I don't know if you've ever heard of this guy:
http://www.surrealgourmet.com/

But you made me think of him. Specifically his menu for a gallery opening (this is salmon with pureed vegies):
http://www.surrealgourmet.com/images/recipes/palette.jpg

and this is vanilla ice cream with lemon sherbet for dessert:
http://www.surrealgourmet.com/images/recipes/eggsdessert.jpg

Too cute.

Man, I'm hungry!

YUM!!! When's your birthday? I know a few people who might be talked into sending the HOF a little giftie if the occasion warrented!

I'm pretty sure I saw that guy on the Food Network a while back, cool stuff! I love things like that. Can't really do it that much because Evan does NOT. But I grew up with a dad who made green eggs and ham, and sent me to school with blue milk, so I have no problem with weird food. ^_^

My birthday, sadly, isn't until October...

All I want to do right now is cook something. I'm not even that hungry!

Oh, my God! I was looking for a cool Valentine's gift for Tavisha and this sushi candy rocks! Sarah, you rock! There's all kinds of rocking going on here!

-Rikki

Rock on, Rikki!!! Tavi is one lucky girl!! You have to get her the chopsticks, too, to eat her sushi candy with!

Oh my goodness, I just realized that the Koo-Ki Sushi retail shop is in San Jose. Field Trip!

Oh, just TAUNT me why don't you, Deb...

No worries, hon. If I make it to the store, I'll get a little something for you. Maybe something for MoCCA. (Even if I don't go, I can make sure one of the boys brings it with the cookies.)

Oh, you gotta come to MoCCA! We have to have a cookie throwdown!!! My cookies bring all the boys to the yard, you know. I could teach you but...

I think I scared the sushi cookie lady with my order. After I faxed in I got a panicked call from the Koo-Ki Sushi shop that went, "Oh, um ... you want it overnight! Um ... oh! Um ... I think I can get it to the FedEx man in time! Oh! Ohhhh!"

I'm still giggling.

-Rikki

I'm giggling and I didn't even hear it! Um...can you say which set you got? Inquiring minds want to know! Did you see the Valentine's specials? (Actually I didn't think they sounded as nice as the regular stuff.)

I ordered the "Suedy's Obento." It looked pretty good because it had the shrimp. There's just something really funny about a shrimp cookie. Mmmm ... .

Yeah, I thought the regular stuff looked better than the Valentine too. Although the little Nekos are reeeeaaallly cute. So cut I don't think Tavi would eat them. She would probably just stare at them and coo over them all day.

-Rikki

Ooh, that's a nice one. I agree with you on the maneki-nekos. I'm afraid that I would just keep it forever and look at it until it was disgusting. Just remember you have to tell us all how she liked it!!

I was all stupid-sneaky like. Our work schedule on ShutterBox has somehow flipped our sleep time so that, for this week at least, Tavisha and I have been going to bed at 9:00 AM — which is when the Fed Ex guy is of course supposed to show up. Thus, instead of putting on my pajamas, I lay on the bed fully clothed.

Tavisha: "Why are you still dressed?"

Me: "Um ... I'm cold."

Tavisha: "Huh?"

Thankfully an hour only went by before the Fed Ex guy showed up. Sleepiness left Tavi quickly once she realized a gift was afoot!

A great deal of squealing ensued. I think a dog exploded somewhere.

What's really cool is that the wasabe and ginger are chocolate too, and there's even a little shouyu dropper shaped like a fish, that's actually filled with a chocolate syrup (at least I hope that's what it is). Check out these eggs. They're transparent and I think they're a jelly filled with ... something ... . Tavisha doesn't want to eat any until her grandma at the Japanese senior center gets a look too.

So, all around, a happy Valentine, expect for thirteen-toed Pippi Poppenstocking, who of course can't have chocolate. Poor Pippi.

-Rikki

Oh, those html links didn't work for some reason. Here they are again. http://www.rhumbaghost.com/forjinjur/kookisushi.jpg and http://www.rhumbaghost.com/forjinjur/pippisushi.jpg

-Rikki

oooh!!! pretty!! I think the shoyu fish is full of chocolate. There's a guide -- where is it -- here: http://www.kookisushi.com/sushi.htm. The wasabi is supposed to be green tea flavored chocolate, which sounds a little weird (then again, I just read about asparagus flavor chocolate so...)

I am cracking up at the image of you going to bed in your clothes and trying to claim it's because you're cold. That would SOOOOO not work on anyone I know, you silly!!

If you love fake food, have you ever seen the nyan nyan nyanko stuff from san-x(I think I spelt that right)it's not just fake food, but kitties dressed as fake food!

wow...i thought the KookiSushi was really cool, but the shrimp Rikki posted photographs of completely blows the rest away! (although the roe are pretty amazing, too. :) )

i can't find any good pages on it, but there's a culinary art in Thailand which specialises in using a paste primarily made from green beans to sculpt miniature foods, primarily fruit. if you ever get the chance, try picking up one of Malulee Pinsuvana's cookbooks; i believe she's got three, and the first two are called "Cooking Thai Food in American Kitchens" parts 1 and 2. in part 2, she has a recipe for "look choup," or mock strawberries, which utilises this art. more impressively, there's a photograph of the finished result---the only thing that's mildly not right about the mock strawberries is that they don't have seeds. but jasmine stems are used in place of a normal strawberry stem at the top of each berry! :)

also, i'm about to post up a lentil soup recipe at Licking the Spoon. have been feeling a lot of lentil love lately, and in fact am going to go experiment in making mujadara later, because i keep buying it at work and realised it'd be a whole lot cheaper (and more fun) to make my own. :) mmmm, lentils~~~~! (not with chocolate, of course. XD)