Dr. Strangemap

Via Designboom's blog, I found an awesome blog about strange maps. It's called "Strange Maps," and, like the Shitty Beetles, it's not just a clever name. Judging by his 10 million plus hits, I'm not the only map nerd out there, which makes me feel slightly better. Strange Maps features maps that display some statistical information by geographical area, or have some creative spin, or are just plain odd. I could spend all day reading this site. Oh wait, I just did.

One of the more interesting, if not useful, maps plots the frequency of hairdressers in Germany with salons named after three different hair-related puns. This could get very confusing, resulting in lots of missed appointments and ill-coiffed Germans.

Strange as rampant German hair puns may be, I feel that this map takes the "strange cake" and runs with it. It maps the availability of cole slaw as a hot dog topping in the counties of West Virginia. Apparently it's a big deal down there.

While Martha likes to decorate with maps, these plates might be a bit too kitschy for her. I think it would be fun to have an EU themed party with the foods of Europe displayed on their respective plates. Sadly, England and Italy are sold out.

From Rustic to Ridiculous

My best friend is an amazing chef, who makes all kinds of things I would never think to put together. She just started a food blog, which I've added to my list at the right, called "not lazy. rustic." The name comes from one of her culinary school instructors who, when a student said that his somewhat imperfectly plated dish was "rustic," told that student that in cooking there is no such thing as rustic, only lazy. Obviously, she does not subscribe to this theory, and rightfully so. After all, if it tastes good, who cares if it doesn't look like a sculpture?

Speaking of food sculptures, my sister and I spent all (and I mean ALL) of Saturday watching the Food Network. Watching Ace of Cakes and a Food Network Challenge with cakes lead us to one of our favorite websites, Cake Wrecks. We spent hours laughing at all of the cake mishaps. It really is mind boggling just how bad some people are at their jobs. I guess they aren't putting the most talented people in charge of cake decorating in your average supermarket, but it would seem that some of these people had never actually seen a cake before, and that they just learned how to write the day before. My favorites, however, are the cases where the person gave the bakery a picture of what they wanted, and the bakery gave them something horribly horribly wrong in return.