or receptions, or just kept in the refrigerator for kids (or adults) to snack on. Many kids won’t seek out fruit as a snack on their own, but if it is already prepared and in front of their noses, they are more likely to make a healthy choice.

The dip recipe that I chose to share today is one that both adults and children will like. It is lemon flavored and easy to make. It will keep all week in the refrigerator. The dip needs to be made first, so it can chill before the fruit tray is prepared.

Lemon Fruit Dip 

1 cup cold milk
1 package (1 ounce) instant lemon pudding mix
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

The ingredients needed for Lemon Fruit Dip are 1 cup milk, 1 package instant lemon pudding mix, and 1 cup sour cream.

In a small bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft set.

Add 1 cup sour cream to pudding mixture.

Whisk in the sour cream. Chill until ready to serve.

Now to make the fruit tray. We have to decide what kind of fruit to use. There are two ways to do that. The first way is to go to the store and pick out what you like. The second way is to go to the refrigerator and use whatever you have. Either method you choose, your family will probably still like the fruit tray with the Lemon Dip. Here are the assorted fruits that I used today.

Fruit trays are so easy. There’s no cooking involved. Just washing, drying, sometimes peeling and slicing. I started with the apples.

There are a couple of items that I think are essential when working with apples. The first is an apple slicer. It is extremely sharp and will cut right through a whole apple.

This tool does a fast and neat job, and there’s no waste.

The other item is Fruit Fresh, a produce protector. It will prevent the apples from turning brown after they have been cut. It can be used by sprinkling on the fruit or by mixing with water and dipping the fruit in the water. That’s what I did to the apples today.

I mixed 2 cups of water with 1 tablespoon of Fruit Fresh, then dipped the cut apples in the mixture. After they are dipped, lay them out on paper towels to drain.

The remaining fruits now need to be washed and prepared. I chose grapes, honeydew melon, strawberries, and oranges. Look closely at the photo, and you can see that I have also added a few blueberries that I grew on my bushes.

All the fruits need to be drained and dried before placing on the fruit tray.

I chose a simple tray for my fruit because I’m going to be keeping it in the refrigerator until we’re ready to eat it. I could have dressed it up for an occasion by choosing a glass or silver tray and arranging the fruit on lettuce leaves.

I’m going to bring this out later to eat with a chicken salad sandwich.