Photo Challenge Days 29 and 30: The End

Yay!

I finished. I would be *really* bad at any sort of year-long challenge, since the 30 day challenge took me more than 30 days, and well, that IS part of the challenge. I still completed it. I may search out another one, but later.

Day 29 was black and white. I really liked the idea of the Oreo cookies and milk, alas, I did not have any Oreos. I thought of a piano a little too late, so I just took a picture of my shirt and converted it :) I am more than ready for some football!

Day 30 was the same as Day 1: self-portrait. I don't take these type of pictures nearly as much as I used to, so it was a bit hard (both for Day 1 and Day 30). Hair is down and glasses are on, and I got a hair cut (not that you can tell) since the last picture.

I'm sure I'll be back soon with some other ramblings about cupcakes or something.

Snickerdoodle cupcakes

Oh, yes.

I have a confession to make.

I used to not like cake. Seriously.

I know, right? It's crazy.

Then I brought my younger daughter home from the hospital on my older daughter's birthday, and there was cake at home. Having just escaped hospital food, I had to have some.

Then I couldn't stop. My habit transformed to cupcakes... and I tried a few gourmet cupcake shops. I don't have anything against them, in fact I love those. However, those suckers add up, and quickly. Another thing I discovered on Pinterest, was a crazy amount of different cupcake recipes. Plus, I like to bake, so here we are!

Today is America's birthday, happy birthday America!!! It is also my mom's birthday, so I let her pick which flavor off my "to try" list she wanted, and she wanted snickerdoodle.

With some additional help from google, I found a few different recipes, they all are pretty similar. The first was Martha's, and then I found an adaptation of that one by Bakerella. She took Martha's recipe and made it a little easier and smaller. I was all set to do one of these two recipes, but they both used a 7-minute frosting. Another thing that I am NOT, is a pastry chef. So, I have not ventured into the world of frosting that isn't just butter and sugar. My plan was to make a basic frosting and possibly add some cinnamon. *Then* I found this recipe that is the same cupcake as the previous two I mentioned, but with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Winner!

Ok, getting started, you will need:

CAKE:1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cake flour1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups whole milk

(and yes, I use my Kindle to read a lot of my recipes)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 28 muffin tins with paper liners.

Here, I obviously went with 325 and only 24 liners - don't worry, I didn't have any batter left over.

Sift together both flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

Beat in vanilla.

Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with additions of milk, beating until combined after each addition.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each about 3/4 full. About ¼ a cup.

Bake about 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.

Remove to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

ICING:

8-12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 pound powdered sugar, sifted2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

TOPPING:
2 Tablespoons sugar + 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

FOR FROSTING: In a medium bowl, use electric mixer to blend cream cheese and butter.

Add sugars, vanilla and ground cinnamon. Spread onto cooled cupcakes, or scoop into piping bag and pipe on the frosting decoratively.

FOR TOPPING: Place sugar-cinnamon mixture in a fine sieve (or you can always just use your fingers) and tap it lightly over the cupcakes to give them a light sprinkle.

I only used 8 ounces of cream cheese, and was a bit generous with my frosting, so I didn't have enough for the last 4 cupcakes. I am going to try to whip up a quick plain buttercream without the cream cheese to see which option I like better.

Photo Challenge Days 27 and 28

I think the challenging part for me might be actually sharing this with other people!

I am not in love with my photo for day 27, but like I mentioned before, it is balancing out.

Day 27 was from a distance. I was going for the tractor, hopefully that comes across.

Day 28 was flowers. Well, my favorite photo focuses on ONE flower, but there actually is another flower in the photo at the very top ;) I was working out in the flower garden today getting rid of all of those pesky weeds (why don't THEY need water to go crazy??) and snapped this shot.

Only two more days left!

Photo Challenge Days 24, 25, and 26! (almost there)

Hello!

Coming along now, and almost at the end of the challenge. Those that started on June 1st are obviously done now. I started a few days late, and skipped a few days here and there, so I'm a bit behind, but it is a cool thing to see.

Day 24 was animal. I am glad I had easy access to an animal to photograph. I could have always tried for the obnoxious birds outside our office, but well... they're obnoxious. So, here is Z dog chillin' outside. Wondering what random thing she can sniff next.

Day 25 was something pink. Now PINK, I have a lot of things that are pink. I decided to take a picture of a pink letter A. A is for Audra, and she's in the forefront of my thoughts, even more than usual, so it was fitting I used something to represent her.

Today, Day 26 was close-up. Quite a few of my pictures were already close-up, but I love these guys that live on top of my refrigerator. Who knows what they are up to at night when the lights are out!

Photo Challenge Days 22 and 23

Well, that will teach me.

Counting my chickens before they hatched.

I had a great idea for the hands photo. Of course, I could not get everyone to cooperate, hence I missed a day *again*. Sigh. Hopefully I will not miss any more. (fingers crossed)

I am still determined to get the picture I had in mind one day.

Instead, I ended up with this.

