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Book Beginnings

April 24, 2014 by pictureperfectcooking

Please join me for Book Beginnings hosted by Rose City Reader.  There is always an eclectic list of books on the list sure to inspire you.  My book today is the next Cotton Malone book by Steve Berry called “The Jefferson Key”.

PROLOGUE

WASHINGTON, D.C.

JANUARY 30, 1835

11:00AM

President Andrew Jackson faced the gun aimed at his chest.  A strange sight but not altogether unfamiliar, not for a man who’d spent nearly his entire life fighting wars.

The first 6 Cotton Malone books were mostly set in Europe and Asia, but this one takes place right here in the good ol’ USA and it makes for a welcome change of pace.  I loved the National Treasure movies and, if you enjoyed them, you will love this book.  It really isn’t necessary to read them all in order (though it does help with the character development), so if you want to give these books a try, try this one!

Posted in Books | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments »

Almost Wordless Wednesday

April 23, 2014 by pictureperfectcooking

I love playing around with macro photography.  The little details you catch with it just amaze me.  It even makes an ordinary dandelion something extraordinary!

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Posted in Nature, Photography | Tagged , , , |

Enchilada Beef Dip

April 19, 2014 by pictureperfectcooking

People, let me tell you about this dish!  I have made it so many times in the last few months and the last time I realized that I had not posted about it.  That had to change because everyone else needs to know how tasty and easy this is. 

It would be awesome at parties, but I fix it just for C & I for supper and then have the leftovers for lunches later.  C LOVES it and always asks for seconds when I make it.  The flavors are awesome and the gooey melted cheese is so so good.  Try it and see!

Easy Enchilada Dip 1

1 lb. ground beef

1/4 medium onion, finely diced

1/4 tsp. minced garlic

1 can red enchilada sauce

2 cups shredded cheese (I used the Fiesta blend.)

Corn chips or tortilla chips

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Cook the ground beef in a medium skillet over medium heat until there is no pink left.  Add the onion and minced garlic and cook for about 3 minutes or until the onion is soft.  Sir in the sauce and the cheese.  Cover the pan and allow the cheese to completely melt.

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Serve with the chips of your choice.  I found these Pringles tortilla chips and they were great!  This makes a meal just by adding a big green salad on the side.  Love it!!  Thanks, Add A Pinch, for this recipe.

Easy Enchilada Dip 2

Posted in Cooking | Tagged , , , | 15 Comments »

Almost Wordless Wednesday

April 16, 2014 by pictureperfectcooking

Oh, how I love Kentucky in the spring time!

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Posted in Home, Nature, Pets, Pets/Animals, Photography | Tagged , , , , |

Beef & Cheese Sandwiches

April 12, 2014 by pictureperfectcooking

This recipe is a leftover makeover starring last week’s slow cooker roast beef.  It is also from Donya at A Southern Soul and it is a winner!  I fixed these for lunch on a cold snowy day a few weeks ago and they hit the spot.  These will definitely be made again and again.

Beef and Cheese Sandwich 2

3-4 cups leftover slow cooker roast

1/2 cup beef stock

1/2 onion diced

salt & pepper to taste

4-6 hoagie rolls

4 tbsp. butter, divided

sliced provolone cheese

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In a medium saucepan, add the roast beef and beef stock.  Bring to a low simmer and continue to cook for approximately 10 minutes or until most of the liquid has reduced.

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Melt 1 tbsp. butter in a skillet and add the diced onion.  Season with salt and pepper then cook the onions until they are golden and soft.

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Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Spread a little butter on the inside of each hoagie roll then layer some of the beef, cooked onion and a slice of provolone cheese.  Wrap each sandwich in aluminum foil.  Bake for 5 to 8 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  Serve and enjoy!

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Beef and Cheese Sandwich 2

Posted in Cooking | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments »

Book Beginnings

April 10, 2014 by pictureperfectcooking

Do you ever have a time when you want a new book to read, but you just don’t know what you want?  I found this book during one of those searches.  Any member of our local public library can use their library card number to access thousands of online books, both new and old.  C & I both love to do this and I know I have had access to books that I wouldn’t have otherwise by doing this.  There were a couple of books that I was interested in, but they weren’t available at the time. 

While browsing, I found The Winter Prince by Elizabeth Wein.  Here is the first line:

“He sat on the floor before the hearth with his knees against his chin, the flames at his back, and warily watched his father’s face.”

This is a story of King Arthur’s children and it actually a young adult novel.  If you read my blog, you will know that I am a huge fan of historical fiction, but this wasn’t my favorite. It wasn’t a terrible book, but I got a little bored while reading it.  AND, if it’s supposed to be a YA novel, there are some very adult themes in this book.  Parents, take note that you may want to review this book first to make sure it is appropriate for your child.

Please join me at Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings.

Posted in Books | Tagged , , , , |

Slow Cooker Roast

April 5, 2014 by pictureperfectcooking

One of the great things about being a member of the Kentucky Food Bloggers Association and the Southern Food Bloggers Association is having contact with other wonderful bloggers.  They are wonderful cooks and writers and I encourage you to visit their blogs as well. 

A Southern Soul is a perfect example.  Donya has some delicious recipes and her site is neat and easy to read.  This slow cooker roast is going to lead into another recipe next week which may be even better than just the roast and the roast is wonderful.

Slow Cooker Roast

2-3 lb. beef roast

1/2  large onion sliced

2 cups beef broth

2 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

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Let the roast come to room temperature for 30 minutes.  Slice the onion and place in in the bottom of your slow cooker.  Put the roast on top of the onions and season with salt, pepper, garlic & thyme.

Pour the broth around the sides of the roast.  Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8 hours. 

Slow Cooker Roast

Posted in Cooking | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments »

Almost Wordless Wednesday

April 2, 2014 by pictureperfectcooking

Spring, you are finally here!

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Posted in Home, Nature, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , |

The Photo Ladies Challenge #2

March 31, 2014 by pictureperfectcooking

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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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.

Posted in Challenge, Photography, The Photo Ladies | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Menu Plan “Sunday”

March 30, 2014 by pictureperfectcooking

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.

Posted in Menu Planning | Tagged , , | 1 Comment »

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