A Thought Or Two About Eggs

I am a big fan of the egg. Cheese omelets were the only source of protein for the boy it seems. I know I seem obsessed with the boy’s eating habits but unless one has a uber picky eater, one doesn’t know the troubles I’m seen…

I know the boy has grown to be a big strapping young man. I will say this without any pride whatsoever; it is and will always be my biggest accomplishment in life. Because had it not been for the little egg, I swear the boy would be emaciated.

So it was very disconcerting when last month when eggs were being recalled left and right. To tell you the truth, I haven’t bought any eggs since then. It’s probably alright, America has the most sophisticated and trustworthy food system in the world. And there are many wonderful local producers. And I’m sure all the bad eggs (hehehe) have already been recalled. I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about, you should see the markets in Algeria. Do I sound like I’m trying to talk myself into this?

Anyway, anyone eating eggs now? Did anyone stop eating eggs for a while? Am I the only one?

If you reassure me that the danger has passed, I have the perfect recipe to try…

August 31, Summer’s Last Hurrah

Texture is from Shadowhouse Creations GM6.

There was no rhyme or reason for choosing this particular texture. The image was a little bit over-exposed so I suppose I wanted something to darken it. I like the edges and as you can see, I over extended it past the image a little bit.

This image to me is a little bit of summer and a little bit of fall…

Liz Printz Chesapeake Bay Sea Glass Jewelry

I admit I fall in love very easily. Over the course the last almost 20 years, I’ve fallen in and out of love with furniture, jewelry, plates, and anything that is old and from the specific country in which we were residing at the time. I know I have a problem and the only cure for it is – lack of funds.

Which was the reason why I didn’t buy everything on this stand. This is a little display at the local boutique called J Pink which I frequented a couple of months ago. I don’t trust myself to go back. The artist who was there that day specialized in jewelry made from claimed sea glass from the Chesapeake Bay. I loved the story, I loved reclamation of the environment and I loved the jewelry.

However, because a major piece was at the time out of my price range – darn budget – I only purchased a couple of little pendants. I then put the pendants on a chain I already had. Each one is unique and none is the same, I love that too. They were about $20 a piece.

I cannot stop thinking about the little necklace made of blue sea glass – probably some kind of beer bottle. See the dark green? It was probably a Heineken bottle. Though I detest the littering of the bay, I am happy that someone has the creativity and talent to create something this beautiful out of someone else’s carelessness. I looked all over the internet for Liz Printz and I finally found where she will be selling her wares next. I may just make the trip down there…

Don’t tell the husband ok?

August 30, Ruddy & Handsome

1. Duplicate layer – blending mode soft light, reduce opacity
2. Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Brightness Contrast  – increased brightness
3. Masked out the boy
4. Still not quite right so I ran MCP Action – Magic Fill Light
5. And even after all of that, I ran TRA’s Pool Party – reduce opacity
6. Added a vignette. I used TRA’s Burn Out but there’s a plethora of them out there.

The boy said last week over dinner, “Mama, I have something to ask…”

I looked at him expectantly.

“Nah, forget it.”

“No, ask, go ahead.”

“No, forget it.”

The husband said, “Well now you really need to say it.”

The boy, “It’s weird to ask you dad.”

“Okay…”

I said, “Go ahead bud, really.”

“Ok, am I cute?”

We stared at him. I wasn’t trying to parse my answer, since he obviously is cute, I was trying to choose my words carefully.

I said, “Yes, you are very cute. Why do you ask?”

He said, “Girls are treating me differently.”

The husband said, “You are very handsome.”

The boy, “See, I told you it would be weird to ask you.”

Not weird at all.

August 28, Every Street Corner

focal length: 18 mm
shutter speed: 1/6
aperture: f/3.5
ISO: 1600
exposure bias: -1.7
flash: not fired
location: Somewhere in the back alleys of historic Annapolis, MD.

This photo is SOOC. I stretched my little Nikon D40 to the maximum that it could do. There are many times that I wish I had a better camera. I’m human after all. But I still love my D40. It’s not much, but it’s all I have.

I really wanted to post photos of my kids getting on the bus on the first day of school instead. It’s a tradition to take photos on that big day but it’s embarrassing now that they are in high school.

It’s never stopped me before. I still may do it.

Thai Beef Salad or Waterfall Beef

Update: This post is updated for iHeartfaces beef challenge but it still remains a timeless favorite;)

One of my all time favorite dishes – ever – is Thai beef salad. I make it at home often and I order it in Thai restaurants whenever I have the opportunity to go. My mother makes the best beef salad but I do the best I can.

Disclaimer – if you are a vegetarian, this is definitely not the dish for you.

To make it truly authentic, you will need to make the ground rice. This can be done in one big batch and stored for later use. That being said, I make this dish many times without it. It can be time consuming and I’ll skip if I’m desperate and in a hurry. That being said, please know that it does add quite a bit of authenticity to the salad if you take the time and make it.

