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Archive for March, 2014

The Photo Ladies Challenge #2

Posted in Challenge, Photography, The Photo Ladies, tagged , , , , , on March 31, 2014| 3 Comments »

I love photography and always enjoy an opportunity to learn more about my camera and the art of photography itself.  Thanks to The Crafty Wife, I and other photo loving ladies are getting some free lessons on how to put our DSLRs to their best use.

This lesson is all about shutter speed.  What is shutter speed?  The teachers at NoBadFoto.com tell us this:

The shutter speed controls the amount of time that the shutter curtain is left open. – See more at: http://www.nobadfoto.com/understanding-exposure-3.html#s1

In other words, this setting controls how much “motion” you will catch in a still photo.  That sounds a little weird, doesn’t it?  Let’s look at a few of my lesson photos to explain. When the shutter speed is set to a slow pace, such as 1/4 of a second, running water looks like this:

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f22 1/4 shutter speed 400iso

There is not a lot of detail in the water and when it hits the sink:

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f22 1/4 shutter speed 400iso

It shows up like a puddle instead of running water.  Now let’s hike up the speed to 1/1000 of a second and see what happens.

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f3.5 1/1000 shutter speed 1600 iso

There are a lot more details in the water and you start to see individual droplets instead of one continuous running stream.

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f3.5 1/1000 shutter speed 1600 iso

See all of the extra detail in the water.  Now imagine if that was a person or animal running.  If you want a clear shot of their “motion”, you need to speed up the shutter to catch them in action.  I decided to turn my camera all of the way up to 1/3200 of a second just to see what it would look like.

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f3.5   1/3200 shutter speed 3200 iso

There is even more detail, but the lighting becomes harder to perfect at this speed, especially indoors. So, what have I learned?  I now know the next time I want to take motion or action shots to crank up that shutter speed if I don’t want any blur.  Of course, if I am shooting running water and want that smoky look, I will need to really slow it down and hold the camera very steady to reduce shakiness. 

This has been a great lesson and I so appreciate The Crafty Wife for hosting these tutorials.

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Menu Plan “Sunday”

Posted in Menu Planning, tagged , , on March 30, 2014| 1 Comment »

Hi, folks!  I am posting this a day early because I have a photo challenge post going up tomorrow and I decided two posts in one day was probably a little much.  I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend. Ours was busy, but good.  C & I got an eye exam on Saturday and I am now officially old because I have to have bifocals.  Yuck!  I knew I was having trouble reading, but I really hadn’t considered the fact that bifocals may be needed.  When the doctor adjusted the lens with the bifocals it made a huge difference and I hope they help my eyes feel less tired by the end of a long day working at a computer.  Oh, well, I guess it could be worse.  I can still see after all!

It was also a great weekend of college basketball and we cheered on the University of Kentucky as hard as we could.  It was so much fun!! 

The weather is supposed to be really nice this week and I hope to get outside and start cleaning up the flower beds and maybe starting building my new raised beds with a lot of help from C. 

Have a great week!

Cheesy steak sandwiches with oven baked fries

Lasagna calzones (new) with salad

Slow cooker beef tips (new) with oven baked fries and salad

Pizza night

Sloppy Joes with curly fries

Oreo pie

Please join me at I’m An Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

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Orange Juice Cake

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , on March 29, 2014| 7 Comments »

A long time ago, I made an orange juice cake and remembered it as being so moist and delicious.  Fast forward a few years and that recipe kind of got lost in the shuffle until I received a new Bundt pan for Christmas. My uncle mentioned an orange juice cake and bells started going off in my head so I knew that I had to make one again. 

I couldn’t find my old recipe so off to the world wide web I went in search for one.  Of course, Christy at Southern Plate had a recipe on her site and it was just as I remembered it.  The method of piercing the cake and pouring the sauce over it while it is still in the pan makes it so good. 

orangejuicecake

For the cake:

1 box yellow cake mix

1 small box instant vanilla pudding mix

4 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup orange juice (I used Florida’s Natural.  The cheap brands give this cake an odd flavor.)

1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

For the glaze:

1 cup granulated sugar

1 stick unsalted butter

1/4 orange juice (Name brand again.)

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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a Bundt pan.  Mix all of the cake ingredients together and stir until smooth.  Pour in the Bundt pan and bake for 35-45 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

Put the glaze ingredients in a medium sauce pan and cook over medium/high heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

While the cake is still in the pan, poke several holes into the cake with a knife and pour the glaze over it.  Then let the cake cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan to cool.  The sauce should soak into the cake completely in that 10 minutes.  If it hasn’t, just wait another 5 minutes or so before turning out the cake.

