Best of the Week #114

This week flew by, thanks to the fact that I had Monday off and didn’t actually return to Boston until Tuesday afternoon. Despite my mini-vacation, oh man I am ready for the weekend!

To kick things off, I believe I am long overdue to post a Best of the Week. Seriously guys, I just don’t read the internet like I used to. I do, however, have a Google Doc to which I randomly add links I’ve come across, in anticipation of the day I finally take the time to compile one of these posts of hilarity and awesomeness and interest. Chris has offered to return to occasional Best of the Week-ing to supplement my sporadic posting...great idea, right?

A couple more pictures from my weekend in Shenandoah.

Ok here we go! I will warn you in advance that this post is heavy on puppies and silliness, and light on serious substance. Enjoy it!

The author of an awesome comic/blog, Hyperbole and a Half did an interview with NPR. Her posts are mostly hilarious, and the ones about her depression, which I feel is a difficult think to understand, are actually really great and worth reading.

• Most of the stories are funny, whether they're about her dog's behavior problems or her favorite grammatical pet peeve — "a lot" written as "alot." But her most popular posts have also been the most upsetting, about her crippling depression. In fact, when Brosh stopped blogging for about a year and a half, her readers were worried about her. Now, not only is she blogging again, she has a new book, also called Hyperbole and a Half, that collects her blog posts as well as new illustrated stories.

How to tell if your dog has been involved in a sex scandal.

This is fun, and I want Sister1 and Geoff to do it for Liam: “Welcome to Dinovember.”

• Every year, my wife and I devote the month of November to convincing our children their plastic dinosaur figures come to life while they sleep.
• Why do we do this? Because in the age of iPads and Netflix, we don’t want our kids to lose their sense of wonder and imagination. In a time when the answers to all the world’s questions are a web-search away, we want our kids to experience a little mystery. All it takes is some time and energy, creativity, and a few plastic dinosaurs.

"71 Reasons We Need To SAVE CORGIS FROM EXTINCTION" #1 is wonderful.

• "Corgis are in 62% of all photos of real-life animals posing with stuffed animal versions of themselves."

Too funny: "Convos With My 2-Year-Old - EPISODE 6 'The Pants'." I'm pretty sure Mini-Mollie had veerrrryyy similar conversations with the Mama related to ballet tights and ski overalls. The tag HURTS ME.


You've probably already seen this, it's been all over Facebook: "In Moscow, Squat and Ride for Free."

• Moscow city officials are now offering free rides on the subway to any passenger who does 30 squats before crossing the ticket barrier to enter the metro in an effort to promote physical fitness and sports.
• But my most important takeaway from this article: "three months to go before the Winter Games begin"!!!!!

Ugh infographics. I hates them. This is kinda why.

Ok a little bit of seriousness: "What It Feels Like to Be on Welfare."

• I am writing this because I want to say that I am one of those "welfare" people so many people callously group into the "lazy" section of the room. While I am often told by these same people that I am one of the hardest working people they know, the reality is that there is no way I would be where I am today without the help I received in my past. Some of my friends say, "Yeah, but you are an exception."
• No, I am not.
• I am just one of many who were born under difficult circumstances who wanted to do better and needed a little help getting onto my feet. Now that I am on them, I do my best not to forget what it felt like when I was not. If anything, my past has benefited me in that it has served as a strong warning not to play the "we" VS "them" game as one day you might be the "them".

Having a sad week? Just look at this puppy gif for a while. I promise it will make things better.

Cambodia things: "Strikes, violence and modernity." It's a bit long and wonky for most of you maybe, but definitely worth the read if you're interested in rule of law, labor rights, police/military/civil relations, and/or Cambodia!

