Vacation in the Desert

Our family was lucky enough to go on vacation in the wonderful state of Arizona.  We rented a home  out in Peoria and we had a blast.  This was our first major family vacation with all of us there.  My sister Tara and her lovely family joined us and we enjoyed ourselves from sun up to sun down.
Aside from the gorgeous pool and hot tub in our back yard, we stayed in a lovely, spacious rental property owned by some fellow Canadians.  We had our fill of shopping and did some local touristy things too.  We spent a day at the Safari out north of Peoria and also took in the Aquarium at the Arizona Mall.  All in all we had a great time.  Here are a few pictures I was able to take.

We really enjoyed ourselves and would definitely return again.....maybe without the kids next time  :)

Week 12 - {{Books}}

Books

Something I used to be able to enjoy a lot more than I am able to now.  Kids, Family and business seem to take up more time than there are hours in a day.  I never imagined that I would be so very busy as a stay at home mom of one feisty little boy, but I am .    I guess running my business as well as my husbands business from home has been a challenge also. The quiet, un-interrupted time you get from a typical 9-5 job are few and far between as a home based business. I always thought I'd have skads of time to accomplish the day to day things, you know laundry, cleaning, banking and the likes, but it just isn't so.  I'm lucky to get a load of washing done, folded and put away in a 24 hr period. The reality of it is; I am more likely to have 6-8 heaping loads to do by weeks end and then I am scrambling around to get it all done, so I have clothes to wear as well as my hard working husband and my rough and tumble little boy.  ***SIGH***  Like I said just not enough hours in a day....which leads me back to these.

The pile of books left sitting on my dresser since last summer,waiting to be held, read and enjoyed.  Someday I will get around to picking them up again, hopefully it will be sooner rather than later.

Now you can continue on through our blog circle and check out the entries from everyone else.

You will find Christine Blaylock up next  :)

Thai Inspired Red Curry, Chicken and Coconut Soup

So lately I've had this great affection for coconut.  It began with my discovery of the Mediterranee, Liberte brand greek yogourt.  I have been enjoying a bowlful of this rich, creamy and delicious product on a daily basis.
After the yummy coconut and lime bundt cake I made , I figured I should make a more savoury dish with the super versatile coconut.  So a Red Curry, Chicken and Coconut soup seemed a great next step. It was super easy to make and delicious to boot.  Even my uber picky husband ate some and liked it!  If you'd like to enjoy this wonderful dish you can find it HERE

Enjoy some of this yummy Thai inspired cuisine, I encourage you to. 

Splash, Food Photography & Styling - Month 3

Hard to believe we are already into the month of March, my how times flies.

So onto our 3rd challenge in our Bloom Forum Group this was a fun and very challenging thing to do.  We all set out to capture the perfect splash.....seems like it might be easy, but it was tough.  I really struggled to get a perfect shot that was exciting and appealing while trying to perform all the necessary tasks myself.  Have you ever tried to drop an object into a glass full of liquid, while timing your shutter release to capture the precise moment for that perfect splash......I will tell you  it was not easy!
My son really wanted to be a helper, but lets face it a 2 1/2 yr old's aim is no better than my own and truthfully all he wanted to do was drink out of glass.  Oh well I tried.

I did learn some valuable lessons though, while trying to pull this off.

1. Make sure your camera is out of splash range.....mine took a little bath on my first day of shooting.  :(
2. A tripod is an absolute neccessity (at least it was to me).  Having your camera perched atop a wobbly table that itself is perched upon a dining room chair...not a great idea. 
3.Doing an exercise like this is better if you can do it outside.....my floors ended up with the majority of the liquid on them, which meant I had to mop up.  Oh well at least my floors are now clean....that's a bonus
4. Lots of light makes capturing the "Motin or Movement" of the splash better, you can see every little drip and drop when you have great lighting.
5. And just go with the flow, your not going to get a perfect shot on your first try.  Keep at it, we all started somewhere.  Have Fun!

Now I challenge you all to go out and try this yourself.  I'd love to see what you come up with.

This was my best  shot in my opinion.  I wish I'd have had more room at the top of  it  to get that entire splash  in the frame....








Here are a few outtakes from my sessions.

Not such an exciting splash.

Should have mopped up the table for this one....


I am having such great fun with this wonderful group of ladies.  Be sure to click on the link and continue around the circle to see everyone else's Splash pictures.

Here's where you can find Alison Jacobs, Orange CountyPhotographer and her Splash images.  Enjoy!

52 Fridays Week 11 - {{Green}}

So with St Patty's day around the corner I decided to make a fun cake with some "Green" inspiration.

I had some limes that needed to be used up so I went on a hunt to find a new and different recipe.  I wasn't after the typical Keylime Pie or Keylime Cheesecake....no I wanted something else.
 I am a frequent follower of the Honey & Jam Blog and found a Cake that used Limes & Coconut, so I gave it a whirl.  The cake itself is good and it was a great way to use up those poor pitiful looking limes.

And for those of you who might want to make this yummy cake for yourselves....

Key Lime Coconut Cake
Gourmet, March 2009 via Smitten Kitchen, Honey & Jam

I didn’t have key limes, so I used regular limes and they worked perfectly.
Serves 8.

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon grated Key lime zest
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups self-rising flour (or just add 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt to all purpose.)
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup fresh Key lime juice, divided
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon rum (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Generously butter an 8- by 8-inch square or 9- by 2-inch round cake pan and line bottom with a round of parchment paper.

Toast coconut in a small baking pan in oven, stirring once or twice, until golden, 8 to 12 minutes. Cool. Leave oven on.

Beat together butter, granulated sugar, and zest with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir together flour and 1/2 cup coconut (reserve remainder for topping). Stir together milk and 2 tablespoons lime juice. At low speed, mix flour and milk mixtures into egg mixture alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour.

Spoon batter into pan and smooth top. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool to warm, then turn out of pan and discard parchment.

Whisk together confectioners sugar, remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice, and rum (if using, if not use milk) and pour over cake. Sprinkle with remaining coconut.

Lets see what Kimberlee Edwards - Cary NC Photographer came up with for this week.

52 Fridays - Week 10 {{Your Season}}

March is here, but spring isn't.  I was wishing, hoping that we would see an early spring this year.  Our winter was so mild compared to other years, I thought for sure we were going to get lucky.....  I was wrong

Although the temperatures are relatively mild, the snow fall in the last 2-3 days has been unbelievable.  My husband the sled head is utterly thrilled, but me not so much.  The following picture is a typical shot of what we have been up against for the last 5 days or so.  Not crazy exciting, but a little glimpse into my backyard.

Now lets go to Kimberlee Edwards, Cary NC Photographer to see what she came up with for this week.  You can find her link  HERE

Week 8 - {{Time}}

Time......Time has taken it's toll on my Valentines Day Bouquet

Let's see what my friend  Erin Dahl, Memphis TN Lifestyle Photographer came up with for this week
HERE  
Make sure to check out all the great entries in our circle for this weeks theme.