Crochetdermy

If traditional taxidermy creeps you out, you might like Shauna Richardson's crochetdermy. Her unique life-size sculptures of animals are crocheted from course wool and mohair mixes.

OF Rice And Ramen... and Spam

1. Instant ramen is perfect when you need to get a meal on the table pronto. Throw in a few leaves of bok choy , spam and fried egg and you can bet your kids will slurp the noodles with gusto.

2.Spam is a handy ingredient to have around. In Malaysia, we call it 'luncheon meat'.

3. 'Nasi' is rice in Malay/Indonesian

Here's my favourite 'no-fuss', 'no-brainer' recipe to share.

Spam Fried Rice

Ingredients

3 bowls of cooked rice (preferably rice that has been refrigerated overnight )
1/2 to 1 tin of spam (diced)
1/2 bowl of frozen mixed vegetables
1 onion (chopped)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons cooking oil

Seasoning
Salt or to taste
A dash of pepper
1 teaspoon light soya sauce

Method

Heat up wok and add cooking oil. Brown the diced spam. Remove and keep aside.
Saute onion till fragrant, add mixed-vegetables and stir fry for 1 minute. Add salt and pepper. Mix well.
Turn up heat. Add rice and fried spam meat and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add eggs and soya-sauce. Stir mixture around the wok to coat evenly.
You know it's ready when you see the rice grains 'jumping up and down' the wok. Grandma always used to say "fry until the rice starts to dance".

Rule of Thumb for adding the right amount of water when cooking rice
(Works for any pot size)

image credit - mykoreankitchen.com

Add water until it covers the knuckles when your hand is flat on the rice.
OR
Point your index finger to the surface of the rice. Add water until the level reaches the first joint of your index finger.

SPAM TRIVIA & FACTS

1. Spam was developed by George A. Hormel & Co. and first marketed in 1937.

2.Spam is a registered trademark name for a canned ground pork shoulder and ham product introduced by the Hormel Company in 1937.

3.During WW II, Hormel sold more than half of its output to the U.S. government, which supplied SPAM to the armed forces of the U.S., and also to the U.S.S.R. under the lend-lease program.

4.The 1 billionth can of spam was sold in 1959.
The 6 billionth can was produced in 2002.

5.West Yellowstone sponsors the 'Spam Cup' cross country ski race, with the winner receiving a can of Spam.

6.In addition to the U.S., spam is produced in 7 other countries: Australia, Denmark, UK, Japan, Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan. Spam is distributed in more than 50 countries.

7.The SPAMJAM Cafe opened in February 2004 in the Philippines. Except for hot dogs, French fries and desserts, all other menu items are made with Spam, including Spam Burger, Spam Hero, Spam Club, Spam Spaghetti, Spam Baked Macaroni, Spam Nuggets and Spam Caesar Salad.

8.Austin, Minnesota, is home to the Hormel Company's plant that produces Spam, a canned meat product popular with Americans. Created in 1937, some of the first commercials aired on TV were for Spam.

9.Spam even has a mascot -- Spammy, the miniature pig. In 1991, for its 100th anniversary, Hormel Foods opened the First Century Museum. The exhibit of Spam memorabilia quickly became the most popular. In the United States alone, 3.6 cans of Spam are consumed every second, making it the number one product in its category (canned meat) by far. On the island of Guam, more than eight cans of Spam are consumed by every person each year.

10.More than 60 years after it was first produced, Spam is still enormously popular. More than 6 billion cans have been sold!
Library of Congress Local Legacies Project


11.Richard LeFevre holds the world record for eating SPAM by eating 6 pounds in 12 minutes.

source - http://www.foodreference.com/html/fspam.html

Smart Animals

Pet dogs Wow Wow and Pong Pong go grocery-shopping for their owner, Sun Chien, a 76 year-old stroke victim from Northeast China.

Their owner sends them out daily with a grocery list and a purse with money to get the required items.
When one gets tired, he hops in the cart and they take turns!!

Now meet Lala, the shopping penquin! This 14 year-old king penguin shops for fish at the local fish store for his adopted family in Japan! No one can test for fresh fish better than a penguin! He looks so cute wearing his backpack, waddling to the the fishmonger and back to home sweet home!
All in a day's work!

Hans Van Bentem

At first glance, I thought these were brooches! They are actually crystal chandeliers designed by Dutch artist Hans Van Bentem. His unique creations have adorned the homes of the rich and famous, swanky hotels, galleries and royal palaces.




This Dutch artist has vowed the likes of Madonna with his bizarre creations. Madonna bought a piece shaped like a revolver to hang in one of her homes.

Kevin Van Aelst

Back in school, I sucked at Math and Biology. I might have been an A student if I had a teacher like Kevin Van Aelst!! This New York Times Magazine photographer creatively uses mundane food and household clutter to depict Scientific and Mathematical concepts. These delightful images would certainly have jogged my memory!

Krispy Kreme doughnuts depict cell-mitosis

Pie-chart

Common clouds - Milk Swirls of a cup of coffee

Gummy chromosomes

Gummy Periodic Table of Elements

The world on an apple

Finger prints are created with .....

cheese puffs

sugar

crust on a cherry pie

and mustard on a ham sandwich

Crackers are used to show world time clocks

Sushi-Inspired 'T'

Robin Antar - Realism In Stone

While most food artists work with well... food, Robin Antar's sculptures are created from stone.







Visit her website for more sculptures of clothing, footwear and other daily objects.

Snow White In Apples

If you've enjoyed food artist Prudence Staite's celebrity faces on pizza, you might like her creations of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. 14 varieties of apples were used in these 4 famous scenes. Ms Staite used apples because they are such a big part of the story and they capture the quintessence of the Disney magic.