The Rescuers

Week 17:

Another week, another post and here we go (Orville voice)!!

Justice and I both love The Rescuers. This movie often gets overlooked due to princesses and much "bigger" mice, but it still packs a pretty big entertainment punch.

Penny dropped us a note for the menu this week in the old-school, message-in-a-bottle variety. Talk about snail mail!

Bernard, if you'd please...

Thank you!

This movie took place (mostly) in Devil's Bayou (pictured below). This is in Louisiana. I had already done some NOLA-food and I had some New York (the other location mentioned in the movie) cuisine to come, so I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with this movie night. I just knew it had to be good. Then, it hit me. A CRAWFISH BOIL! It makes perfect sense for a Louisiana/Cajun theme and would be something easy to come by in a bayou. It also, as it so happens, is pretty easy to come by here in Arkansas even if the season isn't technically until January (go figure).

We got the crawfish from Landry's and the corn and potatoes from Joey's (I would've gotten everything from Joey's to try it out, but he didn't have crawfish since they were not in season. I had to go with slightly less fresh crawfish. O well). The crawfish (and the corn and potatoes) were great but, if I am going to be perfectly honest, they kind of freak me out. Maybe its the eyes?

Next, we had fried gator. This, once again, is a Louisiana/Southern delicacy, can be found in areas inhabited by gators (a.k.a. bayous), and tipped a hat to Madame Medusa's "pets" Nero and Brutus (even though they were technically crocodiles). Plus, it is delicious! If you have never had it, do not be afraid. It is like a souped-up chicken strip (actually is one of those things that tastes like chicken). Joey's, who we got the gator from, also threw in some fried shrimp. I think they felt bad they couldn't supply us with boiled crawfish (or boiled shrimp, which they ran out of).

Serves Madame Medusa right for water skiing on her pets.

Serves Nero and Brutus right, too. I mean who hoists a little girl up by the "pants" and gets her Teddy wet? Animals (pun intended)!

Lastly, we had ring pops. This was to pay homage to Madame Medusa's obsession, and the reason she kidnapped Penny in the first place, the Devil's Eye Diamond.

I always thought the Devil's Eye was a ruby, because it appeared to glow red in the "black hole" cave, so I got a cherry ring pop. Alas, when we watched the movie, I found out it was a diamond. I haven't watched this movie in a while and, apparently, my memory did not serve me too well (or Google pictures). O well, I still love cherry!

Here is a glimpse of it outside of the cave where it was clearly "clear".

Come on, Medusa. We need a better look at it than that.

That's better.

Close enough, right?

Now, for the add-ons.

There is one thing that is clear to anyone who has watched this movie. Miss Penny LOVES her Teddy.

Don't worry Penny, the pair that prays together, stays together. He's a VERY lovable bear, too. Great to cuddle with looks like (complete with sleeping hat)!

So, I wanted to show some love to our furry friend. I decided to do that in a few ways.

First, with a "life-size" model cake.

Now, I have never attempted to carve or ice a cake by myself, so this was a bit nerve-racking. Justice took Rufus's and Miss Bianca's stance.

(kiss from the fiancé)

What was I saying?

O yes, let us start with the model. This is the picture I worked from.

I started by baking a cake (Devil's food, because it went with the Devil's Eye thing we had going on. It actually turned out to be the smoothest, prettiest cake I think I have EVER baked!), then freezing it so it would be easier to carve. Then, I free-handed the cutting and "dirty iced" it with Nutella and whipped peanut butter (because I couldn't find icing the right color). I thought it turned out pretty well.

Next, it was back to the freezer and on to the final coat of icing. I was having a hard time smoothing Teddy's coat, but Justice's mom came to my rescue. She suggested using a hot, wet knife. Worked like a charm! I did leave Teddy a little lumpy for character/stuffing/fur reasons. However, thanks to my future mother-in-law for the tip!!

At this point, Teddy and I had really bonded. It was kind of tough adding his features and putting him away until the meal but, after a call from David's Bridal with one hand holding Teddy's eye and the other one covered in frosting, I figured it was best to get him out of harm's (a.k.a. my) way while I "dealt" with them. Here is the final result!!

I was pretty proud of how he turned out. You could say I had this "pep in my step",confident walk, or graceful glide after I got this to work. Except instead of looking like Miss Bianca,

my "graceful glide"/happy dance probably looked more like this.

Keepin' it classy since 1977, Madame Medusa.

(Shudder)

My next "Teddy tribute" was to make teddy bear hug cookies. Teddy does love his hugs.

Note to self and to you, though, do not try to cut them thicker thinking it will be easier to move them. While it does make them easier to move, this is what can happen. Ya, that is what I like to call "overstuffing" your teddy.

Oops!

Needless to say, I went and bought more cookie dough. This time, however, I got a dry mix instead of the frozen dough and got peanut butter instead of sugar (looked more "Teddy-ish" to me).

Ahh...success is sweet!!

Lastly, I made Teddy toast. This is something I was pretty sure Penny's adoptive mom made for her for breakfast.

A mother understands a girl's love for her teddy bear and I understand anyone's love for peanut butter toast with bananas and chocolate chips!

Almost forgot. These weren't just ANY bananas. They were the sweetest, the best, BABY BANANAS (reminds me of Kenya, Florence, and Maua. Lovely)!

