Picnic in a Jar

Chef Chrisy Rost is the author of the book "Celebrating Home: A Handbook for Gracious Living." She stops by Good Day to make a picnic in a jar.

Melon and Grape Salad with Honey-Orange Dressing

3 cups cubed cantaloupe
3 cups cubed honeydew melon
1 ½ cups red seedless grapes, rinsed and halved
½ cup nonfat sour cream
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 ½ tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon honey
jelly jars

Layer the cantaloupe, honeydew melon, and grapes into the jars, cover, and chill until ready to serve.

In a medium bowl, stir together the sour cream, mayonnaise, orange zest, orange juice, and honey until well blended.

Spoon the dressing into a jar, cover, and chill until ready to serve.  Just before serving, drizzle some of the dressing over the top of the fruit.

Yield:  6 servings

Vanilla Bean Pound Cake Trifles with Berries

Cake
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 vanilla bean
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a sharp knife.  Reserve the bean for another use. Place the seeds in the large bowl of an electric mixer, add butter and sugar, and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 8 minutes.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Stir in vanilla.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, baking powder, salt, and baking soda until they are well blended.  Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternately with the buttermilk, until the batter is thick, scraping the bowl often.

Spray two 9x5-inch baking pans with nonstick cooking spray-with-flour.  Divide the batter evenly into the pans and bake 55 to 60 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cakes.  Remove them from the oven, cool 30 minutes on a wire rack, then remove the cakes from the pans and cool them completely.

Yield:  2 9x5" cakes

Trifles
1 loaf Vanilla Bean Pound Cake
1 cup lemon curd or lemon pie filling
Fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled and sliced
Fresh blackberries, rinsed and drained
Glass jelly jars

Slice the cake into bite-size squares and place a layer of cake into the bottom of each jar.  Top with a layer of blackberries and a layer of strawberries.  Spoon some of the lemon curd over the berries and top with another layer of cake and berries.  Cover jars and chill until ready to serve.

LINK: www.christyrost.com