Still Moments 1.27.14

 

It's been awhile since I've contributed to the Still Moments series that I've been collecting.  But this moment hit me the other day. What is more still and than a quiet house and a cat appreciating a sun beam?  I don't know, there's just something about it that is peaceful.  Pets themselves bring so much comfort and peace to our lives.  I try to keep my crazy cat lady tendencies to a minimum but it doesn't mean that I don't appreciate our pets.  There are times when they drive me nuts but at the end of a bad day they can also be a great comfort.  I know many of you feel the same way.  So enjoy a cup of tea (or maybe something stronger) and cuddle up with that pet today.  Here are a few of the "runners up" for the still moments for this entry.

Lily's 1st Birthday Party

That's right, this little lady just turned one!  Can you believe it?  It's hard to believe that I've been photographing Lily for a year now.  She has grown faster than I could have believed.  It was so much fun to celebrate with this little girl and her family.

Lily's parents threw a Lady Bug themed party and it was ADORABLE.  They had everything from Lady Bug cake to a color coordinated tutu for the birthday girl.

The party was an intimate gathering of family and close friends.  You could just feel the love coming out of that room!  Freddie, Lily's Dad, smoked the pork bbq himself and we had a small feast.  Instead of cards for Lily, they had everyone sign one of her Cat in the Hat books so that as she grows up she will be able to know everyone who was at her first birthday party.  So sweet!  However my favorite moment had to be watching Lily discover her cake.  I say "discover" because she didn't smash it, she just investigated it more and more.

Happy Birthday Lily!  You are a beautiful and sweet little girl.  I can't wait to see you grow more!

Fish Tacos

You might be thinking that I'm on some sort of Mexican food kick.  And in some ways you would be right.  Really it's just a matter of convenience.  I hate when ingredients go bad, so these two recipes had similar ingredients, so I made them close together.  But I promise you will enjoy both! When I first heard the term "fish taco" I thought, "Ew gross! Who would want fish in their tacos!"  My husband looked dismayed at my outburst.  BUT thanks to his prodding and poking, my tastes have expanded and I now love fish tacos.  And these were particularly fabulous.  This recipe is also from www.eatingwell.com  I'm kinda stuck on them right now.

Again, this serving is for 2 people so you might want to double it up.  It took me roughly 30 mins! Yay for fast food!

First you want to make the Tomato Avocado Salsa.  Dice a large tomato, add 1/4 cup diced red onion, 1/2 jalapeno minced (or dried jalapeno), 2/3 tbsp lime juice, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, 1/2 diced avocado, 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, and cayenne to taste.

Next in a small bowl you want to combine 3 tbsp flour, 1/8 tsp ground cumin, 1/8 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp cayenne.  Whisk in 1/3 cup of beer to make batter.

Add two tsp oil to pan on medium high heat.  NOTE: This recipe calls for a nonstick pan and they mean a nonstick pan.  My first go at this I used a regular pan.  I had fish, but all the batter was stuck to the pan...not fun.  Dip your 1 inch strips of tilapia  into the batter, let the access drip into the bowl and then put the pieces in the oil.  Fry into golden on each side (doesn't take to0 long).  Place fish into warm corn tacos (I used flour tacos because I think they're tastier) and then add salsa on top!  That's it.  I added sour cream and hot sauce for a little extra flavor.  What I love about this recipe is it's tasty AND quick, just remember the non stick pan so your not doing dishes for the rest of the night...like me.

Dish-o-the-Week: Barbecue Portobello Quesadillas

That's right friends!  It's been a long time, but there is finally another Dish-o-the-Week!  I think you will be particularly fond of this one, I know Speed Racer and I really enjoyed it.  It's an interesting combo, and of course I cannot take credit for it.  I found this recipe on www.eatingwell.com.  I changed just a few minor things here and there, but I think you'll like it.  ALSO, this is a two for one special, I'm also giving you my Green Green Guacamole recipe in honor of all the green grass outside and as a way of saying sorry it's been so long.  So now, less talk, more drooling.

Note: This recipe is for 2 servings, but I got 4 Quesadillas out of it...so you may want to make more if you're cooking for a group.  It took me roughly 45 min.

Dice 1/2 pound of portobello mushrooms as well as 1/2 of a medium onion.

Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally.  The recipe says for 5 min, I did mine a little longer. Add onion and continue to stir until the onions are looking golden and translucent.

While the mushrooms and onions are sizzling away and making your mouth water, prepare your delicious sauce.  You will need.  1/4 cup barbecue sauce, we use Stubbs.  (Until I took this picture I never realized the moto was "My life is in these bottles."  It kinda creeps me out, just sayin'.)  Combine barbecue sauce with 1 1/2 teaspoons of tomato paste, 1 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar (I actually forgot to add this, still tasted good), 1/2 chipotle chile in adobo sauce.  Our grocery store doesn't have the best variety so I couldn't find the chile in adobo sauce, so I added green chiles instead and they added a great flavor to the sauce.

