DOUBT TRUTH

“BATman? Well that explains it”

“What?”

“Why he looks like he dressed in the dark!”

“Yeah, maybe if he pours some on himself he’ll fade away!”

“"Tell those meddling kids to,solve this mystery..the mystery of why their cosplay is so Bad!!”

“Yeah. Maybe they can fuse into a decent cosplay!”

After about 20 seconds of dead silence, the staffer let out kinda a little laugh and said “Well ma’m, I’ll be happy to pass on your…”

“I’m not joking.”

“Ma’m?”

“You think I’m joking. I am dead serious. You want my address? Or I’ll meet him at the airport. I am absolutely serious about this. Oh, and as the challenged party, I get to pick weapons. I choose fists.”

Another 20 seconds of somehow even deeper silence.

“I…I’ll pass your challenge on to the congressman.”

“No. He issued the challenge. I’m accepting. Unless he’s backing out like the spineless coward he is.”

More silence. “I…I’ll let Congressman Farenthold know, ma’m.”

“You do that.”

Brie En Croute

- 1 small or med. brie wheel

- handful plus extra dried whole cranberries

- handful plus extra smashed walnuts (tiny pieces)

- egg wash (1 egg beaten, plus a tsp. of water)

- frozen puff pastry

1. using a cake leveller, slice the brie wheel in half horizontally ensuring top and bottom halves are the same thickness. if no cake leveller is available, score the outer edge of the wheel 1/8” deep with a knife and wrap the score mark with a bit of string. pull the string tight like a garrote and slice the wheel smoothly.

2. pack one half of the sliced wheel with the cranberries and the other half with the walnuts and sandwich the halves together. don’t pile too much on, about ¼ cup for a med. wheel is fine. place it on a plate and refrigerate it.

3. defrost one sheet of puff pastry dough and on a floured surface, roll it out to nearly double the starting size. take the stuffed brie in the center, and bring the dough in over the top to seal the brie entirely inside the dough. pinch off the excess, ensuring there are no uncovered parts, and turn the covered brie so the seam side is facing down. brush the entire surface with the egg wash.

4. skip this step if you don’t care about a design on the top. with a second sheet of pastry dough, just barely thawed, cut out six quarter sized rounds for grapes and two thin strips of dough for the vine. arrange as you like, and brush the design with more egg wash.

5. preheat your oven to 425F. place the brie on a sheet of parchment paper, and place it in the freezer for one whole hour before baking.

6. after it freezes for an hour, place the brie and the parchment paper on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes on the middle rack or until golden brown.