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August 2013 photo a day

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Another month zips by.  I started doing the Photo a Day last September, so next month will be a full year of  daily pictures.  I looked back at Sept 2012 and it seemed like last week when I took those pictures.

I still enjoy taking the daily photos and I like to look back at them (have a look at the tab at the top of this blog and they are all there).

Day 1. Something beginning with N.

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Day 2. Incomplete. Shopping list.

20130803-163759.jpg Day 3. Skyline

20130803-163820.jpg Day 4. Fresh. Simple tomato salad.

20130815-113646.jpg Day 5. Early.

20130815-113728.jpg Day 6. This means a lot to me. Bedtime books.

20130815-113834.jpg Day 7. A sign.

20130901-154935.jpg Day 8. Peek a boo

20130815-114300.jpg Day 9. 2 o clock.

20130815-114421.jpg Day 10. Beverage

20130815-114455.jpg Day 11. I love doing this. Spotting wildlife in the garden.

20130815-114540.jpg Day 12. Macro.

20130815-114645.jpg Day 13. Fast. Zooming to school on the first day back.

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Day 14. Trash. I nearly threw these lizards away in the trash!

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Day 15. The Best.  A postcard in the mail.

20130828-094117.jpg Day 16. Cooking.

20130828-094212.jpg Day 17. Exercise

20130828-094254.jpg Day 18. Someone you spoke to today.

20130828-094328.jpg Day 19. Lost.

20130828-094416.jpg Day 20. Stairs

20130828-130700.jpg Day 21. Slow.  Started to knit a scarf.

20130828-130753.jpg Day 22. A room

20130828-130901.jpg Day 23. Yellow

20130828-130931.jpg Day 24. In the background

20130828-131015.jpg Day 25. Culture

20130828-131042.jpg Day 26. Entrance.

20130830-120209.jpg Day 27. 10 minutes from home.

20130830-120241.jpg Day 28. Corridor.

20130830-120312.jpg Day 29. Lucky.

20130830-120403.jpg Day 30. Cluttered.

20130830-120454.jpg Day 31. Dangerous.

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Some of the August prompts were not my favourite I must admit.  I didn’t love ‘Corridor’ or ‘Entrance’.  I did them though.  The hand grenades in day 31 are ‘dummy’ in case you were worried.  Found at a local Army Surplus store.

I think the photos I like best are days 9, 11, 12, 13 and 24.

If you do a photo/writing/sketching challenge, do share.

Peach and blueberry muffins

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Peach and Blueberry muffins (adapted from ‘A Real American Breakfast’)

1 1/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons cornmeal

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

6 tablespoon butter softened

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sour cream (I used yoghurt and it worked fine)

2 teaspoons lemon zest (about 2 lemons worth)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup blueberries

1 cup peeled and chopped peaches (about 2)

Pre heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line a muffin pan.  I make nice big muffins so I only end up with 6, but if you like a more delicate size, prepare for 12.

Mix the flour, cornmeal, baking soda and powder together in a small bowl.

Mix the butter and sugar until it is pale and fluffy, add the egg, sour cream, lemon zest and vanilla and combine.  Pour in the flour mixture and fold in gently.

Add the fruit and fold in quickly taking care not to smash too many blueberries.

Divide the batter into the pan and bake for 20-30 minutes until  they are light brown on the top and a toothpick (I use a skinny knife to check) comes out with only a crumb or two attached.  If you make giants like me, they may take a few minutes longer, be patient!

Cool and enjoy for breakfast or a yum treat.

For the liners in the pan, I used squares of parchment which I scrunched up then pressed into each muffin mold (I have no idea how to describe them, can you tell?!).  I did this when I first ran out of regular liners and I haven’t bothered to buy any more. They do want to pop right out of the pan, but once you put in the batter, they behave nicely.

Have a lovely weekend!

I am scared of techy crap – there I said it

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Are you good at technological computer stuff?

