Another watermelon cake by Mariano Orozco

In this blog post I ‘d like to share some fruit carving photos of a couple students of my video lessons.

Mariano Orozco of the Shark Shack in Hayward California is a student of all of my lessons. He got his first fruit carving video lesson from me a little over a year ago. He has clearly been practicing and his work gets better and better. Here are some of his photos his watermelon carvings.

Watermelon Cake Fruit Carvings

In these first 2 photos you can see that Mariano took the concepts I teach in my Watermelon Cakes video lessons and ran with them adding his own style. Beautiful aren’t they! continue reading…

Sugar Dome Fruit Carving Winner on food Network, John Montgomery at The Carve IV with his 5th Place Winning Piece

Food Network recently aired an episode of Sugar Dome that included fruit carving. The fruit carver on the winning team was John Montgomery. Even though John did a great job and won, he can carve even more beautifully than he did on the Sugar Dome fruit carving competition. I’ve got photos to prove it.

The show gives contestants limited time to carve which creates the necessity to hurry, which results in less beautiful carvings than one is capable of. Let me show you how beautifully John can carve.

I met John a couple of years ago at The Carve III carving competition in Holland Michigan where we competed in the People’s Choice competition. We both attended continue reading…

What are the benefits of having a hobby that you enjoy? Here are just a few:

• Pure Enjoyment
• Stress Relief
• A Creative Outlet
• A Sense of Accomplishment
• Meet New Friends – or do something new with existing friends
• Reduced Memory Impairment in later years

Stuart Brown, M.D describes the vast benefits of having hobbies well in his book, titled “Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul”.  Dr. Brown says “When you’re using your imagination and have a heightened mood, you open possibilities that you wouldn’t think otherwise.” Because of this, he encourages busy people to find a hobby or time to play during hardship and stress.

The Unexpected Benefits of a Hobby Revealed in Mayo Clinic Study

The reduced memory impairment continue reading…

Daikon bird carving by Tzipy Cohen

In honor of National Bird Day, here are some bird carving designs in fruits and vegetables.

January 5th is National Bird Day. It is celebrated by bird lovers through bird watching, studying birds and other bird related activities. So, why not create bird carvings?

In the past, I’ve written a few blog posts featuring bird carving designs in food. Since the bald eagle is the official bird of America, I’ve received photos from students and readers of their unique bird-themed carvings. Most of the photos featured eagles or hawks. You can check out these clever bird carving continue reading…

Building sand castles and sculptures is a classic summer activity

In the spirit of celebrating summer, I thought you might enjoy some photos of amazing sand sculptures. Playing in the sand is such a classic summer activity and makes for great family fun. And just like fruit carving, sand carving is a wonderful artistic and creative outlet. Isn’t it a satisfying feeling to make a beautiful and original image out of plain sand or a simple watermelon? Carving and sculpting are so much fun!

Well, to kick off summer, check out some of these photos of sand sculptures from around the world. Maybe you’ll get some ideas for making your own continue reading…

Patriotic Eagle Watermelon Carving by Robert Reynolds

After the recent July 4th celebrations here in the United States, several readers sent me photos of their patriotic watermelon carvings. It’s great to see that so many people are using their creativity with fruit carving to celebrate special events like July the 4th. In fact, vegetable and fruit carvings are a great addition to any special occasion and always get “ooohs” and “aaahs” from guests.

Today, I’d like to share photos of patriotic watermelon carvings by readers and students of my blog and carving lessons. All of their ideas are unique and I hope you pick up some new inspiration from seeing their work. continue reading…

A carving by Svetlana Partem for the Plain City Hertiage Days Festival competition

In April, I wrote a post about upcoming fruit and vegetable carving competitions, which included the Plain City Heritage Days festival competition on May 19th. Well, I got a first hand account from one of my readers,  Luis Rodriguez, who was a contestant in the Plain City fruit and vegetable carving event in May. This was Luis’ first carving competition!

Here’s a message that Luis wrote to me after his competition experience: continue reading…

A banana dress by photographer Sung Yeonju

Earlier this week, I wrote a post about Italian photographer Fulvio Bonavia’s food fashion pictures. He has come up with really interesting and creative ways to pair food with clothing and accessories to make delicious designer photos. Well, this trend setting food art concept has been given a unique twist by another photographer from South Korea named Sung Yeonju.

Ms. Yeonju’s take on food fashion is in the form of edible dresses. Her designs look so chic that it’s hard to believe that they are made from fruits and vegetables, bubblegum and even chicken! Check out Sung Yeonju’s food clothing photos from her project called “Wearable Foods”. continue reading…

An example of a watermelon cake taught in Nita's video lessons

Today, I want to show you how my readers have gotten creative with their watermelon cakes. I have received many photos and messages sent to me by readers and students telling me how much they enjoyed my free watermelon cake lesson and my Watermelon Cakes #1 and #2 DVD lessons.

 I love all the different variations and twists that students and readers have added to the watermelon cakes to make it their own. The cakes are beautiful and colorful and are a healthy alternative to the sugar and fat loaded real cakes.  I thought you might like to see these photos to get ideas for your own edible creations. continue reading…

Today, I want to give you an early look at some of the food art competitions and events coming up later this year. Food carving competitions are a great way to showcase the beautiful art of vegetable and fruit carving, and are an opportunity for like minded culinary enthusiasts to share and learn from each other.

