Caption This Photo

This look on Dazie’s face is exactly how I feel.

What would your caption be for this photo?

I need a good laugh so please be creative.

Hot Cars

(click on the photo to enlarge it)

(click on the photo to enlarge it)

I guess I’ll shoot just about anything if given the opportunity. These cars were just too shiny and special not to document.

Tasty Tuesday: Super Sweet & Sticky Smores

S’mores make me happy. My s’mores make me even happier. Super simple and extra sweet. If I’m at home I just pop them in my toaster oven or the regular oven (if it’s not summer). These are the perfect ending to any day. Kids LOVE them too and become forever enchanted by whoever makes them for them.

Preparation Notes:

1. Prepare your cookie sheet or toaster oven rack with foil before making these. You need something to catch all the stickiness with.

2. Make a lot of these!

The How To:

1. Get your graham cracker square and place a couple squares of chocolate on top of it (any chocolate you want-I use Hershey’s).

2. Top that with a generous drizzle of honey (any kind you like).

3. Pop a marshmallow on top.

4. Pop in your toaster oven and watch closely until the marshmallow turns golden brown like in the photograph below.

5. Carefully remove from the oven and drizzle a small amount of honey on the top.

6. Place 1 more graham cracker on top. Now…gently squish the insides till they’re compacted together with the sticky honey, soft marshmallows and creamy chocolate all becoming one.

The stickiness will make you happy if you’re any fun at all.

Make all the adults s’mores with 2 marshmallows on top and all the kids s’mores with only 1 marshmallow on top. When the kids ask why they didn’t get two…make up something funny to tell them. If you don’t have a sense of humor and mess up the punch line they’ll hate you forever, but that will be okay with you because you will have double the marshmallows they do!

When people mention heaven on earth to me…I’m like “oh…more s’mores, no problem”!

The best treats are always a bit messy. Eat. Enjoy. Repeat as necessary.

As always you can click on the photos above to really torture yourself!

4th of July

A couple of my readers emailed me prior to the holiday and asked what I was going to be cooking on the 4th for the BBQ I was attending. I didn’t decide until the last minute so here’s the what I ended up making (I know it’s a bit late-sorry)!

White chocolate cake truffles with spice cake and honey inside. They were a hit big hit and so festive too!

If you haven’t made your own version of these cake truffles yet you are missing out on one of the best tasting desserts around. There are fun to make too! I remembered to show you the inside this time…so moist, so sweet and so fantastic!

Next dish was my own roasted potato, green bean, asparagus and bacon salad. I add in fresh rosemary, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, grated parmesan and salt and pepper for a light twist on the traditional mayo smothered potato salads. This potato salad was gone before I could get seconds of it. I served it cold this time, but it can be served warm too. Love versatile dishes like this one!

Then I had to try something different…THIS hot olive & artichoke dip. Of course I changed it up some and threw it in my mini crock pot instead of turning on the oven. I also let it slow cook for about an hour and a half and then added a crusty top to it by chopping up some garlic and herb homemade croutons. I forgot to take a photo after it was bubbly and extra wonderful because I was busy enjoying some. It was so flavorful and comforting!

This year’s bbq was so HUGE and FUN. We had everything from ribs, super tender specialty steaks, corn, baked beans, mac-n-cheese, pasta salads, cake, fruit salads, rolls, green salad and homemade coleslaw.  Here’s a snapshot I grabbed of three of my nephews watching the firework show set off by family & friends.

This is a group shot of all the kids that came to enjoy a safe holiday…you can tell by the amount of kids alone how big of a party this was. So many good times all packed into one day!

I hope you all enjoyed the holiday as much as we did!

Be Proud

Happy Independence Day! Celebrate and always remember…

“True independence and freedom can only exist in doing what’s right”.

-Brigham Young

We only have one life to live and one chance to make a difference worth being proud of!

