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. Update May 2011: The Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum was abruptly closed on May 1, 2011. For the state's centennial in 2012, the governor has decided to replace the museum with something called the "Arizona Experience Museum," and most of the mineral exhibits (probably including the Banquet of Rocks) will be gone. BOOOOO!!!! BOOOOO!!!!

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.