tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20308940089192906902024-03-21T19:02:04.221-07:00Pixels, Plates, and LOLs!stories of photography, food, and friendship shared by two friendsKris Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02336146104606375687noreply@blogger.comBlogger160125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-80221599118996658402016-12-30T13:26:00.000-08:002016-12-30T13:40:39.342-08:00Mix It Up Friday - December<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><i>from</i> Tracey G</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Here it is again! Another Mix It Up Friday! One of my favorite things we
do - because while it's always fun (usually, lol) to bake from scratch,
there's something equally fun about a mix as well! I love trying them and
seeing if they can pass for homemade, even if it's not my intention, that is
always my underlying ulterior motive, lol. I may not even do it consciously,
but that's always something I'm looking for regardless. So far, <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/" target="_blank">King Arthur Flour</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">has yet to disappoint!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Every mix I have tried would pass the homemade test, and this one this
week is no exception. The <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/products/cinnamon-sugar-puff-muffin-mix/" target="_blank">Essential Goodness Cinnamon Sugar Puff Muffin Mix</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">is wonderful! It really does remind me of a cinnamon
sugar doughnut! I think there is just the right combination of nutmeg (once
again they are putting one of my favorite spices to use!) and cinnamon in the
muffin that combines wonderfully with the cinnamon sugar topping.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The extra ingredients you bring to the party for the
muffins are eggs, butter or vegetable oil and milk. The only additional
ingredient needed for the coating of cinnamon sugar is melted butter. Since I
am watching my cholesterol intake these days, I used the vegetable oil option
in the muffin mix instead of the butter, and they were still yummy as can be. I
imagine the butter would add an extra layer of flavor (or just that little
something you can't quite put your finger on), I do hope to try that variation
one of these days, lol. And the other thing I did, was only dip the tops of the
muffins in the cinnamon sugar mix. That is because I used foil liners for the
muffins, and didn't feel like peeling them all off for the coating, lol.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">So, bottom line is this is another winner in the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/products/essential-goodness-mixes/" target="_blank">Essential Goodness</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">line of mixes from </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/" target="_blank">King Arthur Flour</a>. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">And don't forget, that for every <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/products/essential-goodness-mixes/" target="_blank">Essential Goodness</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">mix purchased, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/" target="_blank">King Arthur Flour</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">will donate the cost of a meal to <a href="http://www.feedingamerica.org/?_ga=1.268980722.227825100.1483056934" target="_blank">Feeding America</a>! </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">And that's something you can feel good about!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If you're like me and have limited places to shop, you can purchase any
of the Essential Goodness mixes right from King Arthur Flour's website. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Here's a link right to the purchase page: <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/essential-goodness-cinnamon-sugar-puff-muffin-mix" target="_blank">Cinnamon Sugar Puff Muffin Mix </a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><i>from </i>Kris B</b></span><br />
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My taste buds and the scale say that I have had enough sweets lately. I was surprised to discover that King Arthur Flour carries soup mixes. The <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/indiana-harvest-sausage-lentil-soup#ReviewSection">Indiana Harvest Sausage and Lentil Soup Mix</a> is manufactured by <a href="http://www.frontiersoups.com/about-us/">Frontier Soups</a> and sold by King Arthur Flour as well as on the company's own website.<br />
