"Let Them Eat Cake... (It Will Make Them Sweeter... To Eat!)"

Yes, I do think that's what a cantankerous Baba Yaga might say if she saw someone getting that cake, unless you happen to have a blue rose* handy, or get her on one of her very rare good days, or, better still, have the advantage of a special oracle like our fairy tale friend Taisia Kitaiskaia who asks our favorite Russian crone questions very week on our behalf.

A dear friend sent me a picture of this AMAZING cake yesterday and I just had to share. Created by Sylwia Sobiegraj, of Have Some Cake, it's quite a feat. (Foot?)

Oh and in case you're wondering what the flavor is? Chocolate mud cake covered with dark chocolate ganache. (YUM!)

You can see more of her amazing cakes HERE.

(Thanks again Lisa!)

Anyone know if those blue roses work on people? Talk about an awesome birthday gift. You really could be 29 forever... or at least a longer time than usual. ;)

* According to some versions of the myths, Baba Yaga ages a year every time someone asks her a question. This is why she is often portrayed as a cranky old hag — she is frustrated and angry about having been asked so many questions. The only way for her to de-age herself is by drinking a special tea she brews from blue roses. Heroes who bring her a gift of blue roses are often granted wishes as reward for their aid ("Baba Yaga" Wikipedia 2006).

A Wilde Weekend! (A Multi-Arts Weekend Event Celebrating the Life & Works of Oscar Wilde)

I was completely blown away when I followed the breadcrumbs to this four day event, titled A Wilde Weekend. And it sounds... completely amazing.

First of all - it's a four day, multi-disciplinary Arts event (!), celebrating the life and works of Oscar Wilde, in various locations around beautiful Irish countryside and landmarks.

What does that mean?

It means there is a four day program filled with:
- plays - full and partial
- readings & dialogues
- film presentations
- live music
- magical mystery garden tour
- a tour of an amazing period house, complete with scenes of Wilde plays in various rooms
- artwork
- photographs
- period costumes wherever you go with actors helping set the atmosphere
- period social events (like dinner parties under the stars as Wilde himself loved, hosted and attended)
- talks and discussions by experts and scholars
- community costumed picnics
- and more!

And - I have to include notice of two things:

One -  they're GILDING A STATUE, just like The Happy Prince, and will be leaving it to the elements to flake off over time..!

Two - they're having a DINNER IN THE DARK, to simulate the silver mine dinner Wilde had in Colorado (the US). This will be a dining experience complete with blindfolds and pitch darkness to try your dinner, dessert and drink in...

I'm just astonished. It's EXACTLY the sort of immersive, Arts-based event I think people should experience - with excellence and professionalism on every level available to the public, from locations and presenters, to involving every sense (taste, smell, touch, sound, sight, and all the other ones too).

Even the whole PDF for this program is gorgeous (click on any of the side-by-side images shown above to see and read it full size). It's also huge - pages and pages - and I can't figure out how to embed the whole thing so I'm including some pages that may catch your eye. You can find the full, beautiful PDF HERE (just the program is creatively inspiring!).

The date is the Bank Holiday weekend (May 1st to 4th) and takes place in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh (Ireland) and you can pay to attend various events or for the whole weekend.

Here are all the links you need:
OFFICIAL SITE is HERE
Twitter is HERE
Facebook is HERE
PDF of the program and various events descriptions is HERE

And if anybody gets to go to any of this please tell us! I want to hear all about it. (And then I want someone to do a similar event close to where I am please!)

Reader Spotlight: Bluebird-cakes Goes Into The Woods

I was sent a picture of this delightful - and amazing! - cake recently, from a OUABlog reader and talented fairy tale community friend, Zoe Smith of Bluebird-cakes (aka Wintersgate fairy). She kindly gave me permission to share it and some of her other fairy tale creations with you. Thank you Zoe!

About the Into the Woods cake, Zoe says:

The Into the Woods cake was chocolate mud covered in ganache and decorated in fondant icing , and modelling chocolate was used for the detail of the head and trees.

Chocolate, chocolate ganache, more chocolate... mmm. I just don't know quite how you go about eating a witch's face... (Fingers? No problem. Face? Um... please don't curse me!) But seriously, can you imagine receiving this for your birthday? I think I wouldn't let anybody touch it. Ever! ("Don't never, ever, ever mess around with my greens cake!")
         
Zoe also shared a little more about herself, confirming her long time fairy tale obsession, er, love, and that she truly is one of us...

I am a cake decorator based in the North East of England, love all things fairy tale from dark Grimm's tales to the Spiderwick  Chronicles and I bleed Disney ! Love , love , love animation and we have a collection of DVDs that I pretend belong to my kids but they are truly mine . My books are half fairy tale /animation art , half cake decoration and recipes. And lastly , I am Pinterest obsessed !  Makes you wonder how my husband puts up with me ?!