Be safe…

My Wonderwall

I love how my Zelda Bell is always 100% confident with herself. She is so consistent in the way she gives love & accepts love. Every part of her is precious and wonderful. The next few photographs are a little tribute to her because I love her so very much. My heart is full just thinking about all the little details she is made up of.

(Slideshow Link Included at the Bottom of this Post for more of Zelda)

Yes…I know she needs a her nails done! What of it?!

Click right here to visit Zelda Bell’s super special slideshow. SO CUTE!

City Views

There is something so impressive about looking at a city from up high above all the action. There’s a stillness you get when you’re beyond the movement of people, cars and operational sounds.

Some people pay top dollar for that stillness to be a regular part of their lives. The stillness reminds them of peace. We all know that peace cannot be bought. It comes and goes with every breath we take and whether we are in stillness or commotion we have peace or don’t. It lives inside our hearts.

 

Sneak Peek: Brittany

Tasty Tuesday: 6 Ingredient Chicken Salad

This is the easiest chicken salad mix you can make. It’s also one of the tastiest you can make. There’s a secret ingredient that really produces the most perfect infusion of flavor inside the mixture.

To make my personal favorite chicken salad mix you simply mix the right amounts of the following ingredients and enjoy!

Chopped Cooked Chicken

Chopped Celery

Garlic Powder (secret ingredient)

Pepper

Salt

&

Mayo

I’m not sure why the garlic powder makes this salad so great, but it does. I think it’s the fine grade of the powder that gets into every crevis of the salad that does the trick.

If you don’t want too much crunch…substitute the celery for green onions.

Serve over a bed of greens, lettuce, on your favorite bread or as I do…with crackers.

Revisiting Last Summer

This shot still pleases me. I’m not sure why I didn’t post the color version last summer.

I will be shooting more of Chelsie this summer…check back often.

I’ve had some technical issues on the blog recently…if you’re noticing  missing comments or posts. I’ll be working it all out…I hope!

Nisha

I’m really into black & white processing lately. I guess because it seems so timeless. Nisha is head to toe the most stylish model. 

Lovin’ them lookin’ straight at each other.

I think this is my favorite…the fire escapes in the background and her casual pose give it lots of uncomplicated character.

Up close and beautiful…

Tasty Tuesday: Triple Threat Chocolate Truffles

If I wasn’t being good I’d be eating these. I made them a couple months back for no good reason except just to try them out after seeing similar ones here and here. They have been called cake balls, cake bombs and cake truffles all over the net. My coworkers just ask me for more of those “wonderful cake thingies from that one time”. I just smile because I have tons of variations in mind for future platters of cake truffles. These were triple chocolate flavored and will probably always remain my favorite type.

I forgot to slice into one so you could see the moist cake inside…how could I forget such an important thing?! I actually piped a chocolate filling into each chocolate cake truffle after forming them into balls, but right before dipping them into the candy chocolate coating. I know it’s hard to imagine how yummy that turned out…the insides literally melted in my mouth.

I had extra chocolate and sprinkles so I dipped some pretzels for the kids. They were happy I didn’t let any chocolate go to waste!

Making these is a sure fire way to make new friends!

Gentle Leader

When I walk down the street with Zelda and she’s wearing her gentle leader people are so frightened by the way she looks. I love using it when I’m not up for a challenging walk or when Zelda hasn’t been out walking for a few days. If you have an extremely strong dog that likes to pull, you might want to try the gentle leader. It looks like a muzzle, but IS NOT one. Zelda can bark, eat and accept treats while using her gentle leader. If she happens to pull too much while we’re walking, a light tug on the leash will give some gentle pressure on calming points around her throat. If you have a smart dog like Zelda…your dog won’t pull while wearing the gentle leader. Dogs learn so fast!

I gotta go…Zelda is ready for our walk now.

Happy Father’s Day Weekend to all the DESERVING DADS out there. I hope your kids are doing something special for you!

My Sis

Love how peaceful this photograph of my sister turned out. The bokeh came out beautiful, grainy and lovely. Stephanie looks exquisite!

(click on  the photo to enlarge it)