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As Tracey said, most of the time we are committed to cooking from scratch. but every now and then it is handy to have a "mix" on hand. The Indiana Harvest Sausage and Lentil Soup is described as a hearty meal and has a made from scratch flavor. The "mix" contains the lentils and a spice packet. So really, the convenience is in not having to forage through the spice rack and measure everything out. The package instructions call for you to brown and add a pound of Italian sausage, broth, three diced zucchini, and a couple of cans of petite diced tomatoes. Since this was my first time to try this mix, I made it exactly as was instructed, but now having done that and eaten it, I can see the potential for lots of variations.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard; font-size: small;">Though the name is </span><b style="font-family: -webkit-standard;">sausage</b><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard; font-size: small;"> and lentil soup, I think that the Italian sausage could be omitted and vegetable broth </span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard; font-size: small;">substituted for the beef broth without compromising the overall flavor of the soup. And, as is the case with almost any soup homemade or otherwise, whatever vegetables that you happen to have on hand could be added. The next time I make this, I am going to try adding some spinach and or kale.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard; font-size: small;">I do have a warning...this recipe makes A LOT of soup!!! The package says 8-10 servings. I'm not sure what they consider a serving size, but Weber and I had a dinner and two lunches with generous portions, plus I froze several containers for lunches once I go back to school. It's a good thing we liked it! lol!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard; font-size: small;">And what goes with soup? Of course...a nice loaf of hot out of the oven bread! I made the Everyday Whole-Grain Bread from the King Arthur <a href="http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2016/10/03/everyday-whole-grain-bread-bakealong/">October Bakealong Challenge.</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> have not seen this soup mix in any of my local grocery stores, but as I said above, it is available on their King Arthur Flour website. It is the prefect meal for these cold winter days ahead!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">*****</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: #fce5cd;">On a completely different note, we want to let you know that this will be our last post to Pixels, Plates, and Lols. No, we did not have a falling out over crumbs and drips or no crumbs and drips in our food photos, or over Times verses Arial (We both have that argument with Blogger!), or PS over LR. All is good with us! With a new year comes new things. Watch for new things from us with the dawning of 2017 </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: "\22 arial\22 " , "\22 sans-serif\22 ";"><span style="background-color: #fce5cd;">We love all of you who have followed us from the beginning or who just stop by </span></span><span style="background-color: #fce5cd; color: red;">occasionally. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fce5cd; color: red;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Please don't go away! we will be right back! </span></span></div>
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<i style="background-color: #fce5cd; color: red;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Until then, drink lots of coffee, take lots of photos, and laugh, laugh, laugh!</span></i></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="background-color: #fce5cd;">We wish all of you and those you love a happy and healthy new year!</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><i style="background-color: #fce5cd;">XOXOX Tracey and Kris</i></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03732415167340511555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-47922151750346459612016-12-16T15:33:00.000-08:002016-12-17T10:18:50.110-08:00Food Friday - King Arthur Flour December Bakealong<b><i>from</i> Tracey G</b><br>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It's <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/bakealong/" target="_blank">King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">week again! This month's recipe looked rather daunting due to steps, I
was a bit apprehensive. But wow, was I mistaken! It was so easy to do, but yet
looks like you fussed over it! This month, the recipe challenge is a <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/the-easiest-butter-pecan-kringle-ever-recipe" target="_blank">Butter Pecan Kringle</a>.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I'm always excited to see what the month's recipe is
going to be, but mixed in with that excitement is always a little dread....what
if it's too hard for me to do? What if it's something I don't like (granted,
that worry is the smallest percentage, lol!)? When I saw this one, I will admit
feeling a little "uh oh, what have I gotten myself into?" - I felt a
bit of trepidation. And once I started it, that feeling totally vanished and in
its place arrived "oh my gosh, this is so easy!". Seriously! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It's done in steps
and if you just follow the 3 basic steps, you've got it. First you mix up the
base, which is like a sticky pie pastry, lol. If you divide it into 4 pieces,
it's really easy to form it into the flat oval ring (about 1.5" wide).
Then you make the batter - easy peasy. It sounded harder than it was - it's
super easy. Once you get that accomplished, you spread it over the pastry oval.
Bake. That's it. Once, it's baked and cooled you add your adornments - in this
case it's caramel drizzle (and the directions for getting that made as well are
included), then on top of that you add pecan halves (I used chopped because I
couldn't find halves) and top it all off with a powdered-sugar icing drizzle.