• Of course this is not the first violent protest to arise in Phnom Penh  - Stung Meanchey, the site of this recent protest was also the site of rioting during the recent elections.  From January to July of this year there has been an average of 2-3 strikes per week and the Garment Manufacturers Association predicts that 2013 will have the highest number of strikes since it started taking records in 2003. The number of land related protests (both urban and rural) have also sky rocketed in Phnom Penh over the last two years – as have violent crackdowns and retributions by police and government hired thugs.
• My argument is rather that what is happening in Phnom Penh is a modernisation of the police force rather than merely a manifestation of authoritarian despotism.  The police force in Cambodia has always been ‘modern’ in the sense that since its inception during the French colonial period it has been tasked with the dual mandate of regulating the good and bad flows of the population (liberalism) and cracking down on any challenges to the states monopoly on violence (sovereignty). 

Oh McSweeney’s, you get me every time. “JAMIE AND JEFF’S BIRTH PLAN.”

• We are opposed to torture/gluten. In the event you are ever unsure how to proceed today, please ask yourself, “What Would Gwyneth Do?”
• In lieu of a traditional hospital gown, Jamie would prefer to be dressed like Zooey Deschanel in 500 Days of Summer.

Mary (the author) and I went to summer camp together! And now she has a cookbook all about nut butters! So exciting!

For my running nerds: "The First 100 Shoes to Cross the NYC Marathon Finish Line."

• No zigs, blades or springs could get you across the finish line faster yesterday, as the most popular running shoes among elite and semi-elite athletes were your typical racing shoe with a neutral ride, moderate to minimal cushioning and a fast look. The only atypical brands spotted were Italy’s hometown favorite Diadora (not surprisingly sported by Italian runners) along with a solo pair of Sketchers sported by none other than Meb Keflezighi along with the occasional pair of Newtons.

Not sure I entirely agree with all of this, but it definitely is worth thinking about: "The Trouble with Bright Girls."

• Chances are good that if you are a successful professional today, you were a pretty bright fifth grade girl. My graduate advisor, psychologist Carol Dweck (author of Mindset) conducted a series of studies in the 1980s, looking at how bright girls and boys in the fifth grade handled new, difficult and confusing material.
• She found that bright girls, when given something to learn that was particularly foreign or complex, were quick to give up--and the higher the girls' IQ, the more likely they were to throw in the towel.
• Researchers have uncovered the reason for this difference in how difficulty is interpreted, and it is simply this: more often than not, bright girls believe that their abilities are innate and unchangeable, while bright boys believe that they can develop ability through effort and practice
• When learning something new is truly difficult, girls take it as sign that they aren't "good" and "smart", and boys take it as a sign to pay attention and try harder.

Speaking of girls, go Sweden! "Swedish cinemas take aim at gender bias with Bechdel test rating.
Movies need to pass test that gauges the active presence of women on screen in bid to promote gender equality"

• To get an A rating, a movie must pass the so-called Bechdel test, which means it must have at least two named female characters who talk to each other about something other than a man.
• "The entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, all Star Wars movies, The Social Network, Pulp Fiction and all but one of the Harry Potter movies fail this test," said Ellen Tejle, the director of Bio Rio, an art-house cinema in Stockholm's trendy Södermalm district.

Awwww. This guy.

GOOD MORNING. I HOPE YOU’RE NOT ALARMED BUT MY LOVE FOR YOU HAS BEGUN TO MANIFEST AS A SMALL CLOUD OF SLIGHTLY DIFFUSED LIGHTS THAT HOVER IN THE AIR ABOUT MY BODY. IT APPEARS THEY WILL DANCE WHEN YOU OPEN A TIN OF WHISKAS.

… WOULD YOU LIKE TO MAKE MY LOVE LIGHTS DANCE?

This is a bit long, but well worth it for the laughs! "The Hater's Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog."

• "WHERE ARE THE GODDAMN POTATO GLOVES?"
• How good could these biscuits possibly be? There's a threshold past which biscuits cannot improve. Even the best goddamn biscuit in the world isn't $72 better than a Popeye's biscuit. Unless that biscuit can make you teleport.
• Wait, the croissant itself is made of chocolate? I've wasted my entire croissant-eating career not knowing this. By the way, any chocolate croissant that doesn't have enough chocolate filling is grounds for suicide bombing.
• “Pretzel topped with peanut nougat and salted caramel, wrapped in milk chocola—" (rips out own tongue). I want that in my body. This catalog does nothing but give me pantry envy. All I have in my pantry is flour and gum.

