Banquet of Rocks

Phoenix, Arizona

A dinner table set with four complete meals. Pancakes, steaks, a hamburger ... it all looks delicious. But you would break a tooth if you tried to bite into any of this food -- it's all made out of rocks! This rocky repast is a display in the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum. As a sign explains, "The Banquet of Rocks is the result of 35 years of fun by Arless and Margaret Nixon of Phoenix, Arizona. With the help of friends, they created a king's feast of rocks-that-look-like food -- part of which you see in this case." Scroll down to examine the menu at each place setting.

BREAKFAST PLATTER
Pancake Stack - sandstone
Bacon - quartz var. agate
Canadian Bacon - rhyolite
Egg "over easy" - quartz var. agate on quartz var. chalcedony

Pumpernickel Roll - iron oxide concretion
Whole Wheat Bread Slice - granite
Butter - sulfur
Jelly - glass (manmade)

Vitamins - obsidian ("Apache Tears")

Coffee - garnet sand

Boiled Egg - quartz




FRUIT BOWL
Banana - limestone
Nectarines - chert milling balls
Kiwi - fossil coral
Plum - quartz
Peach - sandstone
Pineapple - calcite




DINOSAUR STEAK PLATTER (top)
Dinosaur Steaks - quartz var. jasper
Apple Ring - quartz var. agate
Mushrooms - calcite & bentonite balls
Carrots - stalactite tips
Potato - quartz var. chert

Roll - sandstone
Butter - sulfur

Peach Pie - opal ("bubble")

HAMBURGER PLATTER (bottom)
Hamburger - quartz var. jasper
Hamburger Bun - quartzite
Swiss Cheese - siltstone
Onion Slice - quartz var. agate
Pickles - quartz var. chert (brown) & granite (green)
Olives - obsidian ("Apache Tears")
French Fries - splinters of rhyolite

Pickle Relish - olivine (peridot)

Ketchup - quartz sand with iron oxide coating

Milk - tin oxide

Lemon Meringue Pie - travertine




STEAK PLATTER
Steak - quartz var. jasper
Peas - gastropod opercula (snail "trap doors"), dyed
Corn-on-the-Cob - limestone concretion
Mushrooms - calcite & bentonite balls
Carrots - stalactite tips

Lemon Pudding - sulfur

Ice - quartz crystals

Directions: The Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum is located at 1502 West Washington, Phoenix (15th Avenue and Washington). A modest admission fee is charged.

Last visited: June 2008.

Standard disclaimer: Sites are described for entertainment purposes only, as they were at the time of my last visit. I can not vouch for the current condition of the site or its accessibility.