Cups, Corks and Canvas

Last week I had the opportunity to go to Corks and Canvas with my friend Melanie and a few of her girlfriends. Corks and Canvas is an establishment that provides a night of fun and unique entertainment. The idea is that you get together a group of friends for a relaxing evening of painting and drinking! You are allowed to bring your own alcohol and snacks and Corks and Canvas provides the rest. You are greeted at the door with a fresh canvas and directed to your seat that is complete with an easel, paint brushes, and a rainbow of paint. There is an upbeat and informative instructor that guides you through the masterpiece you are about to create. The instructors are patient, knowledgeable, fun and thorough. They walk you through each step at the snail's pace that is required for a large group of tipsy amateur artists.

I was not very confident in my ability to create art in the latex form. I don't draw, paint or sketch. I even find that my stick figures look deformed. Art in this genre is not my cup of tea and didn't think I would be able to create anything worth looking at for any other purpose than laughter. Our objective that night was to paint a New Orleans streetcar scene. As you can see below, with the instructors very descriptive and broken down instructions I was able to finish and ended up with something that I was proud of and believed resembled a street car.

Until I looked at my neighbor's creation, that is. What can I say? Some people are have it and some people don't! Never the less, we had a great time and I was excited to experience one of the fun things to do in Mandeville before I move to the city of New Orleans and away from the opportunity.

These are the treats I brought for our group of ladies to enjoy as we worked. Everyone liked them, I even shared them with the instructor and few of the ladies we met that night.

Peanut Butter-Fudge Cups
Adapted from Cooking Light November 2001

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1/4 cup chunky peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 1/2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons cold water
• Cooking spray

Filling:

• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 tablespoons 1% low-fat milk
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons powdered sugar

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare crust, place first 4 ingredients in a large bowl;

beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Lightly spoon 1 cup flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Add flour and salt to peanut butter mixture;

cut in flour with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Sprinkle surface with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time; toss with a fork until combined.

Shape mixture into 24 balls, using 1 tablespoon of the mixture for each. Place 1 ball in each of 24 miniature muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Press dough into bottoms and up sides of muffin cups.

To prepare filling, combine 2/3 cup brown sugar and the next 4 ingredients (2/3 cup brown sugar through milk) in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.

Cook 3 to 4 minutes or until smooth, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Beat egg is a small bowl. Add a teaspoon of the hot mixture to the egg to temper. Whisk in 2 tablespoons flour and egg

until into the chocolate mixture until well blended. Divide chocolate mixture evenly among muffin cups using a 1 tablespoon measuring spoon.

Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until the pastry is lightly browned; cool in pan on a wire rack 5 minutes.

Run a knife around outside edges of cups. Remove cups from pan; cool completely on wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

And Serve.

Click Here for My Adapted Printable Recipe