Vegetable Carving - Easy Vegetable Flowers Take Basic Veggie Platter To Next Level

Here is a new video I just put together, it requires only a paring knife and a couple minutes to turn a basic veggie and dip appetizer platter into an awesome looking display!

Please tell me what you think by rating the video and commenting .... If you really like it please don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel!

Last Attempt At Pumpkin Carvings, For Now

After my last post, I was so disappointed with the way my 3D pumpkin face and Jack O Lantern turned out that I scoured the internet looking for basic tips on carving faces into pumpkins. I did, after all, still have a cute little mini pumpkin that was a table decoration! What kind of self respecting carver would just let it go? I don't know the answer to that question but I do know that I could not!

I found a video of Ray Villafane on Martha Stewart's show ... well actually 3 videos, it is his whole segment cut into 3 pieces ... but he shows lots of great tips to getting the pumpkin face started and adding eyes! Now, he doesn't give too much away in the videos, after all he is there to promote his DVD for sale, but it was enough to help me make this tiny 3D pumpkin face which is way better then the one I made last week (see post below)!

Here is the video link: http://www.marthastewart.com/861070/creative-pumpkin-carving

I am also re-posting my Jack O Lantern picture after I did a little surgery to make the lighting stand out better!





Yayyy, let's carve something!!!

My 3D Pumpkin Carving Experiments

Sorry I did not post my fall fruit carving pictures sooner, I just was overall not happy with my pumpkin carvings especially the 3D aspect I tried to jump into :-(

This was my most recent attempt at a 3D pumpkin carving, a spooky tree and mini jack o lantern. I payed a little more attention to the weight vs size of the pumpkin as to pick a dense feeling gourd to ensure thicker walls to work with.
It looked really good with the light in it but the photo does not do it justice.

This is something silly I did on the back of my first pumpkin after I realized the walls were to thin to do do what I originally wanted to do.




So I wanted to carve a 3D face in my pumpkin but I did not do a good job picking it out and the walls were too thin to really get enough depth.

Looking evil

The positive news is I found this great de-seeder / scraper meant for pumpkins but I think will work for honeydews and cantaloupe too! It worked so fast and easy, it really took the hassle of taking the seeds and stringy mush out!



The other great result of me carving is pumpkins seeds, I love making roasted pumpkin seeds(and I hate wasting any part of food that you can use)! This is a batch I roasted with olive oil and salt but I also make a sweet version with sugar and pumpkin pie spices.

Next year I want to get one of the speckled or striped pumpkins like the one in the lower left corner ;-)

Happy Halloween everyone!

The Great Pumpkin Search Has Ended - Pumpkin Carving To Follow!

After calling around for 2 hours trying to find a pumpkin at a local farmers market with no luck and then asking everyone I know that lives near me if they have seen a pumpkin patch .... nothing! I was completely bummed, I want to carve a pumpkin!!

The very next day, I drove past the very first farmer market that I had called and they had tons of them ... yippie!

I am hoping to carve at least one a week until Halloween, check back for pics!

I want to get one of these big boys!

Pumpkin Carving Inspiration

3 months … that is how long it has been since I posted anything on this Fruit Carving and Vegetable Carving blog (or any of my other blogs either!)! During the peak of the summer season when perfectly ripe watermelon, cantaloupes and honeydews beg to be shaped into something new and awesome … well, I was recovering from having my torn shoulder muscles sewn back together, which coupled with the post surgery therapy was a very painful couple of months!!

But enough of the negative in the past, looking forward to the fall season including the cooler weather as well as PUMPKINS TO CARVE!! I watched two shows on Food Network Sunday night that really got me itching to carve a pumpkin. First, they showed a repeat from 2010 of a “Pumpkin Challenge” that was pretty cool and I don’t remember seeing last year. Than the have a new series called “Halloween Wars” which is a four week elimination competition that has 5 teams of three people; one pumpkin carver, one sugar/candy maker and one baker. The teams have to add all three elements on to one show piece for each challenge and at the end of each episode one team is eliminated. I was pretty sure I was going like it but I really loved it! The professional carvers on the show are awesome and I love seeing their fast action techniques and what tools they use. In fact, I was surprised to see that all of the carvers used completely different tools than one another …. expensive Thai style carving knifes, run of the mill paring knifes, exacto knifes, chef knifes, etc. Of course I also enjoyed the candy and cake aspect of the challenge too but I was just excited to see great fruit carving on Food Network!!

Anyways, I have tons of ideas now all I need to do is find someone selling pumpkins this early!!

Happy Carving!

Create n Carve Event Roundup

Thanks to everyone who sent in their fruit carving pictures and vegetable carving photos in participation with this event! If anyone is interested, the July event is being hosted here: http://simplysara07.blogspot.com/2011/07/create-n-carve-fruit-and-vegetable.html

These first 4 photos are fruit, veggie and candy arrangements for a graduation party

by Qamar Khan

Watermelon Basket by Soujanya

Rose Flower with Cucumber by Soujanya

Honeydew Bunny by Soujanya

Stork by Vardhini Balasubramanian

Cantaloupe Seahorse by Rita Loccisano

Watermelon Rose by Nayna

Triple Rose by Nayna

Double Rose by Nayna

Carrot and Apple Roses by Nayna

Melon Tower by Carved Memories

Beach Scene by Melissa Eschbaugh

Watermelon Flower by Katq Sabeva

Watermelon Carving by Harika

Hello Kitty Watermelon by Selena

June Create n Carve - Fruit and Veg Event

I am very happy to be hosting the June Create n Carve Event on my blog! It was started by Nayna of Simply.Food a couple of months ago and has be getting bigger and better every month! It is not a contest, just a challenge to find something to new to carve and share the pictures. At the end of the month I am going to post all the photos on my blog. It is really fun, because you get to see the progress of your fellow bloggers and fruit carving lovers from month to month ... won't you join us? ;-)

So here is how it works ... First, find something to carve!