                
Look at those little animated pansies!! I want a whole cake with singing Alice flowers now...

For those lucky people in the UK who can go see and taste test one of her cakes personally: I envy you.. and keep her in mind if you need something a little special, something made with enchantment. As you can see, Zoe is sure to deliver.

I also discovered that Zoe has an Etsy shop, something for which I have no idea how she finds time to create anything with cakes like these. But in the past she made - and sold - these adorable elf boots below. (Lucky customer!)

I have a feeling we'll see more magic from Zoe's corner before long. I've added her sites and information below.)

                       Zoe Smith - Bluebird-cakes
www.facebook.com/wintersgate
www.pinterest.com/wintersgatefae

Waiting Impatiently For 'Maleficent'? Read A Book, Have A Cup of Villain Tea...

MALEFICENT BLEND*Smooth and velvety, with a glamourous sprinkling of rose petals.
This blend is elegant with just a hint of something murky, waiting to surface.

Note: All teas shown are by Adagio Teas, the number one tea site that creates teas with pop culture themes. There are TONS of blends and themes here! All version of Disney, of course, but also Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Princess Bride, Sherlock, Buffy, Game of Thrones, Rise of the Guardians, Wonderland, Once Upon A Time, Beauty and the Beast, Star Wars, Grimm, Labyrinth, The Neverending Story, the Tolkien themed, Tales & Tea Leaves and a LOT more. Heck, there's even a Kate Crackernuts tea blend! (Be warned: it's a tea rabbit-hole!)

Fairy Tale Book Lists are popping up all over the place under the "While You Wait For Maleficent" banner.

URSULA BLEND**
Tropical and fruity, this blend
is reminiscent of the ocean, with
just hints of tanginess throughout.
It'd be very helpful if you were
to lose your voice. Not that there's
any reason that'd happen.

Ta da! This is one of those moments where fairy tale writers go - look! They're searching for us again! Not that readers have really stopped. For some time now fairy tale retellings - especially those with a little grit - have been in demand and now, if your book is currently on the shelves with the hashtag of #darkfairytale attached, there's a very good chance you will be making some extra sales this month.

A recent and decent one come from HuffPost HERE. It seemed for a while that fairy tale retelling lists had the same recommendations overall with only a slight variation between them according to the columnists taste. This list, however, has a much more variety - and many newer - books.

Specifically these are on the conflicted protagonist theme and I wasn't surprised to see Gregory Maguire's Wicked topping the list. I did, however, have the urge to give a little woot and fistpump on seeing Angela Carter's fairy tales in there. That will be an interesting fairy tale primer for the unsuspecting! Hopefully they'll fall in love and we'll have more fairy tale friends than ever.


There are NO SLEEPING BEAUTY RETELLINGS LISTED HERE! I wonder why? Or have we just not been as keen to rewrite her story in novel form as much as some others?

CHERNABOG BLEND***
Dark, bold, with hints of cocoa, this blend reflects the night with perfection. Drinking it in the morning may provide difficulties, like a choir singing to try to stop you.

I can think of lots of short stories and some older Sleeping Beauty novels but not a whole lot recently (ie the last five to ten years)... Hm.

Here's the HuffPost list:

(Note, that at the link, there is a very brief summary of the book and why it's Maleficent-esque reading)

• Wicked by Gregory Maguire
• Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
• Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes
• The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
• Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
• Snow White Sorrow by Cameron Jace
• The WoodCutter Sisters series by Alethea Kontis
• The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter
• Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
• Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay

THE EVIL QUEEN BLEND*****
This blend is full of the scent
of apples and sugar, a very pleasant
combination in deed. There is just
something bitter in that of
aftertaste that may leave you suspicious.

My pick to add in the "Maleficent-like" vein would be Fairest of All by Serena Valentino. It tells a very similar story, of a hurt woman changing to a downright evil woman from the Queen's perspective so that makes it even more interesting to follow (plus the writing is simply stylized yet poetic and lovely, while the story, no matter the twists it takes, stays very true to the Disney movie).

What would you add to the list, considering people want a Maleficent-like story (according to what we know from the trailers etc so far anyway)?



