Hi Mike,
Crab apple is a good one to use as it's a fruit wood, I think you will be lucky to dry Lilac without it splitting many times, I normally use Lilac for lace bobbins and suchlike. Wood with high tannin content tend to turn black and slimy over time, which is why I don't understand why people use it for chopping boards etc.Yew contains Taxane which is known to be bad for you but you could always line it with something, maybe fibre glass mat and resin and then polish it.
Regards
John