Christmas Nuts- A Recipe

Christmas Nuts

Everybody has a favorite nut in their family, sometimes it is an Aunt or Uncle. And sometimes it is something delicious and sweet.  I swiped this from a book I am not sure which one, if you know it, please give credit.  I found it in a notebook in which I write/wrote interesting recipes to use in the far off future.  These are old things before I blogged so, source credits were not written down. I know...tsk tsk. I know better.

The Christmas Nut!

Materials:

2 cups of almonds (raw)

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tsp salt (to taste)

2 tsp ground ginger

2tbsp veg oil

2tbsp golden honey

Procedure:

1. Roast raw nuts for 5 mins at 350F.
2. While nuts are roasting: a. combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan over med-low heat until warm and melty.
3. Pour over 5min nuts, and return it to the oven to roast for 10 more minutes at 325F.
4. After they have roasted and the yumminess is good and stuck, pour them on a cooling rack to harden. 
5. Serve warm or room temp.
6. Take a picture and post it on the web.

Notes:

This is sticky. Line your roasting pans and drip trays with foil or parchment for quick clean up.
MAKE MORE THAN YOU THINK YOU WILL NEED-they go pretty fast.

35mm Tests

Look what my 35mm lens did! I love this new lens. It doesn't zoom but, it has lots of great features. Large aperture, super sharp shots, great color registration, little to no distortion as in so many lenses.  And best of all it is FAST!

Isn't this little guy guilty looking? Makes you wonder if he is on the naughty or nice list. ha!

Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my birthday.  I am not very old but, old enough to appreciate my day.  I spent most of the morning in bed. My kids made me breakfast in bed which consisted of a 1/2 cup jelly toast (because that is how much they used to jelly the toast); fruit salad (apples, grapes, and tomatoes); and tart orange juice to wash it all down. I had  chance to chat with my Dad but, missed my Mom's phone call while I was in my uber hot shower.  When I finally got downstairs, I was greeted with a hot cup of DH's coffee and red crepe paper streamers and balloons.

We then went to see The Muppet Movie.  I saw 75% of it because my middle blessing started to feel sick.  He had a sour stomach and we wound up waiting till the end of the movie in the car. On the way home, he puked for about 2 of the 5 miles that we drove. Of course, into a bag next to my sensitive first blessing. Sadly, we even stopped for Pepto to help w/ the upset stomach but, it had no positive effect.

We made a light lunch and lounged between bouts of vomit. Somehow, my DH managed to bake me a cake and bring home a delicious dinner.  While he was gone my third blessing tore into the cooling (un iced) cake and damaged one completely.

So, DH came home and fixed the cakes, set the table, coaxed the kids into the kitchen, decorated the cakes, fed the baby, and presented me with a beautiful card and a great gift.  He did all of this for me. He didn't throw his hands up and cry because it didn't go as planned. He smiled and breathed and just let the moments be.  Thank you my love. I love you more than you could ever know. Thank you for trying to make my day spectacular. I will never forget it!

Oh and I got lots of well wishes from my FB friends.  That was kind of nice.  It is almost like getting a dollar corsage pinned on my shirt. That was such a fun tradition.  I should start that up again. 

Can you guess what my DH got me for my bday? A brand new 35mm lens. Yeah baby! Can't wait to crack into that one! So excited!

I took some time today to take a couple of impromptu learning shots on my daughter.  Pink is her avatar on line, you will see why.  Anyhow, I was working with my old lenses which I absolutely love.  My goal this afternoon was SHARP details.  I did pretty well.  I love these of my big girl.  The in between age.  So special and such a short period of time. God I love this girl.  I wish I could be more like her.

So here is Pink.  She has very little patience for me and my camera.  There was not adjusting ISO settings or for bracketing or any of the learning things I wanted to work on.

I LOVE Natural light.  It is so beautiful and so daunting.  It takes so much work just to keep up with shadows and hot spots and all that mumbo jumbo. But, hey. Look how lovely my sweetie is. And this is because she hates it when I shoot my camera at her.

Thanksgiving has already passed me by!

Hey there internets!  It has been a really long while.  I know...but, I truly have been busy raising my family, teaching, cleaning, and the list goes on.