Speaking of potatoes, and previously speaking of puppies, combine the two? "11 Pugtatoes." The world (and my brain) is a strange place friends...I am ok with it. 

And finally, just look at what RoommateRachel made for dinner last night! Balsamic glazed chicken, mushroom and asparagus risotto, salad, and bruschetta. I'll tell you all about the dessert next week. Life is pretty good here at The Purple House!

Have a good weekend!

Weekend Report: SpeedyKate's Birthday in Shenandoah

Hooray for mini-vacations! I flew to DC on Friday afternoon and spent the long weekend in Shenandoah with SpeedyKate, Chris, John, Andy, (aka a solid chunk of the Ragnar Relay crew) and many many others. It was suggested that I live-blog the experience, but for a number of reasons, including my time/effort and of course potential for major embarrassment (not necessarily mine), I vetoed that idea and opted to wait until I was back in the cold comfort of Boston, procrastinating my Role of Force reading.

 

So! SpeedyKate is 30! Yay! Big birthdays are such a great excuse to do something awesome, so she rented a huge and beautiful house out in Shenandoah for three nights and invited all her friends for the weekend. I have no idea how many of us there were -- friends came and went, and some only stayed for a night, but a core group of champions stayed the whole time.

This is the house. I know, right!?! My friends do things right.

Our Saturday hike was to Big Schloss (lolz), just four miles round trip. We were there about two weeks too late to experience the perfect fall foliage, but it was sun-shiny and hiking-in-a-T-shirt warm, so I'm not complaining!

There was an excellent view at the top. To the horror and dismay of many, when I'm not climbing up rocks, I like sitting on them. Basically I love dangling my feel off edges. Don't worry guys, my butt is solidly connected to earth at almost all times!

Back at the house everyone paired up and took responsibility for meals -- enchiladas, barbecue, and jambalaya for dinners, plus an epic brunch of Texas-shaped savory waffles, hash browns, and cinnamon rolls on Sunday. We sat on the front steps, eating waffles and sipping coffee and looking out at this. Pretty perfect, right?

Everything smelled like campfire all weekend, thanks to the patio fire pit and a lot of wood to burn. I really enjoy it -- to me campfire smells like outside and warmth and staring into embers and relaxing and friends and fun. We sat around a lot (on the porch, by the fire, in the hot tub), talked a lot, played some games (Cards Against Humanity mostly), and just generally hung out. 

But this is an active group! So our Sunday hike, fueled by the aforementioned epic brunch, was a bit more ambitious. We hiked the Signal Knob/Elizabeth's Furnace loop (I've done this one before), minus the knob because we didn't want the sun to set on us in the woods. Oooh the downsides of the slow and inevitable approach to winter. (Who am I kidding? I'm not sad about winter, let's go skiing!) This hike is about 7-8 miles of rocky and hilly trails -- just enough focus required to make it interesting, and long enough to accommodate many conversations and daydreams.

We packed up and headed back to DC on Monday. Overall the weekend was an epic success. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPEEDYKATE!

Best of the Week #113

It’s November!!! Crazy. Hope you all had a happy Halloween and are sufficiently sick on fun-sized Snickers, and/or in the process of building candy castles and wheeling and dealing trades amongst your siblings. Oh wait, it’s not 1995 and most of you (except a key two of course) are not my sisters. Everything I learned about negotiations I learned from being a middle child...

Anywho, November! To all you well-meaning people making comments about how the semester almost over: I will have none of that. We have 6 weeks left, so please leave me to languish in my delusion that that is plenty of time to finish. All. The. Things. Kthanksbye.

It’s been a while, but let’s have some Best of the Week fun, shall we?

