Radish and Turnip flowers by student Allan Jarvis

This blog post features the lovely fruit and vegetable carvings of one of my student/customers, Allan Jarvis. Allan is in Queensland, Australia. In one of Allan’s first emails to me he told me that he was introduced to fruit and vegetable carving many years ago in Thailand but had not done too much until recently. He wrote, “The book I bought in Thailand is great but not enough steps… ” Shortly after, Allan joined our video lessons.

With spring celebrations like Easter, Songkran Festival and the Indian Festival, Holi coming up you might see some ideas here that you can use. 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…

Vegetable and Fruit Platter Arrangement by Richard Testani

Many of my readers have expressed an interest in getting into business with Vegetable and Fruit Carving arrangements. After receiving “oooohs” and “aaaahhs” from their edible displays, friends and families have encouraged them to try turning their passion for making beautiful vegetable and fruit carving arrangements into profit.

Today, I want to introduce you to one of my readers/customer, Richard Testani, who is a professional in vegetable and fruit carving. You may have come across Richard’s name if you’ve read my blog post Radish Flowers | An Easy Vegetable Carving for Beginners. I think you will really enjoy his vegetable and fruit carving work and I hope his story will inspire you! continue reading…

Ruben Olano – professional fruit carver for Disneyland Resorts

Fruit carvings are a wonderful addition to a meal for any special event. Themed fruit carvings can serve as a decorative table display or centerpiece, or can be used to dress up a fruit or hors d’oeuvres platter. 

Today, I want to share with you some photos from a reader, Ruben Olano, who used to work as a professional fruit decorator for Disneyland Resorts and Hotels. His fruit carvings were often displayed at special event buffets at the Disneyland hotels. I’m sure Ruben’s fruit carvings got many “oooohs” and “aahhhs” from the patrons dining the hotels. Take a look at some of Ruben’s fruit carvings – they may spark some ideas for your own centerpiece for a special event. 

If you’re new to fruit and vegetable carving, don’t worry, read on to find out how I can help you get started on making your own fruit carvings and fruit arrangements for your next special event. continue reading…

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…

When my son was growing up, it was a challenge to get him to eat more fruits and vegetables. I found that if I presented the food in a fun and attractive way, he would sometimes eat even more than I hoped he would! If you’re a parent or grandparent with a little one who’s a bit of a fussy eater, I’m sure you can relate and I bet you have your own ideas for fun ways of arranging fruits and vegetables for kids. I hope I can show you some new ideas in this post and share some photos with you that your children in your life will enjoy too!

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Today, I’d like to show you a few vegetable bouquets of carved radish flowers that people have made after watching my free radish bouquet video lesson.

People who visit my blog are usually impressed by the carvings of fruit flowers or vegetable roses they see and want to know how to make their own edible bouquets. That’s why I’ve created my online video lessons; however, if you’re like me, you probably want to try something first to decide if it’s for you. So I suggest that readers start with my free lesson on how to make an easy bouquet of radish flowers.

The response is always positive because 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…

In the week since Thanksgiving several of my blog readers have sent me their Thanksgiving centerpiece photos. I thought that you might be interested seeing them. I’ll also show you a fun arrangements surprise that arrived at my house this Thanksgiving.

Borrow these Thanksgiving Centerpiece Ideas to Make your own Holiday Centerpiece.

Monique with her Thanksgiving Turkey Appetizer

Many of these ideas can be used for many other celebrations besides Thanksgiving. Maybe you will find use for these ideas during the upcoming holidays.

Thanksgiving Centerpiece that Serves as an Appetizer

My daughter-in-law Monique surprised me by bringing a fun Thanksgiving Turkey appetizer sculpture made of bread. The bread was topped with cream cheese and covered with salami and cheese. Monique then added the “feathers” of skewered grapes, plum tomatoes, and cheese that were topped off with shrimp. What a fun Thanksgiving centerpiece idea! Isn’t it?

Monique told me that she had seen this Thanksgiving centerpiece idea in a magazine years ago.  She had torn out the page and kept it. But, when she went looking, she could not find it. So, she made this from memory.

Isn’t it cute! She made the head “feathers” and eyes from red bell pepper. See the photo below for a better look at the detail. continue reading…