Apple Napoleons

I haven't been working much with mixed media or sewing lately. Part of it is because its curling season, and part of it is because I'm interested in cooking/baking right now.
I was thinking I would try to make 1 new recipe every week, but I can't always do that. So, maybe in lieu of working on art, I will cook/bake at least 1 new recipe every 2 weeks. I'll shoot for once a week, but it gets pretty crazy around here.

I made Apple Napoleons today.



Tasted pretty good. The apple was a little overcooked, but I was pretty happy with how they turned out.

Prep Time: 10 min
Total Time: 45 min
Serves: 4

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons sugar
1 sheet frozen puff pastry thawed
all purpose flour for work surface
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 small Granny Smith apples, peeld, cored, and cut lengthwise into 1/3 inch thick wedges
2 cups sweetened whipped cream

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar. Place pastry on a lightly floured work surface. Sprinkle evenly with 2 tablespoons cinnamon mixture. Carefully roll out to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out eight 3 inch squares, and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with more parchment and another baking sheet. Chill in freezer until firm, about 15 minutes.

2. Bake pastry in oven until crisp and lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Remove top parchment and baking sheet. Transfer with bottom parchment to a wire rack and let cool.

3. Meanwhile in a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium high heat until foam subsides. Add apples, cook, stirring occasionally until golden brown, about 7 minutes. Add remaining cinnamon mixture. Cook until apples are tender but not falling apart. Let cool completely. To assemble, top the pastry with whipped cream the apples; repeat with another layer of each. Serve immediately.

Stinky Pick and the Itchy Butts.

Thursday night I went with my friends Maya, Joe R, and Paula to see Jeff Dunham at the Tacoma Dome.

We got to the Tacoma Dome just before 6:30 pm and there was a line to the parking lot. We drove around them and parked in the free lot a couple of blocks away (thanks to Joe's knowledge of the Tacoma area).

We got on the light rail and took it into downtown Tacoma, where we ate dinner at Harmon's Brew Pub. I had a sampler of beers, Maya had a vanilla porter, and Joe and Paula had a pint of the Pale Ale. The restaurant was super crowded and service was slow. Event when the restaurant emptied out, our server was slow.

After dinner we took the light rail back to the Tacoma Dome. We got their just as the opening act, Brian, The Guitar Guy was finishing up. We got a chance to see the packed arena before Jeff took the stage 15 minutes later.

Jeff opened up with an amusing story of flying to Oregon and there being so much fog that his plane had to land at a small closed airport/airstrip.

After that intro, he started with Walter. Walter is usually my least favorite of his puppets. This time, it ended up being the longest and 2nd best act of the night. There were some politically incorrect jokes about Native American Indians and Indians that were hysterical.

He segued into his bit with Achmed the Dead Terrorist. It started off like most of what I'd seen on TV and You Tube. There were a couple of times that where his ad-lib was so funny, he lost where he was in his act. My favorite was Achmed picking on Brian, the warm up act. Brian came out to play a theme song for Achmed, and Achmed went on about calling him Stinky Pick. Brian was laughing so hard, he kept bringing up his hand to cover his mouth, and then Achmed would go "Ah, smelling your Stinky Pick again..."

Peanut and Jose Jalapeno on a stick came next, but in my opinion it just wasn't as funny.

When Jeff came out for his encore, he came out with Bubba. Bubba was a puppet that I saw Jeff with over 10 years ago. Apparently a group of people had emailed him to bring Bubba. He apologized and said he was going to use a cheat sheet, because he hadn't used Bubba in an act for so long. Much to his surprise, half the audience quoted the Bubba punchlines.

It was a great event to attend!

Picture depicts how I've been feeling recently.

is sad.

Langley Witches' Broom Bonspiel

Team Coffin won their first game 9-5. The opposing team shook after the 6th end, when we scored 4.

Beth got caught at work, and didn't get here until the 4th end. Luckily we picked up Allison as a spare. I vice-skipped the game. My 2nd or 3rd time vice-skipping. I definitely like lead adn 2nd better.

The ice keened up quickly with a back line to hog line time of 3.75 for tee line.

