Cupcakes hit centre stage in 2002, according to the information contained in the previous post. They took a little longer to hit their straps here in Australia, but are still hanging on. Methinks they’ve got a ways to go yet. We’ve barely scratched the icing surface. Frostines Edibles are now doing online delivery of their little sweeties. And include the following gift suggestions for their cupcakes. Do you think my ‘Sympathy’ they mean ‘Sad to hear about you breaking your favourite stilettos’, or something more serious?
But really, they are an incredibly versatile, all occasion, tick every box comestible (nostalgic, authentic, designer, small, glamorous, homey) and I think they’re going to be around for a long time yet. They lend themselves to almost all flavourings, and can be adapted to go with whatever the ‘flavour of the month’ is. (And I mean that literally). They’re great for a group, or eating solo. Much like a box of chocs. And when we feel compelled to eat something even smaller to stop feeling guilty, watch the petit four come out of the woodwork. Or perhaps a la Seinfeld and the muffin tops, we’ll just be able to eat buy a dozen mixed iced tops. For those of you not familiar with that episode, you can watch five minutes of it here . Hey cupcake tops… I think I’m on to something:
Filed under: barack obama, Campaign strategies, john mccain, US Election | Tags: buy, read, suck
On August 26, Simon and Schuster published this .
On September 2, Aladdin published this .
Both are in stock and available giftwrapped from amazon .
Buy your child a copy of each and let them decide for themselves… But hurry!
And while little kiddie is reading they can suck on one of these , found over at 
candyblog . The McCain one is soon to be released.
Filed under: cookbooks, food blogging, self publishing | Tags: buy, eat, publish
Food blogging has been monumentally huge over the last few years. But what next? All those entries and gastroporn photos and recipes and comments just wafting about up there in the ether. Well, if you take a visit to Blurb , you’ll see what next. At time of writing there were 228 self published cookbooks looking for exposure, many of which have grown from a food blog. A lot are family cookbooks, and many seem to be couples giving their wedding guests their own cookbook. Or something. I’m not quite sure. Lots of canoodling couples on covers don’t do it for me. All in all I’m knocked out by the design and level of professionalism.
Some of my particular faves in no particular order are
Cookin’ Cajun , which wins for best synopsis. And I quote: “Over 50 healthy recipes by Playboy Playmate Devin DeVasquez with photos of each recipe taken by soap star Ronn Moss.” Ronn Moss, for those of you have been living under a brick is one of the stars of The Bold & The Beautiful. I rather like the cover of this one, on which it’s difficult to figure what’s more prominent ‘on the plate’~ the food or the author’s bosoms.
Ayi is making dinner , A book full of Western recepies, made with ingredients available in China. In both English and Chinese with the common herbs and all ingredients translated into Chinese to make shopping easy.
From Spanish Gazpacho to English lambsleg, from Dutch Cheese cake to Chinese cabbage. Full colour pictures and some tips to get the beloved offspring with a smile at the table.
How to Feed a Black Man , Part-memoir and part-style guide, mamafeelgood’s debut cookbook, “How to Feed a Black Man,” provides easy to follow recipes, some culinary history, and a little short fiction to season the pot. Along with the pretty pictures, “How to Feed a Black Man” is good for your mind, body, and soul.
Fodo , wins the design award in my book, a high school project, and rather gorgeous. And it’s got very funky things to do with Jell-o.
Stay tuned for what may be worth reporting from Lulu .
POSTSCRIPT: So i went to Lulu to check out what was going on there. The lovely thing about Blurb is that you can preview 15 pages of a book, bit like amazon’s ‘look inside this book’ thingie. But on Lulu ~ no! Unless I’m missing the bleeding obvious there is no way to look inside. How dumb is that. I could quite cheerfully buy half a dozen of the Blurb cookbooks, but in the end couldn’t be bothered seeing what Lulu has to offer. Why would I take the author’s word for it?
Filed under: food trends, fruit & veg, supermarkets | Tags: buy, eat, shop, survive
Interestingly, according to a poll conductedby the Consumer Fruit Index on behalf of our pear industry, Australians are increasingly buying fruit and veg at their seasonal peak. Why is this interesting? Well, because they’re not doing it as a result of increasing awareness of food miles, upping their green credentials, or more fullsome flavours ~ they’re doing it because of economic stress and have nutted out for themselves that when produce is in season, it’s cheaper.