Sorry I'm not sorry. "26 Puns that are too clever for their own good." I am giggling out loud to myself right now.

Will the puns stop? Yo, I don’t know.

Real complaints from real vacationers.” Ha! People are absurd.

• 12. “It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England. It took the Americans only three hours to get home. This seems unfair.”
• 14. “The brochure stated: ‘No hairdressers at the resort’. We’re trainee hairdressers and we think they knew and made us wait longer for service.”

I love this kid.


To quote my dear friend 6x6, "Makes me want to run a marathon!" "Five things you can eat guilt-free after the Marine Corps Marathon." Two words for you: Dinosaur donut. (Aka I am the above child.)

On the academic front,  I will be spending about 75% of the next 6 weeks working on this project. And I am SO excited about it. #NerdAlert “Network Analysis of Factors Contributing to Election Violence in Kenya: Comparing 2007-08 to 2013”

• This project will use networks analysis to assess election-related violence in Kenya in 2007-08, and then conduct the same analysis of 2013 when there was no election-related violence to determine if networks analysis can be used to predict violence. Additional factors in both cases will be studied separately: the networks of targeted violence in 2007, and how internal displacement in the interim period affected elections in 2013.

Why?

This is pretty funny and makes you think about your favorite Disney movies in a whole new way. “Psychological Disease of Disney Princesses.”

• Although it wasn’t greatly covered in the movie, Belle definitely entered the castle not to find her father but to loot the hell out of the place. It became a greater challenge than she had anticipated, though, as the candlestick holder she wanted to knick could talk.

Awesome photography! Ms Kalashnikov is the work of an Italian photographer, Francesca Tosarelli,

• Since February 2013 Francesca has met, followed, photographed and interviewed a selection of women fighting in the alphabet-soup of rebellions currently operating in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Their stories reveal not only the significance of their roles within the rebel groups of which they are a part, but also show the striking contrast between the danger of their liberation struggle and the almost mundane reality of daily life in an armed group in eastern DRC.

An interesting read by Bell Hooks “Dig Deep: Beyond Lean In.” I haven't actually read Lean In, but people talk about it all the time.

• "Sandberg’s definition of feminism begins and ends with the notion that it’s all about gender equality within the existing social system. From this perspective, the structures of imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy need not be challenged. And she makes it seem that privileged white men will eagerly choose to extend the benefits of corporate capitalism to white women who have the courage to ‘lean in.’ It almost seems as if Sandberg sees women’s lack of perseverance as more the problem than systemic inequality."

A National Geographic photographer portrays the multi-ethnicity of American society - peoples' pictures, their self description and what ethnicity they register themselves as in the national statistics. “The Changing Face of America -- We’ve become a country where race is no longer so black or white.”

Someone please make this Halloween Chex Mix and send me a bag? I will love you forever.

Love. "Tap Dancing Cover of Cups." Fun fact, I was a pretty awesome tap dancer in kindergarten and first grade.


I do these! Unless I sleep late...in which case I still do them first-thing, but it may not be before 8 am. “5 Things Super Successful People Do Before 8 AM.”

•  5. Make Your Day Top Heavy. We all have that one item on our to do list that we dread. It looms over you all day (or week) until you finally suck it up and do it after much procrastination. Here’s an easy tip to save yourself the stress – do that least desirable task on your list first.

An interesting explanation? "Spaniards are less productive, constantly tired because Spain is in the wrong time zone."

Finally, I will leave you with this Tiny Desk Concert by The Lone Bellow, because who doesn’t need a little more mandolin in their life?

Finally finally, I started this post mentioning my sisters, and guess what? Sister1 and Geoff will run their first half marathon this weekend like CHAMPIONS! And Sister2 just landed her dream job and starts next week! I am so psyched and proud of both of them!!! Also, Liam was a runner for Halloween. YES.

