For Tomorrow Night: Ceviche & Desert

Hey all!
I'm making a nice aniversary dinner for my parents. Currently the menu stands as:
Ceviche
Tuna Maki
BBQ Chicken
Desert

I'm serving very small portions of tuna ceviche as an amuse or canape (is there a difference?) in these nice little mini-brandy snifters. I am hoping to add an artistic effect to the serving, beyond the serving vessels themselves. I was thinking about adding some kind of additional color. One possibility is to use a bright fruit (cherries or orange peel, perhaps), another, and my real preference would be to use a little grenadine or a bright golden liquer or brandy to add a splash of color. How to you think those tastes would work together?

Second, given the menu (and it's a sort of asian bbq so the chicken shouldn't clash too badly, but it's also my specialty), can someone suggest a non-dairy desert that would work well (and a recipie for same)?

Rob wrote:an amuse or canape (is there a difference?)

An amuse bouche (amuse the mouth) is a small hors d'oeuvre, typically bite-size, offered at the very start of a meal. A canape, technically, is an hors d'oeurvre served atop a small piece of bread or a cracker.

Rob wrote:One possibility is to use a bright fruit (cherries or orange peel, perhaps), another, and my real preference would be to use a little grenadine or a bright golden liquer or brandy to add a splash of color. How to you think those tastes would work together?

Cherries, oranges and pomegranates with raw tuna? I don't think that would be to my taste. Lemon or lime zest, perhaps, or some chopped cilantro or tomato? Or if it's red color you're seeking, maybe some V-8 juice or hot sauce. If it's color + alcohol, you might try infusing something in vodka. Angostura bitters might work too.

Rob wrote:can someone suggest a non-dairy desert that would work well (and a recipie for same)?

Rich4 has posted several nice sorbet recipes and Cathy2 has a lemon tart that might work. JoelF has a good Key lime pie recipe, which I think would complement your menu, but it's not nondairy. You can find these through the Recipe Index.

Thanks. I got what I wanted using an orange peel. I was going to put a watercracker on top with a piece of tuna, tomato and onion, while the same rested in the cup below, but the crackers were stale, and I achieved the effect I wanted without. For desert, I served a bit of sorbet, with cherries, fresh picked rasberries. and a rasberry sauce. All in all, everything went quite nicely. I can post pics if people are interested.
- Rob, who's been slaving at this dinner for the last 5 hours, not counting intermittent cooking throughout the day, but had a lot of fun doing it, and was pretty pleased at the result.

I would like to see your pics.