There's also ideas for a raspberry jam and lemon powdered sugar icing, or
anything that tickles your fancy. I am going to try using almond flavoring in
the batter, and just topping with toasted sliced almonds and an almond flavored
powdered sugar icing. I also envision
sweetened cream cheese somehow and cherry pie filling...lots of ideas for this
versatile treat!!!</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Do try it, it's so easy and presents beautifully - Jeremy
has pretty much eaten the whole thing single-handedly, lol. It goes great with
coffee, and I left about a 1/4 of it without the pecans for Harry, it just had
the caramel and the icing. I didn't take it one step further with the idea of
the chocolate drizzle as the final step of goodness, but it was stated that it
would be appreciated next time I make it, lol!!! I do believe I have found
another holiday treat tradition!! Thank you <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/bakealong/" target="_blank">King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge</a>!</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2016/12/01/butter-pecan-kringle-bakealong/" target="_blank">Link to the Butter Pecan Kringle Walk-through</a></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><i>from </i>Kris B.</b></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am having a hard time getting my head rapped round the fact that Christmas is only ten days away. It's not that I have any ill feelings about it this year; it just seems like I have had so much going on that Christmas just snuck up on me. I have finally purchased a few gifts...and even mailed a few...but we have no tree up as of yet. Making this month's Bakealong recipe has helped to nudge me toward the holiday spirit!</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Christmas is all about suspending disbelief. For me, making the Butter-Pecan Kringle required a little of that as well. When I first read the recipe, I had a hard time picturing how the whole process was going to come together. I took my normal approach to most things in life...take it one step at a time. As Tracey said, if you do this, the Kringle comes together very easily; once you start working, the process is not nearly as daunting as it seems when you are reading through the recipe.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I made one slight error in in my preparation. I used individual caramel candies melted in the microwave. I failed to add a little bit of milk to keep the caramel filling super soft. My husband was perfectly happy with my final product, but I thought the caramel was a bit too hard. Next time I'll remember to add a little milk or use caramel sauce. Lol!</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">The pastry is quite versatile, leaving lots of room for variation in the fillings and toppings. Tracey is heading towards chocolate and almonds, I want to try a cinnamon and brown sugar filling. Blueberries with a lemon drizzle also sounds good! I have plenty of taste testers in my family willing to offer their services with almost any combination of flavors.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">The Kringle is a great treat to have on hand for unexpected guests who might stop by to wish you happy holidays. It would also make your co-workers happy if you leave it in the break room at work. And of course, having it on hand for your own family holiday celebrations is also a good idea.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Happy baking!</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/bakealong/" target="_blank">King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge</a>!</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><a href="http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2016/12/01/butter-pecan-kringle-bakealong/" target="_blank">Link to the Butter Pecan Kringle Walk-through</a></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">We wish you peace and joy as you and those you love celebrate any of the many holidays at this time of year.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><br></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03732415167340511555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-82887356338495128172016-12-10T13:54:00.002-08:002016-12-10T13:54:20.489-08:00Food Friday - Cookies!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><i>from </i>Kris B.</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjptrdUqzH-2S1DIohbRvLADUlgVhkFxlVAtNDeX7s-6OtkoZ4l91wxgYLirGTzO6FqcRYwyiUXgSQff6rfGYhloklE9ueYyh4zC2xWsUfdZzEMOmM-aJEyyTMBHVpp2yEpXhilh_Ayly-g/s1600/DSC_1475.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjptrdUqzH-2S1DIohbRvLADUlgVhkFxlVAtNDeX7s-6OtkoZ4l91wxgYLirGTzO6FqcRYwyiUXgSQff6rfGYhloklE9ueYyh4zC2xWsUfdZzEMOmM-aJEyyTMBHVpp2yEpXhilh_Ayly-g/s400/DSC_1475.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Cookies! There are very few kinds of cookies that I don't like. Like Cookie Monster, having a cookie will always make me happy. I'm not so sure about this new thing Cookie Monster has going on with cookies now being a "sometimes food." I think they are most certainly an "anytime" food!<br />
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Admittedly, I have no talent for making the fancy iced and decorated cookies. You'll have to turn to Tracey for help there! I am more a master of uniform drop cookies, thanks to a handy dandy cookie scoop. Lol! But, that said, I really do like pretty cookies, especially as gifts. I have reconciled my lack of skill and talent for icing with my love of pretty cookies by turning to making stamped cookies.<br />
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King Arthur Flour offers this <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/starry-night-cookie-stamps">set of three snowflake stamps</a>. These stamps, made of heavy cast aluminum, have a solid wood handle that is sturdy and easy to grip, making their $23.95 price tag a little more palatable. I have worked a lot with terracotta cookie stamps. I much prefer the aluminum ones. The "heaviness" of these stamps makes it easy to get an even pattern over the entire cookie. The Starry Night stamps are also good sized, measuring three inches. Printed on the box in which the stamps come is a recipe for <i style="font-weight: bold;">Starry Night Stamped Gingerbread Cookies.</i> This recipe varies slightly from the King Arthur Flour recipe for <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/winter-spice-stamp-cookies-recipe">Winter Spice Stamp Cookies</a> that I used. The primary difference between the two recipes is that the recipe on the stamp box uses a touch of cocoa in addition to the traditional cinnamon, cloves, and ginger found in most spice cookies and The King Arthur Winter Spice Stamp Cookies use the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/winter-spice">King Arthur Winter Spice Blend</a> (available from King Arthur for $4.99) that is a blend of cinnamon, cloves, allspice, coriander, and cardamon. The Winter Spice Stamp Cookies also use a touch of molasses.<br />
