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Forget the box and DIY

​A recent declaration by some Minnesota Girl Scouts that they would refuse to participate in the annual cookie fundraiser because their council sold off four beloved summer camps got our attention. Sure, we love the delicious cookies, but we loved summer camp too, and we're game to show our solidarity by making our own versions of popular Girl Scout cookies this year.

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digipam/Flickr

​It's always great (seriously!) to see people making a living -- or trying to -- out of playing with food. Connecticut-based artist Kevin Van Aelst, whose work has been featured in the New York Times and New York Times Magazine, takes photos of everyday stuff -- including a lot of food -- distorted into very non-everyday arrangements. He says:

This work is about creating order where we expect to find randomness, and also hints that the minutiae all around us is capable of communicating much larger ideas.

Nice. Check out the Hawaii-shaped Hawaiian punch spill, the world map bitten into an apple, the Krispy Kreme undergoing mitosis, and of course the gummi worms arranged like chromosomes.

D-32/Flickr

​In a similar vein as the bawdily named but totally wholesome Peeps show put on every Easter by papers like the Washington Post and our own Pi Press,we bring you the Gummi bear Kama Sutra, described by HuffPo as "yet another 'this-will-scar-you-for-life-by-using-things-from-your-childhood-in-sexual-ways' post." Enjoy!

teamstickergiant/Flickr

​This is awesome (and where have we been?). Strib Food Editor Lee Svitak Dean has put together some posters promoting nutrition a) featuring prominent historical figures and b) made out of food! We like the Einstein one. They make us think of the seed art at the state fair (remember the Mark Wheat one? Everyone remembers the Mark Wheat one.)

The great blog Obama Foodorama got some of the lowdown on the poster of the prez:

[T]he jacket is made from collards, pear and turnip; skin and hair from black and mahogany rice, cracked wheat, flax seed, millet and wheat berries; facial features from cashews, garlic, jalapeno, olives, oyster mushrooms, peppercorns, pickles, raisins, red onion, tapioca.

Nice! And guess what. You too can get your very own "Eat Smart" poster.

Geoff604/Flickr

This could be made entirely of P'zones and jamocha shakes for all you know.

 

We're sort of loving on all these audience-participation sites popping up: This Is Why You're Fat, Eat This and Die, and fellow newcomer Fancy Fast Food. It's like reality television for the foodie/food porn blogosphere. The kinda cool thing about Fancy Fast Food, which debuted a couple months ago, is that it adds some artistry to the gross-out element the others rely on.

With the possible exception of the McSteak and Potatoes (made out of a Big Mac Extra Value Meal) the others are kind of insanely delicious looking. I think my favorite might be the Dao Mi Noh Chow Mein made out of a Domino's Pizza with a hoisin sauce made out of Diet freaking Coke! That KFC chicken corn chowder looks pretty off the hook too.

Photo courtesy Peter Vanderveer

You may recall Sarah "The Cheese Lady" Kaufmann. Hot Dish blogged about the ambitious Wisconsin cheese sculptor a few months ago when she came to town to carve a 500-pound bear and a Sioux warrior and princess -- all out of cheese.

Well, you'll never guess what happened. The Cheese Lady done got hitched. It's true! The July 4 ceremony was pirate-themed, with cheese-inspired rings ("bands of gold with cheese dimples and holes"), flags emblazoned "Love Anchored in Cheese," and a 32-foot long ship named MV Cheese Lady. Um, awesome.

Photo courtesy Peter Vanderveer

How did the lovely couple meet? Oh, why when Sarah went to San Diego to present a 600-pound cheese replica of the USS Ronald Reagan of course! Congrats to the happy couple!

tipoyock/Flickr

Michael Jackson will join the ranks of Harry Potter, Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson, and "Superman Returns" star Brandon Routh (oh, and of course the butter cow) as a butter sculpture at the Iowa State Fair next month. (What, no Ashton Kutcher, Iowa State Fair? We're disappointed. Maybe next year?)

According to the Des Moines Register, the recently deceased King of Pop will be immortalized mid-moonwalk. "We're just trying to pay tribute to his contribution to music and dance ... as opposed to giving any scrutiny of his life," Lori Chappell, the State Fair's marketing director, told the paper.

The sculpture will be on display throughout the duration of the fair -- Aug. 13-23 -- in Des Moines.

Mmmm ...

What SuperTouch's Eric White eats for dinner (or maybe just had once). Ok, dude's an artist. That explains the idea (I guess). But why such a garish choice of foods?

The editors blame the Midwest. Oh, snap!

PinkMoose/Flickr

Aero Bar, anyone? No? How about a Mr. Big then? This fairly dated application hidden in the Science Museum of Minnesota's website still has some modern relevance, that being that people still like a) candy bars and b) frittering time away on the Internet.

Let's play ... Name That Candy Bar!