I happened to stumble across an awesome site for you snack and video game lovers out there. It's called Snack or Die and, just in time for the holidays, is full of yum yum's with a video game theme! The site has numerous categories from cupcakes to cookies to crackers and step by step recipes and visuals on how to make them.The creator of the site and all the tasty treats, Joceyln Anderson, was kind enough to give us a brief interview about her creations. Head over to snackordie.com!
Are you a gamer? If so, when did you start playing?
Yep! My tastes change every few months, although I mostly stick to PC gaming. At the moment I'm into indie adventure games. The last one I finished was "6 Days a Sacrifice" (http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/6days/) by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw. I'm not really into horror games, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. Every few months I have to play Oblivion for an RPG fix or Counter-Strike:Source for an owning noobs fix.
I started playing when I was wee lass back in the early 1980s with a TI-99/4a computer. I wasn't half bad at Parsec and Burgertime, but Space Invaders was a bit of a sticky wicket. I didn't touch games again for about ten years until Myst came along. After playing the Doom demo I was hooked on the hobby!
What made you decide to turn video game characters/items into yummy treats?
People got a kick out of the Goomba cupcakes so I decided to see what other treats could be fashioned from food. I take it as a creative challenge and if goes awry, hey, it's only food. Plus you never realize how many friends you have until you show up with baked goods!
Have you played all the games you've made treats out of?
There's a few I haven't played through. Those baked goodies either come from requests or they're games I'm planning on finishing some day. I'm quite a few years late, but I'm playing through Grim Fandango right now. That game has held up well over time.
How do you come up with the ingredients and designs? i.e Starbursts for ears, fruit roll ups for the black mage.
I keep a rather long list - it's up to a little over twenty right now - of potential gaming goodie ideas. If I think of some candy item that'll work for a particular design, I'll add it to its respective directory. Once I have the decorative bits all set it's off to the grocery store!
Occasionally, I'll see something and an idea for a baked good will pop right up. Just recently I came across a candy cane cookie cutter and realized it could be turned into a crowbar. That's the best when an idea comes easily like that. It usually takes around two weeks to get an idea worked out, but some a few of the baked goods have been on the list for months.
How much time goes into one post? (coming up with ingredients, design, taking pictures, writing step by step recipes)
The baking and decorating part is by far the most time consuming, but it's also the tastiest! If I'm doing sugar cookies or cupcakes, I'll bake one day and decorate the next to break things up a bit. Total time for an entry runs around from five to fifteen hours.
Do you take requests? (I'd love to see a Pikachu treat personally!)
Sure! I can add Pikachu to the list no problem. The only thing is that there's no time frame for when requests will be done; I'm afraid I never know how long something'll take me.
Have there been characters/items that didn't turn out right and never made it to the site?
Oh yeah. For every five recipes that make it to the site, there's one that doesn't go as planned. Awhile ago I tried making the ball-shaped cacti called "Pokeys" from Super Mario Bros. 2. I ended up with these green mushy balls that looked...well, not so good. They were so bad I was half tempted post the pictures anyway, but I'm saving them for a baking disasters post.
Do readers ever send you pictures or thank you letters of what they've made by following your recipes?
Every once in a while someone will make a treat and let me know about it. It's really great to see other people enjoying the recipes! The moogle cupcakes in particular seem to be pretty popular.
Who gets to eat everything once you're done? Not going to lie, I wish it were me!
The extras are handed out to people in the area as I haven't gotten into shipping baked goods yet. If you were in the area you'd be more than welcome to them! I confess I do save a few for myself though.
Any plans to open your own video game themed bakery?
No plans, but I do want to share the cookies more than just on a local level. I just have to figure this whole shipping baked goodies thing out!
Thanks so much Jocelyn! I can't wait to try out some of your recipes