SkyMall Monday: Food Pillows

Some decisions are easy because you simply don’t have a choice. The decision is made for you when there’s only one option. Others force you to pick between two worthy candidates (think ice cream or cookies for dessert). Things get tricky when you encounter more than two viable options. How do you choose from a cornucopia of wonder? Here at SkyMall Monday, we typically engage in heated battles of Rock, Paper, Scissors to make these critical decisions. However, sometimes we become so paralyzed by the options that we can’t make up our minds. What do you do when presented with so many outstanding products? That’s the dilemma we’re facing this week thanks to SkyMall. To solve the problem, we’re turning to you, dear readers. Help us decide which of these will become the Official Food Pillow of SkyMall Monday.Food pillows? They’re pillows that look like foods. Too hard to eat, just soft enough to enjoy. Don’t believe me? Check out the product description:

We dreamed we ate an ice cream sandwich and when we woke up our pillow was gone…

Completely dreamy pillows look like the real thing, right down to the delicious detailing.

Dreamy pillows? That’s a delicious play on words right there!

But which pillow is the most palatable? Let’s look at the contestants:

Sushi – Something smells fishy, but it’s not your pillow. Naps on this will only leave you feeling fresh (though you should probably take a shower because, unlike your pillow, you smell pretty foul).

Cupcake – Ever wish that you could have an extra large cupcake? As if it were some sort of, I don’t know, cake.

Pizza – No need to blot the grease off of this pizza before you plant your face on it!

Ice Cream Sandwich – Not the sexiest option from the Good Humor man, but better than a pillow with a gross gumball nose.

So many fantastic options. But only one can be named the Official Food Pillow of SkyMall Monday. Seriously, we need one of these for SkyMall Monday headquarters. But which one?! Vote below to help us decide!

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Check out all of the previous SkyMall Monday posts HERE.

SkyMall Monday: Edge Baking Pan vs. Giant Cupcake Pan

Here at SkyMall Monday, we love to eat. We’ll eat hot dogs, pizza or any other foods that SkyMall wants to shove down our gullets. But after those healthy meals, we like to indulge in the sweet stuff. From cakes to crepes, brownies to blondies and ice cream to crème caramel, we just want dessert. However, when it comes to SkyMall, two devices have long battled for sugary supremacy. Now, however, we will settle that dessert debate once and for all. This week, SkyMall Monday pits the Edge Baking Pan against the Giant Cupcake Pan. It’s the Battle of the Desserts and your votes in our poll will settle once and for all which device is SkyMall’s greatest contribution to the confectionery universe.Our first competitor weighs in at $39.95. The Edge Baking Pan is for the brownie lovers who enjoy the firm, crisp edges of a well-baked brownie. What you lose in gooey middles you gain in chewy, overcooked edges. Brownies not your thing? The product description shows you how versatile the Edge Baking Pan truly is:

You’ll also love the results with quick breads, cobblers and lasagna because they bake evenly, no burnt edges or gooey centers.

Zig-zagging lasagna that’s crispy and not gooey? Sign me up. I mean, who wants moist lasagna? Dried out pasta and burnt cheese are how they make it back in the old country. Or at least that’s what Sophia told me.

Or next competitor is looking lean and mean at $29.95. The Giant Cupcake Pan takes all the fun of a cupcake – the fact that it’s a small, personal cake that you enjoy by yourself – and blows it up to a big, communal cake that you share with others. It’s everything you want in a cupcake when you don’t want a cupcake but want a cake instead but also want a cupcake. Confused? Read the product description, moron:

This whimsical cake will be the hit of the party!

The USDA recommends that you get 300 grams of whimsy everyday. The Giant Cupcake Pan provides you with that recommended daily allowance. It may also make you diabetic.

So, what say you, lovers of SkyMall? Vote for your favorite SkyMall dessert device below. I may just have to test the winner to see if victory does, in fact, taste sweet.

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Check out all of the previous SkyMall Monday posts HERE.

What German McDonald’s thinks of New York City

Apparently Germans really like to visit New York City. How else to explain a new Big Apple-inspired menu of cupcakes, now appearing at McDonald’s restaurants across Germany? According to food website Eater, the new German cupcake campaign features sweet desserts named after New York’s “tourist hot-spots,” including Chelsea, Central Park, SoHo and the East Village. The campaign appears to be a tribute to the New York’s never-ending cupcake craze, inspired by famous bakeries like the perpetually crowded Magnolia Bakery.

Each cupcake also comes complete with a trendy description and suitable New York-style “hipster” mascot. Did you know for instance that the East Village is home to all of the city’s most famous artists? Maybe 30 years ago. Even if it’s slightly off the mark, it’s always interesting to catch a glimpse of another culture’s take on your own. In a way, famous cities like New York have become global brands, exporting their cupcakes, t-shirts and grocery stores around the world.

Anybody seen these on the menu on a recent trip to Germany? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Free NYC Dessert Fest

Back in February, Annie mentioned a “recessional special” for a New York City dessert tour, and then in April, Jeremy broke down the cool dessert spots for New York City dwellers. It seems the Big Apple isn’t short on shopping its sweets, and there are plenty of sweets to be had in Manhattan even though summer is coming to a close.

If you’re looking for a cool activity to satisfy your sweet tooth, you’ll be happy to learn that the Free NYC Dessert Fest is still taking place each month. It is a free walking tour, centered solely on succulent desserts. Purchase of desserts are optional & additional.
This month will mark the tour’s 10th consecutive monthly tour of the city’s neighborhood sweet spots. The walk explores the Upper West Side, which has 5 delicious eateries where you can sample everything from cookies and cupcakes to hand-made French chocolates. Or if fruitier fare is more your palatable, mouth-watering apple tart or cheesecake might just satisfy that stomach of yours.

To help support the good work of Food Bank For New York City, a non-profit helping to feed the hungry, Walking Tours Manhattan asks for a $5.00 donation per person. 100% of all donations go to charity. Since December 2008 tour donations have helped feed 39 New Yorkers for a month.

Meet our tour guide with the red ball cap saying Walking Tours Manhattan on Sunday August 23, 2009 at 11:00am at Magnolia Bakery, 200 Columbus Avenue at 69th Street. The dessert tour lasts 1.5 hours, and expect to walk a little over 1 mile.

For additional neighborhood dessert tours, visit http://walkingtoursmanhattan.com

Find a cupcake in New York

Leave it to New Yorkers to be picky and demanding. Whether it’s upscale meals or obscure vodka brands, we want what we want, and if you don’t carry it, you’re somehow “lesser.” Cupcakes are no different. From my window, I can see the Upper West Side‘s Magnolia Bakery (one of three in the city), and there are many others.

In The Atlantic Monthly, a close look is taken at cupcakes, particularly in New York. The balance between cake and frosting is considered crucial, and (thankfully) Corby Kummer gives you a sense of who’s who in the large and growing world of Manhattan cupcake bakeries.

Well, starting with my neighborhood, poor Magnolia is said not to have any flavor in the cake (which I think is a bit harsh). Buttercup’s icing is better, but the cake isn’t. Sugar Sweet Sunshine – which, like Buttercup, comes from former Magnolia talent – is better than both.

Sadly, Kummer missed the latest entry into the Manhattan cupcake market: The Little Pie Company. Known for the most amazing cakes and pies in the city, sex and cupcake blogger Rachel Kramer Bussell tried in vain to get one on Christmas Eve last year. Later, she did succeed, and the cupcake was everything she’d hoped it would be.

[Via The Atlantic Monthly]

[Photo: cupcake from The Little Pie Company, Cupcakes Take the Cake]