Food sparks – Page 7 – everydaysparks

Konnichiwa, teeny burgers!

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Cate

I think I would fit in well in Japan. From the fashion to the technology to the kitschy toys to answering the phone with ‘moshi moshi’ – so much about it seems to be my kind of kooky. Then I remember that I am one of those uncool weirdos who doesn’t actually like sushi or sashimi, so maybe I wouldn’t be such a good fit after all. And then I see a product like this and think: honey, I’m home.

The perfect gift, the perfect cooking class, the perfect snack – all in one little brightly coloured box from the good people at Kracie. It’s from their Happy Kitchen range, which also offers donut, cupcake and cookie kits. But this one is special – teeny tiny burgers (including cheese and ketchup), fries and cola. Apparently, it tastes “just like the real thing”, but with only 96 calories… Our friends at Jbox suggest that you ‘pick up a few sets and start your own hamburger stand at the next school festival or birthday party’, though after looking into it, I reckon you’d need to import a few thousand cases if you’re catering for more than two of your closest pals.

You really need to watch the You Tube clip to get the full Happy Kitchen experience – there’s no celebrity chef, no annoying background music, just the crinkle and snap of the Happy Kitchen hamburger kit coming to life before your very eyes.

Whether you love the kookiness of Happy Kitchen or you’re just the laziest cook in town, buy up big from Jbox and host your own teeny tiny McDinner parties!

Food sparks, Sparky gifts, WWWhat?

Charming

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Cate

I know that St Patrick’s Day is over and I promise this is the last Paddy’s Day post. Probably. But I just couldn’t hang on to this for a whole year without sharing it…and really, this is so much bigger than St Patrick’s Day. I dare you not to be captivated by the very name of this product: St. Patrick’s Day Corned Beef and Cabbage Charm Miniature Food Jewelry. Just look at this incredible handmade charm – it looks exactly like a bowl of soup that Heather’s grandma makes. (Heather is the lady who crafts the charms, although this one is lacking the ketchup that she apparently adds to the real version of the soup made by her grandma.)

Heather’s online shop is something to behold – whether you’re a foodie, a jewellery lover or just like weird looking stuff, it’s worth checking out. I bet you will find a gift there for a loved one or even a one that you don’t love quite so much. Heather’s shop is called Sweetnsavorytrinkets, which pretty much gives the game away. Mini macaron charms? Yes, please! BBQ ribs or Cheese enchilada earrings? Totes! Jumbo gummi grapefruit necklace? Alrighty!

And another favourite: 1/12th scale Shepherds Pie in a terra cotta bowl. Why? Well, why not?

If you’re hungry for more, Heather’s charm kitchen is open here.

Food sparks, WWWhat?

O’Cupcakes

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Cate

In case I haven’t said it already, I love cupcakes. I really do. And I love Ireland and most things Irish. So the combination of the two should be perfect, right? Bzzzzzt. Wrong. But far be it from me to keep from sharing, just because I don’t actually like something. I’m selfless like that.

With St Patrick’s Day just around the corner, you might be inspired to whip up a batch of these corned beef & cabbage cupcakes from Cupcake Project. Yep, they’re corned beef and cabbage. And they’re cupcakes. The meat is in the cake and the vegetables are in the frosting. With ground corned beef on the top, where you might normally expect a cherry. Mmmmmm.

If you’d like the recipe for this or lots of other cupcakes, check out Cupcake Project.

Food sparks

Kids these days…

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Cate

Some highlights (or lowlights, as the case may be) of a recent survey of Australian school children were published in the Sydney Morning Herald this week. And I still think it’s funny that more than 1/4 of the kids that they surveyed in year 6 (so, around 11 or 12 years of age) thought that yoghurt grows on trees. I blame that Willy Wonka and the edible world inside his factory. He has confused our kids into thinking that you can create trees that grow all sorts of delicious sweet things, so why wouldn’t it make sense for a tree provide us with yoghurt? (Mr Wonka has also misled kids to believe that you can import orange-skinned little people from a foreign land, dress them in overalls and have them run your factory, forcing them to sing and dance on command. And work for chocolate. If only, kids!)

Anyways, I have to go now and check on my backyard crops. I’m growing meat pies, chicken flavoured chips and cherry ice cream. And any kid knows that those ice cream plants start to melt on a sunny day like today.

Food sparks

My kinda bank

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Cate

I think I’d include this pic just because I love it, even if the machine featured in it wasn’t possibly one of the most amazing inventions of our time. But it is one of the most amazing inventions of our time. It is…drumroll, please…an ATM. Blah blah, you say – who cares about another ATM – even if it is a pretty colour. But this is different. This is – wait for it – an ATM FOR CUPCAKES. According to CNN.com, Sprinkles (a gourmet cupcake chain with outlets across the US) will open its first 24-hour cupcake vending machine next week in Beverly Hills. Forget the celebrities, Peach Pit diner and Pretty Woman hangouts, there is no better reason to visit Beverly Hills. And by the end of the year, there’ll be more Sprinkles automatic cupcake machines across America. If you love cupcakes like I do, I’m sure you’ll agree that this is indeed a marvel that needs to be recognised and celebrated – I’m thinking Nobel Prize, some sort of special award from Harvard or, at the very least, a Kardashian endorsement.