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)