You're eating WHAT?

Do you have a favorite food that is a bit strange? Maybe a food that mainstream America might raise an eyebrow over? Here's one of ours: Ghorma Sabzi I know, I know, you just said to yourself, "You're eating WHAT?" (see I told you!) Ghorma Sabzi is a popular Iranian stew made of beans, chopped vegetables, dried lemon and meat, cooked in a certain order, mixed together and cooked again to be served with white Basmati rice. Mike had it in a Persian restaurant once and immediately set off on a 5 year quest to track down the recipe and it's ingredients (cuz let me tell you, some of these items ain't from grandma's kitchen......well....unless your grandma was Persian, I guess.) I have finally perfected this 2 page recipe and day-long cooking process. I won't bore you with the recipe itself, but here are a few photos: First of all you need 6 large bunches of Italian Parsley and 6 bunches of cilantro - chopped fine. (See I told you this is an odd stew --before this, I thought parsley was only used as a plate decoration!) Other ingredients are kidney beans, lemon juice, turmeric, lots of cinnamon, dried lemons, several varieties of onion, fenugreek, ground sumac and beef. (I had to find a Persian market to buy some of this stuff.) The stew ingredients are first cooked separately: Then everything is combined and simmered for hours (the crock pot is perfect for this part!) By dinnertime, everything has mellowed into deliciousness! (and actually on day two it's even better!) Serve this stew over Basmati rice and add a sprinkle of ground sumac on the top. Ahhh.....life don't get much better than this.......!

Up close (and personal?)

Back with a few more pics from my first session with my early birthday present (My new 2x Extender.) Isn't this mourning dove just the sweetest? These little lizards abound in our backyard. The extender adds A LOT more detail.

Early Birthday Presents

How do you feel about early birthday presents? Generally, I am against them. Seems like someone's actual birthday should be the day they recieve lots and lots of special attention including cards, gifts, and surprises.... HOWEVER, if it is MY early birthday present then I am all for it! Yay! My most wonderful, thoughtful, romantic and clever husband surprised me with an early birthday present of a Canon 2x Extender. What does that do you might wonder....? Well, lemme show you! First, here it is about to be attached to my camera: Then you attach your lens to that extender: What does it do? Well- it magnifies everything x2! (You can also buy x 1.4 as well.) So my 100-400 lens is now an 800mm. WOW! Here are two photos taken from the same spot of the same bird: Without extender: And with my new extender: Wow, huh? Tune in tomorrow for some more photos of that beautiful little mourning dove and a spunky little lee-zard who was taking a sunbath in my backyard. "The best birthdays of all are those that haven't arrived yet." ~ Robert Orben

Eat dessert first!

Of course you may eat dessert first only if you are a mom. This rule does NOT apply to teenagers (got that, Matt?) Our photo challenge for the week was dessert. (Tasty little topic, huh?) This is a standard ole chocolate cake with extra chocolate chunks inside and drizzled down the sides. It is simply, but tastefully (and I mean that in the literal sense) decorated with cherries. (Cherries are ALWAYS a good thing! Try to add them to anything and everything you can!) The most important thing to note though, is that by adding cherries, the whole cake now falls into the "fruit food group." Isn't that cool how that works out....? (Stick with me, I'll take good care of you!) "Life is just a bowl of cherries, don't take it serious, it's mysterious. Life is just a bowl of cherries, so live and laugh and laugh at love, love a laugh, laugh and love.” Bob Fosse

Mirror, mirror on the wall......

Uh oh....big confrontation at our house! We had an old mirror sitting outside waiting to be donated -- well it apparently caused some conflict between a Brown-Headed Cowbird and his arch-nemesis! This poor little guy spent a few minutes challenging his enemy until we finally covered up the mirror for fear he was going to have a heart attack. We do occassionally see behavior like this from sparrows looking at themselves in the reflection of our windows....have you ever noticed this? By the way - I just have to share an interesting fact I discovered as I was researching this bird and I can't help grimacing at it:

"The female Brown-headed Cowbird searches for nests in which to lay her eggs. Upon choosing a nest, she removes one egg of the host's, and deposits one of her own in its place. The young cowbird is so much larger than the young of the host that it crowds and starves them out."