Also, it wasn't just ANY bread I toasted. It was honey wheat bread. Bears DO love their honey.

Teddy is taken care of, but what about the other animals in the movie?

Let us start with Orville, our favorite captain.

I popped up some Orville Redenbacher and put it in an orange bowl to match the beak he'd be stuffing the popcorn in! Simple, easy, and only 100 calories!

Next, we had the Rescue Aid Society's finest, Bernard and Miss Bianca.

Note that the Rescue Aid Society was modeled after the United Nations and it all started with a mouse (not Mickey)!

Three representatives "featured" in the film were from countries we have "visited" through our dining adventures.

Arabia (for Robin William's tribute post), Africa (through the Lion King), and, most recently, Germany (from the tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs).

Back to Bernard and Bianca.

I did a couple of things for our two favorite RAS agents. The first were these simple cupcakes made over in the Rescuer's clothes.

Next, I did the "after Penny mission" Bernard and Miss Bianca. These were more of your "stand-out" cupcakes. Yes, Miss Bianca, we see you!

She IS very beautiful.

and you Bernard. From lowly janitor to co-agent with Miss Bianca.

She had a LARGE variety to choose from. Feel special, Bernard. VERY special.

I made these cupcake toppers out of candy melts and, this time, used EZ Melts. Ya, that was the right choice (made me want to give cake pops another whirl...it made it THAT much easier). I printed a mouse outline (cough, cough, Mickey) and free-handed the other "details".

I was inserting the toppers into the cupcakes and, while I made a hole beforehand, I must not have made it big enough. Bernard had a bit of an accident. I melted some more chocolate, but didn't get his head on straight. I could've broken him on purpose to set him straight, but I kind of liked him like this. Tilting his head towards Miss Bianca and all. It made him seem more Bernard-ish. Happy accident!!

Bernard. Really?

The old "walk your hand during the movie" trick? She MUST have already liked you to let you get away with that!

I had one more surprise up my sleeve. Both of these cupcakes contained this surprise.

A hidden Mickey!

Oops, an undercover agent. I just blew his cover.

To see the recipe/idea I used for this visit http://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/mickey-mouse-cupcakes-with-mickey-inside/. Beware the brownie mix though. DO NOT GET IT TOO MOIST. Makes for quite a mess.

Moving on, I wanted to include some of the "neighbors", but I just did not have the time/energy. Therefore they, Evinrude, and Rufus will get "honorable mention".

Doesn't Deacon Owl kind of look like Archimedes from Sword in the Stone?

Yup, just squint your eyes a bit. That'll do the trick.

Also, this picture made me laugh. If we don't watch out, Justice and I could turn out like Ellie Mae and Luke (minus the moonshine plus me learning how to cook (gasp)).

Anywho, moving on.

No, I did not do anything for Mr. Snoops. I was with Madame Medusa on this one. He kind of annoyed me. Therefore, I decided to do something for the item Mr. Snoops spent months trying to get (note that when Madame Medusa, a woman, went down there the job got done within a day. Just sayin'), the Devil's Eye.

Once again, I thought it was more of a ruby than a diamond.

I mean, look at it.

Ya, totally red.

Either way, though, the Devil's Eye threw off rainbows. I wanted to capture that, so I made "Devil's Eye Dip" (also known as Dunkaroo Dip). The recipe I used is found here: http://murphysamandjodi.com/?p=11335. Either name for the dip is perfect, because one is, obviously, the name of the diamond and both reference what you have to do to get a hold of it. Take a dip/dunk in a swirling black hole of water. Yikes.

After making the dip, I knew I had to put the Ring Pop in it (otherwise it wouldn't throw off the rainbows correctly), but something was still missing. A skull. The gem is supposed to be the EYE, after all. So, I made a skull out of white chocolate (easy again with my new-found EZ Melts to aid me) and inserted the "eye". I was pretty proud of it.

You will notice the teddy bear hug cookies from earlier in the picture. I did this on purpose, of course. Madame Medusa, to "motivate" Penny, kept Teddy ransom until her precious diamond was brought up to her. She ended up lying to Penny and holding onto Teddy to conceal the Devil's Eye. She sure does have a way with the kids.

It DID work, however. You could say that Teddy helped find the Devil's Eye (as shown by a Teddy with his very own Devil's eye, Fruit Gusher, after Medusa left it with him).

I filled in the rest of my dip tray with chocolate animal crackers (smashed up) to represent the "black hole" rocks and chocolate chip Teddy Grahams. Chocolate and Devil's Eye Dip? DELICIOUS!

Although, I am sure my future sister-in-law would prefer Nutella dip instead.

Here is the whole thing!

Fun fact: While Justice and I were watching the movie, I got a call from our lovely travel agent, Megan Chapa. We ironed out some more details for our honeymoon over Devil's Eye Dip! We are about 100 days away from our Disneymoon (I know it is getting closer to the end of this blog and the beginning of a new adventure) and I am getting excited!

However, it is NOT over yet!

It was Justice's turn to draw and it is....

Peter Pan!!

I LOVE Peter Pan, because it is set in London, but I forgot my tea set in Texas and didn't get it over Labor Day (don't worry, my sister is keeping it safe until I return)!

We will have to wait and see how I will remedy this, but I am already "cooking" up some ideas!

Until then, good night and sweet Disney dreams!!

Coming Soon: Peter Pan