Guy's Breakfast - November 2009

Bea is in Boston this weekend, so that means GUY'S BREAKFAST! Today's breakfast for this guy includes:
- bacon
- reheated/seared pot roast with Texas Pete
- 2 sunny-side-ups with cheddar
- toast, buttered

Point of interest. Guy's breakfast is best enjoyed while watching a Monty Python episode, in this instance, the episode was "Man's Crisis Of Identity In The Latter Half Of The 20th Century."

Fact. I uploaded this to yeahiatethat.com as well. Fact.

Halloween 2009

me as the flasher from Monty Python's "Full Frontal Nudity" episode
Bea and I went to Broadturn Farm for a Halloween Potluck / Birthday party. I didn't have the foresight to realize that there would many children at this party, and there I found myself, surrounded by children while looking like a sex-offender, yes! All in all it was okay because most of the children thought I was a detective.

Note to parents: warn your children to stay away from detectives.

Pumpkin Carving

behold my pumpkin carving skills
We went to Harv and Maryann's pumpkin carving party this year to take care of business. They are fond of putting several scenes/faces on a pumpkin, so I decided I've give it a try, and luckily, my pumpkin was appropriately shaped with a nice carving surface on the fore and aft.

I drafted up a couple stencils myself with some Google images that I stencilized in Photoshop, and although I haven't normally considered myself to be a stencil guy, I may convert after my success with these pumpkins. Mind you, I'm not interested in using those pre-fab stencils, but I do like creating my own.

Anyway, Tom Selleck and the E.T. scene came out just as good as I'd hoped they would. It took a long time since I had to scrape away the skin instead of cutting out shapes, but I really like the results that technique gives.

Previous Halloween Pumpkins:
2008 pumpkin entry
2007 pumpkin entry

Uncle Suprise v 1.5

Hot Dog Turnovers!
pronounced su:-pri:z (su-preez)
This is the sixth in the series of Uncle Suprises for Anna Rosemary Dahlen. Anna, Eric & Ashley, Mom & Dad, Mike, D, Bea, and I were in attendance for this Pumpkin Festival Weekend suprise in Milford, NH.

Uncle Suprise v. 1.5:
- diced hot dog
- diced Courtland apple, picked from McCould's in Milford
- extremely sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)
- homemade puff pastry (flour, salt, butter, water)

I think the most exciting part was making the puff pastry, which was spanned over a couple days. The last/only time I made puff pastry was as a junior in high school in my baking class, so I was a little concerned about how it would all turn out, but I was pleased with the end results. The turnovers received high marks and were well worth the effort.

Related Delights:
Uncle Suprise v. 1.4
Uncle Suprise v. 1.3
Uncle Suprise v. 1.2
Uncle Suprise v. 1.1
Uncle Suprise v. 1.0
Guy's Breakfast Hotdog Omelet

Little Martin Onion Tart

Behold the Little Martin Inaugural Onion Tart
This is my first onion tart ever, and I baked it as a sort of ribbon cutting treat for all of us at the brewery today. Why? Because we have a new member of our team: Little Martin. Little Martin is a conveyor driven case taper. Although his given name is Little David, we rechristened him Little Martin because he'll be taking Marty's old gluing position on the bottling line, helping us become more efficient.

So, about this onion tart:
Pastry
* 1 1/2 c. flour
* 1/2 t. salt
* 1/2 c. unsalted butter
* 1/4 c. water

Filling
* 3 lbs. sweet onion, thinly sliced
* 4 T. unsalted butter

1) Make pastry
2) Melt butter and slowly cook onions over low-medium heat until soft & sweet, about 50 minutes
3) Allow onion to cool
4) Roll pastry into pan
5) Add onion to pan, bake at 375F for 50-60 minutes
6) Garnish with powdered sugar (using an awesome stencil of course)

Bea's First Day of School

Bea in her 1st day of school outfit
Bea's first day of school was today. It's her first time with her very own classroom. She'll be teaching public pre-kindergarten in lovely Lewiston, ME. I realized last minute that her first day needed to be documented. She grumbled a little bit, but hammed it up for the photo, because after all, she was excited. Both Bea and my parents always photographed us on our first days, so I felt it was necessary to keep the tradition going.

The Many Faces of Abrar

Abrar is a little 3rd grade girl who lives across the street from us. She enjoys coming over and gardening, cooking, and goofing off with us. She was helping me cook today, and after she left I found these self portraits on the camera. She's a nut.

Uncle Suprise v 1.4

Hot Dog Pancakes!
pronounced su:-pri:z (su-preez)
This is the fifth in the series of Uncle Suprises for Anna Rosemary Dahlen. All the uncles were in attendance for this suprise - James, Mike D, and myself made our first visit to Greenbelt, MD to visit Anna in person for the first time.

the Uncle Suprise v. 1.4 contains:
- sliced hot dog
- pancake batter (egg, flour, butter, etc.)
- pure maple syrup

Related Delights:
Uncle Suprise v. 1.3
Uncle Suprise v. 1.2
Uncle Suprise v. 1.1
Uncle Suprise v. 1.0
Guy's Breakfast Hotdog Omelet

Homeowner's First Oil Payment

$212.90 for 100 gallons of home heating fuel oil. Let the fun begin!

Note: Our home does not have an electric water heater; all hot water comes through the oil furnace.

Uncle Suprise v 1.3

"The Early Worm Catches the Bird"
pronounced su:-pri:z (su-preez)
This is the fourth in the series of Uncle Suprises for Anna Rosemary Dahlen. A month since the last suprise, Mike D found himself in Portland for another installment.

The contents of the Uncle Suprise v. 1.3 are as follows:
- julienned hot dog
- cilantro
- beaten eggs

I think this is the most creative suprise to date. We carefully cracked a small circle off the shell to remove the business while keeping most of the shell intact. Once the eggs were beaten with the cilantro, the shells were refilled with the hot dog worms, carefully placed in open-top tea infusers, and steamed for a few minutes. Fantastic!

Related Delights:
Uncle Suprise v. 1.2
Uncle Suprise v. 1.1
Uncle Suprise v. 1.0
Guy's Breakfast Hotdog Omelet