Ummm....Gross!

Hang onto your eggs, Pam

Wait -- stop the presses! We have new information (thanks, Joann.) The bird is, in fact, a California Towhee - so don't worry about holding on to your eggs! Whew.

Illumination - Lesson 3

Remember I took that class on lighting last month and promised that I would teach you everything I learned? Okay, so far we've had 2 lessons on how to properly flash people ...um....well....how to properly USE YOUR FLASH. (is that better?)

We've talked about off camera flash and fill flash. Here are the links in case you need a quick review. Illumination Lesson 1 -Off Camera Flash Illumination Lesson 2 - Fill Flash Today we're going to talk about ignoring those first two lessons! (gasp!) Sometimes it is beautiful when you don't use a flash! You will end up with a striking silhouette! This is very easy to do - even with a point and shoot camera! Just point the center of the viewfinder at the sky, push the button halfway to allow the camera to 'read' the light from your sky only - then keep the button pushed and recompose the shot. Make sure you force the flash off.

“There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky; there is one spectacle grander than the sky, that is the interior of the soul” Victor Hugo

Daily Rules from God

Daily Rules from God 1. Wake Up!! Decide to have a good day. "Today is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalms 118:24 2. Dress Up!! The best way to dress up is to put on a smile. A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance; but the Lord looks at the heart." I Samuel 16:7 3. Shut Up!! Say nice things and learn to listen. God gave us two ears and one mouth, so He must have meant for us to do twice as much listening as talking. "He who guards his lips guards his soul." Proverbs 13:3 4. Stand Up!! For what you believe in. Stand for something or you will fall for anything.. "Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good..." Galatians 6:9-10 5. Look Up!! To the Lord. "I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me." Phillippians 4:13 6. Reach Up!! For something higher. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, And He will direct your path." Proverbs 3:5-6 7. Lift Up!!Your Prayers. "Do not worry about anything; instead PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING." Phillippians 4:6

Books, Friends and Dessert!

Those are the three MUST HAVE ingredients for the perfect book club! My book club meets once a month on a Friday afternoon to chat about a book then enjoy coffee and dessert. The rather unique thing is that we always gear our dessert to fit the theme of the book. Sometimes an ingredient is mentioned in the story, sometimes the dessert is from the country the book is set in, occassionally even the dessert itself is spelled out in the story. It's fun to plan if you are the host, and if you are not the host, it's fun to guess what it might be. It was my turn to host this month. Our book was about the building of the Taj Mahal- the novel "Beneath a Marble Sky" by John Shors. I served Mango and Creme Pie (a version of Mango Kulfi) from India. Well, it was delish, if you don't mind me sayin' so. "A house without books is like a room without windows." Heinrich Mann

The Ultimate Toy?

The water department made some underground repairs to our street recently. Since I have resolved myself to sharing a photo a day with you, I quickly grabbed my camera to document the BIG TIME excitement. I missed the major earth moving, but I was there when they came back to pick up the steel plate. It struck me that this is the ultimate Tonka Truck for grown-ups! (I bet this guy has the favorite job of the whole department) The plate before: Then the driver manipulated that crane with the most awesome computer slung over his shoulder. (He never turned around for me to take a proper picture of it though darn it.) Cool Stuff! And there you have it! Tonka Toys for grown-ups!

How much wood would a wood chuck.....