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orangejuicecake

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Book Beginnings

Posted in Books, tagged , , , , , on March 27, 2014| 2 Comments »

The subject of today’s post is the next Cotton Malone book by Steve Berry called “The Emperor’s Tomb”.  I really enjoy these adventure stories that take the characters around the globe in search of bad guys, good guys and ancient treasures.  There is never a dull moment when Cotton Malone shows up!

“NORTHERN AREAS, PAKISTAN

FRIDAY, MAY 18

8:10 AM

A bullet zipped past Cotton Malone.  He dove to the rocky ground and sought what cover the sparse poplars offered.”

Poor Cotton!  He just wants to enjoy his retirement and run his used book store, but life just won’t let him.  These books are fun and the stories flow nicely.  I love looking up all of the locales and artifacts Mr. Berry writes about.  If you try it, I hope you like them as much as I do.

Please join me and other book lovers over at Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings.

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Almost Wordless Wednesday

Posted in Gardening, Home, Photography, tagged , , , , on March 26, 2014| 2 Comments »

It’s amazing how much plants can grow in just a week.  From this…

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To this:

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Menu Plan Monday

Posted in Menu Planning, tagged , , on March 24, 2014|

Good Monday morning! Sorry I was MIA last week, but I just wasn’t feeling up to snuff.  I thought it was just the winter weather blues until I started having tons of sinus drainage by the end of the week.  It turns out I was rocking a pretty severe sinus infection so after a shot and a few pills, I feel SO much better! Now that I am back to normal, there are so many things I want to do!

C & I are planning to update our raised gardens beds with cedar boards and add a couple of extra beds while we are at it.  I can’t wait! Now if the weather will just cooperate.  Speaking of gardening, please check back on Wednesday to see how my seedlings are doing.  

I have a couple of new recipes on the list this week that I hope are keepers.  I will let you know!

Dr. Pepper pulled pork (new) with curly fries

Tacos with salad

Grilled hamburgers with oven fries

Panko pork chops (new) with butter roasted potatoes & salad

Pizza night

One pot baked rotini with cheesy bread

Please join me at I’m An Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

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Saucy Pork Chops

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , on March 22, 2014| 6 Comments »

Here is yet another slow cooker recipe.  Dear readers, I hope I am not burning you out on these, but I LOVE a good main dish that I don’t have to fuss with.  So…enter the slow cooker!  This is another successful Taste of Home recipe that I will definitely be making again. 

Slow Cooker Saucy Pork Chops

6 pork chops (Bone in would be best, but I used boneless.)

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 cups ketchup

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tsp. liquid smoke (Optional, but it adds great flavor.)

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Sprinkle the chops with garlic powder, salt & pepper.  Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Brown the chops on both sides.

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In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients to make the sauce.  Pour a little of the sauce in the bottom of a small slow cooker.  Then add a layer of the browned pork chops and another layer of sauce.  Continue this until all of the chops are in the crock and covered with sauce.

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Cook on low for 4 to 5 hours or until the meat is tender.

Slow Cooker Saucy Pork Chops

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Thoughtful Thursday-Travel Edition

Posted in My Thoughts, Travel, tagged , , , , on March 20, 2014| 2 Comments »

Nashville, Tennessee is one of our favorite places to visit for a day or weekend trip.  C & I were having a little cabin fever a couple of weeks ago so we took off for parts south one Saturday.  The original reason for our trip was to go to the Apple Store at the Mall at Green Hills and I tacked on a few other destinations in the same mall.  You got to make your trips count, don’t you know?

We also visited the Green Hills branch of the Nashville Public Library because we such huge NERDS!  There is a very good reason we did that, but that’s for another post.  The library was very pretty inside and out.  They have a pretty fountain at the entrance and a walking path with a statue.

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I have to admit we found the statue a little creepy.  It is a little freaky to sit there and have the “old man” staring at you.  Anywho, since we were out to have a little fun, I decided to search for a new restaurant to try in the area and kept coming back to Table 3 which is a French bistro right next to the mall.  What a success! 

The ambience was great and the food was even better.  One of the specials that day was pork chili and I really hesitated because I thought my mind was made up to try the French dip.  I decided to forgo the chili and go with my first instinct.  Of course, C had the cheeseburger and "pommes frites”.  (C’s statement to me: I just want fries with my burger.  My statement to him:  Pommes frites is fancy French for fries.  You’ll be just fine.)

