Shut Up And Do It: Make Chocolate Mice!

So there you are at the party with the same old boring cupcakes when some domestic wonder waltzes in with a tray of confectionery goodies practically oozing with creativity and whimsy. Well, now you can be that whiz-kid of the party circuit by making these almost-too-cute-to-eat chocolate mice. We made ours around the Christmas holiday season, but you can really have them any time of the year. And guess what? Though these little guys may look like they’ve been flown in from a big-city sweet shop, they are easy to make and won’t cost you very much cheese.

Here’s what you need:

For the Mice Bodies:

• milk chocolate bark or candy makers melting chocolate
• maraschino cherries with stems
• Hershey’s Kisses
• finely sliced almonds

Frosting (for eyes and ears):

• 1/2 cup butter
• 5 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 – 5 tablespoons milk (less makes the frosting stiffer and less runny)
• red food coloring or decorators icing colors if you want different eye or nose colors

Here’s what you do:

1.) Put your chocolate in a double boiler to start melting. If you don’t have a double boiler, make one by clipping a metal bowl onto the side of pan full of water (see photo). Don’t blow your load and melt all the chocolate at once, working with little batches is easier!

2.) While the chocolate is melting, get out your maraschino cherries and pat them dry, but don’t remove the stems. The cherries don’t need to be bone dry, but too much moisture will make the chocolate weird and hard to work with.

3.) Once your cherries are dry and your chocolate is melted you can get to work covering the cherries with chocolate. A spoon helps with this task. Put the chocolate covered cherries into either candy-making cups or on wax paper keeping the stems pointing up. Let dry for at least 10 minutes.

4.) Next, dip one end of an almond slice into the melted chocolate and hold it against the cherry. This chocolate should melt into the chocolate covering the cherry and stick the almond sliver into place. Repeat process, making sort of a “V” shape with the almonds on the front part of your chocolate-covered cherry. These are the ears of the mouse.

5.) Now dip the flat part of a Hershey’s Kiss (any variety will do) into the chocolate and press it on to the cherry, covering the bottom part of the almond “V” making the ears. Be sure to let some of the ear peek out from behind the Kiss.

6.) Finally, use little dots of colored icing to make the eyes and noses of the mice. If you don’t have a fancy pasty bag, put the frosting into little plastic bags, close tightly, and cut off a corner of the bag to create a perfect (and cheap) frosting gun. Whatever you do, it’ll be cute! Even the “messed up” mice have an off-kilter charm, so this is perfect for those of us who are not quite ready for our own show on the Food Network!

Store your mice in Tupperware or cover in plastic. Refrigerate if you’re gonna sit on them for a bit, but really these little mice age very well. They can be anything from a simple present to the center of a party spread. They look especially great arranged on a tray scattered with Kisses or in a cute little gift box, and would probably blow minds if spread around a cheesecake – if any manage to make if out of the kitchen!

Enjoy…

by: Meghan Bainum and Kitty Reese

Michael Krueger Interview

Born to Lose, colored pencil, 2008

Michael Krueger is an art professor at the University of Kansas, an excellent working artist and a personal favorite of The Rathaus. Recently Krueger was interviewed by the San Francisco based blog Fecalface.com, another favorite of ours, about his influences, artistic style and how prairies continue to influence his work. Click here to read the interview.

posted by: Harold Johns III

Pizza Party Recap

As promised, The Rathaus braved the crowd at Wonder Fair’s Pizza Party held on December 23rd to bring back these photos. If you are not familiar with the premise of the event, it was simple. Patrons brought an item and for a $5 they chose the print, the placement and color, while one of Wonder Fair’s resident screen printers would take care of the rest. The art for the prints was provided by Crate Lung, b. d. eek, Jouvelt, Justin Shiney, Asteroid Head Art Club, and others. Thanks to procrastinating Christmas shoppers the event was a success so hopefully Wonder Fair will throw another of these screen printing parties in the future.

Another satisfied customer.

Some of the art available.

