I’m working on my video of the month carving lessons. I’ll be starting with some easy beginner lessons and moving into more intermediate. As intricate as these carved melons look, they are not difficult to do if you are shown how….which is exactly what I’ll be doing in my upcoming lessons.

Which of these melon carving patterns would you be most interested in learning how to do? Please indicate with your vote below each of the photos that you would most like to learn. You can vote for as many as you like.

continue reading…

Here is something that you might use in your New Year’s celebration. This video will show you a few variations on how to garnish a fancy carrot garnish that is easy to make.

You can your carrot garnishes in cocktails for your New Year’s Eve celebration. Add a cherry and an orange slice  to use in any tropical drink. Add a lime wedge for adding to a mojito or cosmo. Add a lime wedge and green olive with your carrot garnish on a long skewer and add to a bloody mary for New Year’s brunch. Add just an olive to add to a martini.

These carrot garnishes are also pretty additions to non- alcoholic beverages for your New Year’s brunch. You can add to fresh pressed carrot juice or fruit smoothies. continue reading…

Watermelon Christmas Bow carved by professional fruit carver James Brown

One of my blog readers, professional fruit carver James Brown shared this photo of a watermelon carved like a Christmas package with me. What a great idea for a Christmas carving! It’s so pretty isn’t it.

Square Watermelons

Imagine how awesome it would be if it were carved into one of these square watermelons. continue reading…

Here is a creative use of watermelon carving for the Christmas season. A Watermelon Santa. It was done by fruit carver Yenny Medalith Caldas Garcia.

I know that Thanksgiving has past for this year but I wanted to share the carvings that I made to bring to the Thanksgiving dinner that I attended. There were almost 30 people and 3 tables so I made one centerpiece for each table. Here they are. continue reading…

Sometimes we just don’t have time for vegetable carving. So, here is a super simple way to quickly dress up a dish of yams for Thanksgiving. Just add yam and sweet potato flowers to the top of your marshmallow covered yams. continue reading…

Here is an easy Thanksgiving decoration idea. You can make graceful birds using acorn squash and yellow crookneck squash. If you have the time you can carve feather and tail designs for your acorn squash bird’s body.  Or, you can just use the acorn squash without carving and you will still have a very pretty bird. These can be used as a lovely Thanksgiving decoration or as a Thanksgiving centerpiece  for your dinner table.

It’s really pretty simple. Take a look at this quick video to see how. continue reading…

Today is November 20 and I still have on display a carved white pumpkin lantern that I made on Halloween. That was October 31. So this pumpkin is now 21 days old! I’m finally about ready to throw it out. Amazingly, it is only now starting to get a little bit moldy on the inside. I’ve been keeping in on the table unrefrigerated all this time!

This is a huge contrast to the common orange pumpkins that I carved on the same day. Those got really black with mold on the inside within only 3 or 4 days.

Watch the video to see how this white pumpkin lantern has changed from day 1 to day 18. continue reading…

The first time that I carved flowers from vegetables was just before Thanksgiving. I assembled this bouquet and brought it to my mother-in-law’s home where about 25 of us were gathering for Thanksgiving dinner.

My first vegetable bouquet - used at Thanksgiving

I was excited to bring them to use as a centerpiece but Wow, I never expected such an enthusiastic response. I got so many compliments even from the men who usually don’t care about this sort of thing. The children were enchanted, too. One Uncle kept insisting that I should be on the Rachael Ray show.

If you look close, you can see that these are not the most perfect flowers ever carved. After all, it was my first time carving. But if I can do it and get all those ooohs and aahhhhs, so can you. continue reading…

Create Vegetable and Fruit Carvings that your Guests will Talk about and Remember

Learn Secrets that professional vegetable and fruit carving experts have used for years.

• Learn How to Avoid the 5 Most Common and Costly Mistakes made by Beginning Fruit Carvers that make the difference between Success and Failure.
• Step by step fruits carving instructions show you exactly how to create memorable garnishes and spectacular centerpieces more easily than you dreamed possible.
• Detailed Video Instructions that show action details that books with photos and words cannot communicate.
• We begin with simple elegant vegetables and fruit carvings that you can make in minutes with tools that you already own.
• Video demonstrations proceed to show you how you can create the same  elegant results seen on cruise ships and in five star restaurants without having to spend years in a culinary academy.
• You will learn about the most important “must have” vegetables and fruit carving tool that will give you the spectacular results that you see in traditional thai fruit carving.
• Video demonstrations of how to use additional vegetable and fruits carving tools that combined with the techniques we teach will give you WOW results while saving you time.
• How to select the best vegetables and fruits for the best carving results.
• How to keep your vegetable and fruit carvings fresh looking until ready to display, and learn which fruits and vegetables that you can carve days in advance of your event.
• You’ll also learn fast and fun carvings that will have your children happily eating more healthy fruits and vegetables.
• Our video vegetables and fruits carving instructions are even better than taking a live class because you can refer to them time and time again on your own schedule at your convenience in the comfort of your own kitchen.

To Get Your Free Lesson Now, simply sign in below.

To Learn More about our Vegetable and Fruit Carving 101, eleven week online course click here.

I’ve just recently added a few new fruit carving knives and tools to the site. You can see them all at our SHOP at

http://vegetablefruitcarving.com/vfcmembers/shop.

