Welcome to March 2019 edition of Food'N'Flix. And this month, Kelley at Simply Inspired Meals is hosting is hosting. You can read her invitation, but she's invited us to watch The LEGO Movie or The LEGO Movie 2.* Let's start with this: my boys are LEGO fiends and have been for years. When they were smaller, we took them to the annual Bricks by the Bay event about an hour north of us. And we always left there with lots and lots of specialty LEGO bricks that they couldn't find anywhere else.
One year, when we took some friends, the girls and I bought matching LEGO rings and LEGO barrettes. I dug mine out of my jewelry drawer while we watched this movie.
Once while R was busy at a school event out of town, D and I popped over to the LEGO store at the mall in that city, while we waited, and he happily hand-picked colors and shapes that he didn't have at home.
And even though LEGOLAND® Billund Resort in Denmark was closed for the entire time we were visiting over the holidays, so we couldn't visit, D was pretty excited about this enormous LEGO Viking that was at the airport. Needless to say: We've seen all of the movies, including LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Batman, and LEGO Ninjago films. But, for this event, they said they'd watch the first one with me, again.
On the Screen
If you watched the trailer, you might be picturing a stop-motion animated Lego movie. Not quite!
The LEGO Movie is a kick. It brings back a lot childhood memories, if you grew up in the 80s like I did. The story was
amazing, the jokes were hilarious, and the filmmakers have great attention to details. I would suspect they grew up in the 80s, too.
This is a great kids movie, but it's highly enjoyable for all ages. And I really like the message: do your best; follow the directions; but sometimes you have to work as a team and be creative. That last one is the clincher because as we grow up, sometimes we stop being creative
and just follow the rules.
So I decided to get creative with my dish offering, too. When I started making it - and pulled out the LEGO Banana men (title of Banana Manns is a play on my last name, by the way) - my youngest, objected, "Mom, they didn't have banana parfaits or whatever that is in the movie." Well, no, they didn't, but it's what I'm inspired to make.
On the Table
They giggled about having a LEGO Banana Manns scene in the middle of the dining room table for the day. I thought about making Banana Mousse Pies. But, in honor of our Banana Manns, I decided to deconstruct (LEGO-style, LOL) a banana mousse pie and put them in glasses. Easy peasy!
Deconstructed Banana Mousse Pies
makes 4 twelve-ounce desserts
Ingredients
- 2 C organic heavy whipping cream, divided
- 1/2 C organic condensed milk
- 4 ounces mascarpone cream
- 1/4 C banana liqueur
- 1/4 C warm water
- 1 pouch gelatin powder
- yellow food dye (I used a brand that is naturally derived from turmeric, so no chemical dyes)
- 2 organic bananas
- 2 C crushed graham crackers
- 1/2 C semisweet chocolate chunks or chips
- cocoa powder for garnish
- Optional: LEGO Banana Manns
Place condensed milk, mascarpone, and liqueur in another mixing bowl. Whisk until well-combined. Set aside.
Place water and gelatin in a small saucepan and heat until the gelatin is dissolved. Keep warm.
Place 1 C whipping cream in a large bowl. Beat until stiff peaks form. Pour in the condensed milk mixture and beat for a minute or two. Pour in the warmed gelatin and beat until peaks form, approximately 5 minutes or so.
Now you're ready to assemble. Place your four serving glasses on a tray and scoop in some of the banana mousse.
Add in banana slices, graham crackers crumbles, and chocolate chunks.
Repeat with the layers until your glasses are full. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
To Serve
Whip the remaining whipping cream into stiff peaks. You can just scoop the whipped cream over the top and sprinkle with cocoa powder. Or, I opted to pipe the whipped cream with a decorator tip.
Serve immediately. And don't forget to play with your LEGO Banana Manns, if they're at the party!
*This blog currently has a partnership with Amazon.com in their affiliate program, which gives me a small percentage of sales if you buy a product through a link on my blog. It doesn't cost you anything more. If you are uncomfortable with this, feel free to go directly to Amazon.com and search for the item of your choice.
Fun post Cam and I love these banana pie parfaits you served up.
ReplyDeleteThanks. These were much simpler than making banana cream pies. So, I was happy! Can't wait to see what you make.
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