Celebrating Emma Hope's birthday--CUPCAKE WAR STYLE!

We recently celebrated a very special birthday party....Emma chose CUPCAKE WARS....and Emma and her closest friends competed for the best decorated cupcake.  Wow the competition was really close....all the participants were so talented!  They did such an amazing job decorating their cupcakes.  It was super hard to choose a winner...but in the end Emma actually came out on top ….her cupcake really showed her unique style of decorating.  Emma--you are very special......wishing you a fantastic year ahead...I hope this year is as beautiful as you are !!!  Happy Birthday!

We LIT the night on FIRE!!!

We had a blast last Thursday....a "fiery" blast.   We lit the night on fire...creating Fired Alcohol Ink Art and making Baananas Foster!  The artwork that are participants created were museum worthy! The beauty of this craft is if you aren't happy at first with what you create you can wipe it off and start over.  Then we shifted gears and made homemade vanilla ice cream...with the exception of one small little snafu--looking for the blade to the ice cream maker!  Thank goodness for swapouts!  Then we it some bananas, rum and banana liquer on fire to put over our homemade ice cream.

Here are some fun photos of our night....along with the recipes of the evening.

FIRED ALCOHOL INK

supplies:

• Alcohol inks in your favorite colors
• Picture frame
• 91% Isopropyl alcohol
• Small dish
• Small paint brush or dropper
• Lighter
• Foil-covered baking tray

1. Use 91% isopropyl alcohol, not 70%. The higher alcohol content works better with the inks, and it will burn off faster than the 70%.
2. Don’t use too many colors! We found 3-4 works best.
3. Use the tray to swirl the ink instead of picking up the glass.
4. Drop ink on glass....add alcohol, swirl then light with lighter
5. (caution glass might be hot ..don't touch til cool"  If you don't like design ...wipe off with alcohol.

When framing...frame ink side on the inside of frame.


BANANA'S FOSTER

INGREdients

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
• 1 banana, peeled, halved lengthwise and crosswise
• Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon banana liqueur
• 1 ounce light rum (80- to 90-proof) 

• Vanilla ice cream, for serving 

Preparation

1. Melt butter and sugar in a small frying pan. Add banana pieces and sauté over medium heat until lightly browned, turning pieces once. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Remove pan from heat.
2. Add liqueur and rum to pan. To flambé, carefully light sauce with long-reach lighter. Spoon flaming sauce over the banana pieces until flame is extinguished.
3. Serve warm banana pieces and sauce over vanilla ice cream.

HOMEMADE VANILLA ICE CREAM

Ingredients

• 2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise and scraped
• 2 cups milk, chilled
• 6 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. 
   

   1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the vanilla beans and scrapings with the milk and cream.. Bring to a gentle boil. Remove from heat, and let steep, covered, 30 minutes.
2. 
   

   2.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg yolks and sugar on medium-high speed until thick and pale, about 4 minutes.
3. 
   

   3. Place milk/cream  mixture over medium-high heat; bring just to a simmer. Slowly pour about 1/4 cup hot-milk/ cream mixture into egg-yolk mixture, beating on low speed until blended. Continue adding milk, about 1/2 cup at a time, beating until incorporated after each addition.
4. 
   

   4. Return mixture to saucepan; stir with a wooden spoon over low heat until mixture is thick enough to coat back of spoon, 3 to 5 minutes. Custard should retain a line drawn across the back of the spoon with your fingertip.
5. 
   

   5. Stir in extract. Freeze in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. 
6.