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Edible and Upscale When the fashion industry slowed down during the pandemic and the events Rona Argana once planned dried up, she used her sharp eye for design to craft grazing boxes as gifts to send to her friends. That turned into For Love and Graze, her North Hollywood, California business that spins casual snack platters into eye-catching displays. INGREDIENTS FOR ELEGANCE • Use the green color of leaves to signify freshness, says Argana. She likes mint sprigs in the spring, rosemary and sage in the winter. (Keep them well hydrated ahead of time, so they last longer.) • Fancy can still be fun, and she loves to use letter-shaped cookie cutters and slices from a log of mozzarella cheese to add celebratory messages. • Savory needs a balance of sweet, so even her traditional snack boards always include a sugary nibble like chocolatecovered almonds or yogurt-covered pretzels.
TIPS OF THE TRAY • Start by setting out a neutral color palette of the crackers, meats, and cheeses. • Then bring in a limited range of colors, sticking to greens, oranges, and reds. • Balance each color with multiple tones and items: use both olives and grapes for green, and offset the reds from berries with similar shades of citrus. • Most of all, Argana says, don’t forget the purpose of the creation, and consider the flavors as much as the colors: “Make sure it tastes as good as it looks.”
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WINDERMERE LIVING SUMMER 2021
