Ketch Update

Regular readers may recall last year's post about the Heinz Ketchup Creativity Contest which solicited drawings from school kids to appear on ketchup packets. On a recent trip to Five Guys (Burgers and Fries) I was fortunate enough to come across some other winners!

Here's one by Melissa R., a 5th grader from Queens, NY. A ketchup rock star crowd surfs over his French fry fans:

Here's a cute one from Kerri S., an 8th grader from Washington, PA:

And here's a caped catsup crusader by 3rd grader Julie K. of North Olmsted, OH:

Be sure the check out the Winners' Gallery for more great designs. It's worth noting that the proportion of anthropomorphic drawings has increased each year. It's hard to know if that reflects a change in the submissions or the tastes of the judges. At any rate, I think more food with eyes is always better! This year promises an even more exciting contest with the grand prize winner being featured on an actual ketchup bottle! Kids, get your crayons ready!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cookies

Here's a video to get you in the mood for holiday baking! This is a 1935 Disney Silly Symphonies short called "The Cookie Carnival":

Courtesy of Meeelis on YouTube.

I don't remember ever seeing this one before. I think it has just won the "Best thing I've Seen on YouTube So Far" award. Enjoy!

Hostess with the Mostest?

I've been enjoying Waffle Whiffer's recent blog and Flickr posts about Hostess Cakes and their delightful mascots, particularly Fruit Pie the Magician. (If you haven't seen them, go there now!)While I remember Twinkie the Kid growing up, I have to admit that I don't have any memories of Fruit Pie the Magician. I got to wondering about this, and I think I know why. Growing up outside of Philadelphia, the snack cake market was (and is) dominated by Philadelphia-based Tastykake. While we occasionally ate Twinkies or Drake's Cakes' Devil Dogs or Yodels, mostly we ate Tastykake's Krimpets, Kandy Kakes, and their fruit pies (pineapple cheese is the best!).

I have a few Tastykake items that came from my grandfather's grocery store including this great 2-sided hang tag:


And this ruler:


Tastykake has a great font and a catchy jingle ("Nobody bakes a cake as tasty as a Tastykake..."), but it is severely lacking in the mascot department - at least until now. Browsing the Tastykake website, I found that they seem to have a new mascot, Kirbee Krimpet!

Here's a plush Kirbee:

And here's Kirbee on a tin (full of Krimpets, naturally):

Kirbee seems to be Butterscotch Krimpet, not a Jelly Krimpet, which I generally prefer, but I don't mind. A YouTube search turned up a recent commercial featuring Kirbee and the Phillies Phanatic:

Courtesy of CircleOneMarketing1 on YouTube

Kirbee hasn't made his way onto the packaging yet, but who knows?

Something to Sneeze at

When I'm surfing the web, I never pay any attention to advertisements on the sides of pages; they're invariably for some miracle weight loss plan, teeth whitening, or ultra-low mortgage rates (hmmm, maybe I do pay attention to them?). Anyway. I never click on them. But today I saw something so intriguing that not only did I click on the ad, but I was inspired to write a spontaneous blog post!

I'm talking about AllerMates: medical ID tags for kids with allergies featuring an amazing cast of characters! Now you can send little Tommy off to school wearing a set of dog tags alerting everyone to his food allergies:


Or, make a fashion statement with a wristband featuring the offending foodstuff:

The AllerMates include all the usual offenders:

Professor Wheatly

Soy Cool

Pint

Eggie

Nutso

P. Nutty


It's too bad that everything says "allergy" on it. I for one, would certainly wear a Professor Wheatly bracelet. I can imagine that kids will begin to fake allergies just to wear these cool characters. Kids will probably collect and trade the dog tags. The website indicates that a variety of other products will be coming next year including plush toys, stickers, lunch boxes, and epi-pen holders. That last one isn't so much fun, but I know I could face the possibility of anaphylactic shock a lot better with a cute character like P. Nutty on my wrist!

Pick a Pak of Pickle Pilgrims

If the menu for your Thanksgiving feast isn't finalized yet, you might want to consider adding some pickles. That's "Picklicious!" according to Mt. Olive Pickle's spokespickle Ollie Q. Cumber:

Ollie is taking his new role as spokespickle quite seriously, and he even has his own on-line space with a variety of activities including coloring pages and postcards.

Can't get enough of Ollie? You can get your very own Ollie t-shirt by sending in some proofs of purchase (and shipping and handling). Or better yet, submit a recipe to the Picklicious Showcase. If it's chosen as a Showcase Recipe, you'll win your very own Ollie t-shirt! So be sure to send in your recipes for pickle stuffing, sweet potato and pickle casserole, and pumpkin and pickle pie.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Food Marks the Spot

Last week I was delighted to receive a birthday package from Curly Wurly brimming with wonderful surprises! As usual, she has the knack for finding just the right gift, and I'll be sharing some of those with you here.

First, I was excited to find the bookmarks (or "magnetic page clips" as they call themselves) that I had admired a few months ago!

These kawaii cuties are by Paperchase. I'm looking forward to using them, but I will be sure to heed the ominous warning on the back about just what magnets can do to your intestines if swallowed.

Being a bookmark aficionado I naturally like to give them to others, and handcrafted bookmarks were often among the gifts I made as a child. Here's an early example of a mixed media (paint, yarn, felt, paper from Tastykake package) bookmark featuring three peas in a pod:

I've collected bookmarks for as long as I can remember, and the nice thing about a bookmark collection is that a 38 year accumulation still fits in the top drawer of my nightstand. I try to match the bookmark to the book I'm reading. These new bookmarks will be perfect for when I sit down with For Whom the Bell Pepper Tolls, Jane Pear, or The Grape Gatsby! Thanks, Curly Wurly!