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The more we change, the more we stay the same! As a child, I loved Hello Kitty and spent hours drawing Japanese-style characters of my own imagination. Today, I do pretty much the same thing for a living... Perigee has just released Cute Yummy Time, my book about making adorable food that features my Scottish Fold cat, Basil Farrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I created an adventure story to accompany the 70 recipes, and illustrated every page with cutie characters. Where did I draw inspiration? From my childhood doodles of puppies and chicks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cute cooking requires a cute muse... and that would be my Scottish Fold cat, Basil Farrow! My flop-eared kitty's adorable antics inspired many of the recipe designs in Cute Yummy Time. He's also one of the main characters in the adventure story that runs throughout the book.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hello from La Carmina!

My life revolves around Japanese pop culture; I'm the author of three books and blog about Harajuku fashion and all things kitschy-cute. I'm very excited to share my new cookbook with you -- Cute Yummy Time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cute Yummy Time is inspired by the art of the cute bento. Japan's latest food trend: dolling up school lunches to look like adorable creatures (Hello Kitty, Pokemon). The creations are a feast for the eyes, but not all the ingredients may be familiar to Western palates. So Cute Yummy Time thinks outside the bento box, sharing more than 70 recipes for making food "so cute, you could just eat it!" 

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La Carmina is our guest blogger during the week of October 5. If you have any questions for La Carmina, add a comment to any of her posts. Here is some more information about Cute Yummy Time:

A cookbook that thinks outside the bento box and brings the popular Japanese trend of kawaii (all things cute) to the American kitchen.

Hello Kitty, Pokémon, Super Mario, Astroboy... American pop culture has been invaded by big-headed, dewy-eyed characters from Japan. The cult of kawaii (ka-why-ee, or all things cute) has spread to every aspect of living-including food. Take Japan's wackiest new trend: school lunches dolled up as adorable creatures. They're feasts for the eyes, but their ingredients such as natto and nori don't exactly sit well with Western stomachs.

Cute Yummy Time interprets this Japanese phenomenon for the American palate. Using familiar foods, La Carmina turns mundane meals into adorable sensations. A risotto ball becomes a curious hedgehog; chicken sandwiches are dressed as chicks. Entertaining has never been so endearing with a blue cheese blowfish for a beach party or strawberry lovers in chocolate crepe robes for Valentine's Day. Each recipe includes step-by-step instructions, illustrations, and eye-popping full-color photos.