Check it out.

Halloween will be here in just a few more days. If you are planning to carve any pumpkins – whether it be a detailed carving or a simple jack o lantern face take a look at this 2 minute video. It will show you a quick easy way to hold your pumpkin in place securely when carving. I use something similar when I carve watermelons. I picked up this specific idea from Chef Robert Childers. Take a look. continue reading…

Just a quick not to let you know that I have just added a couple of new products to my shopping page. 

One of the 5 variations of root vegetable flowers demonstrated in the Yam and Turnip Flower Video

 Lots of people have asked for video instructions on how to make the “carrot” flowers that I show in the video demonstrating the Corrugated U-Cutters. (Although those flowers look like “carrots”, they are actually yams.)

So, now I have the lessons available on DVD. It’s called Yam and Turnip Flowers – made with corrugated U-cutters.

From the very first time that I made these and brought them to a Thanksgiving dinner, I’ve always gotten ooohs and aaahs when I make these. They look impressively intricate but they are actually  easy to make once you know how. For variety, the same design variations can be made with other root vegetables including beets, daikon, really fat carrots and sweet potatoes.

I’ve also just add a set of great quality, sharp and sturdy fruit carving knives by Kom Kom. You can check it all out in my shop.

The Holland Sentinel published a nice article about THE CARVE and you can see it at http://www.hollandsentinel.com/features/x2138387608/Food-carvers-chisel-their-way-to-victory

The first ever U.S. Collegiate National Championships were held at THE CARVE event at the Holland Farmer’s Market in Holland Michigan. It was all about fruit and vegetable carving. What fun it was. There was creativity flowing everywhere. In this article, you’ll see the winners and you’ll find lots of photos that may give you some ideas of your own. continue reading…

People’s Choice Division – Winner’s and Competitors

THE CARVE at the Holland Farmer’s Market was a blast. Here are the winners and competitors of the People’s Choice division of the competition. The attendees of The Carve voted for their favorite vegetable carving arrangement. I was thrilled to be  awarded the first prize. Brandon D”Arca won the 2nd prize and Nicole Bennett took the third prize. Enjoy these photos.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

123►

You might want to attend a really fun vegetable carving event coming up in a couple of weeks called THE CARVE III.

Holland Farmers Market’s third annual vegetable carving event will host the first ever U.S. Collegiate National Championship Carving Competition where teams from culinary schools across the nation will compete. I’ll be serving as one of the judges along with the winner of Food Network’s Fantasy Fruit Sculptures Competition, Doug St Souver. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top 4 winning teams.

Everyone can get in on the fun because there will be Peoples Choice division where professionals, amateurs, and students can complete and the public will decide the winners. High schoolers can compete in there own division. In these two divisions there will be cash prizes awarded to the top 3 winners.

On Saturday, kids can join in the fun by assembling their own fruit and vegetable sculptures.

This is bound to be a blast for anyone who likes to play with food as well as for the public that attends. Come if you can. If you know anyone else who likes the idea of playing with food, pass this on to them.

It’s not too late to compete. You’ll find all the details and the competition registration form at http://www.hollandfarmersmarket.com/thecarve/.

THE CARVE III takes place at the October 1 and 2, 2010 at the Farmers Market in Holland Michigan and is proudly sponsored by Alpenrose Restaurant.

P.S. As a lover of food art, you might find these two websites of the organizer of THE CARVE, Greg Butauski, really interesting. They show ice sculptures, sand sculpture, food art and more.

http://www.rockonice.com

http://www.arttheexperience.com

Although my main goal with my website is to offer fruit carving information and instructions, I have had many customers asking for fruit carving knives.  I just added some to my shopping page and you can learn more at http://vegetablefruitcarving.com/vfcmembers/shop/

It’s a high quality set of very sharp knifes imported from Thailand. I’ve chosen them because they are very versatile and they are strong enough for carving  root vegetables like carrots and yams as well as hard squashes. If you are wanting a set of good versatile fruit carving knives, click here for more details.

I have been studying and practicing Thai style fruit carving. A couple of weeks ago our group brought carvings to celebrate what we have learned. I thought that you might enjoy seeing these photos. They may provide inspiration for you to learn fruit carving. If you are already an experienced carver, maybe you will get some new ideas for patterns to carve.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

12►

It is not common knowledge but today is National Watermelon Day in the United States. Refreshing, delicious. sweet watermelon. Yum. Why not have celebrate national watermelon day while watermelons are at the peak of their season? They are plentiful and inexpensive right now. I just bought a huge one today for only $1.99!

The following are some great ideas in honor of National Watermelon Day.

Watermelon Lanterns

If you are planning a luau or summer party that will go into the evening hours, you can create dramatic, glowing watermelon lanterns much like a Halloween Jack-O-Lantern – but prettier!  Your carved watermelon can be beautiful by day and night. Here are photos showing a carved watermelon that I made before and after turning it into a lantern. You can light your watermelon with a flashlight, or other battery powered light. You might try lighting with battery powered candle type lights. You can even light with a real candle as long as you open up the top or create holes to allow enough oxygen so that the flame will burn.

Besides carving, there are so many other things you can do with watermelon. Here are a few delicious, fun, unusual and downright silly watermelon ideas you may want to try.

continue reading…