Horse Photoshoot

My friend Michelle owns a HORSE!! A real live horse who lives at a beautiful farm. Perfect opportunity for a photoshoot!

Tip #1: Moving objects are not the easiest things to learn how to photograph, but you can still have fun anyways.

(crop out my shadow and this picture's not too bad).

I didn't play around with as many settings as I would have liked too because let's be honest, when a horse is running straight towards you, your priorities shift a little bit. I did figure out, however, that because it was so bright outside (with the snow and sun) I was able to have a fairly quick shutter speed.

We started out in a barn and the lighting was super frustrating so while I was trying to find a good shutter speed (aka, button pushing until I figured out what some settings actually affected) I made an awesome "whoops-photo" that turned out super cool.

Now, if I could only do this on purpose. Also, I am wanting his eye to be a little more glossy looking so I might play around with the limited photoshop I have to create the glistening look I want. I'm going to have to look at a my camera to see the specs on this picture. I would love it if I could recreate this, on purpose.


 I gave up trying to set my camera to be able to shoot the indoor/outdoor lighting that the barn was offering so I went outside to see what other farm animals I could find.

Cuties!

I still have sooo much to learn about apertures, and which lens to use and lighting and movement stuff. So, I will just show some of my favorite pictures of the day!

Beautiful

Things are getting a little artsy...If you look reallly closely you can see me in the reflection of his eye!

I love Michelle's expression in this one. Gorgeous!

Starting to figure out how to focus on what I want to focus on, not what the camera wants to focus on.

This ones cool! I love how the white on his face looks against the white snow. I also like how you can see his feet in this one. Pretty good angle, I think.

Focused on the Barbs!

Two fluffy cats and a horse!

...still working out how to get the full silhouette effect.

This picture is awesome. However, I don't like how I feel like I'm going to fall off the earth when I look at it... So I straightened things out a bit...

Ah... That's much better.

I love how you can see the snow splashing up around his hooves. And his tail looks pretty neat too!

Custom fence = custom photo

Pretty good for one of my first photo shoots.... and one last one for the bloopers....

You just can't plan for a shot like this! Makes me laugh out loud every time I look at it!

Thanks for the great day at the farm, Michelle! It's day's like this that get me so excited for the day when I will own my own farm and can spend sunny days outside appreciating the little things like goofy horse faces and beautiful friends. Can't wait for the next photoshoot.

Roasted Tomatoes with Shallots and Herbs

I made these tasty little treats to go along with the delicious Roasted Salmon with Citrus and Herbs. These tomatoes were super easy!

Roasted Tomatoes with Shallots and Herbs
4 medium tomatoes, cut in half horizontally
1/2 tsp salt, divided
cooking spray
1/4 cup minced shallots
1 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp chopped fresh or 1/4 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp chopped fresh or 1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp chopped fresh or 1/8 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Core and seed tomato halves. Sprinkle cut sides of tomato halves with 1/4 tsp salt. Place tomato halves, cut sides down, on paper towels. Let stand 20 minutes.
3. Place tomato halves, cut sides up, in a 13x9 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 tsp salt, shallots, and next 5 ingredients. Drizzle with oil. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr, 15 mins or until tomatoes soften.

Notes:
-Compare and contrast Shallots and Onions?
  Shallots and Onions both make your eyes water, badly.
  Shallots and Onions both look the same when 'finely chopped'.
  Shallots are found beside the garlic in the grocery stores, Onions are found beside the potatoes.
  If you really want to know the difference check out this website. Little F.F. for ya (fun fact). Now you know...thank you Wiki Answers.
-These tomatoes are BURSTING with flavor! They could be very versatile if you want to create your own special blend of herbs to put on these bad boys. Another fun addition may be adding some version of nuts to the tops.
-1 hr and 15mins is a long time to wait for tomatoes to bake. Next time I might try a combo of baking and broiling to make the process go quicker.
-Delicious and Nutritious!
 

Roasted Salmon with Citrus and Herbs

It's SUNDAY! Time for a new recipe. From the best of Cooking Light: everyday favorites this Salmon recipe is one I will definitely be making again. I love Salmon (it's my go to meal at any restaurant - that's how much I love it), and this Salmon recipe is definitely in the top 3 Salmons I've ever had. (#1 being a $42 fillet at a Vegas restaurant which better make the #1 spot if I'm going to pay that much for a dinner on a students budget). Considering my love for Salmon, choosing this recipe was still somewhat of a risk... there was no picture in the cookbook for reference (huge risk, I know). But turns out, it was a great Salmon. Even without seeing a picture of it first.

Roasted Salmon with Citrus and Herbs
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp grated lemon rind
2 tsp grated lime rind
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 salmon fillet
cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Combine first 7 ingredients in a small bowl. Place salmon on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Rub parsley mixture over salmon. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.