I did edit it some. I have no clue what I am doing, I just push buttons until it is something I kinda like.

Sisters <3

Day 23 was sunflare. Once again, no clue what I was doing. See the never ending trend yet?

To be perfectly honest, this challenge quite literally gave me a headache. This picture was the last one I took before I decided the pain was a bit much and headed back inside.

Buffalo Lucy is having a giveaway!

Remember my first picture for the challenge, the self-portrait where you could see my awesome Buffalo Lucy earrings?

Well, now she is having a give away for a beautiful necklace.

You can go check out all the deets here.

I am already imagining wearing it to a wedding in a few weeks, I think it'd go perfect with my dress!

Photo Challenge Days 19, 20, and 21

I missed another day in there somewhere.

I will admit that this time it was more because I was intimidated by the challenge.
I know I still didn't do as great as I could have, but I did it, and that to me is still pretty damn cool.

Anyway, for starters, day 19 was something orange. I surprisingly don't have many orange things. I decided to take a close up of part of a dress I recently got.

Day 20 was pretty challenging for me, and the one I am not 100% happy with it, but I really like what I did for day 21 (faceless self portrait), so it all balances out.

I guess I am not feeling to chatty right now, I might be back later with today's photo. The challenge is hands, and thanks to pinterest, I already have my idea for that!

Photo Challenge Days 16, 17, and 18

So, I missed a day. Sad.

But, I picked back up where I left off and have the last two days, plus today ready now.

I'll start with Day 16, which was long exposure. I am still not a photographer *giggle*, and still using the point and shoot. I found out my more advanced camera is broken anyway, so I will have to figure out some of these things using teh google.
Anyway, I did this using the flash(light) from two iPhones. I know some of it is out of the frame of the picture, but I was tired and happy to get this as it was.

Day 17 was technology. I wish I had an iPad so I could copy the idea from another blog, but alas I don't. Here's my Kindle, which I should most definitely use more often. Who ever thought that a portable device for reading books would become not only a reality, but a successful one?

I actually remember when the Kindles first came out. At the time, they were around $400 dollars or so, and I knew of a girl (an avid reader) who got one. I thought that there would be no way I'd ever own one, and here we are now where it seems like everyone has one!

Today, (my new day 18) was "your shoes". I guess it could be interpreted in a few ways - such as the shoes you are wearing today, or all the shoes you own.

It is nap time while I am doing this today, so I went with the shoes that are by the garage door (much to my husband's dismay). They happen to just all be different colors of Old Navy flip flops, $2.50 is hard to beat! I actually have a few more colors in my closet, but these are the ones I've worn most recently. I was so happy to finally get a purple pair this year, as they have always been sold out in my size in the past by the time I get over there.

I probably should wear more supportive shoes, but these are so easy. Plus, I would have to buy more cute shoes if I was going to do that, haha.

Photo Challenge Day 15

I will admit that today was so far the toughest challenge for me, the non-photographer.This would have been a LOT easier if I had tried to figure it out earlier in the day.

However, I did not.

I had a great subject with a perfect sun, but didn't know what I was doing.

Lesson learned!

Plus, I am still using my point and shoot, so there was that.

Anyway, once I figured things out (duh! I swear I knew this before), it was a pretty quick thing, hence I have time to post real quick before bed.

Meet Sophie.

I still wish I had figured this out sooner so that I could work with a bigger light source, but this is pretty cute.

-jenn

Photo Challenge Day 14

Yesterday's challenge was eyes!

My favorite eyes.

She loves the camera and taking pictures, but that doesn't equal being very cooperative. She actually was trying to ignore me during this one, but I like how it turned out with the crop. I did do some other photo-editing, but ultimately decided to stick with the natural look since she's only 3 (and I don't need to do anything to speed up the aging thing!).

Photo Challenge Days 11, 12, and lucky 13!

Ooops! (I say that a lot here, don't I?)

Well, one thing that I have learned through this photo challenge is that I am a slacker, and cannot post for 30 days in a row. I did take my photos on the correct day, though you will see one of them I kinda (almost) missed. I went back to just cropping all of these pictures, I didn't have time for more.

Ok, starting where we left off. Day 11. Something blue.

I went with something that I hope to get a lot of use out of soon.

The sewing machine that is currently living at my house. I am only borrowing it, it is not mine. BUT, the

cover that my grandmother made for it is blue! Yay!

I hope to be able to get started sewing within the next few weeks. I have some fabric coming in today that I am super excited about.

Moving along to Day 12. This is where I kinda sorta almost missed it. Sunset. I really wanted to get the actual sun in this picture, but I was barely able to get this in. If only I had remembered slightly earlier. Oh well! It is what it is.

I love that I could take this picture from my driveway. It will definitely

be nice when they finally build houses (shade!) across the street, but for now, it is kind of peaceful to look out and see something like this every evening.

And, today, Day 13. Myself with 13 things.

