Go on, play with your food!

Posted on May 11, 2004 by mariko

When wacko hermano and I were kids, we ate a lot of weiners. Sometimes, my mother would cut and boil them to resemble octopi, which made them very fun to eat! Apparently she was not alone in her endeavors to creatively shape weiners:
winny rabbit.bmp winny flower.bmp
Now, if there was ever any doubt in your mind as to the kookiness of the Japanese, these photos should dispel that doubt. These are but a few selections from the “winny” (yes, that’s supposed to be “weinie”) page of the Nippon Ham Company, one of the largest processed meat companies in Japan. There are INSTRUCTIONS on how to make these winny crafts. Now don’t you all want to rush out and get a couple packages of Hebrew Nationals? And next time you have a hotdog, aren’t you going to want to call it a winny?
*Thanks to my friend Michiko for sharing this link
*Winnies are big in my family. My father frequently snacks on them (particularly the cheese-filled ones)
*Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go work on the puzzle that is Grace. For some reason, the back piece is about 4 inches longer than the front section. Apparently my math skills went awry at some point.

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9 Responses to Go on, play with your food!

  1. Kathleen says:
    May 12, 2004 at 03:45

    I love the bunny winny sculptures. Must do this with my hot dog addicted children. Thanks for sharing.

  2. Sara says:
    May 12, 2004 at 09:30

    You should check out the Octodog maker at stupid.com. My sister-in-law gave us one for Christmas. My husband and son like them, but it kind of freaks me out.

  3. Hayley says:
    May 12, 2004 at 10:12

    Thanks so much for starting the dish scrubbie frenzy. I made three out of cotton and I actually smiled when I had to face the pile mounting in the sink. They kick bootie. I am going to try and make one out of acrylic to see how it stacks up against the cotton. I really have to squeeze the cotton ones to get them to dry–but it is not a real problem. I added a short 3 stitch i-cord on one end of the disc and sewed a button to it (to help scrape off plate crusties). Also, I had some some cotton chenille left over from the reverse-bloom washcloths in Weekend Knitting and made little face scrubbies as well which are awesome! I use them way more than the flower which always winds up a wrinkly mess–who wants to block something EVERY time you wash your face–c’mon peeps! Thanks a bizzillion. You’re one of my daily reads for good stuff like this kidd-ee-oh.

  4. Jenn says:
    May 12, 2004 at 11:09

    I love the elephant wienie sculpture. I really want a hot dog with a trunk and huge ears, hehe.
    I have been collecting bento boxes for a while now and I always come across weinie presses. Little plastic molds to make your weinies into Hello Kitty shapes or Doraemon shapes. I think that’s the quick and easy version of the weinie sculpture.
    (I have to stop spelling weinie now, it just looks too weird.)
    Good luck with Grace!

  5. Amy says:
    May 12, 2004 at 15:27

    Don’t forget beans ‘n winnies! We had a lot of that dish as kids.

  6. Jessica says:
    May 12, 2004 at 17:19

    My sons were very excited by all the winny art. My oldest wanted to make koinobori right away!

  7. knittykim says:
    May 13, 2004 at 08:51

    Thanks for the “winny” art. Brought it to Boss’s attention, and the kids loved it (and I score some points).

  8. erica says:
    May 13, 2004 at 13:08

    you should post some pics of the octopi your mom used to make!

  9. melissa says:
    May 13, 2004 at 16:33

    hey did you already see these pictures of cute Japanese food?
    http://www-personal.umich.edu/~msittig/bento/

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