Spatula Diaries: Round things that go pop in your mouth

“One of the big food trends of 2012 is inventive bar food, especially tidy little balls that are easy to pick up and dip in multi-ethnic sauces, says San Francisco-based trend watcher Baum+Whiteman. I’ve always been a sucker for decadent stuff in miniature; it must be the natural correlation between guilt and portion size,” writes 225 food blogger Maggie Heyn Richardson. “This year, we should be seeing more ‘round things that go ‘pop’ in your mouth,’ reported B+W, including sharable creative meatballs, falafel, risotto balls and other sphericals served with inventive sauces.” Click here to read the rest of this week’s Spatula Diaries.