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Usually when I make stamped cookies, I roll the dough into balls and use the stamping process to both flatten and imprint the cookies. Instead of this method, these cookies are rolled out to 1/4" thick, cut out, and then stamped. This process made for pretty edges on the cookies. I used a f<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rounder-Cutter-Fluted-Edge-Each/dp/B0033RU7AK/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1481253631&sr=8-3-fkmr0&keywords=ateco+11+piece+round+cookie+cutter">luted edge round cutter from a set by Ateco</a> to cut my cookies. The cutter was exactly the same size as the cookie stamps, which made for the pretty edges around the stamped area of the cookie as well as on its edges. One thing that I did do that was not specified in the instructions was to dip the stamp in sugar before stamping each cookie. I'm not sure if this helped, but I had no issues with the stamp releasing from the dough.<br />
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The Winter Spice Stamp cookies are a crisp cookie, much like a ginger snap. Generally, I prefer chewy cookies, but these are really good, especially with a hot cup of coffee that I may or may not have used for dipping my cookie. :-) As one who always prefers crispy cookies, and cookies with NO chocolate, and cookies that go well with coffee, Weber was quite happy with this week's recipe choice as well. Tracey and I had a good laugh over the fact the we both tend towards chewy cookies and Jeremy, like Weber, likes the crispy ones...just one more way in which our worlds are similar! <br />
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If they are not all eaten before you can package them, these are pretty cookies and will make a great Christmas gift. To make the gift even more special, add some nice coffee or, if you must, tea for a gift that will surely be appreciated...even if the recipient is normally a chewy cookie kind of person. Lol!<br />
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<a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/winter-spice-stamp-cookies-recipe">Winter Spice Stamp Cookies</a><br />
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<b><i>from</i> Tracey G</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This time of year I'm gearing up (if not already into
full swing) for making my Christmas Food Gifts. Usually it's cookies or treats
of some kind. I love making them more than I like eating them (I can't believe
that's even possible, but it's true!), so it's always fun for me to get
started. My plan of attack is usually the same - one or two really pretty
things (more complicated) then fill in with the easier sorts of things that don't
require a lot of tedious work or detail etc. I rotate my recipes every year,
usually trying to incorporate one or two new ones every season. And the new
ones usually involve some sort of EASY to produce cookie (or treat)!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I love thumbprint cookies - they are one of my favorite cookies to eat,
and I love making them because they are so easy! Like Kris, I too use a cookie
scoop (it's about a tablespoon I believe) for any cookie dough I can, lol. It
makes quick work out of getting them on the baking sheet to be sure! So, when I
was perusing </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/" target="_blank">King Arthur Flour</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">website</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> for a cookie recipe this week to try, I ran across this one for <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/lemon-raspberry-thumbprints-recipe" target="_blank">Lemon-Raspberry Thumbprints</a></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">. It's a combination I've never made in this sort of
cookie - I've used raspberry jam before in my thumbprints (because it's one of
my favorites), but I've never made a lemon-flavored cookie to go under it. I
was sold!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The dough was super easy to whip up. The do give you a
couple options, as you can make them with the tablespoon sized scoop/spoon or a
teaspoon. I went with tablespoon because that's what size my scoop it and I
wanted it as easy as possible, lol. After I got them scooped onto the baking
sheet, I used a round measuring teaspoon to make the indentations for the jam
after they are baked. Once they were baked off and totally cooled, I added the
jam. The jam sets up a bit, so they hold up nicely. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Harry proclaimed that these
were the best thing ever, and Jeremy (not to mention myself!) loved them as
well. They have earned a spot in "The Book" of keepers for sure! I
will make these again, and they will be great in my Christmas Treat Rotation!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/lemon-raspberry-thumbprints-recipe" target="_blank">Lemon-Raspberry Thumbprints from King Arthur Flour</a></span></div>
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<b><br /></b>Kris Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02336146104606375687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-21975028587841141402016-12-02T22:09:00.000-08:002016-12-02T22:09:25.563-08:00Food Friday -We Love Bread!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><i>from</i> Tracey G.</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhikhszqstirqEGCTk8UEfB-e6FYHRnF7odYwckJVXNjcuBhm12YrTVG4QaT1IToOnryi6mwkx9j_auLFiaY6fQFZnA81bkMOQjfYgINg2RVLcBKlDjWHzHIQXcuLQBTZn9d223kn_Rtcc/s1600/_DSC0202final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhikhszqstirqEGCTk8UEfB-e6FYHRnF7odYwckJVXNjcuBhm12YrTVG4QaT1IToOnryi6mwkx9j_auLFiaY6fQFZnA81bkMOQjfYgINg2RVLcBKlDjWHzHIQXcuLQBTZn9d223kn_Rtcc/s400/_DSC0202final.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This week, Kris and I raided our Fall issues of Sift, a most wonderful
magazine published by King Arthur Flour, for our recipes. We both spotted
breads that intrigued us, so, we decided to give them a whirl for our offering
this week. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I decided on the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/english-muffin-toasting-bread-recipe" target="_blank">English Muffin Toasting Bread</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I decided on this recipe even before I read completely
through it - I love English Muffins, so I knew I'd love this! After I read it,
I had to re-read at least a couple times - because it couldn't possibly be that
easy. I must have misread it - or misunderstood it...nope, it really is just
that easy. Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, microwave the liquids in another
until the liquid mixture is about 120-130°F. Add to the dry, and mix. Once
mixed, dump it into the lightly-greased-and-coated-with-cornmeal loaf pan. Let
rise until just slightly above the top of the pan. Bake for about 27 minutes.
