The Japanese figured it all out: what makes a kid want that box of cereal? It's the toy, right? I could see a box of Blistered Snarglepuffs, but as long as it came with a Star Wars action figure, I couldn't care less about how good the cereal tasted. It had to be mine. More

They might as well rename it "Hello, Creepy," because that's exactly how you'll feel purchasing Hello Kitty wine, from the moment you ask the sales clerk where to find it, right through to the cash register ring-up, where they will encircle the neck of your bottle with a pendant suitable for a six-year-old. Nothing makes you feel like a pedophile faster than buying a bottle of Hello Kitty Wine. More

"I wish I could eat food until I'm stuffed and then get into a time machine to travel back to when I started eating so I could keep eating food." In the "Food" episode of his series Tales of Mere Existence, artist and film maker Levni Yilmaz talks about the many things he would like to eat—eggs Benedict, pizza, foie gras, quiche, and more—and why he wants to eat them, while drawing an accompanying cartoon. More

To fish the cake: to patch things up (Spanish) I'm Not Hanging Noodles on Your Ears and Other Intriguing Idioms From Around the World by Jag Ballah is a collection of idioms with their meanings accompanied by illustrations by New Yorker cartoonist Julia Suits. We have a few food-related idioms to share from this book, which comes out on June 16. More illustrations after the jump.... More

From sheldoncomics.com Dave Kellett has drawn up a graph to illustrate which types of restaurants have the tastiest deserts. My vote is on the Mom-and-Pop place too. [via Pcrackenhead]... More

This image, created by Lunchbreath after walking around the International Housewares Show in Chicago last month, makes me wish that Disney would create an animated film called Snow White and the 137 Spatulas. Related An In-Depth Tribute to Sporks Six things you cannot live without in your kitchen? [Talk] Place Setting from Hell... More

According to Media Bistro: "Today weatherguy Al Roker is shopping an animated cartoon about the life of a 'major player in the culinary world'—read chef—as a child, he confirms. Like any oyster with strong survival instincts, Roker’s lips are sealed about details. He will say, however, that two networks are interested 'and it’s looking pretty good.'"... More

In his latest cocktail column, Eric Felten of the Wall Street Journal describes some fictional cocktails from cartoons, movies, and books. Daffy Duck cartoons, The Nutty Professor, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and The Simpsons have all provided recipes or inspiration for cocktails—more likely than not, ones that are overly potent and undrinkable. Watch clips from some of these videos after the jump.... More

A Beaker internet meme is a pretty good meme. The hapless lab assistant, famous for speaking the language of mee-mee-meee, has been keeping busy in D.C., riding public transportation, busting former mayor Marion Barry in his hotel room, hugging the Obama girls, and getting his half-smoke on at Ben's Chili Bowl. Related What's a Half-Smoke? In Videos: Barack Obama Doesn't Know What a Half-Smoke Is Where Did the Swedish Chef Muppet Come From?... More

thebigskinnybook.com Cartoonist Carol Lay toiled with weight for years, until she reached her goal of 125 pounds. (She's kept it off ever since.) In her new graphic novel-memoir-motivational diet book, The Big Skinny: How I Changed My Fattitude, Lay uses imaginative story lines to show it ain't easy—like George Clooney showing up, tempting her with sausage-egg biscuits and hash browns. But her will power was strong enough to slam the door on him, and again when the senior chick magnet showed up in a silk robe, dangling a nightcap at her. On another page, evil strikes again, but in the form of a girl scout at the door. How will the heroine combat Thin Mint temptation? A chainsaw. Lay... More