Edible Yule tree: Please eat the ornaments

Holidays bring visions of sugar in all forms, but I was bound and determined to figure out a way to cut the calories and still have fun.

- CAROLYN BLACK

A booklet we got at the county fair gave me ideas — we could create a shape like a Christmas tree, and make the ornaments out of vegetables.

The booklet had pictures of many fun things using tools I had, and vegetables that were easy to find. Some needed to be cut up and done the night before the party, like radishes, carrot curls, and green onions.

I found a stash of rigid Styrofoam insulation in my husband’s shop, and with his permission, and using two nails plus a length of string, I marked circles, starting with one as big as I could get.

Eventually, all were cut using a hacksaw blade, and stacking them, I had a tiered cone a little taller than three feet. Securing the layers was done with a large tube sock of cheesecloth.

The first time, large lettuce leaves covered the Styrofoam. A long strand of Christmas tree lights wrapped around the tree helped hold the leaves on, and the toothpicks holding the lettuce leaves and lights on gave me the spots to hang cut vegetables.

Then the fun began.