Whirlwind Monday

Well, work was a bit slacking...I got lots done but all of it was such small things it felt like I wasn't working. Not that I'm complaining though...I like mondays like that. I got home and mel was busy cleaning up the house for scribble...and then I told him it was at ari's. Snerk. Well, at least we have a clean house. He got working on doing armor repairs since he'd need them for tonight. I went through the mail from the weekend and then went grocery shopping. I picked up lots of good things and then food savered the meat. I made us healthy chicken tacos with lots of tomato, cilantro and serrano peppers. Very good. Then I got myself set and went shopping at sports authority and petsmart. I need to keep reminding myself that I hate sports authority cause they never have what I want and I need to stop going there...seriously. Then I made it to ari's just on time for scribble. Fun night, new folks, lots of painting and committee commentary. The bushes got together and hashed a few things out which wasn't surprising. Got home very late after driveway chats with snotblossom and then fell into a warm bed with an overly snuggly kitty (obsidian). She was snuggled up next to me all night.

After work I need to run to the UPS store for an amazon return and then out to macy's to pick up a wedding gift. Yes, I'm one of those annoying people that gets you something similar to what is on your registry but might be better than what you picked out..it will all be fine. Then I will be going to kung fu and gosh darn it...starting the final bits of ivan's gambeson I've had in works for a year. Yup..a year! Can you believe it! But I need it done for next week's trip and I need to take in one of my coats for myself so eh. I just need to get it started and work on it and I will get it done and not be distracted by the TV. Yup.

Hmmmm...well, I haven't done of these in a while...I think I should now.
( To Do List by Saturday May 10th )

Cooking with my favorite Beer

Leinie's Apple Spice Pie

Double pastry crust
6 cups (6 large) Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick.
2 tablespoons raisins
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 (12 ounce) bottles Leinenkugel's apple spice beer*
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Peel, core and slice apples. Mix apples and raisins with lemon juice in gallon zip-top bag. Pour in Leinenkugel's Apple Spice Refrigerate a minimum of 2 hours but not longer than 8 hours.
Line 9-inch pie pan with one pie crust.
Drain all liquid from the apple-raisin mixture. Combine apple-raisin mixture with sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Toss until all apples are equally coated.
Transfer mixture to pastry-lined pan. Cover with second piecrust, and flute around the edge. Cut or poke a design in the top of the crust to provide ventilation while baking. Sprinkle top with sugar.
To prevent edge of pie from burning, cover edge with aluminum foil. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 25-30 minutes until top is golden brown.
Let cool before serving.
*Leinenkugel's Apple Spice is a seasonal beer and available from December to February.

Leinie's Berry Weiss Apple Raspberry Pie
Use the same recipe as Apple Spice Pie, except use Leinie Berry Weiss (available year-round) instead of Leinie Apple Spice. Do not use raisins, but add 6 ounces raspberries (can be frozen). When draining the liquid, reserve 1/4 cup of the liquid and add to the apples before the sugar-flour-spice mixture. After the apples are coated with the mixture, gently stir in the raspberries.
For more recipes, check Peg's Kitchen at Leinie.com

Ways to make meetings better..

So if you are in the biz or have a least done a small bit of control theory this is really funny. If you are a layman, you'll think the engineers are on crack.

I present to you Missile Guidance for Dummies