The Second Half of the Mantra

Although the mantra is Oh what the hell, go for it anyway!  People failed to mention the much needed second half, which is Oh crap - Just keep on going!

Another baby shower event has afforded me the perfect opportunity to combine practice with exposure.  I can practice carving different fruity ideas and get some nice needed buzz if all goes well.

Until the day that fortune and fame graces my doorstep... I'll just use my own imagination to substitute the awesomeness of Food Network cgi when bakers start to describe their colossal food idea.
My idea... I thought I'd carve out a teddy bear holding a fruit basket.  Letter building blocks on the side.  Some chocolate covered fruit surrounding the scene.  Sounds good - right?  In reality - not so easy...

And where does the second half of the mantra come in??
Well, when one like myself, has no fruit knowledge at all - trial and error becomes the mainstay.  So there I was continuously chanting the second half like a crazy person as I start to learn firsthand...

One - that it is very difficult to carve an actual teddy bear out of any kind of fruit that is extremely ripe.  A ripe pineapple is one of the worst things one could carve a teddy bear out of - not only because of the juices but also because of the fibers.
Two - that you should not try to add oil to milk chocolate if you're trying to melt it into a liquid stream because you'll only end up with a fudgy mess.  Dark chocolate goes way better anyways with really sweet fruit.
Three - do not cut up ripe bananas and then decide what you want to do with them. (The ripening process just becomes one's temple of doom.)

So after many attempts and containers of oops fruit carvings -
There ended up being a simple squash vase of fruit and a cantaloupe basket... Teddy will have to wait another day.
Not what I imagined... but all in all not terrible fail...

Squash teddy vase with a melony arrangement and cantaloupe basket upon a bed of chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate covered bananas with nut toppings floating on a coconut and pomegranate seed cloud.