Baby Shower the Second

Fire! Fire! Call the fireman!! Look what showed up at this baby shower. I carved a baby boy themed display for client Deborah. Complete with LEGO, a carved baby, ABC blocks and a squash firetruck!
**ALARM**ALARM**

I added two carved pumpkins as gifts; one for Deborah and one for the woman expecting. A swarm of pre teens gathered around the first pumpkin claiming it to be Justin Beiber. LOL. They looked at the second one and said it was Lady Gaga. Poor Lady Gaga, you dont look that bad! Haha

Conestoga College Pumpkin Carving Champion 2010

It's true!! I won the pumpkin carving contest this year hosted by Conestoga Students Incorporated. I carved a more intricate version of my Justin Beiber inspired pumpkin carving. I had four hours to carve so I used the whole time! Complete with vines and flowers on the back side of the pumpkin. I was very pleased with the outcome.

There's more! I also won the Conestoga College Bookstore pumpkin carving contest. I tried my hand at an aquatic theme. I think it is an angel fish but don't quote me on it (I know fruit; not fish!). This contest was different than the other one. We had time to take the pumpkin home and work on it. But I picked mine up late so I didn't have much time to work on it. I had a big sales midterm on the same day as the submission. 

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Again, thank you to all the friends, students, and faculty that voted for me. I could not have done it without you! I'm excited because I am now classified as an "Award Winning Fruit Carver". Look out world!  

Lessons!

I have been teaching an intro to carving class every monday with a friend's mother. It's a great learning experience for me and for my student. I will be getting into more lessons hopefully for my mom and a group of her friends, then the public.

I just wanted to show what you would work towards on the first lesson. Starting with a basic crown, advanced crown and finally strawberry roses in a pineapple base. The second lesson is basic flower carving into melons.

Pumpkins Pumpkins Pumpkins!

PRE-CARVED PUMPKINS! Inquire about having a professionally carved pumpkin on your doorstep, table or at any fall event! There is only a limited number of pumpkins I, Thomas Cushing Jr., can produce so please reserve your pumpkins before they are all gone. Email tj.cushing@gmail.com with some contact info and what event your pumpkin is for. This way we can work together to find out what kind of pumpkin best suits your needs. Be as creative as you want, I can do anything from cute to gruesome. Pricing varies on the amount of detail. (an exampe of a high detail pumpkin can be seen below) 

Tis' the season, to be freightful, gastly, ghoulish, [Oktoberfest if you live in the KW region ;) ], and anything horrifying. But fall is a season of rich colors including reds, yellows and oranges. Squash and gourds are harvested. Don't forget pumpkin's, the king of the gourds. So with a slash and stabbing of a knife the creature is formed. From the depths of the darkness the king of the pumpkin world arises... and looks something like this! HaHa :)

Photos By Will Jivcoff Click Here To Visit His Website

 

New Gear

Every chef gets excited over new equipment and toys. It's a fact! Not just because they are new, but because of how they can improve performance, speed, and accuracy by utilizing a new technology or instrument. Any professional, in any feild, always has brand new equipment and the latest technologies because they know it will improve performance. OK ... Back to me being excited over new toys ;) ... I went down to S.T.O.P. Restauraunt Supply, Victoria st. Kitchener. and picked out:

 Wusthof - Classic Ikon - 9" Chef Knife
 Wusthof - Sharpening Steel - 10"
 Wusthof - Single Groove
 Two sided Melon Baller
 A Couple Years Old (need a new one, but it has treated me good) - J.A. Henckels - Paring knife - 3 1/2"

HALLOWEEN IS AROUND THE CORNER! EMAIL ME ABOUT PRE-CARVED PUMPKINS BEFORE ITS TOO LATE! tj.cushing@gmail.com









I have a big orange pumpkin staring at me, waiting for me to dig in, STAY TUNED FOR SOME GOUHLISH PICTURES...

Skateboard Company Anniversary

The Stickiest of the Icky which is a media blog dedicated to skateboarding is owned and operated by a really rad guy Matt Pancer. Matt travels alot and films and photographs skateboarding along the way. He was having a 1.7 year anniversary (don't ask about the 1.7 year, I guess the timing was right lol) for his blog and asked for a skateboard themed platter. Here's what I came up with :

 

Baby Shower Sunday

Congratulations Jane, you are going to be a Grandma! What better way to celebrate than a fruit platter. This platter was definately fun to make because it was themed. I wish I had more themed platters to make, they allow me to challenge my creativity. Like this:

Day by the Pool

There is hot beating sun on my forearms. There is a cool refreshing pool to my left. As well as a barbecue warming up while I go to work on a watermelon. Slicing and slashing its red juicy flesh to make something beautiful. I take the last swig of beer and finish the last leaf detail. An old door on a broken patio set frame makes a table. We center the masterpiece and station the buffet surrounding it thus proving any space can be beautiful.

FaceLift

Hello friends, it has been in my mind to redesign my blog for some time now. This new design is more fitting for what I intend to accomplish from my blog. Before it was for business purposes but I have now decided to reposition my blog into a diary of my culinary endeavours. Basically I want nothing more than to showcase my talents no matter who I am carving for.

Welcome to Diary of a Fruit Carver.