AHHH!
From our daily newspaper, the Waterbury Republican-American:
Everything’s coming up Katie
‘Idol’ contestant’s name on cupcakes to cocktails
BY MATTHEW O’ROURKE
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
There are Katie wristbands, Katie T-shirts and Katie Cupcakes.
Call it Idolmania, Katie-palooza or cheerleading, but local businesses and charities are honing in on Stevens’ success in an effort to bring in votes and customers for the hometown girl.
Suzanne Pond, a co-owner of Café Biaggio in Waterbury, hasn’t advertised her “Katie Cupcakes” but said the new dessert has quickly become a favorite. The cupcakes are made using a lavender liqueur, fresh-made whipped cream featuring a clef note and topped off with a violet lollipop.
“We wanted to do something that sounded young, so we figured, why don’t we do a cupcake?” Pond said. “I just thought it was appropriate. We make them for parties and some people come in to take them to go. It makes people smile and shows that she has support.”
The cupcakes sell for $3 each, she said.
Getting the vote out was exactly the plan for Carmen Anthony Vacalebre, owner of Carmen Anthony’s Fishhouse in Woodbury.
Vacalebre has been friends with Stevens family for more than 15 years, and he decided for the March drink of the month at his five Carmen Anthony restaurants to feature Stevens.
It’s name? The Katietini, mixed from Stoli blueberry vodka, Midori, pineapple juice, triple sec and garnished with an orange slice.
“We’ll carry it right through the end of the month, as long as she’s on the show,” Vacalebre, noting that the Middlebury teenager isn’t even legally allowed to have the drink in her name. “ We’re running it in all five of our locations.”
Colorgraphix in Oxford, which has begun selling new black “Connecticut’s Idol” shirts featuring Stevens for $10 each. The proceeds from the shirts, which are available at Pomperaug High School in Southbury, benefit the Alzheimer’s Association of Connecticut as well as the Evan Gagnon Memorial Scholarship Fund.