My Meatball Recipe

I love meatballs. I do. I prefer them made out of ground turkey with spinach mixed in. But every once in a while, I make them from ground beef. I only buy ground beef from Costco. That's my first secret. My second secret?

French's Fried Onions. They help with adding taste & texture. In the past, I've used bread crumbs and Saltine Crackers, but I've found the fried onions taste the best.

In a large bowl, I mix the ground beef (about a pound), seasonings (Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Oregano, Parmesan Cheese and Worcestershire sauce), and one large egg (helps to bind). If you don't have fried onions, use a real onion, diced - and either bread crumbs or crackers. For me, the fried onions cuts down on an ingredient. Love that! ;)

I then combine all of the ingredients and mold my mixture into decent sized (not too large) balls. (No, I did not type that with a straight face.) I add them to a heated pan, with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

I then brown them, cover and cook them until they are done. About 10 minutes or so. And that's it! Super easy and super tasty!

This time I paired the meatballs with pasta and red sauce. A quick dinner that everyone loves.

A Tale of Two Spideys

Nico received a Spider Man mask for his birthday. And a second one for Christmas. He loves costumes!
The weather was kinda perfect this weekend... so I made the kids go out to play.

Nico was excited to see a few kids at the park and immediately went to grab his masks in hopes that they would play with him. Of course, by the time he got there, the parents were pulling the kids away. :(

That just about broke my heart. But, Alex stepped in - ran over to the park - and proceeded to engage his brother in some Spidey fighting.

They spent a good while out there - special quality time between brothers.

I love that Nic likes to dress-up in costume! I hope he stays like this for a long time to come!

Our Very Merry Christmas | 2012

I like to think that everyone enjoyed their Christmas this year. While it was the first without my grandpa - and that was hard - we still were blessed to have my grandma join us again for Christmas morning. As per usual, Mom made fab food and I provided the OJ. ;) Okay, I did make breakfast burritos.

If you remember last year - we had a new puppy for Christmas (well, we got her the week before). She's now a year old and still so cute. She's the lighter one and Ellis is her sister (not real sisters, but you know what I mean).

To add to the fun, my parents brought along their new puppies!! Jack B (as in Jack Bauer, as in 24) and Zoey are about 8 weeks old and are lab mixes.

They went in for Zoey - and came out with Jack, too. Jack was the runt of the litter, and they couldn't pass him up!

All-in-all, people were spoiled, loved, and filled with Joy. Which makes for a pretty perfect Christmas.

Cheese is the Word

Since just before my birthday earlier this month, I've had the privilege to do a few photo shoots for friends and family, and family and friends of those. I have been bitten by the shutter bug, I have.

Yes... even my aunt's doggie was a client! ;)

Coming up, I have a maternity shoot and a new born shoot. Both very new to me. Can't wait to learn lots!

Oh Christmas Tree... You bring me Joy!

It took us weeks... and honestly, we still aren't done. But at least the tree is standing. Thank gosh for pre-lit trees. And who cares if the back of the tree is as nekkid as a baby on his birthday.

I did purchase a FEW new ornaments this year, most the non-breakable balks. They were from Walmart for less than $3. I wanted to ensure I had enough White, Green, Red and Silver. My colors for this year.

I love the glow of my Christmas tree. It's like a warm cup of cocoa.

My little man helped me take these photos. And then proceeded to show me a magic trick. That kid has some talent! ;)

A Man on the Moon

If there was, I am sure I could have seen him.

I stepped outside for just a minute last night, and when I saw the moon, I had Alex grab my camera.
And the big lens!! Here's the first picture, with the smaller lens...

 

This one, above, is with the larger lens, but without a tripod. Just me swaying in the wind. What a cool effect.

f/4.5  1.6  ISO 100

This last one is also the larger lens, but with me propping the camera against the house. It's not perfect, but let me tell you, I've NEVER been able to get more than a pin hole for a moon before. I can even see the little star above it (although, I still moved slightly here).

I called the Mr. and told him I needed a tripod.
*want

Now that I know what this camera is capable of, I can't wait to drag the husband out to the desert at night to get some cool shots of the city!!

FUN!

Capturing Fall {Before & Afters}

I know December is just days away, but here in Arizona, we are barely starting to see signs of Fall. I've been waiting and watching.

I've decided to share with you those signs... AND also what I've learned from taking the Shoot Fly Shoot course. I have three pictures that I am going to show you... the first version of each is straight out of the camera (SOOC), without any Photoshop edits (other than adding my watermark). After each SOOC image, I will then show you what I did to enhance them in Photoshop.

It's hard to believe that a year ago, I was taking pictures like this:

...thinking it looked good! lol... Of course, you can tell that I was way over-editing them in Picasa or the like. Don't get me wrong, Picasa and PicMonkey were great to me! But I am so glad to have taught myself Photoshop, with a little help, of course, from other blogge's posting tutorials! ;)

Back to fall...

f/5.6  1/100  ISO 200

Pioneer Women (PW) Action - Slight Sharpen 100%  PW Action Slight Lighten 75%

f/4.5   1/100   ISO 100

PW Action Slight Sharpen 75%   Natural Touch Action (author unknown) 100%

f/4.5   1/100   ISO 100

PW Action Slight Sharpen 72%   Contrast Boost, no color change 100% (author unknown)

This Ash Tree is near and dear to my heart. We installed it in January 2011... and she has grown into a fine looking shade tree.

So... do you see the hint of fall? In another month, that tree will have lost all of its leaves. And next Spring, it will be bigger and better, for sure.

Well, from a photography/photoshop front... how did I do?
You likey?