Mmmmm, yummy yum yum yuuuuuuum.  It looks like it's not a lot of sauce, I have to admit I was a little worried, but it's actually just the right amount.  Never fear!

Once your onions and tomato's are done, add them to your sauce and mix until they are coated.  Then lay out your whole wheat tortillas (8-10 inch kind).  On half of the tortilla add Monterey Jack shredded cheese and your mushroom mixture.  Fold the tortilla in half.  Add another teaspoon of oil to your pan and then lightly fry your quesadillas on each side.  Mine took about 3-4 min total.  Now all you have to do is enjoy the cheesy goodness.  That's it..the end...bye bye.....

.......

Oh.  What's that?  I forgot the guacamole?  You MUST have the guacamole??  Okie dokie then.

This is my favorite guacamole recipe, it's so good! And one of the reasons I love it is that it's not a spicy guacamole, so it's nice for parties.  If you want to spice it up some though, you can.  Just add cayenne or red pepper flakes.

So! You will need 2 medium avocados, 1/4 cup of cream cheese (softened), 2 tbsp onion, 2 tbsp lime juice, 1 clove garlic, minced, 1/8 tsp salt, dash of black pepper, and 2 tbsp cilantro.

Mix all ingredients well in large bowl.  Simple.  I just mash mine until it's the consistency I want, I like it a little chunky.  Also, I would definitely add fresh cilantro.  A friend of mine recommended this recently and it has changed my life.  Cilantro is Fan-freakin'-tastic.

Now go stop drooling and enjoy!

Spring

It's the first day of spring and the flowers in my front beds are blooming.  This week they really just came up out of no where and opened up to the world.  I couldn't resist sharing them with you. As I mentioned in my post "I Spy Something..." my Mother helped me plant these flowers last fall.  It was really special to me to be able to spend that time with her.  Although I spent most of the time watching her plant these flowers since I was recovering from surgery, it was just nice to sit and catch up.  These days it's pretty rare that we get time together, just the two of us.  While we were together she told me a story about one of her fondest memories of me as a little girl.  She also told me how she told herself at that moment that she had better remember it.  While she said this I was thinking the same thing about watching her plant these flowers.  I thought to myself, you have to remember this, don't let this memory slip away.  And lucky for me, I have a beautiful reminder.  Each spring, when these flowers bloom, I'll think about that weekend with my Mom and how we planted these together.

Another memory that the flowers in our yard bring, is that of Speed Racer's Grandfather.  He planted most of these flowers, and since I've moved here I've tried very hard to maintain them.  But he must have used the front flower beds for annuals because they were empty before we planted bulbs in them.  Last night though, Speed Racer turned to me as we walked by them in twilight, and said "My Grandfather would have loved to see those flowers, they're really nice.  You did a wonderful job."  That meant the world to me.  When you move into a house that was owned by a family member it's hard to balance the "This is now your house" and the "This holds lots of memories."  So when I look out at my front yard and see the flowers, it just makes me smile.  I just look out and see Speed Racer's Grandfather, and his love for nature; my Mother and I, and the bond that we have; and our future...small little children picking flowers in the front yard.  These are the best parts of home ownership: dreaming, making memories, and keeping memories alive.

Factory Girl

A couple weekends ago, Speed Racer, Speed Racer's Dad, and I went on a little photo trip.  We were all in the mood to get out of the house and take some pictures, despite the bitter cold.  So we headed off and came across this cool factory.  It was creepy, musty, and had huge holes in the floor.  It would have been perfect for a horror film complete with scary scratching metal sound every time the wind blew. Ironically none of brought our tripods.  It was a sunny sunny day and we didn't think we'd be inside.  So some of my pictures didn't turn out, but some were fun anyway.  Also Speed Racer and I were sharing a camera, so some of these are his....and some I can't remember if they are mine or his.  I should have known better, I mean camera 101, ALWAYS HAVE YOUR CAMERA.  I got lured in because I love my husbands camera and it's one of those things, if I had brought mine, we would not have gone out.  Such is life.

This is one of Speed Racer's photos.  Great detail of the glass pipes.

Another of Speed Racer's and probably one of my favorites from the day!  I just love it.

I feel that I must end with a very important note from your sponsor.  DO NOT DO THIS ALONE.  For reals people, as a fellow photographer I understand taking risks to get fun, cool, new, exciting shots.  However, as a former rescue squad volunteer, these shots are not worth your life.  So let's roll over the basics.  When shooting urban terrain whether it's at night or abandoned places, always have a buddy.  Do you have your buddy?  Second, always tell someone who is not with your buddy or your group where you are and around what time you will be back.  I am very serious about this.  It takes one false step to fall down a hole, break a leg, have no reception, and no one know where you are.  So be responsible so that you can have fun and everyone else can enjoy your future photos too!

