I like superheroes.

I have for quite some time. I still have my weekly subscriptions at the local comic book shop and pick up collections every once in a while. I can remember, as a kid, going to the local store to look at and read the latest comics. There's even a picture of me in the crib with a Spider-man comic book.

I've also come to like the reality show, "Who Wants to be a Superhero?" It's filled with terrible cheeze, Stan Lee makes arbitrary and internally contradictory decisions, and it plays to some terrible tropes...and yet, I really like the ideals that go into it. The idea that we all have the potential to be heroes, and that if we remember our ideals, we can become better: this is something that really appeals to me. I really admire the people who have the courage to go and stand up for these ideals, through all the silly costumes and ridiculous melodrama. I think that's noble, and I think it's inspiring.

So for this task, it seemed clear that I should make something representing the superheroes I love and admire. But...it was too hard to choose just one. So I thought I'd make a whole superhero-themed dinner. And once you have a theme, ideas keep occurring to you...and it's hard to stop. so this got a little bit out of control...

We start with the first (of two) main inspirations for this task. The idea of Spider-man pasta, cooked up to look like webbing, with two sauces: red and black, for his red and black costumes. The Spider-Ham reference is something only real comic book geeks will get, but gave me an excuse to add some yummy sausage as well.




Hero sandwiches, of course, seemed like an obvious choice given the theme.




In addition to the green beans, I'd hoped to find some purple potatoes to match the Hulk's pants. But it was not to be. I just really like the image of an enraged Hulk who will not rest...until you eat your vegetables!




The Wonder Woman garlic bread was probably the least effectively heroic of the dishes--the parmesan melted on wasn't very strongly showing the "WW" design, and even on the one with red paprika, it was difficult to make out. Still, it was tasty.





Dessert

I'm a big fan of dessert,, and so the most striking bits are here. Superman and Batman are certainly the two most iconic superheroes, so I had to honor them here. Also, to make sure this was a valid completion, I had to make sure to have some actual portraits as well.




This bread pudding is my favorite dessert, and always disappears quickly. While it's normally made with blueberries and raspberries, I decided on strawberries, bananas, and blueberries, to be able to represent the Superman S.




And of course, the Dark Knight deserved a Dark Chocolate Cake. Frosting is perhaps the most difficult medium I've worked with, but I think it came out fairly well.

Finally, we finish with the other main inspiration. I made friends with some folks at the local bakery, and eventually we figured out how to get small images on an edible pastry sheet, separate from anything else, which I then separated and put onto the cupcakes. These are the winners from the first and most recent seasons of "Who Wants to be a Superhero?"



They were delicious.