Besides fruit carving, food art competitions and events can include cooking, ice carving, cake decorating and chocolate carving. Oh, and let’s not forget about a watermelon eating contest and watermelon face painting. Find out more about these fun and wacky fruit activities and how they are actually supporting a great cause! continue reading…

Gianna Goldy's Underwater Garden Food Art made from carved vegetables

Food Art is becoming an increasingly popular because of popular television cooking shows and because food naturally appeals to both our eyes and our taste buds! Well, today I want to share with you a lovely ocean food art creation by a student, Gianna Goldy. Gianna’s “under the sea” theme, with all of its fresh vegetables, makes me think of an underwater garden.

I was delighted to receive her wonderful photos and the following message in my e-mail:

 Nita, here are some pictures of an “Under The Sea” food carving I did for a project in my Culinary Arts class. This is the first time I ever attempted food carving. My inspiration came from what I saw while diving at the Virgin Islands. I was quite pleased at my attempt at food carving which led me to research food carving on the internet, which lead me to your website. I have ordered 14 of you’re DVD’s and several knife and carving utensils. Thank you for your teachings! I am learning a lot. Gianna Goldy”  continue reading…

Competitions Push You to Challenge Yourself  

Nita's First Place Entry for the People's Choice Award at the Carve III Competition

I know for some people just hearing the word “competitions” can be intimidating, especially if you’re a beginner in your vegetable and fruit carving journey. You may think, “I’m just doing this for fun!” But don’t worry, competitions are meant to be fun and they can be a valuable learning experience. You’ll meet people who will inspire you and seeing their work will encourage you to further your skills even more. And who knows, you may be surprised with how well you do!

Announcing an upcoming fruit and vegetable carving competition in Plain City, Ohio. Whether you’re a competitor or a spectator, attending a fruit and vegetable carving competition is a great way to meet like-minded people and get inspired!

2012 will be Plain City’s third annual Heritage Days Festival, which celebrates the history of the city with local food and craftsmanship. The fruit and vegetable carving competition, sponsored by the World Food Sculptor’s Association, is a big part of the Heritage Days Festival.

This Year’s Heritage Days Fruit and Vegetable Carving Competition will take place on Saturday, May 19, 2012 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Plain City, Ohio at Der Dutchman Restaurant continue reading…

A cute melon bunny fruit bowl for your Spring time Celebration

I love to celebrate Spring by making one of my easiest fruit carvings – a melon bunny fruit basket. This is my favorite time of year because everything is fresh and blooming and it really does feel like a new beginning.

Certain fruits start to come in season so it’s a great time to enjoy them and have a little fun by serving them in a melon bunny fruit bowl. Plus, kids will go wild for these melon bunny bowls and the fruit will disappear in no time! continue reading…

Okay, it’s not exactly snowing or icy here in California, but I wanted to share some ice carving pictures with you from one of my readers, Jana Phung.

The Art of Ice Carving

Did you know that many chefs who do fruit carving also do ice carving?

I haven’t tried ice carving myself, so I can’t promise to have video lessons on this anytime soon! But you can see what it involves by reading Jana’s guest post below. continue reading…

This sassy Senorita, carved from eggplant, looks like she's ready to go out on the town

I recently learned about a fascinating Food Trade Show that takes place in Brazil, featuring amazing food sculpture. Have you ever heard of Fair Equipotel? I hadn’t either until Chef Charlie from Carving Studio Brazil sent me photos of beautiful food art from this event.

Fair Equipotel in Brazil is held every year and is considered the largest and best Food Trade Show in Latin America. In 2011, the event was held in Sao Paulo and included a Food Sculpture Workshop (with some friendly competition) lead by Chef Charlie.

Realistic Food Sculptures at Food Trade Show in Brazil

Look at the facial expression on these pumpkin food sculptures continue reading…

Sometimes when people see vegetable and fruit carving photos, they think, “Oh, I couldn’t do that!”, “It’s too hard” or “I’m not skilled enough”.

Just yesterday, I was asked by someone who was doing some office work for me, how long does it take to learn how to carve.

I’m so used to seeing people learn carving and have good results that I forgot that learning to carve fruits and vegetable can look very daunting to people who have not yet tried.

Also, when you see the work of expert vegetable and fruit carvers, you might feel intimidated to try vegetable and fruit carving.

I want to you know that:

You Really CAN do Vegetable and Fruit Carving.

Beginning Fruit Carver Avi Livne

So, for the next couple of weeks, I will showcase some of the carvings of my students who have learned from my videos. continue reading…

Here are a few really fun Christmas carving s including photos of carved melon and pumpkin Santas. Maybe they will give you ideas and inspiration for next year.

Pumpkin Santa Christmas Carving

This Santa Claus carved from pumpkin was carved by one of my customer/students Simon Paul Muscat. He sent these photos to me with a note saying,

“Hi, Just thought I’d do something different and maybe you would like to see it. First I did the beard from the same pumpkin but then I tried with cauliflower.

Merry Christmas

Simon”

Christmas Carving - Pumpkin Santa Carved by Simon Paul Muscat

continue reading…

With Christmas fast approaching, I have an unusual pumpkin carving to share with you. I’ll bet you’ve never seen a  baby Jesus in the manger carved from a huge 750 pound pumpkin!

That is exactly what Executive Chef and pumpkin carver Jim Morgan carved.

It all started with a Pumpkin Carving Class continue reading…

Witch Face Carved by Pam Leno

What a blast! What a memorable experience!

I had the honor of carving pumpkins at the White House for the first family’s Halloween trick or treat event.

The White House hosted a Halloween party with trick or treating for military families. The trick-or-treating was done on the front portico and drive way of the White House. Our team created a carved pumpkin display for the event.

How did I get invited? continue reading…