It’s Cool To Play With Your Food When You Do It With Wilton’s FoodWriters!
Written: Aug 17 '04 (Updated Nov 30 '06)
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Pros: Five markers per pack, can be used on almost every type of food, edible ink.
Cons: Expensive, one pack is about $8.00.
The Bottom Line: Picky eaters got you down? Sick of plain boring sandwiches? Frosted cookies still need some spunk? Wilton comes to the rescue with their ultra cool Food Writers!
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| Freak369's Full Review: Wilton Food Writer 609-100 |
When it comes to kids, they can be awfully picky when meal time rolls around. Each of my boys went through stages where they refused to eat anything but a specific food or combination of foods. Whether it was macaroni and cheese or fish sticks, all four of them tested my patience in one way or another during breakfast, lunch and dinner. Seeing as how they are just as stubborn as me, they’d keep up their little food ruse until just the mere mention of it would turn them green – sort of my little revenge tactic. If they wanted to eat the same food every meal, as long as it was in some way nutritious, so be it. The best coup was when Simon, my oldest, requested the same thing for every meal – peanut butter and banana sandwich, applesauce and carrots … three times a day for over a month. After the first week he didn’t even have to ask, it would just automatically show up for him when he’d sit down t the table. After the first month I started to see the meal plan wear thin – especially when he’d see the other boys having fish sticks and fries or his favorite at the time - cheesy pizza. I’m sure that if I had these cool FoodWriters in the house I could have further prolonged the agony of the peanut butter and banana sandwich by writing little messages on the tops and bottoms of it.
FoodWriter Fine Tip Primary Colors [609-100]
When I saw these at the Wilton Online Store over a year ago I knew that I had to have them. Even if I only used them for decorating iced cookies or on sandwiches, they would be well worth it. My kids are weird – something that I’ve said over and over again. When I make grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch or as a side for dinner, each of them have their own combination they request. One wants pickles inside, one wants sliced ham, number three wants American cheese and either mozzarella or provolone added to it and the baby, well, he wants his with green olives. For the longest time I swore they did this on purpose to try to get under my skin but after tasting each of the combinations I realized that they liked them for a certain reason. I started using edible food markers to write their names on the sandwiches however the ones I had were promotional ones that came with a Betty Crocker Halloween cookie kit. These lasted about a month before they dried out – enter the Wilton FoodWriter. It might look like a marker but oh these babies are so much more than just “a marker”. How so, you ask? Read on and prepare to change the way you serve food! [OK, they might change the way you serve food, but it will make it a little more colorful].
The basic FoodWriter kit comes with five thin tipped markers that contain an edible ink. The colors are yellow, black, blue, red and green. I don’t suggest trying to mix or blend the colors by using them on top of each other or layering them since the tips will pick up the other colors and could result in one ugly mess. I learned that the hard way when I tried to draw a heart on a frosted cookie and the red marker picked up the black ink, I was able to get most of the black ink off the tip by writing on a pieces of paper with it but that seemed to kill the shape of the tip and suck out a lot of the ink. This set is the fine line FoodWriter, there is also a broad / bold tip size [609-115] available for the same price that includes the same color assortment. The larger tip set is great for filling in larger areas or writing names, creating borders or coloring an entire section quickly. The actual size of the tip isn’t disclosed but if I had to compare it to another marker it would have to be one of the medium sized felt tip art markets from Sanford. You can easily use these on iced cookies, sandwiches, sliced fruit [blot dry first], french fries and almost any type of food that isn’t soft or watery – watermelon, peaches, fish nuggets .. all good examples of foods you can’t use these on.
So, now the bad. These will dry out quickly if left uncapped – some more so than others. Some of the ones that I purchased at Michael’s were almost dead when I opened the package so I think they may have been older stock that wasn’t properly rotated. I have had the best luck getting fresh one when I order through the Wilton online store. There’s really no way to rehydrate them once they dry out and don’t try to press the tip onto paper to restart them because all that will do is bend the tip and more than likely dent the food. I learned this first hand when I tried it on a frosted cookie; it was completely dry and hard to the touch after setting up for 24 hours and the FoodWriter I was using was partially dried out. I figured “Oh, I’ll just press a little harder” … all that did was leave a small hole in the cookie and leave the tip of the marker covered in the sugary frosting. I guess it is true that you learn from your mistakes but when these puppies are about eight bucks a pop … it’s an expensive lesson to learn.
These are great for kids of all ages to use since you don’t have to worry about them sticking them in their mouths and getting sick. The same thing goes for getting it on their skin and clothes; so far I haven’t had any trouble getting these colors out of clothing or off of skin but the black on from the Halloween assortment is a little trickier to work with in those regards. I’ve had kids of all ages use these and I haven’t met one yet that didn’t like the idea of being able to write on their food or at the very least decorate it or write their name on it. Little Annabelle loves to doodle on her sandwiches especially cheese slices and the boys like to play tic tac toe with them. When my oldest and his girlfriend would have lunch together they always ate on the patio where no one could see the little cute messages they’d write on each others food. As innocent as it was, when they started drawing little hearts on their food with these markers park or me wanted to puke and part of me wanted to not think about the gray hairs that were going to start popping up from it.
Other FoodWriter Sets
If this one does suit your fancy, there are other options available in the Wilton FoodWriter series:
FoodWriter Christmas Colors [609-102]
= One red, one green. $3.99
FoodWriter Fine Tip Primary Colors [609-100]
= One of each: red, green, black, blue and yellow. $7.99
FoodWriter Bold Tip Primary Colors [609-115]
= One of each: red, green, black, blue and yellow. $7.99
FoodWriter Halloween Colors [609-101]
= One black, one orange. $3.99
The Bottom Line
These are great to have around if you have picky eaters, by allowing them to “customize” their food, it might motivate them to eat a little more or try new foods. If I would have had these when my brood were younger I am sure I wouldn’t have had so many headaches when lunch and dinner time rolled around. They are completely safe for kids of all ages to use, clean up easily from skin and clothing and come in a variety of color assortments. Outside of the kids using them, you can use these on cookies to add a little extra color or enhance designs but you really have to make sure that the icing is completely hardened before you start. They might seem a little on the expensive side but they do last a long time providing you recap them as soon as you are done using them.
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2004 Freak369
Other awesome Wilton products
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Gold Foil Petite Loaf Cup
Non Stick Cooling Rack
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $7.99
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