Baylee was happy to help wash screens.

Cristie of Crate Lung is hard at work selling their own goods.

Eric Dobbins, owner/operator of the Wonder Fair, is making a deal with a young patron.

“Safe & Secure” screen print on paper, b. d. eek

“Chief Space Bee”, screen print on paper, Crate Lung

photos by: Tricia Rock
posted by: Brent Carter

“In a Sea of Change” Recap

While enjoying ourselves at the Wonder Fair Pizza Party, The Rathaus managed to capture some images of the gallery’s current show “In a Sea of Change.” These new works from Justin Marable will be on display through January 11th at 803 Massachusetts in Lawrence, KS. Read on for more images of Marable’s prints in which he examines change and “critique[s] the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, the wrong and the right, to better understand this balance that continually exists in the world.”

Age of Hope, screen print

Soldier for Peace, screen print

Soldier for Peace II, screen print

Conserve and Preserve, screen print

Soldier for Peace III, screen print

Soldier for Peace IV, screen print

Guaranteed?, screen print

Soldier for Peace V, screen print

Soldier for Peace VI, screen print

In a Sea of Change, screen print

Locomotion, screen print

Global Army of Peace, screen print

Global Army of Peace (detail), screen print

To see more of Justin’s work click here.

photos by: Tricia Rock
posted by: Brent Carter

Sally Mann, What Remains

Sally Mann is one of the most prolific American photographers of our lifetime. She is challenging, thoughtful, eloquent, and frightening. She can make the roots of a tree look like a struggle between good and evil, and children seem as if they’re carved of marble.

Mann is often referred to as a controversial figure for her collection of photos titled Immediate Family. These works exemplify Mann’s ability to turn her everyday life into a cryptic collage of innocence and beautiful dirt. The photos are powerful, and they command a reaction. Mann maintains that she had no preconception of the enormous outrage the photos of her sometimes naked children would inevitably illicit. She claims no intention of stirring controversy to get attention. When you see Mann’s earnest demeanor, it’s hard to think otherwise.

The Immediate Family photo series seems to have broken a social mores. It teeters on an edge and forces you to look at the striking and statuesque figures of naked children. It is on this edge where you’re forced to decide, do I consider this art, or smut? Society says that we need to keep children clothed because pedophiles are lurking in the shadows. The argument for censorship of Mann’s work goes something like this… “Mann is a bad mother because she is giving perverts the opportunity to defile the precious innocence of her own children. Therefore we need to prohibit the viewing of these works.”

Something in these chivalrous cries of protection rings familiar. Ted Haggard, or Pastor Ted as he’s known, was (and paradoxically still is) vehemently opposed to homosexuality. People that speak with righteous indignation about the harms Mann is imposing on her family and herself seem frightened. This fear is akin to the teachings of the creation story; ignorance is utopia, knowledge is the original sin, and facing the unknown is evil. When you look at these photos of another person’s children, you must ask yourself… are these children doing anything wrong? Is Sally Mann doing anything wrong? Or is this only wrong if “I” the viewer look at these in the wrong way?

Mann has subsequently proven herself as an artist rather than a smut pusher. She has gone on to tackle subjects that have the potential to conjure revelation and reminiscence. From the slow but impending death of her husband and the posthumous record of her favorite dog to the documentation of Knoxville Tennessee’s Body Farm, she unabashedly faces the unknown with a vigor that should inspire even the meekest among us.

The 2006 documentary What Remains follows Mann through her life and discusses her career. The film is on Netflix, Blockbuster online, and should be at your local video store. What Remains documents a large portion of Mann’s work and process, as well as giving you an intimate look into the awkward confidence of one of America’s most prolific photographers. Time Magazine agrees, they named Sally Mann as the photographer of the year in 2001, saying about her:

“Few photographers of any time or place have matched Sally Mann’s steadiness of simple eyesight, her serene technical brilliance and the clearly communicated eloquence she derives from her subjects…”

More of Mann’s work