Ground rice:

Brown some rice on the stove top. This is only about a half a cup but you can do as much as you want and put it aside.

Increase the heat until the rice begins to look brown. You must stir constantly. This is important. Do not walk away to finish a load of laundry. Trust me.

Once the rice is a nice brown color, take it off the stove and let cool. Once it’s cool, you can put it in a grinder/mixer and ground the rice to a fine but not too powdery mix. There should be small pieces of rice for texture.

You can put the rice in a container and put it aside to store or you can go ahead and make the rest of the dish.

I use a London Broil cut because it’s affordable and what my mother used:) If however, you are feeling frisky and rich, go for a nicer cut.

This is a three pound piece of meat. I know it’s a lot but I put the rest aside for leftovers.

Now we chop.

1. Chop a bundle of well washed cilantro, more if you like.
2. Chop red onion into slivers.
3. Chop the mint.
4. Cut cherry tomatoes in half.
5. Chop the hot peppers into small pieces.

Speaking of peppers…this is definitely one ingredient that you can moderate according to you own taste. Our household (everyone but the boy) can eat very spicy food. If you are not as experienced with it, put in only what you are comfortable with. I am not going to post a quantity for how much pepper to put in. It’s up to you.

If you don’t have small Thai peppers as shown in the photo, you can use whatever pepper you like. Last week, I used McCormick ground pepper. Works just fine! Mint as shown here is also something that you can choose to put in if you can find it. My yard was overgrown with it for a period of time.

Ingredients:

1. 2 1/2 pounds of beef (London Broil)
2. 1/2 cup Thai fish sauce
3. 1/4 cup water
4. Juice of one lime (here’s how you cut that lime.)
5. 2 – 3 tablespoons of chopped Thai hot peppers (or any other pepper to taste.)
6. 2 cups chopped cilantro
7. 2 cups thinly sliced red onion
8. 1 cup chopped fresh mint
9. 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
10. 1/4 cup ground rice

Directions:

Grill or broil the beef. Be careful to not over-cook it. Leave some pink in the middle.

Slice the beef into small slivers being careful to discard any fat.

Put in the fish sauce, water and juice of one lime. Toss well (sometimes I’ll use my hands.) Put in ground rice. Toss well. Put in the peppers. Toss well. Put in all chopped and prepared vegetables. Toss well.

I make it for guests quite often and they love it! Even some of the boys at the lake ate it. You gotta try it.

August 27, Teach Me The Way That Is Good And Right

I love this perfect moment where we settle into a routine. Both the boy and the girl have started school and for the moment at least, seem content in their classes and their teachers. After much suspense the girl has made the field hockey team – it’s a big deal and a big dent in our schedule. I have worked out a carpool with our wonderful neighbors so that will really help. I encouraged her to step back from riding. She can’t handle this fast-paced schedule and lets face it – I can’t either.

I won’t post the photo edit this morning. Rather, I will give you a link to a favorite black and white action, B’s Vanilla Black & White. I used it to edit this photo. It is a tinge warmer than a high-key type of black and white. I really love it. It is a free action and though there is a lot to be wary of on the internet, I downloaded this particular action with no problems (or bugs.) You can find it at atn central, a plethora of free actions – some are really great, some not so great, but it’s fun to look.

Team Up Thursday – Old

It’s time for Team Up Thursday again!

This week’s Team Up Thursday theme is “Old.” Above is Kristina’ photo. Her computer with her photo editing software crashed. She has given me the ultimate trust to edit her photos for her until she is up and running again. This is akin to giving someone permission to watch your child. It’s big, Thank you Kristina for that trust.

She took this with her point and shoot, wow. This is a renovated historical building in her city. It’s now a night club but still has the charm of yesteryear I think.

I edited it with:

1. B’s Vanilla B&W. It is one of my all time favorite black and white actions.
2. Warmed it with an orange color overlay with opacity somewhere in the 20’s.
3. Added grain

Here’s the SOOC.

Thanks Kristina, I hope you like what I did.

Here’s mine.

This is my mother-in-law. She recently moved back to Indiana after living in Florida for almost 30 years. I can’t even tell you her story yet. It’s too sad. She is among family so that is the wonderful part of the change.

I edited the photo with B’s Vanilla B&W.

Find more fun diptychs at Melody and Megan’s. It’s a little happy creative exercise for me and nice way to meet new friends. Happy Thursday!

August 26, From The Depths

My mother would eat these unopened lily pods. I didn’t have time to try them myself.

Edited with:

1. PW’s Lovely and Ethereal
2. Lightened with Curves
3. Gaussian Blur at 2 pixels
4. Masked out the pod

Voila!

August 25, Consider The Lilies

The water lilies that is…

This is a protected water reserve at Lake Tippecanoe, Indiana. It’s a wonderful place to take a paddle boat or a kayak.

1. Edited with Coffee Shop Golden Vintage.
2. Vintage layer set at 50%.
3. Topaz Adjust Color Blast filter.

Today I’m at Vision and Verb. Please visit…

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