Special Roll Of Gummi And Twinkie With Spicy OCD

This is how I spent my Wednesday afternoon:







Over a year ago, I first spied cute trompe-l'œil dessert sushi at the delightful Not Martha and I've wanted to make some ever since. I finally seized the opportunity when called upon to make a snack for the church youth group, because here's what I know about youth:

1) They like crap, particularly processed crap.

2) They like to eat candy that is super hot or super sour or generally unpleasant and punishment-oriented.

3) They will eat anything sweet, even if that sweet is basically a wad of Twinkie, green apple fruit roll, and gummi worms.



I used a basic batch of Rice Krispie treats, one box of Twinkies, lots of green apple natural fruit rolls, all manner of freaky gummi candy, and some orange sanding sugar. And, though shopping for all the junky, junky crap I never buy was really fun, it looked pretty horrifying heaped on the grocery conveyor belt. I actually felt compelled put it in its own pile, segregated from my bananas, organic milk, lettuce, and bread, just so the nosy woman behind me, the one with the JUDGING eyes, might lay off the judging.

I wanted to turn around and say, "Listen, lady, this stuff if for the children. The children, OK? Because I believe the children are our future, even if that future might involve juvenile diabetes as a direct result of this snack."



At any rate, I cannot even tell you how much fun it was making the sushi. The process was surprisingly easy, yet deliciously nit-picky. This would be a great project to do with kids, unless those kids are ages three and one and would consider killing their own mother to get at all that candy. Ellie hovered and lurked while I was taking pictures, saying things like, "It's OK, Mom. I just smelling one. I just smelling, OK? Mmmmm. It smells like GOOD."

Much like their confectionery predecessors, the sushi were heavily, excessively photographed. (I actually thought they looked better in pictures than in person.) And the kids reportedly loved them and ate every piece in a matter of minutes, but don't consider that a flavor endorsement. Bless their hearts, but those kids eat like they have hollow legs, or possibly tapeworms, or possibly hollow legs filled with tapeworms.

And on that note, bon appetit!