Can you finish that tongue-twister and then say it fast three times? Just checking. Did you know that keeping your brain cells working is another service I offer my readers? And it's all for free! Whadda deal! The reason I'm thinking about wood is because the photo challenge for this week is WOOD. I thought about looking around for a wood chuck chucking wood, but since that might be hard to find, I picked something else (and to tell you the truth, I don't really even know what a wood chuck looks like!) Kidding aside, I knew right away what I would photograph since I've needed to take this picture for a couple of months now.... Matthew earned his Black Belt in Taekwondo about 2 months ago. Since he had to break eight boards as part of his test, I wanted a photo of the broken boards alongside his new black belt for my scrapbook. So there it is...broken wood. Hold on though....since I am PROUDMOM, I am required by law to include a few shots from the black belt test showing some of the ways he had to break the boards. (I do try to offer you a complete learning experience, you know.) I don't know the exact names of the kicks, since I don't speak Korean, but this is a jumpy-sort of breaking technique: This is a fist sort of break: This is a spinning sort of kicking break: And this is the result of the spinning sort of kicking break! And whatever you do, DO NOT TELL MATTHEW I'VE POSTED THESE.......shhhhh.....you know teenagers.......shhhhhhh....if you happen to bump into him, just act casual and don't break under the pressure of it all... BE STRONG for me, Pam PS: My mom instantly knew the rest of the tongue-twister mentioned in the title. My dad, however, hadn't ever heard it. So here it is in case you aren't familiar with it: "How much wood would a wood chuck chuck, if a wood chuck could chuck wood."

Come for coffee!

Thought I would invite all my faithful readers over to my house for coffee and dessert! Are you free today around 1:00? Here's what I've whipped up for you to enjoy with a steaming cup o java: Alright.......I can not tell a lie. I didn't really make all those desserts (gasp!) They were all prepared by the good folks at Champagne Bakery where Wendy, Betsy and I met for breakfast the other day. But you're still welcome to stop by at 1:00 for a cup of coffee...... "Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart." ~Erma Bombeck

See Matt Go

Hey Look! A trail! Let's go, Matt. Let's go hike that trail. Climb, Matt, climb. See the view? Nice, nice view. Let's go. Let's go home now, Matt. The End. ***This story was brought to you by our sponsor for this hike: Round Table Pizza. *Matt wouldn't have gone hiking with me if I hadn't bribed him with a follow-up

all-you-can-eat pizza and salad bar lunch! Ahhh, the trials of motherhood....

Chicago!

Chi-ca-go! Did you know that's the sound of the call of the California Quail? Saw this beautiful male on our backyard fence; he was up there claiming his territory and marching around to keep watch while his little women were eating the seed we put on the ground for them. This second photo makes me think his mama must have told him, "Always check both ways before crossing." In the third shot, it's okay to cross. I just love his smug, happy little expression in this shot! I wish you could see the silly little way that black plume bobs up and down as he walks! Want to hear his call? First you'll hear a few tweets from a different bird. Then you'll hear the quail's common chatter twice, then his "Chi-ca-go" call 3 times. Alright now, admit it, it sounds just like 'Chicago' doesn't it? (You gotta start trusting me on stuff like this!)

Old Time Fun

Old Poway Park is a sweet little historical park not far from here. It is home to a museum, an old one room school house, antiques and a train. It's cool that you might see a lady in 1800's garb talking to a group of school kids and a spiky looking teenager practicing skateboard tricks on the same visit-- this park has it all! I was there not to skateboard, as I'm sure you first imagined, but on a quest to complete the photo assignment for the week. Never fear - I was not risking my life on the train tracks! The train only chugs around the park on the weekends- I'll come back another time for a photo of that. I DO want to keep you informed! The next 2 photos, of old wagon parts, are the ones I decided to enter for the assignment: "Photograph Junk" Funny - a hundred years ago wind power was popular, but technology took over. Now the government is offering huge tax incentives to get people to switch back! (Hmmm...maybe we could solve the gas shortages by going back to horse-drawn carriages! Giddy-up!) Can you spare the time for a few railroad jokes? Why is the railroad angry? Because people are always crossing it! Why can't the engineer be electrocuted? Because he's not a conductor! What is the difference between a school teacher and a steam locomotive? The school teacher tells you to spit out your gum, while the locomotive says "Choo Choo Choo!" Oh ha ha....hee hee....oh I just bet you are rolling around on the floor right now.....! (Sorry, I'm pathetic, I know....but you love me anyway...right?...Right?...um..... hello out there???) Have a fun day!