One crucial prop from “The Dogs of Babel
,” a book by an alumna of my MFA program, Carolyn Parkhurst, is a hardboiled egg shaper. This garage sale find shaped eggs into squares. That tidbit has stayed with me long after I read the book, so perhaps that’s why my interest perked when I glimpsed these egg shapers for … Read More ...
Spider Eggs and Candy Corn
The lovely, dense (as in, lots o’ recipes) blog of “The Recipe Girl” has many many many topics and links to peruse. She gives great step-by-step instructions for these scary spider eggs, as well as beautifully done photographs. The spider eggs were originally Martha’s idea, as she is sure to give credit where credit is due, … Read More ...
Mmm…Bacon 5 Interesting Bacon Recipes
That’s right. A whole post dedicated to bacon (forgive me vegetarians, but these were too interesting to overlook). First, lollyphile. The San Francisco based company uses only high quality ingredients. That’s real bacon, sustainably farmed. They are only a year old, so thus far have three flavors: Maple-Bacon, Wasabi-Ginger, and Absinthe (yes, legal).
The uber-clever blogger of “not martha” … Read More ...
Endless Party Ideas
The Hostess (with the Mostess) site is chock full of fabulous ideas for hosting a party: Party themes, entertaining how tos, recipes, gifts, crafts, products, holidays, weddings and baby showers, the list goes on and on. And incredible resource. Shameful on my end to only just have discovered Hostess with the Mostess. You can even pick a party theme, and … Read More ...
And if you DO make a mistake…
Cake Wrecks is the perfect place to go for your cake mishaps. Or to have fun scrolling through other mishaps. Wedding cakes gone horribly awry, misspelled sentiments, misinterpreted designs, shocking or tacky choices… anything that is “unintentionally sad, silly, inappropriate.” The purpose is to turn that bad cake energy into good. And it offers comfort in a misery-in-numbers sort of … Read More ...
Cake Decorating Tutorials
Both novice and more experienced cake decorators will find useful tips at Cake Journal, a blog written by a talented cake decorator in Denmark. She offers online tutorials and detailed instructions for cake decorating techniques, such as how to work with fondant, how to make sugar flowers, how to make a cake stand, and how to prepare royal icing. … Read More ...
Fairy Tale “Mushrooms”
I first found these darling “mushrooms” on the “Museum of Happiness” blog. Scroll down her “Food” page and find all kinds of edible craft links (I especially like the link to Rainbow Jell-O from the “Do Better” blog). After some quick digging, I found the original link for the tomato-topped eggs at “The Clubhouse Scene,” … Read More ...
Chocolate Princess and Chocolate Madonna
Chocolaholic? Artist? Baker? Check out both of these sites for great chocolate inspiration. La Cerise, a Zurich-based blogger, created this Princess cake-topper from chocolate as a much tastier alternative to fondant. (And goodness knows, we could all use a tastier alternative to fondant.) She offers very detailed notes and step-by-step instructions, and photographs along the way. I’ve been getting more … Read More ...
Vegan Spoons and Daring Bakers
The Clumbsy Cookie blog…a blog after my own heart (because my life somehow ended up immersed in cookies). Clumbsy Cookie has many great links, how-tos, recipes, and ideas about baking and beyond. Check out these Lavash Spoons. She provides the recipe, photos and step-by-step instructions. As a bonus, there’s also a yummy looking recipe for a vegan “Peanutella” dip. … Read More ...
Washcloth “Desserts” from Japan
And speaking of edible crafts you can’t consume (see yesterday’s post)…. These towel dessert favors are adorable. I’m guessing some of you clever crafters out there can figure out how to make your own, but if not, they are available at americanbridal.com and beau-coup.com. They come in different “flavors” of cheesecakes, cakes, mousses and parfaits.
Apparently, food-inspired items like … Read More ...
Learn to Make Mini Chocolate Pumpkins
The blog “Cake on the Brain” offers a step-by-step tutorial to making these cute mini chocolate pumpkins perfect as a cupcake or cake topper. She has a slew of other categories and recipes to peruse, too, so you may spend a bit of time with “Cake on the Brain.”… Read More ...
Take Better Photographs
Something that has become more and more clear to me over the past year–from starting my own online biz, my own blog and from mining the internet for great food sites–is the importance of good photography. The difference between a gorgeous photograph and one that is overexposed or poorly lit or any of the other bad photography terms I don’t … Read More ...
(Fancier) Jell-O Shots
It’s been a looooong time since I’ve been to a party with Jell-O shots on the serving trays. Come to think of it, I’ve never been served a Jell-O shot on a serving tray. But these orange slices made with vodka are pretty enough to display with pride at any party. The Food Network (Canada) gives you the easy two-step … Read More ...
Little People, Big Food, Amazing Photography
The use of tiny figures and food as a backdrop force us to view that which we consume in an entirely different light. Photography team Akiko Ida (from Japan) and Pierre Javelle (from France) have created a phenomenal gallery at their site, minimiam. Workers jackhammering watermelon seeds, dads moving their kiwis, a safety crew perplexed over a cracked eclair, … Read More ...
Learn to Make Sugarpaste Roses
Learn to make these lovely, delicate flowers on the Happy Love Strawberry blog. Happy Love Strawberry combines detailed instructions with beautiful photography to give us all a tutorial–as guided by “Alex’s Granny”–in sugarcraft roses (gumpaste in the U.S.). If I wasn’t already an Anglophile, Happy Love Strawberry’s cake love would’ve made me one. Oh, and by the way, they … Read More ...