* MALEFICENT BLEND:  ingredients & lore: blended with black tea, yunnan jig tea, cinnamon bark, ginger root, wuyi ensemble tea, natural blackberry flavor, cocoa nibs, blackberry leaves, natural chocolate flavor, natural cinnamon flavor

teas: mambo, blackberry, chocolate chai

accented with cocoa nibs and rose petals

steep at 212° for 3 mins

** URSULA BLEND: ingredients & lore: blended with yerba mate tea, pu erh tea, apple pieces, hibiscus flowers, rose hips, dried coconut, natural coconut flavor, natural mango flavor, marigold flowers, natural pineapple flavor, pineapple pieces, mango pieces, papaya flavor

teas: pu erh tahiti, pina colada, mango mate

accented with ginger and hibiscus

steep at 195° for 4 mins

*** CHERNABOG BLEND:  ingredients & lore: blended with pu erh dante, pu erh tea, black tea, orange peels, cocoa nibs, natural chocolate flavor, blue cornflowers, natural orange flavor, natural caramel flavor, natural vanilla flavor

teas: pu erh chorange, pu erh dante,tiger eye

steep at 212° for 4 mins

**** QUEEN OF HEARTS BLEND: ingredients & lore: blended with green tea, rose hips, hibiscus flowers, apple pieces, orange peels, natural wild cherry flavor, dried cherries, rose petals, natural orange flavor

teas: dewy cherry, blood orange, cherry green

accented with hibiscus

steep at 205° for 4 mins

***** EVIL QUEEN BLEND: ingredients & lore: blended with black tea, rooibos tea, apple pieces, cinnamon bark, natural caramel apple flavor, natural caramel flavor, natural apple flavor, natural cinnamon flavor

teas: candy apple, caramel, rooibos cinnamon apple

accented with aniseed

steep at 212° for 4 mins

QUEEN OF HEARTS BLEND****
Paint this tea as red as you want. With levels of cherry, blood orange, and hibiscus, the longer you brew it, the redder it becomes.

Cody's Fairy Tale Cocktails

Cody Winfrey - creator of the (Disney inspired) Fairy Tale Cocktails - pictured with his 'Glass Slipper'

The importance of food and drink in fairy tales is a topic that comes up fairly often and for good reason. There's something about internalizing a symbol of one's decision, commitment, choice (even if an unaware one) that makes it more real - makes it a part of you.

Cody Winfrey is a "mixologist" who specializes in creating unique drink "recipes" with cocktails. Although he's created cocktails on a variety of themes, it's the Disney-inspired ones that have gone viral and people can't get enough of. He's created over forty to date and is still creating.

"Cinderella is whipped cream vodka, blueberry vodka and cream. Maleficent is black vodka, grape schnapps and apple pucker. Tinkerbell is honey vodka, triple sec and sparkling cider, topped with a dusting of edible glitter. 

"I always try to match the character to the look of the drink and the taste as much as possible," says Cody Winfrey, whose cocktails inspired by Disney movie characters have found an insatiable audience of fans online.

Although what this mixologist is doing is mainly for fun (and profit), creating drinks on the theme of fairy tale characters inspired by Disney has had an interesting side effect. Although it started as a whim and a fun thing to do one boring evening, the more requests he got about characters, the more he started studying these characters - not just their looks but their story lines, character traits, motifs and tendencies in an effort to figure out how to create a unique drink. In the end, he's realized that he's actually attempting to capture the essence of these characters and creatures in an 'ingestible formula", ie. a drink.

It makes for fascinating reading of the ingredients list for each one and in seeing how each are put together. It's almost like recipes for types of fairy tale people, or... a potion! Makes me think of The Evil Queen making her hag transformation spell...

I've included some 'archetypal' characters (that Disney used and gave their own name too) here as well, because, if you substitute them for other fairy tale villains - like the Cat & the Fox or the evil uncle in Aladdin etc the 'recipe' actually works really well. I included some others too: the character who is exceptionally in tune with nature, the Deathless/Underworld character, the somewhat mad advisor.. you get the idea.

Here's a few excerpts from an interview with Mr. Winfrey by inlander:

"The great thing about Disney is that everyone has an almost spiritual connection with some character," he says. "Everyone has a favorite movie, everyone has a favorite character, everyone has a favorite world. So I knew that it would resonate with people in some way." 

Realizing his drinks might also attract the attention of Disney lawyers, Winfrey gave himself a crash course on the legal aspects and makes sure to always say he owns the drink recipes, not the characters. The e-book he's finishing with Wells titles the recipes as "fairy tale" cocktails to avoid unnecessary trouble. 

To date, he's done about 40 Disney-inspired drinks, requiring an increasingly crowded personal collection of liquor bottles to have just the right ingredients on hand. Some movies have proved to be more challenging — The Lion King and Pocahontas, for example — so he'll watch clips to see what he can pull from the color palette or characters' personalities. 

"Alice in Wonderland was also tough, because it's such an abstract, out-there kind of movie that I wasn't sure how to do the film justice with drinks," he says.

As far as we're concerned, he's like a fairy tale bartender who creates characters in the form of a drink. The only question is: does the drink cause that particular character to manifest in the drinker? It makes for an interesting storyline for a modern day warlock. ;)

I definitely recommend going to Cody's Facebook page or Tumblr for more recipes. Apart from the curious character ruminations, some of them just sound delicious! I'm going to call it 'research'. Happy Weekend all!