The Art and Fun of Vegetable Carving
Michalis 'BIG Mike' Kotzakolios

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Defined Tag: Vegetable Carving.

Did you ever make potato prints when you were young? One of the most exciting parts for me was always the carving itself, introducing shapes onto the flat surface of half a potato that would later be dipped in paint and stamped onto childish artwork and greeting cards. It was the beginning of a lifelong interest in vegetable carving.

The most famous examples of carvings are, of course, the delicate and intricate carvings from Japan and China, daikon radishes formed into birds about to take flight, or onions that spill open into the shape of a lotus flower. While these incredible masterpieces may be out of the reach of the beginner or the casual devotee of vegetable carving, it is possible to play around with vegetable carving and enjoy yourself--and, perhaps, even create something a little special for the dinner table.

Let's begin with the ubiquitous potato. Potatoes have the advantage of being very soft and easy to cut. Apples are much the same way; in fact, anything said about potatoes here may be considered to apply to apples, as well. The downside of potatoes, however, when used in vegetable carving, is the high moisture content. As a result, when the potato (or apple) used for vegetable carving begins to dry out, the carving will shrivel and cease to resemble anything in particular. Because of this, potatoes are only useful for practice *or* for making designs meant to be eaten or used as decoration at the dinner table the same day. Our article will focus on potato carving.

The first thing is to decide what shape you wish to carve. A bird is fairly simple, and is recommended. Next, you may wish to peel the potato. Although the peel can be left on and worked into the vegetable carving as part of the design, but this is not recommended for the beginner.

Finally, begin to carve. If you can find a picture of the bird to refer to, this is even better. Expect to make mistakes; remember, you are a beginner. Above all, let yourself have fun.

BIG Mike is a well known author, developer and Adsense expert as well as the owner of Niche Maniacs - a unique Adsense Marketing System designed to build long-term passive income streams from Adsense, Amazon, YPN, Chitika and other PPC services.

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