Art You Eat #3 - Go Local!

As I previously announced Amanda, aka Mrs. W, won the AYE#2 Round for her Egg Chick creation which is too adorable to resist. So, for round three Mrs. W has chosen the theme of Go Local!

What does this mean? Well, here is an introduction from Mrs. W followed by more babble and information about the event from me.

In honor of Earth Day this year, the theme for the third Art You Can Eat event is: Go Local.

We invite you to think of this month's theme as an opportunity to highlight the best of locally-grown, sustainable* produce. Let's discover a world of delicious food that can be made with fruit and vegetables grown nearby--even in your own backyard! That means your main ingredient(s) should be in season and grown as locally as possible for your climate/region.

There's quite a bit of discussion these days about sustainable food sources--but what does that mean? Eating more locally-grown fruit and vegetables reduce the amount of food that needs to be imported from other areas. That means less fuel used to get your food from the farm to your door. And that's a good thing.
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Amanda
Mrs.W
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Mrs. W and I also discussed including any local products since we realize that some areas (including ours) are just beginning their growing season. So, the reason it has taken me a bit longer to post the theme this time is because I wanted to do some research and give you some good information to help everyone be able to participate in this event. So, here is my introduction and all the information and resources I've been collecting. If anyone has any websites or resources in their areas of the world, please let me know and I will post more resources here so that we can all have access to this information on where to find local products.

Tidbits & Guidelines:

1. For purposes of this event "local" is defined as any product that took around 7 or 8 hours or less to get from the source to where you are. Any "local" product may be highlighted and should be used in a manner than is attractive or artistic. Since most of us think that any food is lovely, don't feel like you have to get crazy with garnish or plating or whatever for this round, but you are encouraged to get creative and try to make something inspiring. The better we can all highlight the beauty and availability of local ingredients, the better off we will all be.

2. Although Earth Day is April 22nd, the event will run until closer to the end of the month and the final day for submissions will be April 28th.

3. Please send submissions with the following information to me by the 28th - as always your post should include a mention and link to the event:

Name
Location
Name of Creation
Name of Blog
URL for Blog
URL for Post (Permalink)
Photo (250x250 approx. size)

Email these items to me at artyoueat AT gmail DOT com

So, here is a listing of good resources and articles I've found so far that I hope will help everyone. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Great sites to find local products:

Local Harvest
Farmers Market
Eat Well Guide (includes great search widgets you can add to your site - see it in action on the sidebar of my blog at PheMOMenon)
National Resources Defense Council

Guidelines for finding local products and information:

Fruits & Veggies: More Matters
Recycling Centers

More inspiration:

Ideal Bite - A Sassier Shade of Green
Kaboose

UPDATE: Maggie over at Dog Hill Kitchen let me know that she has found and posted even more great resource links on her blog, so go check it out!

Announcing Art You Eat #2 - Eggs & Egg Shapes

Hello again! We have another challenge before us, chosen by AYE #1’s winner, the lovely and oh so creative, Inge of Vanielje Kitchen. For this challenge Inge and I agreed that eggs and creations that are shaped like eggs would be eligible to participate.

As before, posts you have published before can be entered as long as you repost it as an entry to the event with a link back and tell us how you made your creation look so amazing and artful.

So, whether you make something with eggs as a main ingredient or in the shape of an egg, try to make it celebrate the coming spring and Easter season!

Please email entries to artyoueat AT gmail DOT com by the end of March 19th and include the following:

NAME:
LOCATION:
ENTRY TITLE:
BLOG TITLE:
BLOG URL:
POST URL:
THEME IDEA IF YOU WIN:

The top three entries will be chosen by Inge and myself for this challenge (mostly by Inge since it is her theme – I just get to put my two cents in!) and then voting will begin to choose who will host the next round.

Thanks for checking this out! We hope you can join in!

Holly
AYE Admin

P.S. To get your creative juices flowing, check out this picture of tea-stained marbelized eggs I found at http://whatscookingamerica.net/EllenEaston/TeaInfusedEggs.htm.

Art You Eat #1 Chocolate Challenge - And the Winner Is...

African Vanielje of Vanielje Kitchen took the vote and the win for the very first "Art You Eat" Edible Art Challenge Chocolate with her Wildberry Dark Chocolate Mousse in a Bitter Chocolate Bramble Cage. Congratulations to Inge and many thanks for participating!

This beautiful creation and how to make it can be seen more fully on Vanielje Kitchen and I suggest that if you want to impress, you should give this a try. Get creative and give your own spin to it! A different pattern? Around a cake? Would white chocolate work? Hey, if you give this a try, please let us know so we can post that here as well!

Thank you again to all the participants and all of you who voted for making this challenge a success. I knew I could count on all of you to make this little idea of mine come true and obviously it wouldn't work without you.