I went with the baby green salad with my sandwich and I was so glad I did.  It was all so tasty.  Enough with all the words.  Here are the pics:

I think C’s look says it all:  Can we just eat already?

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After this, we hit the mall and there were so many stores that I wanted to check out.  There are some stores that just don’t exist in Kentucky.  Restoration Hardware was my first stop and the look is amazing, but the prices are ridiculous!!!  One bathroom cabinet (that wasn’t even solid wood) was $2100.00!  Um, no thank you and I promise not to break anything while I am here.  It was neat to see the set-up, but, in my opinion, their wares are way overpriced

C & I finally made it to the Apple Store and it was a madhouse.  The service was prompt and friendly and C’s errand didn’t take long at all.  After the mall experience, I braved the traffic and made it to Anthropologie.  This was another store that I had heard so much about and wanted badly to be impressed.  They do have some neat things and I can see how food bloggers would go crazy over their selection, but, again, the prices were just a little too high to justify my purchasing things there.  They also some kind of weird air freshener or candle burning which didn’t set well with C or my allergies.

We had a great time and I told C that we just experienced how the “other half” live since this is a swanky and well-off area of Nashville.  I mean, I got behind a Maserati in traffic, for Pete’s sake!  I think I’ll keep my Chevy.

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The Photo Ladies: Challenge #1

Posted in Challenge, Photography, The Photo Ladies, tagged , , , , , , on March 15, 2014|

Who has an awesome DSLR, but still doesn’t really know how to use it to its best advantage?  That would be me!  I have always wanted to take an in-depth photography class, but there just isn’t many offered in my area so when Crafty Wife started The Photo Ladies group for us DSLR novices, I jumped at the chance.  Where can you get tons of good information and challenging lessons for free? 

Crafty Wife is using classes from nobadfoto.com and the first one is on aperture.  If you are like me and you’re really not sure what aperture is, here is their definition:

“Aperture: the size of the opening in the lens when a photo is taken. The opening controls how much light can enter your camera at once.”

There was so much great information in just this first lesson that I can’t wait for the rest!  The first challenge is to pick a stable object (I used a plant) and take three photos of the Aperture Priority Mode on your camera.  That means you control the aperture setting and the camera controls the shutter speed.  The ISO is set to 1600 for all of the photos below.

First up is the lowest number aperture setting on my camera with the prime lens which is 3.5, exposure time is 1/640, and ISO is 1600.

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Notice how the plant is in sharp focus, but the wooden table is not.  That is called a shallow depth of field where the closest object is clear, but the background is not.

Next is the same photo with an aperture setting of 9, the exposure time is 1/100, and the ISO is 1600.

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Now the grain of the wood is much more in focus and the colors are also a little more intense. 

Last is the highest number aperture setting for my lens and it is 22.  The exposure time is 1/15 and the ISO is 1600.

f22

This photo has the largest depth of field with all objects being in focus, including the curtain in the very back right corner.

I was so surprised how much difference the aperture makes.  I had been focusing more on shutter speed (exposure time) and the ISO.  Thanks, Crafty Wife and nobadfoto.com for this great lesson.  Can’t wait for the next one!

You can check out The Photo Ladies Flickr page here.

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One Pot Baked Rotini

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , on March 14, 2014| 4 Comments »

Have you visited Plain Chicken yet?  No, well, as soon as you are done here, get yourself on over to their place.  Their recipes are amazing and I have loved every one of them I have tried.  This is another success.  They call it One Pot Baked Ziti, but since I didn’t have any ziti noodles, mine is Baked Rotini instead.

I also used 2 dishes for mine since I was travelling with it so I guess that makes mine TWO Pots Baked Rotini.  No matter what you call it, it is still DELICIOUS!

One Pot Baked Rotini

1 lb. Italian sausage

1 tbsp. minced onion flakes

4 cloves garlic, minced

28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 tsp. Italian seasoning

2 cups water

12 oz. rotini (or pasta of your choice)

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

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Cook the Italian sausage over medium heat in an oven safe pan until brown.  Drain off the fat.  Add the onion flakes and garlic.  Cook for about a minute until the garlic becomes fragrant.  Stir in the tomatoes, salt, red pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning.

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Add the water and pasta.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and cover the skillet. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until the pasta is cooked.

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Remove the skillet from the heat and add the ricotta cheese and cream.  Cook on low for 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat again and add the mozzarella cheese.  Broil in the oven just until the cheese is melted.  This is awesome served with a big salad and garlic bread.

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One Pot Baked Rotini

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