A Cool Night for a Cool View

Gracie in front of Rockefeller Center.

Yesterday was Grace's last day in the city before heading back to El Paso, and the awesomeness that is Fort Bliss.  So we went out for dinner (Chinese) and then headed over to Rockefeller Center to go to the Top of the Rock.  The view of the skyline was crisp, and we enjoyed looking out on the city's buildings all lit up.


NYC Skyline looking south from the Top of the Rock.

Gosh I had a fun time with Grace, and I was sad to see her go this morning (at 4:30am!).  Later this year, just around Christmas, she's going to deploy to Afghanistan and serve there as a member of a Female Engagement Team.  I'm very proud of her, and what she's going to do to serve our country, but at the same time scared because she is after all "going to war".  I know she's a strong woman, and has a good team, other good service members working alongside her.  I'm sure she will be fine, and will come back 10 months from now and visit us again in NYC - and we'll be celebrating her sucessfull tour of duty....

Thanks Gracieface for coming to visit! and thanks for all you are going to be doing on your epic journey to come!

Feels like Fall

Skyline over Fifth Avenue

I was walking home from work today and felt for the first time this season that it was really autumn. It was raining fairly hard, and there were yellow leaves starting to dot the ground beneath the trees.

When I got home (my spanish lesson was moved to Saturday) I decided to make an apple tart for work tomorrow. Sometimes when both my boss and my manager are our of town, my coworkers and I have lunch together, each person brings something to share with the others (in the past I've brought tortilla, artichoke bean bruschetta, and so on). I was a bit stumped about what to make, but hey - why not make an apple tart, it fits perfectly with the cooler autumn air!



Rustic Apple Tart

Ingredients

* Flour, for work surface
* 1 sheet (from a standard 17.3-ounce package) frozen puff pastry, thawed
* 3 Granny Smith apples (I used golden delicious)
* 1/3 cup granulated sugar
* 1 large egg yolk, beaten with
* 1 teaspoon water, for egg wash
* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out pastry sheet (still folded) to an 8-by-14-inch rectangle.Trim edges with a sharp paring knife. Transfer to a baking sheet; place in freezer. Peel, core, and slice apples 1/4 inch thick. Toss in a large bowl with sugar (I also added 1/2 tsp Cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg to the sugar).

2. Brush pastry with egg wash, avoiding edges. Use a sharp paring knife to score a 3/4-inch border around pastry (do not cut all the way through). Place apples inside border, and dot with butter. Bake until pastry is golden and apples are tender, 30 to 35 minutes.