So, that said, please tune back in in a few days for the announcement of Art You Eat #2 Challenge. As the winner of this first round African Vanielje wins the right to choose the theme for the next challenge. I will be posting her announcement here as well as on Is My Blog Burning which is so kindly maintained by the wonderful Andrew of Spitoon Extra. Watch for the announcement to come.

Here's to all of you and a great challenge. Now, on to the next one!

Art You Eat - First Event - Chocolate!

Art You Eat #1 - Chocolate
Event Date: January 17, 2008 5:00 pm MST to February 5, 2008 5:00 pm MST
DEADLINE EXTENDED to FEBRUARY 11, 2008!

As this new year gets rolling I thought it would be fun to start a new event to help us all enjoy the beauty as well as the tastes and textures of different foods. Join in the fun and let's make 2008 the most beautiful and brilliant year yet!

The Idea: We all want our creations to look as wonderful as they taste and there are tons of absolutely gorgeous examples out there of the amazing creations that all you beautiful bloggers create. Why not hold an event that shares the decorating and presentation tips as well as the food? After all, if someone is going to try to recreate your masterpiece, shouldn't it look spectacular too?

Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus defines artistry as a noun that means "creativity". What I really love are the synonyms though: ability, accomplishment, art, brilliance, craftsmanship, creativity, finesse, flair, genius, mastery, proficiency, style, talent, taste, touch, virtuosity, workmanship. (Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1) Copyright © 2008 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.)

That is exactly what I want to see from you all!

The Plan: Each month we will hold an event that will focus on a different kind of decorating theme, medium, idea, holiday, etc. That way we can all go for variations on a similar theme for that month and end up with lots of ideas to choose from! It should be fun to see all the variations we come up with.

You can post something you love that you created before, as long as you repost with instructions on how you made it look beautiful. Ideas should range from the sublimely simple to the extravagent. I've created a new blog where the winning ideas will be archived, as well as links to all posts each month.

The Rules: For this first round I will host the event and choose my three favorites according to to originality/creativity (the "wow" factor) as well as the ease of understanding the instructions on how to recreate (including the recipe for the dish). Though the entires won't all be recreated, if we can't understand the instructions, then that won't help anyone. I am hoping for entries from around the world, but please post in English. That will be taken into consideration when judging, especially if English isn't your first language!

Entry posts must site any sources, special equipment, techniques, supplies, and recipes that were used. Because writing the how to could take some time, entries can be something you have posted before as long as you repost with instructions on how you made it look that way. Pictures throughout the process are helpful, but there must at least be a photo of the finished product. Want to submit video of the process? Great!

The only requirement is that the "theme" be followed. How it is followed is up to you. It can be an ingredient, plating, decoration, whatever - as long as you use it.
Once the favorites are chosen, I will post a poll on the "Art You Eat" site. Voting will last for 3 days after the roundup is posted (in this case since all entries must be submitted and posted by Feb 5th. I will create the roundup and the poll, and barring any disasters, polling will start a couple of days later. The voting end date will be on the site with the 3 finalists.

Whichever entry wins gets to "host" the next event - in this case, that means they get to choose the theme (ingredient, holiday, or technique to be featured) and join me in choosing the finalists to place in the poll. I will post the roundup on the "Art You Eat" site with a special message on the theme from the "host" and featuring their entry for the theme. This may be a little different than normal, but this way all of these great ideas and their links end up being in one place and linked to your site. That way we all have easy access to links for great ideas on how to make all our culinary creations look spectacular.

So... ON TO THE EVENT!! Since Valentine's Day is almost here - and because it is what it is - I am choosing CHOCOLATE to kick this off with. This means chocolate in any type, but not cocoa. I want to see what you can do with the stuff you melt, or chop, or curl, or mould, or whatever! You can use cocoa too if you want, but there must still be chocolate involved (and this can include white chocolate... even if it isn't really chocolate)! Only one entry per person please. If you don't have a blog, just email me the information and it will still be included in the roundup.

Please make sure that you include the subject/tag "Art You Eat #1 - Chocolate" into your post and a link to the site: http://www.artyoueat.squarespace.com/ (I am working on moving this site to blogger instead - just FYI).

Here are the details for the entry. Please join me in this! I think it could be great, and I hope I'm not alone in wanting to know how you wonderful bloggers make things look so phenomenal!

SEND ALL ENTRIES TO:
artyoueat AT gmail DOT com
INCLUDE (please cut and paste into your email):
NAME:
BLOG NAME:
BLOG URL:
POST URL:
POST TITLE:
CREATION TITLE & DESCRIPTION (as in name what you did or made- i.e., curling chocolate):
Attach your favorite photo to be used in the roundup and let us know if there is video available at your site (for bloggers - emailers can email video directly to be posted on the site).

IF YOU WIN, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE THE THEME TO BE (and it doesn't have to be something you are great at! In fact, it should be something you want to really know more about!)
I hope you will join in the fun and make some art we can all eat!