I hope to blog a little more often over the next few weeks.  But, I can't make promises.  I am trying to stay abreast of all my interests but, still not as good at it as I would like.

I am just now getting into my photo gig.  And I hope soon, people will insist on tipping me for my free photos.  But, I guess I will need to be more aggressive in my saleswoman role.  No business is successful if there is not monetary anchor.

Wish me luck.  I hope more blessings come my way.

Michelle

Meanwhile at the Scarborough House....

Some days are just like this.

Natural Posers ;)

Have you ever had a day that is so beautiful you just had to capture some of it on film or memory card for us digital geeks?  Well I do from time to time and there is always so much nature in my yard.  I try and try to catch those pesky butterflies but, they are still a challenge for me. 

However, I can always get a very willing dragonfly to hang out on a limb and just let me shoot away.  These guys literally let me get six inches or closer to them and never fly away.  So what is it?  Why are they so willing to smile for the camera?

Here is the one I liked from today.  I actually had a couple but, this lil guy made me smile (mostly because he is smiling in the photo--you have to look really closely).

So let's talk the techie stuff about this one.  I love the Bokeh in the background.  I think the composition is pretty good and the color scheme is right on. I did saturate it a little by 5 points but, that was to add some depth to the blue sky.  The colors are good (the green azaleas look yellow because they are suffering from the drought).  I didn't lighten the shadow on the face because I feel it draws the viewers interest.  And besides, his face was shaded. When this shot is at full size the details are sharp and good--you can even see the veins in each wing and the hairs on his thorax.  Not sure if you can blow it up or not but, try.  So overall, I like this shot, it is not unique but, it is well done.

Beach 2011

It occurs to me how very late these posts are.  But, I would really like to share some of the better shots with my internets. :0) These are for your viewing pleasure. 

 

*Please be courteous and let me know before you borrow my images.*

Madge on Life

Do you remember this add?  Isn't it awful? I just sit here thinking how as a small child I sat and watched this add (on TV) tell me that not only should I be the one washing the dishes but, that I had better not look jacked up when i am done.  My hands better not look like an ape's after doing all of the dishes and I had better work on my hair and appearance.

This particular add must have shaped my world view a lot because I remember distinctly telling my mother that when I grew up I was gonna have a dishwasher so that I would never wash dishes.  (I didn't cook, clean or wash dishes very well at all.)  And anyone can tell you that I did NOT primp back in the day. And ask anyone who knows the young me, I was dead set against the domestic side of life :oD 

This was more my type of add:

 

You know the type that says--Anything you can do, I can do better.  And I am fine without you.  If you mess with me, I will bust you in the jaw!  Hahahaha! But it is so true! (I might cry afterwards, but hey I am still a woman.)

I guess Madge new better than I did.  Because here I am washing the dishes (I have a dishwasher too), primping my hair and trying not to look jacked up all of the time.  After all this time, and after everything that I know, and after all the schooling and education--I am still just an ape washing dishes.

What I like About...

Anthropologie.

I can't say I LOVE Anthropologie because well, I don't like all that much.  But, they seem to have the dresses thing down. I don't care for most of their blouses. This is because most of them are shapeless and flowy.  This goes completely against my shapely figure and therefore, I can not wear them with confidence. Then of course, have some flattering fitted designs that have these awkward ties at the neck-which don't work so they're out too. I like a few of the skirts only because I have THIGHS. So too full on the skirt = too big on the bottom and my hourglass morphs into a pear. And I work waaaay too hard to keep the hourglass--so not gonna sport something that works against it.

Here are some of the good things:

Guess who would look SLAMMIN' in these frocks. ME! That is who!

 Look how pretty this camisole is. The lace, the romantic color, the simple fabric--all work for me. I love this.

 

Here are a few tops that work for me. Of course, they are fairly basic in shape, and not very unique. Except for maybe the first one.

 

 This is as close to a poncho that I can afford to wear on my figure. Even this is risky because the collar requires a longer neck. But you can easily see how the long and wide loose shape of this sweater is likely to add bulk. I still like it though

.

 Oh....the shoes. I LOVE these shoes. (swoon) They scream my name.

Okay so next time I will talk Ann Taylor with you. Have a good day.  And you can visit Anthropologie and look around if you want. Hope you find something you love.