What the heck could I find 13 of to take a picture

with? The first thing I thought of was stuffed animals, since we seem to have a ridiculous amount of those, but then I remembered our shot glass collection. I love it, some of them are from our own adventures, but a lot of them are from other friends and family bringing us back some from theirs. I picked out my 13 favorite, and I had to use the self-timer for this one. Unfortunately, even blurred, it is hard to see them all. I won't even get into how many attempts it took to get this shot, so it will have to do.

In order from right to left, we have:

1 - Texas Renaissance Festival , Plantersville, TX (2006 - us)

2 - Epcot, Walt Disney World (us - 2003?)

3 - Las Vegas, NV (I want to say my parents?)

4 - Harley Davidson, Gruene, TX (us - 2006ish)

5 - St. Thomas (us - honeymoon 2006)

6 - Hard Rock Cafe, Nashville, TN (my husband - 2011)

7 - Alaska (my parents - 2011)

8 - another one from St. Thomas (us - honemoon 2006)

9 - French Quarter, New Orleans, LA ( in laws - 200?)

10 - Maui, Hawaii ( a friend of mine - 2010?)

11 - St. Maarten (us - our honeymoon 2006)

12 - NY, NY ( don't remember)

13 - Washington, D.C. (myself - 2005)

Ok, I realized the 13 things didn't have to be the *same* thing a little late, but I still like what I went with.

Here is another picture to see the glasses better:

Photo Challenge Day 10

Day 10. 1/3 of the way through.

I am impressed with myself for not forgetting a day yet (though I have come close).

Today was a childhood memory. At first, I was going to take a picture of my stuffed Big Bird that is about 3 feet tall. It has seen better days, for sure. While I do have memories of it from my childhood, I noticed something that was much more prominent.

This picture is the first one I have edited (other than cropping/adding text) any. These books do show their age a little bit, even without the editing, but I look forward to one day letting my kids read them. It is board books for now, as my daughter likes to rip paper at unknown times still.

I read a majority of these books countless times. My favorite was Go, Dog. Go!

Photo Challenge Day 9

Someone I love.

Pretty simple. I have the three people I am fortunate enough to live with that I love the most.

I decided to go with the youngest, since she was the most cooperative.

She's only been in my life for about 6 months, but she has stolen my heart. The one tooth is just so cute too :)

Photo Challenge Day 8

A bad habit.

*A* bad habit?

I have many, how was I to choose?

I briefly considered going to the cupcake shop, just so I could get a cupcake to take a picture of. And eat. Of course.

I resisted, so maybe that is not a bad habit after all. Ok, I know it still is.

Another one I immediately thought of was the time I spend on the internet. But how does one take a picture of the internet? I considered a few ways, but this is what I ended up with, mainly because it was what was easiest for me today.

Oh, internet, I can't quit you.

Copycat Recipe: Outback Caesar dressing

I think I have two salad dressings tied for first place when it comes to going to a restaurant. I love the dressing on the salad at our favorite Japanese Steak House (miso??).

The other? The Caesar dressing from Outback Steak House.

I kind of also love how they always serve it on a cold plate or bowl.

Reason #4,563 to love the internet: Well, recipes, in general. More specifically, copycat recipes!

I found this one on a few different sites, but here is one link.

This is what the recipe calls for:

1 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup egg substitute

1 cup plus 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 and 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon anchovy paste

2 cloves garlic, pressed

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon crushed dried parsley

Directions:

1. Whisk all ingredients together except the 1 cup of parmesan for the topping.

2. Chill for at least an afternoon or overnight.

3. Assemble all salad ingredients in a large bowl, whisk dressing again and add dressing to salad in portioned amounts until you get the desired amount of dressing for the salad. There may be some dressing leftover.

4. Sprinkle with desired amount of extra parmesan cheese and toss.

I served this with romaine lettuce, homemade croutons, and some pan grilled chicken. Sorry, this picture isn't the prettiest. The croutons were already made out of wheat bread, but then I also burnt them *blush*

My review?

3.75 stars (out of 5)

It was a great Caesar dressing, but it isn't quite up to the dressing at Outback. It is definitely very similar, but there is something missing in the spice or flavor department. I can't *quite* put my finger on what is missing.

Photo Challenge Days 6 and 7

Combining posts again.

Note to self: become more organized.

Anyway, so yesterday was day 6, and the challenge was from a low angle. As promised, I took a picture from the same general area of my kitchen. Nothing too exciting.

Today was fruit. Yum!
I was already planning on making a fruit salsa recipe that I had seen, sometime this week anyway, so I just coordinated to where I would make it today. It is super yummy, I have seen the general idea in different places, but saw it once again on pinterest and knew that I had to make it.
It is basically strawberries, raspberries, kiwis, and apples with a little sugar. There was also supposed to be a little fruit preserves, but I wrongly assumed I had some at home when I did not (oops!). It is definitely something that would be good to bring to a potluck or something similar.


I will be back later to share a recipe for a copycat dressing for one of my favorite restaurant salads!