When my kids were small; I used to make characters and shapes with the food.

On Halloween I would make the hamburgers pumpkins. I would put it on a plate, use a piece of pickle for a stem. Small pieces of tomatoes for the eyes and nose. Lettuce for the teeth. Etc.

On Valentines Day the hamburgers or pancakes would become hearts with the kids names on them.

I used to take pear halves, fill them with cottage cheese and use raisins or tomatoes or such to make a face on them. Lettuce became hair.

The kids loved all these fancy dishes and ate everything.