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Spatula City is a meal in which everyone eats dinner with unconventional utensils. Think spatulas, spaghetti forks and soup ladels.
Barbarian Spaghetti is when you eat spaghetti without plates.
Crazy might be when you combine them both. Continue Reading →
The purpose of this post is to feature some of the repulsive results from the recent Ugly Cake Initiative (We shared our family’s experience here).
We heartily congratulate all the people who took up the challenge to fight Adultitis by whipping up something ugly in the kitchen. And we offer our sincere condolences to any brave souls who ingested any of the creations. (Although to be fair, most were reported to be very delicious.) Take that, Martha Stewart!
Without further ado, check out the gruesome goodness! Continue Reading →
It is official: making ugly treats is a foolproof way to annihilate Adultitis. Indeed, forgoing the stress that can come from trying to create a confection that might make Martha Stewart weep tears of joy is not nearly as fun as concocting something that would have her wailing and gnashing her teeth.
Although we have extolled the virtues of cooking up ugly cakes and cookies for some time, we had not actually undertaken the task — until now. We used the latest Small Rebellion, aka The Ugly Treat Initiative, as a fitting excuse to jump right in.
It’s easy to be intimidated by some of the giants who have come before us, with cakes so ugly they’d make Sloth from The Goonies recoil in horror. But engaging in some ugly treat frivolity needn’t be a burden. We went a simple route, which proved to be quick and easy without shortchanging any of the fun. Continue Reading →
According to the Interwebs, the first week of April is Laugh at Work Week. If there’s one thing work could use more of, it’s laughter.
Inspired by our most recent Champion of Childhood award winners who made an epic ugly cake for a co-worker, we are introducing a new Small Rebellion and we’d love to have you join us! It’s called The Ugly Treat Initiative, and the instructions are very simple:
Step 1) Make a delicious dessert that also happens to be really, really UGLY.
Step 2) Bring it to work to share.
Step 3) Enjoy laughter and improved morale with your colleagues. (And possibly be awarded a primo parking spot for a month.)
Step 4) Share your stories and pictures at one of the following locations:
You can tackle the mission when it’s most convenient, any time during the week. You can make cookies, cakes, cupcakes, pies, strudels…anything, really. Just make sure it’s sweet and tasty. And butt ugly.
The only other requirement is the sharing part, even if it’s not an official place of employment. Eating an ugly cake alone does not generate much laughter. And please, share this Small Rebellion with friends, families, and mortal enemies. The more the merrier!
According to physicist David Neevel, it’s the cookie, hands down. And this quirky machine will separate your Oreo and remove the offending substance for you.
Plus it uses a hatchet. Nice touch.
Adultitis would have us believe that it’s unbecoming for an adult to play with his or her food. Apparently, Polish designer Boguslaw Sliwinski (say that three times fast) didn’t get the memo.
He has designed a series of plates that invite you turn your meal into an action scene.
Now you tell me: what are the odds that Adultitis makes an appearance at a dinner party featuring plates of this nature?
My art almost always contains an element of whimsy. It also often involves inspiration, encouragement, or entertainment. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to make something that combines all three.
Other times, I end up with something that’s just plain silly.
It all started with a mango with a mullet.
And I just could not stop. I felt compelled to paint pictures of food sporting hairstyles of varying levels of ridiculousness. When the dust settled, the series totaled nine in all, including cauliflower with a combover, cabbage with cornrows, and a pear with a perm.
It is a battle that has been waging since the early days of our marriage. I am a cereal junkie, and naturally, require a perfect cereal-to-milk ratio. If I wanted to eat my cereal dry, I’d leave the milk for some stray neighborhood cats. But I don’t. Milk is a crucial part of the enjoyment.
However. Continue Reading →
I have never once considered the sugar-laden cereals that warm my heart and gladden my belly to be laced with Adultitis. Not once.
That is, until I came across a cereal that was born in 1988 called Cröonchy Stars. Although 80s were my halcyon years of cereal eating, I’d never heard of them until my friend Lisa brought them to my attention a few weeks ago. The brainchild of Jim Henson and featuring his Muppet character The Swedish Chef, Cröonchy Stars was a cinnamon toast flavored cereal packaged in a box peppered with ridiculous, and sometimes unsolvable, games and puzzles. One time it included a contest to see how many times you could find the word “rutabaga” hidden on the box and how many times it was spelled correctly. Continue Reading →
One of the attendees of last summer’s Escape Adulthood Summit was inspired by the Barbarian birthday party we held to celebrate our son Ben turning one. She wanted to have one with her family on Christmas Eve, but she was worried about how it would be received. Unsurprisingly, it would be quite a departure from their normal holiday traditions.
Judging by the pictures she sent, it seems like it went over pretty well. (Bonus points for the twisty straw!)
Sometimes the biggest hurdle to initiating a Small Rebellion is our own fear. That feeling of dread or uncertainty is Adultitis’ last stand against against you. 90% of the time, our attempts at a Small Rebellion will be well received and much appreciated. So maybe it falls flat the other 10% of the time.
The cool thing? In either scenario, Adultitis loses.
What sorts of things do you do every Christmas, the exact same way, because you’ve ALWAYS done them that way?
What if you changed things up this year?