I am not. I can barely operate Microsoft Word and to demonstrate my crapness at this I am currently re writing a piece because I thought that number points would be cool. When I finished I decided they were certainly not cool and had to go. Ha, not so fast Miss Crap. I could not, I repeat, could not get rid of those sodding numbers which my evil document ‘helped’ me put there in the first place. They just appeared by magic everytime I started a new line and sentence. I just don’t have the required magic to rid my essay of them. So, I am doing it all again. At least I am just copying…..

I am currently avoiding working on a newsletter for my blog, Etsy store and general catseatdogs bits and bobs. What’s that? The laundry needs doing? You need to make peach and blueberry muffins for no reason at all? Sure. Facebook browsing? Come on over.

Why oh why do I find these things so difficult. Mailchimp is a great tool, just not one I can wield, apparently. I am determined to burst right in there (if I have remembered my log in details) and take that newsletter and wrestle it to the ground. Then I will pick it up dust it down and we will have a peach and blueberry muffin and work things between us out in an amicable way.

By the end of the day you will hear a minion style “BA DAH” and I will have a sparkly newsletter to wow you all with. I might even manage a sign up button somewhere on this blog. Hey, you never know, I might make it yet!

By the close of today, I  will have created clean clothes, yummy muffins (yes I will share the recipe) and a newsletter.  I feel better already.   Now, what else needs doing? Vaccuuming? Lunch? Re-decorating? Newsletter?

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My photo of the day today is themed ‘lucky’ which has reminded me that I am lucky that I do know some other stuff.
I can operate some very cool photo apps, I can take a photo which is in focus and all heads intact. I can bake a mean peach and blueberry muffin, I can craft with the best of ’em!

Right then, I am off to re write an essay, and fold some laundry and wrestle the chimp.

Making ‘catseatdogs’ jewels

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I made a quick long necklace today on a complete whim.  I pulled out the top/dress I like when the weather is like the inside of an oven with no cakes, and decided I needed a long necklace to wear with it.

I have had this sliced up tagua nut set for a while and have never really decided how to use them.  Funny how all of a sudden a design pops into your head and you know exactly how to execute it.  So, I grabbed my leather and tied them on, chose a button and made a fastener with it.  Ta dah!

20130827-125828.jpg I love these simple necklaces I made last week, they are light to wear and look great together or alone.  I have some similar necklaces which I wear with everything.  They are in my Etsy store if you want to see more photos.

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I washed up some buttons today which I have had a while, stored in an old cake tin which I think is the storage of choice for vintage buttons.

Do you like my new colander?  I got it at a local yard sale last weekend.  I love the stars and I couldn’t leave it behind.  I also got some little 1950’s aluminium Jello molds, they are all different shapes and all say ‘Jell-o’ on the base.  No buttons at this sale, but lots of vintage kitchen wares so I was a happy customer!

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Do you like a yard sale?  I love them – treasure hunting at its best.  I am happy to walk away with nothing – honest!  Buttons beads and vintage housewares are a magnet for me though.

Granola cookies

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It is a hot week this week, humid and sticky, not ideal for putting on the oven to bake cookies, but bake I did.  I am linking up with Poppy Fox at Home for a foodie gathering, so I had to bake!   What choice did I have?  I wanted to test these granola cookies and Poppy Fox needed a recipe post, so yum yums all around!

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This is the second granola cookie recipe I have tried and the best by far.  I used granola I had made rather that store bought which I think also helps.

The recipe is from the book Breakfast for Dinner by Lindsay Landis and Taylor Hackbarth.  I borrowed it from the library last week and there are some fab recipes in it, including this one.

Granola Cookies

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup (8oz) butter room temperature

1 1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups granola

1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats

1 cup chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)

1/2 cup dried cherries coarsely chopped  (I used shredded coconut as I didn’t have any cherries and there was fruit in my granola already)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line baking sheets with parchment.  Sift flour, baking powder and soda and salt.

Beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Mix in the eggs and vanilla.

Slowly add the flour mixture, then the oats and granola and lastly the cherries and chocolate chips.

Roll balls of dough and slightly squash each before putting onto the baking trays leaving plenty of space to spread between each.

Bake for 12-14 minutes rotating the trays halfway through cooking.  They are done when the edges are golden and the middle is puffed.

Cool and share with coffee or tea.  I bet these would be lovely crumbled into ice cream or used to make ice cream sandwiches.

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‘A Beautiful Mess’ 30 day self portrait challenge

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The 30 day self portrait challenge is done and dusted and it was a hard one.  I admit to some artistic license on some, but they are all me!

Taking pictures of yourself on a daily basis is weird, vain (there I said it) and frankly a bit boring, after all, not much changes.  Having said that, it was a fun challenge and I made it to the end!

Thanks to the A Beautiful Mess girls for throwing it down!

This this and that

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I just finished this book and liked it.

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I saw it recommended on Jools Oliver’s Instagram stream and I thought I would give it a go as the recommender loved ‘Where’d you go Bernadette’ which is one of my favourite recent books.
I must admit if I had just picked it up and read the fly leaf, I might not have read it, but I am glad I did. It is set in Gold Rush/Wild West times and the characters are really great, witty and gritty and a good read.  Did I mention I love the cover?  I love the cover.

Now, I am about to start this book and I am a big Neil Gaiman fan, so I am looking forward to starting.

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I love starting a new book don’t you? I have read Neil Gaiman’s  book ‘Odd and the Frost Giants’ to both of my boys over the years and I don’t tire of it, I highly recommend it.  A great mythical read for the kids.

Over the weekend I plan to make some granola and granola cookies (spotting a theme) from this book.   There are some delicious recipes in this book, it might have to go on my Christmas list.

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French fry pie – what!?

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I found a recipe for ‘Fry Pie’ in the ‘Real Simple Meals made Easy’ cookbook and I thought “pah, what a terrible idea, chips on top of minced beef, never”.

However the idea took up a seat in my head and got comfy, it began to have it’s own ideas….what about a shepherd’s pie base? Same idea, meat base, potato top…not so bad..

I mentioned it to my kids who thought it was a genius idea of course. So, I grabbed the Fry Pie by the hand and we decided to collaborate.  What harm can come of it?

I didn’t have the ingredients for a shepherds pie base, so I decided to go out on a limb and make a chilli base and pile on the fries. Honestly, I didn’t really have much for chili either, so I made my famous (ahem) ‘Make it up as you go Chilli’ recipe.

I chucked in some garlic, cumin, cinnamon (just a tad), cooked for a second or two, added half a jar of salsa (ideally would have added more, but I didn’t have more). Stirred it all together with a tin of tomatoes chopped up, black beans, vegetarian ground ‘meat’, cubes of sweet potato and enough water to stop it sticking while still cooking the potatoes.

Cook and stir until the potatoes are cooked.

In the meantime cook the fries in the oven, I used Trader Joe’s Handsome Fries, which are so much healthier because they have the skin on…..  Am I right?  Am I delusional?  Hey, there are veggies in here and there would have been more if my fridge had been more helpful!

I put the chili into a shallow oven proof dish and piled the fries on top and put the lot back into the oven and cooked it for 10 mins.  You could melt some cheese over the whole lot if you fancy.  In my opinion cheese and chips is just wrong, but I do not judge.  Sour cream is also an option.  Treat yourself!  Or just use low fat sour cream (not low fat cheese, that is so wrong).

The chips did not go soggy as I feared and it all went into our family of tummies!  A new dinner to add to my repertoire.

So, if you are not sure you like the idea of a recipe, let it move in for a while and you may end up friends.

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What is your go to dinner recipe?  Do you adapt it if your fridge isn’t providing what you need?