in the summertime...

Summer for me officially begins tomorrow as today is my last day at the job!

I'll probably become a little sketchy here in the intrawebs because I'll be diving into work for this.

But I'm also making time for lots of things I haven't been able to do this past year. I'm kicking off the summer with a memorial day week at the beach and then a long weekend in seattle. And I've started to compile a summer bucket list:

•  I'd like to cross off quite a few things from this list (skydiving and disney {i can dream}, lots of reading {lord of the rings}, volunteer at st. jude, homemade pasta, shooting range).
• Go to the memphis zoo and see the new teton trek section (I'm gunning to do this one next week).
• Join the ymca (doing this tomorrow!) and workout every weekday.
• Spend lots of time with my grandmother (and at her next door neighbor's pool). The job has turned me into a terrible granddaughter.
• Take lots of little trips to our little house in the country, doing nothing but reading on the boat all day.
• Try out all the new restaurants on my list.
• Massive overhaul of all the stuff I have at my mom's house. 90% of it is heading straight to the trash/goodwill (read: clothes from the 10th grade).
• Cook something with rhubarb. It scares me.
• Get my patio all finished.

Hope your summers are shaping up to be wonderful, too. I'll pop in here and there over the next few weeks to say hello and make you all jealous with pictures of paradise!

before/after, vol. 2

Having fun again this week with Pixel Perfect's Before/After.

This was taken last summer in Central Park, nyc, with the old Nikon d60 with 18-55 lens. (I'm guessing at around 18mm and f3.5) Edited in Photoshop CS4.

you capture - depth of field

I had no trouble with this week's you capture because shallow depth of field is the look I go for most of the time anyway.

My neighbor's hydrangeas of which I am very jealous.

And....then there's my yard. Now that the azaleas are gone, this is about all it has to offer.

Next year, my friends...next year.

And the little porker's feet as she was barking at me because she hates the camera.

my favorite soup ever

If I could only have one soup for the rest of my life, this would be it. I would be doomed to permanently runny eyes and nose, though, because this baby has a heat factor, but it would be oh so worth it.

I saw Rachael Ray make this a couple years ago, tried it and was hooked.

Here's her original recipe. I made a few changes. Here's my version below.

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded

3 tablespoons EVOO
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
handful jarred jalapeños, chopped (I like the ones from the jar because they are less spicy, so you can get more flavor with less heat)
palm full of chili powder
a few shakes of ground cumin
a few shakes of paprika
1 16-ounce jar tomatillo salsa (salsa verde)
1 quart chicken stock (more or less, depending on how much you need to make and how chunky you like it)
1 handful cilantro leaves
Juice of 2 limes

Heat a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat with the EVOO. Cook onions and garlic until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the spices and jalapeño and cook for another minute. Add the salsa, stock and lime juice. Bring up to a bubble and add in the shredded chicken. Simmer for 25 minutes. Add cilantro just before serving. Serve with tortilla chips.

By the way, this pot is part of Rach's collection I got last year when I moved into my casa. And I love them!

sweet shot tuesday

Taken this weekend while we shopped for plants for the garden. I love all the colors.

weekend snaps. 5/17/10

A weekend of:

Sallie's training class: week three. (Improvement is minimal. Pray for us.)

Plant and seed shopping.

Nursing baby chicks that have to be returned soon, sadly.

Braving the neighborhood railroad tracks so I could get a (very noisy) shot.

Dog park.

See what everyone else did at Six in the City.

fix it friday, vol. 7

This week was a bit of a challenge because of harsh shadows, but still fun to play with. I think the black and white or vintage suits this photo the best. What do you think?

        

you capture: yellow

This week's You Capture theme is yellow! And a sushi dinner with the cousins at Do in midtown made the perfect subject.

Oh man these are making me hungry. I think I could eat sushi for every meal.

before and after

No, we're not playing wheel of fortune.
We're playing before and after photo blog hop! Like I needed another one, right? This one is similar to fix it friday, but using your own photos. I like it. This one is hosted by Pixel Perfect.

So here's a photo of a baby Honey playing in her first snow. Taken last year before I knew a flip about Photoshop.

Ah, much better.

confession session

Promise not to judge?

If given the choice of a trip to Orlando or...say...Italy, I would choose Orlando. Hands down. And I've been to Italy. And it's amazing. But Orlando is magical.

Can we say Disney? Universal? Yes, I am an 8-year-old.

Somehow, in my couple dozen years, I've only been to Orlando four times. This is not nearly enough, I say.

The first time I was 4. I remember nothing.

Round 2 was when I was around 12. It was glorious.

Then several years later we made a Universal trip. Roller Coaster city. Loved it.

I was lucky enough to get an invite on another Disney trip three years ago. It was right after this baby opened for business.

I finally rode this.

As my best friend would say, it's the happiest place on earth when your family isn't tired and fighting.

And now that I have lots of time to travel (beginning in 8 days), and since Harry Potter world is about to open at Universal, I say it's the perfect time for another visit!

Plus Pioneer Woman is there this week, and all her posts are making me insanely jealous.

Btw, these were all taken with the trusty Cannon PowerShot SD500 Point and Shoot.

extra creamy ice cream

When I saw Darby's post on "magic" homemade ice cream, sans machine, I couldn't try it out fast enough. All you do is mix up some whipped cream, sour cream, vanilla, white chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk and salt. Then freeze and voila. Ice cream!

I doubled the recipe, then divided the mixture at the end to make all three varieties (vanilla, chocolate and mocha) by adding chocolate syrup and coffee powder.

Verdict? Success! This is different from normal ice cream, as to be expected. It's very rich, almost more like a mousse than ice cream. The recipe says to freeze six hours, but I snuck a spoonful and thought it was best after about four hours, when it was more of a frozen yogurt consistensy. But I will definitely make it again!

Maddi gave it a paws-up too.


Here's the recipe. It comes from Cook's Country Magazine, which sounds wonderful if it has more recipes like this.

1/2 c sweetened condensed milk
1 oz Gihardelli white chocoate chips (will seem like not enough, but that's right)
1 Tbs vanilla
Pinch salt
1/4 c sour cream
1+1/4 c heavy cream

Microwave condensed milk and white chocolate in large bowl until melted, about 30 seconds, stirring halfway. Let cool. Stir in vanilla, salt and sour cream. Whip cream to soft peaks. Whisk 1/3 cream into milk mixture. Fold in the rest. If desired, gently stir in chocolate syrup or coffee powder. Freeze six hours. Keeps two weeks.

Announcing...

Say hello to Whisker Snaps Photo, my new little business venture. Check it out here. If you know of anyone with furballs in the Memphis area, send them my way!

i heart faces - celebrating mom

Little Sal loves her Mom.

weekend snaps. 5/10/10

This weekend was a busy and fun {and sunny at last!} one filled with eating, farmers markets, babysitting, the dog park and celebrating Mom.

Go see what everybody else did this weekend at Six in the City.