Dallas Cow boy pranks | recipes of things past

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Dallas Cow boy pranks, game of thrones jewelry, Karen Foster, sweet and savoury apples, Texas #1 Buffalo Bills fan

I know Karen Foster from Mick’s Bar and Terilli’s Restaurant in Dallas. From the minute I met her, we got along. We have the same sense of humor, love music and sports, and somehow we seem to both have the knack for CRAZY things happening to us without either of us trying.

Last Mardi Gras, Karen cooked up this apple dish for a mid-morning snack and it was amazing. I have been bugging her for the recipe ever since. Karen is this amazing artist and the loyalest of friends. So I ask the questions. She does the talking. Then we all get this great recipe.

You can get a feel for her films/videos by watching her homage to Mardi Gras in New Orleans:

Karen also paints these amazing pet portraits. You can contact her for pet portrait commissions at :
punkrockpaperscissors@gmail.com

Pet portrait

Karen Foster on Sweet and Savoury and Football

Aine: Ok finally I get the recipe for your sweet and savoury apples. Where did you get the recipe from?

Karen: I got the recipe from Mark Bittman of the New York Times. He’s the author of the cookbook “How to Cook Everything.” I first made these apples for last year’s Super Bowl party. The theme was to bring food that represented one of the teams playing. Bittman’s recipe did not include the sausage. That was my addition.

Aine: Where did you learn to cook? I know your family heritage is Japanese and Hawaiian. Does that have any influence?

Karen: I’m still learning to cook. From friends, television, and the internet. Sadly, no familial or cultural ties. I am an island. Ha.

Aine: So who do you like to cook for and what music do you play when you are cooking?

Karen: I like to cook for friends. I like to listen to jazz when cooking. Straight ahead bebop, Miles, Monk, Chet, etc.

Aine: So we have this crazy story tie that binds us. Tell me a crazy story I don’t know. One you would tell me if I was sitting in your kitchen while you cooked.

Karen: So I will tell a football story since the recipe was inspired by a football party. My friends and I love football. The drawback for me is that I’m a Buffalo Bills fan but I live in Dallas. You may know of my team’s infamous 4 straight years in the Super Bowl with ZERO wins which include the two devastating crushing blows dealt by the Dallas Cowboys.

My friends would torture me on occasion with little digs like “Hey let me light your cigarette with my DALLAS COWBOY lighter” and drawing blue stars on everything. This spawned the Preseason Prank Wars. The rules: from the first day of regular season, anything goes. (keep in mind this was before the internet could bring virtually everything to your doorstep) Because we all lived in Dallas, it was easy for my friends to prank me with the above stated lighters, stickers, calendars, etc… I had to use my imagination a little more, I would draw the Bills logo and send it in the mail, use vending machine helmets, and just try to keep up with the onslaught of Cowboy memorabilia that would come my way. Year after year, they got the best of me.

One year, when Little Craig had moved to Austin, I mistakenly thought he couldn’t get me. On the first day of the preseason, I was greeted with email alerts from the Cowboys. The same year, Big Craig and I were hanging out at his house, it got too late for me to go home, so I decided to sleep on the couch. Craig graciously offered me a pillow and a Dallas Cowboy blanket. Of course, I took the pillow and turned down the blanket. He laid it down next to me, saying it would be right there if I changed my mind. He then said goodnight, and on his way back to the bedroom and unbeknownst to me, he cranked the a/c way down. In the middle of the night, I was freezing and had to cover up with it. I then woke up to Craig laughing his head off, and asking if his championship Dallas Cowboy blanket kept me nice and warm, and told me about the a/c! Now it was ON!

I knew Craig was working and went to Terilli’s to borrow his car, (the one with the HUGE blue star on the windshield). I used his car to buy all my stuff and with his keys, I let myself into his house to enact my plan. In his bedroom, I wrapped everything in red and blue crepe paper. I also knew that his landlord was getting ready to redo the tile in his bathroom; so with a homemade stencil, I painted about a dozen 6″ Bills buffaloes, and a huge buffalo breaking the blue star right in front of the toilet. Craig also had a Cowboys shower curtain, I left it alone, but I painted a gigantic Bills logo on a curtain liner and hung it inside the shower. I made a red/blue boutonnière to hang from his rear view. I even took a picture of his dog wearing my Bills cap. I then returned to the bar and gave his keys back. Because of my inability to keep a straight face, he knew something was up. My next drink was served with a molten mass of plastic on top, he had found the boutonnière. Of course, after work, it was a hilarious reveal and the bonus, he didn’t find the shower curtain liner until the next morning!!

A few years later, the Buffalo Bills had a contest on their website, 50 fans from 50 states. The entry requirements were to take a picture in your Bills gear at a location that shows where you are from and a short essay (I think like 500 words) that explains why you are the top fan in your state. I decided to tell about the prank wars for the essay and the pic location? No place better to show my love for the Bills except the big blue star at midfield Texas Stadium. I wrangled up a bunch of Cowboy loving friends and we headed out to take the Texas Stadium tour. I not only had a blast razzing the Cowboys fans, (we were in a group of 20 or so), I got my pic on the star and a bonus pic outside the stadium with the Tom Landry statue.
Then this happened.

http://buf276.americaneagle.com/fans/BillsFansAcrossAmericaTexas.jsp