Downtowner Fudge Pie

Friday night around midnight, I got in the mood to bake.  This happens more often than you would think.  So the only question was, what was I going to make?  The answer was simple.  My FAVORITE chocolate pie.  My mother had made it at Christmas but due to my bout of cluster headaches I was unable to partake ( chocolate + cluster headaches =  even more pain).  It was terrible, no chocolate a christmas!!  The horror.  So, I made up for it this weekend.  This recipe actually came from my Aunt which I'm sure she also got from somewhere.  It's one of those recipes that's just been passed along.  So I'm going to pass it on to you. In mixing bowl, beat 3 eggs until light, beat in 3 T. white caro syrup, 1 1/2 c. sugar, 1/4 t vanilla.  That right there is delicious.

Meanwhile, over low heat melt 1 stick of butter and 3 square of baking chocolate.  NOTE: I do this in the microwave just because it's simpler, but you can do this in a saucepan if you wish.  Also by "3 squares" it turns out that means 3 oz.  Hershey now sells bakers chocolate in 1/2 ounce squares so that can be a little confusing.  I also use unsweetened baker's chocolate.

Now at this point you may be tempted to lick this whole freakin' bowl, ahem, but remember this chocolate is unsweetened.  It will not taste as yummy as it looks.  Not yet.  Add slightly cooked chocolate mixture into mixing bowl.

Stir until combined.

Pour into 9" pie pan and bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes.  Remember this is a chess pie, so be careful not to over bake.  When it is done it should still shake like a custard.

Mine was not very pretty but very very delicious.  I think the reason it fell and cracked was because instead of stirring in the chocolate mixture I beat it in, thus adding more air, so it puffed up a lot.  WARNING:  This chocolate pie is so good you (and maybe your husband) might just eat the whole thing before the weekend is out...and gain 3 pounds...might happen.  Just sayin'.

Sisters

Many of you know I'm a big fan of The Pioneeer Woman.  This week on Pioneer Woman Photography she is hosting a contest for photos of "Sisters."  Now as she mentions, and we all know, there are many women in your life that can qualify as sisters who may not actually be your blood sisters.  I grew up without sisters, although I love my brothers, I always missed out on having a sister.

So it got me thinking about all the ladies in my life who have meant so much to me.  I've always gotten along with boys a little bit better because I'm a bit of a Tom Boy, but there are some woman that I just couldn't live without.

The more I researched on my computer though, the more I realized I don't have pictures of myself with these women, or even pictures of them at all!  Many of these pictures are buried somewhere in our house and not digital.  Many of them I'm the one holding the camera, or, embarrassingly enough, I just didn't take a picture!!  While researching this I realized that I don't even have pictures of just me with my sister in laws.  Now maybe this is a sneaky conspiracy on their part to avoid my camera (I'm catching on Pockets and Olie).  But this is just sad folks.  Why did I not take the time at a photoshoot, wedding, or get together to turn the camera around and document a time with these ladies I love?  Things are gonna start to change, and I'm warning all you ladies out there...be prepared.

SO here are a few of the ones I could find on my laptop.  NOTE: If you are not in this selection it does NOT mean I don't love you or consider you my sister.  It means I either didn't take a picture with you recently, or it's buried in my basement.  Perhaps I will do a little digging and scanning and find a few of these blasts from the past.  There may be an update to this post comin' your way shortly.  Until then, enjoy these.

If you have a lovely lady that has meant a lot to you in your life, feel free do a shout out in the comments.  I'd love to hear your stories and adventures.

I Spy Something...

GREEN!!! Back in October my mother and I spent some time planting bulbs in my front flower beds.   And by my mother and I, I mean, my mother.  This was during the time that I had my tonsils removed, so I was in recovery.  I had a very important job though...I pointed where the flowers should go...yeah...important.  But I digress.  So all through the winter, I was worried they wouldn't come up, and the beds looked all tucked and cozy but well...brown. See Exhibit A.  You really can't tell much is going on there.  But if you look really reeeeally close...

...you can spy some green.

And maybe even a few buds coming up...

And then this is the point where I go, "hmmm I can't remember what type of flowers I planted...hmmm."

But the more I look, the more I see! They're everywhere.  This winter has been a long one and I am so ready for spring to say hello.

In our other bed there is even a tinsy tiny bit of color.  Just a wee bit.

Just enough to remind me that spring will be here soon.  I don't have long to wait.

Mann Again

As I have mentioned in previous posts (see Mann: Keeping Inspired) and will likely  mention in posts to come, I'm a big fan of Sally Mann.  I love the rough quality of her work and at the same time the mystery of it.  I particularly love her wet plate photography series like Deep South, and her newest series Proud Flesh. Her latest series Proud Flesh is done in the same wet plate style, although unlike many wet plate photographers, Mann prefers her glass negative to be imperfect, as well as her camera for that matter.  Proud Flesh is a series of portraits of her husband Larry, whom she has been married to for 40 years.  The series not only reflects on the closeness and intimacy between Larry and Sally, but of the deterioration of Larry's body from Muscular dystrophy.  The result is a heart wrenching series, that is honest and intimate, and will bring tears to your eyes.

I highly recommend checking out the link below to NPR's interview and a video of Sally Mann with her husband Larry.  There is also a HBO documentary on Mann titled What Remains.

Sally Mann: Proud Flesh