Love Heart Melon Bouquet for Valentine's Day

It's getting close to Valentine's Day now and, although my partner and I don't do anything on Valentine's Day, I thought I might share with you this special and healthy Valentine's treat. Because you should always do nice things for the people that you love!

Sometimes I find that there are just a few too many occasions in the year in which overeating and 'indulging' are expected. Overeating is the order of the day on Xmas - usually at several Xmas gatherings (and often in the form of chocolates for Xmas presents), then suddenly it's New Year and it's champagne, cocktails and more parties. The beginning of the year is for recovery and getting yourself back on a healthier eating plan, but then suddenly it's Valentine's Day and you're facing more chocolate. Then before you know it around comes Easter and it's hot cross buns and LOTS more chocolate. Then there's his birthday, your birthday, your mum's birthday, dad's birthday - all of which mean CAKE and often dinner out at somewhere less than healthy (pizza, thai etc.) Then it's your anniversary and you're celebrating with wine/champagne, dinner out and yes, chocolates. Then around comes Xmas again and it all starts over! That doesn't even include friend's birthday's (more cake!) or weddings (open bar! - oh and more cake!).

Looking at that then it's no wonder that obesity is so rife in Western nations! Your body barely has time to recover before it's another onslaught of of 'special event' food. It's great to have so many things to celebrate every year and I love all the excuses to get together with friends and enjoy good food and wine. My solution is to try and make at least some of those celebrations healthy. That doesn't mean it's not special!! Honestly there are so many wonderful and healthy special things to eat and drink on your celebratory occasions.

This bright bouquet of melon can be arranged in a vase or wrapped in cellophane and ribbon to give to somebody you love. Paper wrapping is not advised though - the melon is too juicy and will soak the paper. To make this you'll need a cookie cutter shaped like a heart - preferably a small-medium one as you'll find it too difficult with a large one. If you don't have a heart shaped cookie cutter you could cut a stencil out of plastic (paper will get too soggy) and use a sharp knife to cut around the stencil (a more time consuming method).

Ingredients

Watermelon

Rock Melon (cantaloupe)

Honey Dew Melon

Long skewers

To Make

1. Cut a slice of each of the melons about 1.5cm thick. Use the cookie cutter to cut heart shapes out of the melon flesh. Continue to do this until you have as many as you want for your bouquet.

2. Insert a skewer into the bottom of each love heart. If you are displaying them in a vase, trim the bottom of the skewers so that they are all different lengths. This will make arranging them prettily easier.

TIPS

~ The skewers can be prepared in advance and kept in a sealed container in the fridge and then assembled when needed

~ Cutting the honey dew and rock melon can be a challenge if you're cutter is bigger than the radius of the flesh. See?

To overcome this - take your 1/2 rock melon and cut the bottom half off it and then slice it.. Like this:

Sorted! You can do the same with the Honey Dew Melon.

Happy Valentine's Day!