I’m not talking about the sacred, untouchable family traditions (although maybe I am). But what about the things you do automatically, without much thought and without any real meaning? What if, instead of trying to make your Christmas cookies look like Martha Stewart’s, you went 180º in the other direction and made them ugly instead. You know, on purpose.
The photos of the treats above are from my friend Soyphet, whose office held an Ugly Cookie decorating event this year. Ugly indeed. Funny thing is, I still want to eat them. And they make me smile.
Sure feels like a more fun and meaningful tradition than the boring old Christmas cookie swap.
A few months ago, as our son Ben’s first birthday was approaching, Kim and I wondered how we could make his party special. We were well aware of the fact that he would remember precisely none of it, so our focus was actually about making it memorable for the guests. Continue Reading →
Found this on the lovely Pinterest. Plain-colored noodles be gone! Here’s how you do it:
To keep abreast of all of the other stuff we find on Pinterest, you should follow me.
Halloween has come and gone. For those of you that still have candy leftover from the big haul, I applaud your self-control. We try to limit the amount of candy that comes into our house because we know the chances of it lasting more than twenty-four hours is about as good as that moldy jack-o-lantern throwing itself away.
But if you have some extra candy corn, Snickers bars or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups* hanging around, Curbly.com has assembled a great roundup of 10 recipes that use leftover Halloween candy. Check ‘em out here!
* Anyone that has any Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups leftover at this point should be deported. Because I’m pretty sure they’re communist.
Sushi looks so pretty. But it kind of grosses me out. (You know, the raw parts.) Someday I’m gonna have somebody who knows their sushi show me the ropes, tell me what’s good, and tie me down and force me to try it.
Until then, this PB&J Sushi recipe, compliments of Jif, will fit the bill nicely and allow me to practice my chopstick skills. Continue Reading →
When I was a kid, I remember lovingly assembling and painting all the tiny creatures from a Jabba the Hutt Throne Room model playset. It was awesome.
Whether it’s dollhouses, model trains or museum dioramas, I have always been fascinated by things in miniature. So the little kid inside of me did cartwheels when I saw the work of Shay Aaron, an Israeli who makes miniature food sculptures out of Sculpey clay in 1:12 scale, which fits most standard dollhouses. I mean, check out the detail!
Continue Reading →
Yes, my friends, this is a grilled cheese sandwich. But with brown sugar Pop-Tarts instead of bread. And pears. Continue Reading →
Or, Mr. Freeze, as it was known when I was selling them for 10 cents a pop from the concession stand I ran as a youngster in Peru, Illinois.
Seemed like an appropriate thing to post as the temps hit 90 plus here in Wisconsin.
One of the greatest inventions of the past few years is the Dairy Queen Mini Blizzard. I love Blizzards, and am rarely able to contain myself if I spot a Dairy Queen logo while driving home from a speaking gig. (My favorites are the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup ones.) I love that the mini size allows me to assuage the craving while staving off the shame spiral that comes from inhaling a bigger size.
The point of this post is to praise tiny portions of dessert. I have found that it doesn’t take a lot to satisfy my sweet tooth. If have have a taste for some chocolate, peanut butter, and ice cream, I don’t need it served up in a ten-gallon bucket. Continue Reading →
If you’re like us, you’ve often thought, “Why can’t you have macaroni and cheese for breakfast?” This certainly qualifies as a rule that doesn’t exist, right? Well, I jumped up and down for joy when I saw this recipe on Grandparents.com, of which I am a frequent visitor (don’t ask).
Granted, it’s not as healthy as a bowl of strawberries, but hey, it’s got noodles and cheese and — wait for it — BACON!
It’s got bacon, people!
Plus it gives you a reason to break a stupid, stupid breakfast “rule.” Continue Reading →
Sometimes people get all grumpy about how eggs and bunnies and candy often muddy the real meaning of Easter. Even though eggs and rabbits are often considered symbols of new life, I can see their point.
But it doesn’t have to be an all or nothing proposition.
Check out these two examples of fun Easter crafts. The first one, shown above, comes from the Rice Krispies website. It’s a Rice Krispie Treat shaped like an egg, with M&Ms hidden inside. Neat, huh?
The second one is a nifty project from Not Martha. On the surface, it looks like a regular hard-boiled Easter egg:
Continue Reading →
When it comes to Peeps, our house is divided. Kim is not a fan, but I have a marshmallowy soft spot in my heart for them. Even though I can’t eat as many of them as I used to, they still provide me nostalgic memories of my childhood when I’d eat them by the pound. (Which has to be a lot, right?)
Peeps make some people happy. They make other people sick.
But love ‘em or hate ‘em, there are a surprising amount of things you can make WITH them, from the edible to the decorative. Here are our favorites. Continue Reading →
I love so many things about this idea from Brandy of Gluesticks. I love that it elevates lunch to a whole new level of playfulness. I love the tiny peanut butter and honey sandwiches. I love that the grapes look so freaking huge. I love that this idea could completely replace the boring old lunch bag. (Not that lunch bags have to be boring, mind you.)
Most of all, I love the fact that Adultitis must hate this as much as any kid (or kid at heart) would love it.
As casual as our culture sometimes seems, we are still quite uptight in many areas. Much of it comes from caring about what other people think of us. Continue Reading →
