Edible Arrangements

I'd get fruit under ripe so they do not spoil right away. Get fruits that he might not neccessarily buy on a regular trip to the grocery store, and since fruit goes well with wine, you could toss in a bottle of wine, with some cheese and crackers too. I'd recommend one of those Borsin brand cheeses or Bree cheese and some good gormet crackers...they are fun for a try. Fruit, I'd get some of those red-pears...they're a bit pricy, but out of the ordinary and super sweet. Do Apricots, peaches, etc...or, stick to organics as a fun treat. As a gift, you might want to make it a little different than stuff he'd buy for himself, like apples and banana's like most people get all the time.

I have used strawberries, pineapple, grapes, cantaloupe, and watermelon because they seem to keep better for then apples, pears, bananas (they brown and look icky after a day).

You can use BBQ/kabob wooden skewers. You can cut these to different sizes to add dimension. I would cut a pineapple in half to use one half to stick the skewers into. I place the pineapple in a plastic bowl or paper dish that can be thrown out after the fruit is gone... and if your friend could use a nice bowl then replace the plastic/paper bowl with something he can keep.

I have always used a knife to cut flowers out of the rest of the pineapple. The strawberries I do not cut... just stick them onto the skewers, some I dipped in melted chocolate. The cantaloupe I make little balls (there is a melon baller that you can buy at any store, which makes it easier). Grapes I just string like a bead necklace to help with the filler. I just keep filling the empty spaces with fruit until it becomes a full arrangement. If you don't want to get too big start small and you can always make it bigger... it can get out of hand quickly (just gets so big and yummy!).

I usually pick an arrangement off this website as a guide... http://www.ediblearrangements.com/

Here's a video from youtube.com

Good luck!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf3gMRGx4rA

Pampered Chef makes little cutters that make it easy to cut fruit, bread, cheese etc into little shapes....i have made fruit kabobs for a birthday party with these and it is quite easy...watermelon, cantalope, apples etc are pretty easy and you can buy the wood kabob sticks at most stores.