Taller than some trees!

Our new digital signage at the St Louis Hills store

Hey, this installer looks suspiciously like one of the Knolls!

We at Walter Knoll Florist are happy our new sign is up and working. First zoning and hearings that took place, then it took 8 weeks to have the sign made,  then it took a crane and welder in a cherry picker bucket to install it, then new electric and fiber optic cable need to be bored under the driveway, then the electricity hooked up the fiber optic cables terminated, and the sign installed and plugged in and connected to a computer, but finally today, our sign is active! Every two minutes a new image appears, just in time to wish all the traffic on South Hampton (located at 4620 Hampton Ave) a Happy New Year!  The sign can show, text,  images, moving video, flash,  can update motion at 30 frames per second, and can be programmed remotely from our main office.  The sign has over 28,000 LEDs (light emitting diodes), a temperature sensor, A GPS for time, and can display more than 68.7 billion colors. We are going to remove the lower reader board in the lower letterbox and replace it with our logo.

The balloons are animated!

We’ll announce specials

Tulips Are Here!

and give you the time and temp.

WATCH FOR IT!

Here are some images of the sign and the crane for this monumental installation!

Three Little Pigs

What could be better than salty buttery puff pastry wrapped around a little sausage or hot dog? These are easy to make, there will be very few left over and if there are leftovers, they reheat well.

Ingredients:
1 package Pepperidge Farm frozen puff pastry sheets (thawed)
2 1-pound packages of mini hot dogs or cocktail sausages (Hillshire)
Grainy Mustard
Egg Wash (egg mixed with water to seal edges and paint tops

Drain the wieners well in a colander and dry them well with paper towels. As you are dying them, poke each one just enough to pierce the skin with a fork or several times with the point of a sharp knife.

Unfold and smooth out a sheet of thawed puff pastry on a lightly flowered surface (do not roll the dough thin or manipulate it much or it won’t puff as much as it should – keep second sheet wrapped until ready to use)

Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough

Divide the dough into 3 long strips then make 7 rectangles of each strip (use pizza cutter) and then cut the rectangles on an angle to form triangles.

Put a little grainy mustard in the center of each triangle then roll it around a dry weenie, sealing the point to the base of the triangle with a tiny brushing of egg wash.

Space about an inch apart - they will puff up

Space and inch or so apart on a parchment lined baking sheet, then lightly brush the tops lightly with egg wash.

Bake in preheated 400F oven for 20-22 minutes or until as brown as you like them. Remove from sheet pan to a paper towel laid over a cooling rack.

Serve hot with more mustard for dipping.

These reheat well at 325F for 8 or 10 minutes.

Hey! Who Stole A Weenie?

One package of two sheets of pastry makes about 100 – or 2 pounds of mini weenies.

A great party snack, they are good hot or at room temperature.

Speaking of Party! Are you ready for your New Year’s Festivities? 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy and the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s use of a telescope! So drink a toast to Galileo and the skies this December 31!

Galileo Galilei (surely a big fan of Pigs in Blankets!) Painting by Giusto Sustermans

Don’t forget to take or send ahead some flowers to your New Year’s Eve Party!