Cake of the Week: Apple Cheesecake Bars with Walnut Streusel Topping

Imagine your holiday dessert plate: there's a slice of apple pie on there because that's what the uncles like, there's a piece of cheesecake because that's what Sister1 makes best, and maybe if you're lucky there's one of Auntie Robin's shortbread cookie in the corner. Clearly you stick your fork into all three treats at the same time, creating a tangy creamy bite of apple pie, with some buttery crunchiness in there too.

Are you with me here? Ok. Now imagine all that awesomeness baked into one bar. Yep, my apple kick continues with these Apple Cheesecake Bars with Walnut Streusel Topping, and they are good. Shortbread crust, cheesecake, apple pie-ish filling, and crunchy walnut streusel-y awesomeness on top.

There's a lot of apple going on in here -- three big Granny Smiths cook down to a whole layer of apple pie-like spicy goodness.

I'm not saying you should make these instead of your other holiday desserts, but it wouldn't hurt if you made them in advance, just to get yourself in a sufficiently dessert-happy holiday season mood.

Apple Cheesecake Bars with Streusel Topping

Ingredients:
Crust:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter -- (1 1/2 sticks) at
• very cool room temperature, cut into
• 1-inch pieces, plus extra for greasing pan

Filling: 

• 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Streusel:

• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

Directions:

1. Crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 13-by-9-inch baking dish.
2. If you have a food processor: Pulse flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add butter and process to blend, 8 to 10 seconds, then pulse until mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse meal, about three 1-second bursts. 
3. If you're doing it by hand: Mix flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl. Freeze butter and grate it on large holes of box grater into flour mixture. Toss butter pieces to coat. Rub pieces between your fingers for a minute, until flour turns pale yellow and coarse.
4. Sprinkle mixture into pan and press firmly with fingers into even, 1/4-inch layer over entire pan bottom and about 1/4 inch up sides. 
5. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
6. Filling: In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Then add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Pour over warm crust.
7. In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. 
8. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture. 
9. Streusel: In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. 
10. Sprinkle streusel evenly over the top of bars (I didn't use it all -- I had about 1/2 cup leftover, which can be stored in the fridge in a tupperware for a while and sprinkled on top of the next batch of muffins you bake).
11. Bake 30 minutes, or until filling is set. 
12. Cool completely before serving. 

Weekend Report: International Crisis, My Life as a Snow Leopard, and One-Legged Vinyasas

I swear that the title will make sense by the end of this post....What a weekend! I am exhausted.

Roommate Rachel is Mr. Mondavi (of the wine).
I am a snow leopard, obviously.

Friday evening and all day Saturday I participated in a crisis simulation "game"...because that is totally normal right? Aah grad school. How it works is that participants are organized into (mostly) country teams, and given background reading on the international context. Then everyone is given the scenario of a realistic international crisis in the year 2017, and has to work together within teams to come up with a strategy and carry it out. The point is for  us to play roles as decision-makers and to experience the problems, dilemmas, and processes of managing a crisis or resolving a conflict.  (More info here if you care.)

I was given the role of Chechen terrorist (my name tag: “Miss Mollie, Terrorist Organization”), which was exciting and interesting, but also deeply disturbing when you think about it too hard. Turns out that in the context of a crisis game, I am pretty good at devising seriously destructive scenarios…eek? We issued press releases, video press releases (hilarious), and carried out actions over the course of 3 2-hour "moves." I was allegedly assassinated at one point, but don't worry, I came back to life. It was definitely an experience.

With just a couple hours recovery, I traded my terrorist garb (!?!? I can’t believe I just wrote that) for leopard print and headed out to celebrate Halloween! I went as a snow leopard because a) I already owned the pants; and b) snow leopards are the most bad-ass animal out there.

My school’s dorm (I do not live there) throws a huge Halloween party every year and it was pretty epic! I can’t remember the last time I actually did Halloween, but I do enjoy a good excuse to dress up.

Sunday was far more normal, and involved neither an international crisis nor a costume – just some good old fashioned doing homework at my dining room table, interrupted by mid-afternoon power yoga and rock climbing. So many one-legged vinyasas! There is a reasonably good chance I will be unable to lift my arms tomorrow.

