Starry night in SD

Light pollution is a problem in big cities. It has been quite a long time since I’ve seen a starry sky. But last week, my friend M held her bachelorette party which brought the stars back…at least on a canvas!

When I found out that we were going to celebrate M’s upcoming nuptials with a painting class, I cringed…a lot. I envisioned myself sitting in front of a canvas covered mixing all the paint colors into a mess of greys and browns, a result of my desperate attempt to create art. I don’t have a creative bone in me, and I’ve been notorious for having little patience for art projects. I wasn’t expecting much fun to come out of this night for me aside from the wonderful company and the wine that accompanied the class.

Was I so wrong! I actually found the class to be therapeutic and relaxing. I loved creating the colors and layering the paint over the canvas. Was I very creative? No, not at all. I just followed the teacher’s instructions-it must be from the YEARS of education I’ve had. But in the end, I had a wonderful time, and I was pleasantly surprised at my artwork.

M has selected van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ to the be the night’s inspiration. The instructor, Amy, was a cute girl who had recently moved from England to be closer to her fiance-an American soldier now deployed in Afghanistan. She walked us through the painting, creating her own version alongside us.

I have to say that I am very proud at my work.  I’m shocked that I was able to create this in under 3 hours.  I would have liked to have had more time to touch up, but I am still happy with the result.

So how did I do?

Mini coconut banana cream pie with chocolate

I revisited my coconut cream pie recipe for a dinner party. I’ve great success with this pie, and I wanted to see if I could present it Ina prettier way. I used my mini muffin tin and lined them with cups shaped like flowers (made by Wilton). The petals extend above the rim of the tin which allows me to fill them a little more than if I had regular muffin papers. Plus they are easier to pick up. These are just one bite treats, so they are great to bring to casual potlucks. I combined these with my Nutella brownies and mini apple tarts. They came out so cute and sweet. This recipe and technique will be sticking around!

Changes to the original recipe include the addition of almonds to the crust

Yields about 24 mini pies

INGREDIENTS-CRUST
4 graham cracker sheets
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c sliced almonds
1/4 shredded coconut
Pinch of salt
4 tbsp melted butter

INGREDIENTS-FILLING
7oz (half can) coconut milk
1/2 c milk
1/3 c sugar
1/3 c coconut
1/8 tsp salt
2 tbsp corn starch
2 egg yolks
3/4 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp butter
1/2 c chocolate chips
Few tbsp heavy cream

INGREDIENTS-TOPPING
3/4 c heavy cream
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c shredded coconut

YIELDS 24 pies

INSTRUCTIONS
Place the crust ingredients into the food processor and pulse till uniform crumbs form and butter is well distributed.
Place about 1 TBSP mixture on the bottom of each well, pressing them gently with the back of a measuring spoon to create a little well.  Place one slice of banana in each pie.
Bake at 325 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes until fragrant and golden brown
While the crust bakes, set up a double boiler with a small sauce pan filled with boiling water under a glass bowl. Place the chocolate and heavy cream in the bowl and allow to melt and incorporate gently
Once the crust are ready, spoon a bit of chocolate into each well to cover the bottom
Next prepare the custard. In a 2 quart sauce pan, gently heat the coconut milk, milk, coconut, salt and half of the total sugar. Keep hot while you beat the egg yolks, cornstarch and remaining sugar in a glass bowl.
Temper the edge mixture by slowly adding about a third of the milk mixture to the egg mixture while whisking constantly. Then add the rest of the milk mixture. Return the mixture to the sauce pan.
Bring the mixture back to a boil while constantly whisking. When bubbles form once you stop whisking and the custard has thickened, turn off the heat. Add butter and vanilla. Taste to adjust seasoning.
Pipe into each well and chill
While waiting for the pies I chill, toast the coconut. Make the whipped cream by whipping
the heavy cream, vanilla and powdered sugar
Pipe the whipped cream on top of chilled pies and then top with toasted coconut