December 2013 – Kristen Baumlier

Month: December 2013

GOSSIP for 2 – A Cake Meant to Be Shared

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Kbaumlier

Every meet a friend for coffee or dinner, and you share a dessert? This interaction of spending time talking over dessert inspired a special cake designed by Julie Hinault, a food designer and Olivier Dessyn, pastry chef and owner of Mille Feuille Bakery Café. The two collaborated to to create “GOSSIP for 2,” which is a cake designed for two people to share as they talk, gossip, or share things with each other.

The idea for the project started in France, while Hinault was developing her master thesis and was questioning the relationship between food, conversation, and the special status of dessert. She writes on her site, ”Dessert is often seen as an indulgence, many of us often share a cake, or only take a small piece. We cannot bare the idea of indulging alone, we prefer to share our guilt!”

Hinault worked with pastry chef, Olivier Dessyn to create a delicious and unique cake made with almonds, coconut, bitter chocolate mousse, pineapple, and lime. The cake is frosted with two tones of frosting, indicating that it is meant to be shared.

Curious to share with a friend? You can get the cake for $12 at the Mille Feuille Bakery Café, located in New York. Yum!

Links and Images:

www.juliehinault.com

www.millefeuille-nyc.com

BKLYN Herb Packaging Give Fresh Herbs a New Look

Posted on December 24, 2013December 30, 2013 by Kbaumlier

Mint, basil, or thyme that comes from Brooklyn? Rooftop gardens are on the rise in many urban areas including Brooklyn, NY. Matthew Krupitsky designed a simple package for herbs and vegetables grown in rooftop gardens that literally says “Made In Brooklyn” in bright colors, in order to help promote the origin of the vegetables.

The label is shaped in the shape of Brooklyn, and is tear and waterproof. The label can be reused to help hold other veggies. Where can you see it? Brooklyn, where else?

Links and Images:

Matthew Krupitsky – Made in Brooklyn Rooftop Garden

Hungry Planet: Biting Off More Than We Can Chew

Posted on December 16, 2013December 20, 2013 by Kbaumlier

How many calories are consumed each day by people in different countries around the world? How much food do we throw out in the U.S. daily? Did you know that on August 20^th, 2013 we consumed all of the earth’s allotted resources for the entire year?

The answers to these questions and others are in the Hungry Planet Infographic published by International Business Guide. The Hungry Planet infographic outlines the large amounts of food and energy that countries around the world consume, and how much garbage we produce in the process in both text and graphics.

This infographic features questions and answers combined with bright illustrated images, which paints current picture of food and energy use. Once you read it, you might get a sense of how many calories you eat a day, how much food U.S. citizens eat, and how much energy we have used recently.

Source: InternationalBusinessGuide.orga>

Image and Links:

http://www.internationalbusinessguide.org/hungry-planet/

FLOAT – An Open Source Kite Project Helps Monitor Air Quality in Beijing

Posted on December 11, 2013December 18, 2013 by Kbaumlier

The poor air quality in Beijing, China is getting worse. Recently a hospital in southwest China opened a clinic for people who are having health issues related to smog. The smog levels are rising, and recently the Chinese government officials recently asked other foreign embassies to not measure and make public the air quality in Beijing.

In order to help Chinese citizens monitor their local air and environment, a team of graduate students have created a project created FLOAT Beijing. The project combines the local tradition of kite-flying, activism, and science. For the project, a kite is equipped with air quality sensors that allows citizens to actively monitor their local air environment.

This past August, there were a series of workshops in Beijing that helped instruct participants in how to build and fly their own air-sensing kites using simple materials and open-source technology. The goal of the project is to empower citizens with information and the ability to access air quality information.

The kites have LED lights that are programmed to light up with different colors in order to show the best and worst air quality. Green indicates the best air, and pink shows the worst. The information is mapped using geolocation technology, and the data is collected and made public.

Images and Links:

http://f-l-o-a-t.com/

FLOAT – Workshop in Action Video

Snow Day – A Maple Themed Food Truck for Social Justice

Posted on December 8, 2013December 11, 2013 by Kbaumlier

Drive Change is a non profit that was started to help create opportunities for formerly incarcerated youth to earn a paycheck as well as connecting to other people thorugh food. Founders Annie Bickerton, a social entrepreneur and Jordyn Lexton, a teacher wanted to create change and address the issue that in New York, criminals as young as 16 years old are recognized and tried as adults, and oftentimes emerge back into the world unsure of how to integrate back into society. What is a way to do this? By creating food trucks that create opportunities for formerly incarcerated youth to get experience working and interacting with others.

The first food truck, called Snow Day, is getting ready to open in early January. The food will be maple sugar themed with Pancake Poppers, Maple Grilled Cheese, Maple Braised Pulled Pork Sliders, Maple Bacon Brussel Sprouts, Sugar on Snow (sugar lollypops made on real snow), Maple Bacon Doughnus and other items. The food will be made from locally sourced food.

The team plans to get Snow Day out on the streets during the first week of January, where it will alternate between three location in Chelsea, Lower Manhattan, and DUMBO.

Hungry for maple syrup food? You can learn more about the project’s mission by watching the Drive Change Launch Film and checking out the Drive Change and Snow Day truck website.

Images and Links:

snowdayfoodtruck.com

Drive Change

Drive Change Launch Film