I shared a little scotch with Nigel, and Derek M, Melissa and I had shots. A Wet Beaver, comprised of Sour Puss Raspberry and Creme de Cacao.

Next game 11:15 am.

Good night.

Langley, here I am!

Taking a few minutes to rest before the first game at the Witches Broom Bonspiel here at Langley, BC.

Had a fun drive up with Em and Sara.

The room here at Best Western is a little funky. Too much carpet cleaner or something. My nose is a little stuffed up.

Yesterday I took the Honda in for an oil change. While we waited, I took Gravity for an hour and a half walk (we got to the dealership early).

A less busy Sunday. What's that all about?

I accomplished several tasks today. I was not quite as organized as I was last Sunday.

Friday night, we saw Alton Brown at Third Place Books. Instead of reading from his book, he performed a Q & A session with the audience. He looked amazing, having dropped 50 lbs since March (per his NPR interview). As usual, he was very witty and funny. He even managed to lose a $1 bet to a kid by betting that the kid's mother drove a Honda Odyssey....

Saturday I drove to the Soaring Heart futon store to pick up two new pillows for Jeremy. On the way back, I stopped by Paseo for some tasty Cuban pulled pork sandwiches. Nom nom nom. I picked up a couple pairs of socks for Jeremy at the Eddie Bauer outlet, but did not really see anything that caught my eye. Well, I was eyeing a replacement down jacket. I have to take my white one to the dry cleaner. The one I was looking at is brown and not as poofy as the white one that I own. Plus the sleeves of the white one are extremely dirty. Not sure how well they'll be able to clean them.

I also baked the cake part of my pumpkin bars to bring for dessert on Sunday.

Afterwards, Jeremy and I headed to An Evening With Kevin Smith at Benaroya Hall. Kevin talked for 3 1/2 hours. He is a lot of fun to listen to.

Today, I rolled out of bed at 10:00 am. I know... pretty late, but we didn't get home until after midnight.

I managed to wash two loads of laundry, bake the Good Eats "The Puffy" cookie recipe and made the frosting for the pumpkin bars. There were several rounds of dishes and the cleaning of the main bathroom before heading out to the club.

Wait, there's more to life than curling?

I have tickets to see Steely Dan tonight at the Paramount.

Friday I have tickets to see Alton Brown at Third Place Books.

Saturday I have tickets to see Kevin Smith at Benaroya Hall.

Who says the only thing I do is curl?

It's Sunday and there's no time to slow down.

I am forcing myself to take a moment to make a blog entry.

Last Wednesday, I played my 2nd Mixed Doubles game. It was a make up game, since my partner Benj is out of town today. We won by 3 points against Bob and Dani T.

Friday night I helped Jeremy finish putting together the bed frame. We shoved the old futon frame into my craft room (gah!). The bedroom is now full of Jeremy's handmade furniture and it looks awesome.

Saturday we made a trip to Paseo to try the tasty Cuban pork sandwiches we've heard so much about. http://www.paseoseattle.com/ The sandwiches were very tasty. They were also very juicy and messy! The restaurant only has a couple of tables, so we had to eat in our car.

We then headed to the futon store (http://www.soaringheart.com/) for a new futon and wool topper. This didn't get put on the bed until just before midnight, because we had two rentals at the Seattle Granite Curling Club.

My feet still hurt from standing up through two rentals. The first one had about 60 people. One guy asked me if his daughter Stella could throw a couple of rocks. 20 rocks later, a couple of other little girls asked to throw rocks. I taught them and their father. Then 3 more adults came out to throw rocks! It was fun working with them.

I've accomplished a lot since I woke up today. I've been to the grocery store, washed two sets of dishes, unloaded the dishwasher, washed 2 loads of laundry (currently on my 3rd), washed the master bedroom's bathroom, taken out the recycling and trash out of the house, and tidied up the closet. I am going to try and mow the lawn and take a shower before 2 pm. After that, I'm going to stop by the library to return some books, and then go to the curling club to help out with novice league. We have early draw tonight for Mixed.

There is no time to rest on Monday either, as it is Steely Dan concert night!