Happy Halloween

Ravens vs. Cardinals

Oh what a game! The first half was a trick, the second half a treat. By the end of the first half, everyone thought that this game would be a repeat of the Monday Night Football game against Jacksonville where the Ravens performed extremely poorly. But, fortunately, the Ravens must have had a serious pep talk, in order for them to pull out of a 24-6 deficit to win 27-30.
The band's halftime performance was slightly better. We played a medley of songs which included Night on Bald Mountain, Thriller, Addams Family, and the song from the Sorcerer's Apprentice with the dancing brooms. Even I heard a timing problem, and I'm not good at noticing things. Oh, well. Our next show should be fine, a tribute to Matt Stover with his induction to the Ring of Honor. Nothing to mess up there.

I'm Mobile

Today, I got my car back. The timing belt on my engine slipped and bent some rods, so a friend at Huber sourced a replacement engine for me. He also found a guy who would install it inexpensively. So, after a week of waiting, it's done! And for half the price that the shop we had the car towed to quoted. I can't tell you how happy I am to be part of a two-car family again.

Apple Cupcakes

Last night, or should I say early this morning, I made Apple Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting.

I found the recipe while I was searching for the recipe for Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting. I had taken some of those cupcake to work with me, and several of the other waitresses thought they were delicious. Well, one of them has a birthday today, so I thought I'd whip these up and bring them in. I think they turned out really well. The only change I made was instead of baking apples, I used Red Delicious (since that's what I had), and added ½ teaspoon lemon juice to try to cut down their sweetness. The cupcakes were great at 2:30 this morning, I just hope they age well. And the only criticism I have is that unless I did something wrong, there just wasn't enough frosting.

Ravens vs. Texans

Today, the Ravens played the Houston Texans, and beat them, 14-29. It was honestly a kind of dull game, and when the Texans finally pulled into the lead after scoring their second touchdown, I thought we'd lose for sure. But the Ravens pulled it out. Joe Flacco impressed me with how well he passed the ball this game, compared to the last couple.
For our halftime show, the band performed a Led Zeppelin show. We played The Immigrant Song, Black Dog/Kashmir, and Rock and Roll. It had a lot of energy, but there were some tempo/phasing issues. Not great, but nothing to be ashamed about.

Spooky Little Books

The Spooky Little Books arrived today.

The bag was packed full of fun little books with a Halloween theme. I was so excited to get it, and I wasn't disappointed!

Second Scarf

I finished my second scarf for the Special Olympic Scarf Project today. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. It's nice and thick.

Crochet Hook Case

I finished crocheting a crochet hook case today.

I still need to find a fun button for a closure, and stitch in lines so that each individual crochet hook will have it's own spot, but the hard part is done. You can find the pattern here.

A Purple Evening

Tonight was the Pep Band's annual performance at A Purple Evening. It's an event where ladies can get together and get out on the field to try drills, get autographs, tour the locker room, among other things. Usually, the Pep Band plays outside of the stadium for the ladies lined up to get in to the event. This year, we played inside the stadium next to our recruitment booth (which was near the line for autographs). The people who were standing in our area seemed to enjoy the music, and it was fun playing for them.

Tenderloin and Cupcakes

Recently, I've rediscovered my desire to cook as a hobby, so I filled this evening with cooking.
For dinner tonight, I fixed a recipe that my sister recommended, Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin. It seemed simple, and there weren't many ingredients.

After slicing the pork tenderloin and three scallions lengthwise, the pork was opened like a book, and the scallions placed inside.

The pork was closed up, and, according to the recipe on the Internet, could be rubbed with Dijon mustard. I wasn't sure how Tom would like that, so I only rubbed half of the pork.

The pork was wrapped with bacon,

and the bacon was rubbed with a sugar and pepper mixture.

The whole thing was baked, and looked pretty terrific coming out of the oven.

To add a classy touch, I warmed up a can of green beans as an accoutrement.

Overall, I was pleased. It was simple, and Tom absolutely loved it. He wanted the bacon to be crispier, but when he warmed up the leftovers in the microwave later in the evening, he thought it was perfect. I thought the scallion flavor was a little overpowering, and that the sugar was a little too sweet. That's probably my fault, I used Splenda instead of granulated sugar, which meant there was probably more sweetener there than intended. The next time I attempt this recipe, I'll try to replace the scallions with fresh herbs and work on the sugar aspect.
After dinner, I made Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting.

They turned out well. I thought the flavors were good, but the frosting was a little too sweet for my taste. Tom said he loved them, but he likes sweet. I also made the caramel twice, thinking I messed it up the first time. The second try, which is what I used for the frosting, wasn't as dark or flavorful as the first, since I was afraid of messing it up, but after a little research on the Internet, it looks like I could have fixed the first batch. Oh well, I learned something for next time, and there definitely will be a next time!
What I thought was especially great about tonight's bout of cooking, was Tom asking what I was going to cook next. He seems more open to trying new things than I gave him credit for. Just when you think you know someone...

Ravens vs. Jets

Tonight's game was weird. It seemed to go really fast - I don't remember a lot of the game. The Ravens won 34-17, which was crazy, since I don't remember many of the scoring drives. What the hell? I must have been concentrating on my Pixie Stix and pistachios waaayyy too much.
For our pregame show, we formed ribbons for Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Cool, huh?
Our halftime show was so energetic, I just loved it. We played Uprising and Knights of Cydonia, both by Muse. I haven't found a video of it on YouTube, yet, but I hope to.
On a note that's a little lower than the great pre-game and halftime shows that the band did, my car broke down on the way down to Baltimore. Jeff, the guy I've been carpooling with, thought it was my timing belt. Luckily, another band member stopped to help us out, so after waiting for the tow truck, we made it to the stadium in time for rehearsal. I'll learn tomorrow how bad off the car is.

Special Olympic Scarf Project 2012

This year, I'm getting an earlier start on the Special Olympic Scarf Project. I learned about the project last year, and after meeting the deadline, I've been looking forward to learning what this year's colors were going to be.
After completing my first scarf, I'm not too crazy about the colors.

Crocheting this scarf made my eyes hurt! I really think it was the pattern, though.