Product Review: Puff Pastry
When I was at Jenny's this summer, one of the many things we talked about was cooking and recipes. Jenny said one of the things she always had in her freezer was puff pastry.

What is this puff pastry thing?

She said it was handy when you had to make something to bring to a party.

Fast forward to Thursday night when Bob and I were putting our groceries into the trunk after a wild evening of food gathering at Safeway and as he closed the trunk he said: I didn't get anything for Joe's party. (Annual Day of the Dead Party - super fun time. They make this punch that's sort of like hot apple cider only with tequilla in it. Two drink limit recommended.)

Bringing party food has morphed into an awkward issue at our house, mostly because of bad communication. No one wants to hear on Friday morning when there's a party that evening, that someone assumed you were going to make something to bring. No one wants to come in the door on Thursday night after working all day and then sitting in traffic and then be standing there violently yanking the cork out of a $5 red wine blend from Trader Joes and be asked if she's planning on bringing something to a party the next day.

Can you blame a person for a head that swivels 360 degrees while flames shoot out of her eyes?

So often, rather than tempt the wrath of the dragon lady, someone else deals with party food by stopping at Safeway on his way to the outing and picking up one of their pre-made convenient party foods. This leaves the other someone feeling less put upon but somewhat embarrassed about the lameness of the party offering.

So when the topic came up on Thursday, I thought: Hey, this may be the time to try that puff pastry thing. But first, I needed to do some research.

On Friday, in computer lab, I plugged: puff pastry, appetizer and recipe into a search engine and what did I find?

puffpastry.com. Is this a great country or what?

After a quick scan of a few recipes, I learned that puff pastry is a Pepperidge Farm product that you thaw on the counter and then unfold and spread with a mix of several high-fat items, roll up, slice and bake for a delicious treat. The high-fat items can be mixed with high sugar items as well or folded into different shapes depending on the effect you're going for.

I chose the Artichoke and Spinach swirls because everybody loves artichoke and spinach dip. How could baking it into a crust not make a million times better?

It did. Bob loved it and the pan emptied right out. And this was a party with tons of fantastic food. Puff Pastry gets 10 stars.