The Joy of Metal Clay: Food?

My garden has grown lush this summer and I am happily harvesting tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden.  As I was thinking about a post topic and remembered a carrot pendant I made over a year ago with copper clay and it got me thinking about food and metal clay.  I know this is an odd combination but using food to texture or as inspiration can make for interesting jewelry (in my opinion).  I must admit though it was hard to find examples online.

Here is a photo of one my copper carrots:

I did stumble across an excellent profile on Patricia Weikersheimer   on the All Things Metal Clay Blog, she uses molds of food in her metal clay creations.  I was surprised to learn that you can take a mold of ice crystals, something I hope to try out this winter. The other thing I took from this interview was that I should use my molding compound more often.  In the past I have tried to use vegetable skin (avocado) or texture (onion) directly without much success; from reading this article it seems that taking a mold first may work out much better.  Add this to the list.

Remember that food can make interesting texture.  Think about the segments on an orange or a cut onion.  Consider the texture of cabbage (I love savoy cabbages). a rubbarb leaf, avocado skin.  Consider the interesting shape of an artichoke or dragon fruit. Food can be inspiring,  Oh no now I am hungry.