I have a couple step by step fruit carving and garnishing videos (to give you some basic ideas) on my YouTube channel here: Fruit Carving Videos or sign up for my email newsletter and get fruit and vegetable carving projects sent to your inbox.

Also there is a huge list on the Simply.Food blog that has tons of how to videos: http://simplysensationalfood.blogspot.com/p/fruit-and-vegetable-carving-tutorials.html


Next, post your photo on your blog, this is your entry into this event. Entries must include:
• Use of Create n Carve logo as it promotes the event
• Multiple entries and Archived entries allowed if re posted
• Link back event to both of the following pages:
http://simplysensationalfood.blogspot.com/p/simplyfood-events.html
http://learntocarvefruit.com

Last, send me an email linda@learntocarvefruit.com and make sure that it has the following:

Name:
Blog Name:
Post Name:
Post URL:
Image no larger than 300 pixels as attachment.

Hey, if you are into that Facebook thing like me, come check out the event I posted on there and click that you are attending :-)
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=191295140923125

Fruit Carving Video Review - Watermelon Flowers

I usually allot myself time each week to work on new fruit carving ideas or to practice advanced techniques but since breaking my arm I decided to use this time instead to flip through old fruit and vegetable garnishing books. Well, that lasted about a week, I mean I had already poured through all 8 of them several times in the past and if I were going to give the old noodle something interesting to look at, than it would have to be new! I chose a DVD by a woman who has been doing fruit carving for over 30 years. She studied Kae-Sa-Luk in Thailand under a teacher trained at the Royal Palace and she is considered a master of this ancient art.

I actually bought and watched several DVDs but now that my arm is healing, I plan to practice them and review them for my blog one at a time. So the first DVD I am reviewing is “The Art of Watermelon Carving”. Out of all the DVDs I purchased it is probably the most advanced, so what is the reason this one is reviewed first? Well, to be honest it is the one I was most excited to practice!

“The Art of Watermelon Carving” by Pam Maneeratana has 3 separate lessons all concentrating on different flower patterns; Chrysanthemum (or Mums), Rose Bud and Blooming Rose. Overall I enjoyed all three videos a lot! She shows you step by step how to complete each watermelon flower design. She shows each kind of cut slowly so you understand it and gradually starts do the cuts faster making sure to repeat each technique a couple of times. I have watched each lesson a couple times, the first time watching the entire lesson all the way through just sitting on my couch trying to pay attention to the tips she is giving and the way she holds her bird’s beak carving knife. Then, I would watch it again while carving, pausing and rewinding as I needed …. Ahhh, fruit carving videos are so much easier to learn from than their book counterparts!!

I really enjoyed this DVD and I am happy I purchased it but there are two things that you should keep in mind if you are considering buying this watermelon carving video. First, Pam really knows what she talking about but English is not her first language and there are one or two parts where she struggles to find the right words or when her accent makes it hard to understand her . Also, the Thai background music becomes a little much during a couple of parts (after the first viewing I just turned the sound down). But overall these two issues are not enough to make me enjoy the lessons any less!

Here is a picture of my first attempt at one of the lessons, "Blooming Rose". The lesson actually shows you how to make several of these on one watermelon but my melon was small and I already know how to make the rose bud but really wanted to practice the petals. Lots more pictures to come soon!

Fruit Carving Of Snoopy In A Edible Arrangement

This Snoopy fruit carving is made out of watermelon rind and is my first attempt at a carving since breaking my arm. It was a small piece that was added to a edible fruit arrangement to make it custom.

I am entering it in the April Create n Carve event, it is not a contest, just fun! To find out more info about this event click the photo below.

Fruit Flower Arrangement For Engagement Party

My cast is off and have started therapy for my broken arm, while it is hard for me to carve fruit, this edible arrangement was a little easier for me to manage until I can use my left arm! I was excited to do it because it I had never done a engagement design before and I thought it turned out nice!

Ice Carving Show On Food Network

Since I am unable to do any fruit carvings right now while recovering, I have been trying to stay creative and watch YouTube videos of other fruit carvings. I also found a couple DVDs I ordered of some advanced Thai style fruit carvings, I can't wait for them to get here! I also was pretty excited to see that the Food Network has a new show called "Ice Brigade" about ice carving. Since I was a kid I always thought carving ice was pretty cool and was happy to see a show about carving anything! I watched my first episode this weekend and was a little bit disappointed that they did not show a lot of the actual carving process or techniques. Now I only saw one of the shows and I am hoping that it was just that one show and that future episodes will show more. Has anyone else see on of these episodes? What did you think of the show?

It Is Hard To Carve Fruit With A Broken Arm

I have a pretty good excuse to why I have not updated my blog or made any new videos as of late ... I broke my arm :(

I am healing and hopefully will be back to carving fruit soon!

Fruit Carving Ideas For Valentine's Day

I have two new videos that are quick and easy ideas for Valentine's Day or any romantic dinner:

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Roses

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J0TnOFyboU

Vegetable Garnishes For A Romantic Salad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT2LOjx5wgo

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Fruit Carving and Vegetable Arrangement Photos

Just a photo slide show I uploaded to YouTube with some recent pictures of fruit carvings and edible arrangements that you may remember seeing on here.

Hope it inspires you!

Fruit Carving Books on Kindle

Amazon has lots of fruit carving books but I thought it was interesting that they started offering some on Kindle. I think this is a great idea, very easy to have your Kindle next to you in the kitchen to refer to! Check it out here: Kindle Fruit Carving Books