words » food

an easter tradition.

shannon e thomas — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 04:07:57 +0000

in celebration of the first sunday following the first full moon following the ecclesiastic vernal equinox, hans and i have once again decorated eggs.

and with all of the wedding planning on my mind, i simply couldn’t help myself.

the unhappy meal: redesigned

shannon e thomas — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 23:53:33 +0000

in perfect juxtaposition to the artwork of my previous post, i bring you the new packaging of mcdonald’s.

with the redesign, boxer creative was hoping to “change the way the world feels about eating mcdonald’s food”. sorry guys, until there’s soy protein on the menu, there’s no changing the way this vegetarian sees the chain.

avocado with fruit salsa and sweet corn cake.

shannon e thomas — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:19:09 +0000

i’m sticking with my new sunday tradition, though this post is nearly a week late. last weekend, i tried out two new recipes, grilled avocado with strawberry-mango salsa and sweet corn cake. the corn cake was a little off in consistency, though tasty enough that i’ll give it another try. these sides accompanied a tasty quesadilla filled with black beans, cilantro, yellow tomatoes, onions, garlic, corn and pepper jack.

sunday dinner.

shannon e thomas — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 06:56:13 +0000

in an effort to expand my culinary horizons, i’ve begun a tradition of trying a new recipe every sunday evening. this sunday’s explorations included a delightful apple onion cheese tart, a pear and chevre salad [of my own divine inspiration] and brownies with pumpkin icecream.

how a designer eats her jelly bellies.

shannon e thomas — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 02:34:52 +0000

how do you eat your jelly bellies?

colour and pattern and eggs.

shannon e thomas — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 01:40:34 +0000

it’s been at least a decade since i last coloured eggs, and, i must admit, those ten years did wonders for my egg-decorating skills. so these are the masterpieces created by hans and me. dye, wax and permanent marker on eggshell. nfs.

more than flavour.

shannon e thomas — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 22:18:53 +0000

some people like their wine dry. some people like their wine oaky. some people like their wine earthy with moderate tannins.

i like my wine to be well-labelled. and if the producing winery has a nice website, bonus points.

so here are ten favourites.

ten: mad housewife
flavours: merlot, chardonnay, white zinfandel and cabernet sauvignon
easy to come by and inexpensive, mad housewife comes in a variety of flavours, each with its own clever notquiteright housewife photo. their website isn’t great, but they get bonus points for their serial labelling.

nine: the maitre d
flavour: cabernet sauvignon
one of many great wines from mollydooker wines, the maitre d’s label is all around good design. good use of pattern, typography and imagery, with a touch of humour to boot. it gets bonus points, of course, for the website.

eight: the innocent bystander
flavour: sangiovese merlot, shiraz viognier, pinot gris and pinot rosé
simple and elegant, the innocent bystander’s design is a combination of careful stencilling and serendipitous ink splatter. the site, unfortunately, doesn’t follow the same minimalist approach.

seven: bitch
flavour: grenache
perhaps i only like this wine because of its provocative title, all in pink. and the seventyseven repetitions of the word “bitch” on the back. more likely, it’s the bottle’s alternating dagger heart dagger heart border. you can find this barossa grenache at the grateful palate, but the sweet little red doesn’t have a site of her own.

six: root:1
flavours: cabernet sauvignon and sauvignon blanc
root:1 is a lovely example of straight on the bottle printing. these bottles possess a classy combination of serif typeface with simple imagery, a design that translates well to their website.

five: lo tengo
flavours: torrontés and malbec
these aren’t labels you can appreciate until you have the bottles in front of you. they’re holographic, and, depending on whether you’re sipping a white or a red, show either a couple’s feet dancing or a classic dip kiss. they’re a product of bodega norton, but you’ll have a hard time finding anything to do with lo tengo on the site.

four: 7 deadly zins and 7 heavenly chards
flavours: zinfandel and chardonnay
two bottles from lodi vineyards take fourth in the battle for good labelling. each has a clever name, made even more clever by its counterpart. better yet, both have even managed to inspire artist michael godard.

three: mia’s playground
flavour: cabernet sauvignon, merlot and zinfandel
this wine is all about threes, so i couldn’t help but to make it third on the list. the label contains the perfect combination of quirky text and imagery, topped off with a barrel of [three] monkeys. all made possible by three loose screws.

two: (oops)
flavour: carmenere merlot, cabernet franc, carmenere rose, carmenere, sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon
oops wines come in a variety of distinctly coloured flavours, such as “spicy splendor” and “gentle giant”. the labels are heavy with newspaperlike text, but hardly difficult to look at, especially with the prominent (oops) logo providing an anchor. the website is consistent with the label design, and the brand even manages their own blog.

one: bonny doon framboise
flavour: framboise [dessert]
bonny doon vineyards have a history of incredible wine label design, which is largely why their framboise tops my chart. the bottle’s slender shape is perfectly accented with the encircling lace. it’s the perfect combination of thoroughly elegant yet slightly suggestive - everything a wine should be.