Notes:
-This salmon was soooo good. The lemon, lime, parsley, and thyme smelled absolutely amazing when combined together! If summer could be put into a bowl and spread on a salmon, this would be the recipe. Very light and super tasty.
-Fresh thyme is interesting to 'chop'. I found that more of a 'picking-the-leaves-off' technique worked best.
-Actually measure the salt. Don't guess a teaspoon.
-I didn't know 'doneness' is a word.

Also shown in the pictures is the side dish: Roasted Tomatoes with Shallots and Herbs. See other post for this recipe. (I highly recommend you check this recipe out.)

Project: Baby Quilt

Who doesn't like baby quilts? No one, that's who. However, none of my friends are having babies yet, so it would seem strange to just start marking baby quilts and not giving them to anyone.

But, life goes on, people get pregnant and soon enough I'm bound to know one of these 'pregnant people'. My friends' sister is due near the end of January, so my friend and I have been working on a quilt to give to the 'baby momma' as a gift.(By the way, today she had the BABY BOY!!! So today is the perfect day to post the post!)

If you've ever shopped for baby fabrics you probably said "awwwwww!" or "That's so cute" at least 1,000 times more than the general public. I'm pretty sure I said "awwwwwwww! Look at how cute this one is!" at every bolt of fabric with pastelly colour tones in it.

This quilt it gender neutral, (my money is on Girl, though....Obviously I was wrong), so I got to pick out lots of yellows, and greens, and browns. I also decided to pick out different textured materials, like the bumpy green one, flannel, and shaggy yellow. I should mention now that I did all my shopping at Joanne's Fabric store in the USA. As if the US prices weren't good enough, it was also midnight madness and the entire store was on sale.

 Pretty simple square design. I tried to make the corners fancy....I probably won't be doing this again. The edge was pretty bunged up. Next time I will be using a 3" binding. At least until I get better at doing bindings.

See, "AWWWWWWWW, super cute!"
Hopefully I can make many more baby quilts in the future!

Project: N.R.S. (new recipe sunday)

I have a lot of Recipe Books.  I can't resist looking through all the pictures of tasty treats, and succulent desserts. The thing is, I never actually use the cook books. When it comes time to cook something, I just "google" it. So my next project is a little bit old school. I am going to start using my cook books every Sunday. One new recipe, once a week.

Just click on the "Recipes" link at the top of the page. 

Lasagna Rolls with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

From Best of Cooking Light:
 
Lasagna:
8 uncooked lasagna noodles
4 tsps olive oil
1/2 c finely chopped onion
1 (8-oz) package presliced mushrooms
1 (6-oz) package baby spinach
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 c ricotta cheese
1/4 c minced fresh basil, divided
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

Sauce:
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (7-oz) bottle roasted red bell peppers, undrained
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper

 To prepare Lasagne: cook noodles, drain and rinse noodles under cold water. Drain.

 Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, mushrooms, spinach, and 3 garlic cloves, saute 5 minutes or until onion and mushrooms are tender. Remove from heat, stir in cheeses, 2 tablespoons basil, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp crushed peppers.

 To prepare sauce, place vinegar and next 6 ingredients in a blender. (I used my handheld bamix. Great addition to any kitchen). Process until smooth.

Place cooked noodles on a flat surface, spread 1/4 c cheese mixture over each noodle. Roll up noodles. Place rolls, seam sides down, in a shallow 8x8 microwave safe dish.

Pour sauce over the rolls and cover with plastic wrap.  Microwave at HIGH for 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tbsp of basil.

Very yummy dish! The crushed red pepper adds a little bit of a kick. I will definitely be making this one again. Great flavor!

Note: Roasted red peppers were very hard to find, FYI-planet organic has roasted red peppers in really cute little jars.

Project: Christmas Cards

Confession: I feel guilty throwing away Greeting Cards. No matter what the card says, or why it was given to me there is always a lengthy process that goes into throwing away cards. The first step in this process is, of course, just storing the cards away in a drawer for a while. Then, when it comes time to clean that drawer I have to re-read every single card and relive the occasion it was intended for. After wasting all that time and still not having cleaned the drawer, I must decide which ones will stay and which ones will go...for now. I call this the 'first cut'. For the cards that don't make 'the cut' they will either end up in the 'could probably scrapbook with this pile', the 'I'm only throwing it out because they didn't write enough in it pile', or the 'I guess I'll just throw it back in the drawer again... pile'. And there ya have it, the lengthy process starts all over again.

However, instead of throwing away all my Christmas cards this year (and lets be honest, this is the first year I've actually gotten enough Christmas cards to craft with), I decided to make a "Card Book". Easiest Wednesday night craft, ever!

All you need is all your cards, some thick thread, and a needle.

 ...Yup, that's a Santa taking a poop down a chimney... Funniest card we got all season.

This is what it said inside ---->

Start by weaving the thread through the spine of the cards, there isn't really a wrong way to do it.

  There ya have it, Card Book.