This is interesting it’s some of the pieces created at the first ever European vegetable carving competition which recently took place in Leipzig in Germany. This eagle (left) was created by Russian vegetable carver Vadim Nefedjev from various fruits. The frogs on the right were created using cucumber,s with their tongues and eyes made from pieces of carrot. The design underneath was carved from a mango.

This picture was recently taken in the Reunion Islands by a French videographer. He later realised that it resembled a Jesus silhouette complete with halo. Personally I am not convinced it looks like a cloud to me.

Some of the larger fast food outlets such as McDonald’s and Starbucks will soon be putting the calorie content of their meals on the menu. The move comes as part of government scheme to add more nutritional information to menus to allow customers to make a better choice. McDonald’s will start installing calorie content displays for every item of food and drink they sell in all of their restaurants. I wonder whether having the calorie content on the menu will make people make healthier choices. Personally if I choose to eat at McDonald’s or a similar fast food outlet it is usually because I want a fast snack and there is nothing else available. I know the food is bad for me but I eat it twice a year at the most. I don’t think seeing the calorie content would change my choices. Perhaps the scheme is not aimed at people such as myself but those that choose to eat there more often such as once a week or more. I wonder whether these people will be moved to make a more healthy choice when they can see what they actually consuming.

Officials at Munich airport got a surprise recently when they found an Australian man smuggling 36 live snakes through customs. The man had the snakes in a fabric bag within his hand luggage when he arrived at the airport. He had gone through the nothing to declare exit, conveniently forgetting he had a bagful of snakes when he was pulled to one side. It was the biggest seizure of live snakes at the airport found in 10 years.

This looks interesting it’s a London restaurant that has some insect dishes on the menu. The Archipelago has some interesting issues such as the love bug salad which includes locusts and crickets pan fried with chilli and garlic and served with spinach and rocket. Apparently they are crunchy and complement the sweetness of the other ingredients. Another dish on the menu is the chocolate covered scorpion. With this dish you are warned to chew it thoroughly otherwise  the sting can become stuck in the oesophagus, sounds interesting. The venom, has, however, been removed so it is not dangerous. Once again, the verdict is crunchy. Honey bee crème brûlée also features on the menu. Preserved in honey and resting on a tuille biscuit in a white chocolate honeycomb, the rosewater crème brûlée is meant to bring out the minty flavour of the bee. Eating the bee is likened to chewing paper, not really something that would encourage me to try it. They are unusual dishes, however, and I will try most things once.

If you want to ensure you are eating ethical fish fingers then you might want to check out the new offering from Jamie Oliver. His latest project is to create 12 new products in partnership with the frozen fish specialist Young’s. The products use ethical fish, rather than threated species such as cod. For example his fish fingers contain Alaskan pollock rather than the more popular alternative. Priced at £1.99 for a pack of 10 they are not massively expensive especially when compared to a pack of 12 pollack fish fingers from Birds Eye which sell for £2.48.

A scientist will spend 48 hours living in a airtight container full of plants in an effort to prove that we take the vegetation around us for granted. Professor Iain Stewart will conduct the experiment next week at the Eden Project near Cornwall. He will spend 48 hours in a 2m by 6m by 2.5m box filled with plants such as miscanthus grass, zea mays maize and banana trees which are known to produce large quantities of oxygen. The experiment has been tried before with a mouse but it is thought this is the first time it has been tried with a person. He hopes the experiment will show people how important the Earth’s vegetation is.

That’s according to this article which claims meat created in a lab could be ready to eat within six months. Scientists have used animal cells to create an artificial form of meat known as “in vitro meat”. It is made from stem cells within the lab and it is believed it could be just six months before the first test tube sausage is produced. Within a year lab grown burgers could also be created. Whilst it doesn’t sound hugely appetising it could mean that meat production could be shifted to labs in order to meet growing demand by the world’s population but also to cut down on greenhouse gases released by livestock. The technique, however, is far from ready for mass production and it is estimated it could cost as much as £222,000 to produce the first burger.

That’s according to this survey recently carried out by Amazon. The survey shows the top 20 most prolific book buying towns, most of which are in southern England. The retailer put together all the book buying data for the last eight months to find the best read town in the UK on a per capita basis. Huntington in Cambridge came first, followed by Cambridge and Sevenoaks coming in at a respectable third place. I have a feeling my book buying habit could be responsible for a fair few of those sales.

Waitrose has recently started selling two new wines from India. The upmarket wines are made from traditional French grapes varieties viognier and syrah which are gown in the Maharashtra region of India. They are said to be the perfect complement to spicy food. Although it is not known for its wine India has been cultivating grapes for around 6,000 years with grape production believed to have been introduced by Persian traders in around 4,000 BC. Although growing conditions in the area are good Indian wine has always been thought inferior to traditional producers and has failed to thrive. Perhaps we might start seeing more Indian wine on the supermarket shelves if this range proves to be popular. I will certainly be popping into Waitrose for a bottle. If you want some the Ritu Viognier costs £6.99 and the Zampa Syrah £8.49.

A restaurant in the US has created an application where you can order your grilled sandwich on your phone and it will be ready when you arrive to pick it up. Customers of The Melt in San Francisco can order a cheese sandwich on their iPhone on the company's website before scanning in a unique barcode and colleting their snack inside the restaurant. The application also tracks your proximity to one of The Melt’s restaurants so that your snack is timed perfectly to coincide with your arrival.

This is interesting, its a chopping board for people who like to their meals to be perfect. With added lines and measurements it allows you to chop everything the same size and cut sandwiches in a perfect triangle. Sold by Selfridges it is called the OCD chopping board, a name for which it has received a fair of criticism from those who say it belittles sufferers of the disease. Perhaps the board could be rebranded in the face of this backlash but I think the idea behind it is a good one. I would certainly buy it just to make sure all my crudities are exactly the same size.

A man was recently stopped at Miami airport and found to have seven snakes and three tortoises down his trousers. He was trying to board a flight from Miami to Brazil when the creatures were picked up when he passed through the body scanner.The creatures were confiscated by the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the passenger was arrested.

According to this article it’s that time of year when spiders start moving into our houses and the bad news is that there likely to be many more of them this year. The article claims that because of the recent dismal weather, 2011 promises to be the best spider season yet and looks at games you can play with them. Personally the only game I will be playing is either sucking them up the vacuum cleaner whilst standing at a safe distance or putting a glass over them for my husband to dispose of.

According to this article Twinings have recently changed the recipe of their Earl Grey tea, a move which has not proved popular with some customers. The tea has been rebranded as The Earl Grey and as part of this rebrand the recipe has been changed to include flavours of citrus and bergamot. Although the tea had gone through rigorous taste testing and consumer trials it seems many customers are not happy with the new flavour with some likening it to” foul tasting dishwater”. Tea enthusiasts have now launched a Facebook campaign entitled Bring Back The Original Earl Grey Tea in an effort to revert it to the old recipe.

According to this article you will soon be able to read ebooks that come with sounds. The idea comes from an electronic book firm which hopes to attract younger readers by offering them a more interactive experience. The books called Booktrack will be available initially to iPad users but will later be available for other tablets. One example of the added sounds is the clinking of china cups in the garden in Pride and Prejudice. Looking at the comments on the article the idea gets very mixed responses with some people loving the idea and other people hating it. Personally I don’t think I would use them but I can see how they might be good for children.