You should definitely try these -- here's how:

Just keep going through that, one side at a time, until everything burns so much that you have to stop. (If the pictures aren't enough, here's a more detailed description.) Told ya it was fun! 

Cake of the Week: Roasted Apple Layer Cake

Usually October is pumpkin everything season, but this year I'm focusing on another fall fruit -- I'm on the autumn apple train, and nothing can get me off of it.

For reals friends, in the fall fruit department, New England is the apple of my eye! Apples here are so fresh and sweet and crunchy and crisp and delicious: sliced to scoop my breakfast yogurt, easily tossed in my backpack for a snack (an apple a day...), roasted and savory in my dinner salad, and of course baked into dessert.

My most recent culinary confection may not be quite as American as apple pie, but roasting the apples for this cake ensures that they're soft and sweet and apple pie-ish in the layers. And it's covered in cream cheese frosting. Trust me: everything good in this world involves cream cheese frosting.

I left class on Wednesday, my coursework in apple-pie order, looking forward to finishing an assignment and beginning to bake my first layer cake in a loooong while! (According to Eat Run Read, which never lies, my last legit layer cake was this Black Forest Cake from last February!) Anywho, Roommate Rachel and I had invited friends over for a mid-week dinner party, and though she and I may be apples and oranges appearance-wise, we are same-same in the food and hosting department: we want to cook delicious things and invite others to enjoy. So we commandeered the kitchen and cooked up a storm -- pizza and roasted butternut squash salad and this cake of course!

It was REALLY good -- very moist and apple-y, as there are three whole apples in the cake plus over 2 cups of apple sauce, and just the right hint of autumn-y spice. My only error in execution was that I did not make enough cream cheese frosting to adequately sandwich between the layers, so the recipe below reflects a slightly larger frosting recipe than I made. Also, this makes a TON of cake. I had enough for all three layers, plus 10 muffins (breakfast cake? With some streusel crumbled on top? Yes please!). Or you could make thicker layers. Or you could make 4 layers! (Woah crazy, do it! You'll need more frosting.)

Roasted Apple Spice Cake

Adapted from SK's giant sheet cake recipe. 

Cake Ingredients:

• 3 medium apples, any variety you like to bake with (I used Granny Smith), peeled, quartered or halved, and cored
• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoons table salt
• 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 tablespoons baking powder
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 cups honey
• 2 1/4 cups applesauce
• 3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cups packed dark-brown sugar
• 3 large eggs

Frosting Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 8-ounce blocks cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• milk, as needed

Directions: 

1. Roast apples: Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet or roasting pan with parchment paper. Arrange apple halves face down on paper and roast in a single layer until they feel dry to the touch and look a little browned underneath, about 15 minutes.
2. Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter or spray three 9-inch round cake pans. 
1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. In a medium bowl, whisk together applesauce and honey.
2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter and dark brown sugar until very fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl between every other addition. 
3. Add one third of the flour-spice mixture and mix it until just combined. 
4. Add half the applesauce-honey mixture, again mixing it until combined.
5. Add the second third of the flour-spice mixture, the remaining applesauce-honey mixture, and the remaining flour-spice mixture, stirring between each addition.
6. Chop roasted apples into smallish chunks (1/2 to 2/3-inches) and fold into batter. 
7. Divide batter between baking pans. It makes a TON of cake, so I actually made 10 muffins in addition to the three layers of cake.  
8. Bake about 35 minutes. Transfer baking pans to cooling racks and let rest for 10 minutes, before flipping out of the pans onto racks and cooling the cakes right-side-up.
3. Make the frosting: Whip butter and cream cheese together with an electric mixture until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla extract. Add powdered sugar and beat again until smooth and light. If it's too thick, add milk one splash at a time as necessary. 
4. Frost the cake, sprinkle the top with cinnamon if you're feeling fancy, and enjoy!

How do you like them apples?