And done. That easy. No kneading, whatsoever. Mix and toss into the pan, let
rise and bake. Now, for me, my dough seems to be ready to bake by the time my
oven has preheated - so that makes it even quicker!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The only thing that I did that made it slightly more
difficult was to make a double batch - it's so sticky, lol, that it was really
hard to divide between the two loaf pans! But it disappears around here so fast
(I've made it numerous times now!) making a double batch is most prudent. True
to its name, this is a marvelous toasting bread. Oh my goodness, it's the best
stuff ever for toast! It gets that delightful toasty-chewy texture, and the surface-texture
of it holds the butter wonderfully! I even turned it into a lovely garlic bread
- toasted, brushed with olive oil and then rubbed with a clove of garlic. It
was perfect! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It seems to keep
well, and it also freezes quite nicely, which I was happy to find out -
granted, it wasn't in the freezer for long, since as I said before - the bread
doesn't last long in this household! I do plan on trying to get ahead and
getting a few loaves into the freezer because this is one bread I can tell you
for a fact, will be a staple in around here. I have never ever made a bread
this easy before, ever. Not only is it easy to make, but it's fabulous to
eat too - toasted or even not toasted! I've been known to slice off a piece and
eat it as is - nothing adorning it, just naked bread! Yummy! This is one bread
that even if you've never attempted to make bread before - you will nail perfection
the first time around. Because even if it doesn't look too perfect, it tastes
perfect! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, please, give the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/english-muffin-toasting-bread-recipe" target="_blank">English Muffin Toasting Bread</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">a try, you will not be disappointed! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/english-muffin-toasting-bread-recipe" target="_blank">English Muffin Toasting Bread </a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2008/12/25/a-toast-for-the-new-year/" target="_blank">English Muffin Toasting Walk Through</a></span><br />
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<b><i>from </i>Kris B.</b><br />
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Tracey mentioned that the English Muffin Toasting Bread recipe was easy to make. Thankfully, so was the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/apple-oatmeal-bread-recipe">Apple-Oatmeal Bread</a>, my choice from the fall issue of King Arthur Flour's <b style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/essentials/sift">Sift</a> </b>magazine. It is confession time. Tracey and I usually bake and take our photos reasonably in advance of each week's post. Somehow that didn't happen for me this time. I was baking this morning, hoping with all my might that the recipe worked and that I could get decent photos before I ran out of time and light. I have always been one who works to deadlines. I am not exactly a procrastinator. My method for accomplishing most things is to think about them, let them roll around in my mind until the eleventh hour, and then get it down, hoping that all the things that I thought about how the task would be accomplished actually work in reality. I am happy to say that today's tempting of fate was not a disaster!<br />
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The method for making the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/apple-oatmeal-bread-recipe">Apple-Oatmeal Bread</a> is much like that of the English Muffin Toasting Bread. All of the ingredients, minus a cup of the flour, are all stirred together vigorously for two minutes and then the remaining flour is worked in 1/3 of a cup at a time. Then the dough is turned out on a floured board and kneaded until it is "smooth and elastic."<br />
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This bread requires two rises. The recipe suggests that both will take about an hour. With the first, the dough should double in volume and with the second, it should rise an inch above the pan. In both cases, my rise time was about 45 minutes. The bread then bakes for 30 minutes. The entire process from start to finish, beginning with peeling and dicing the apples, took about three hours, with only about thirty minutes of that being hands-on time. The result is superb!<br />
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I deviated slightly from the printed recipe. In addition to oatmeal, apples, and a touch of cinnamon, the recipe calls for the addition of walnuts. I am not a fan of nuts in bread, and if I am going to include nuts, walnuts are my least favorite. Being in the South, pecans are my "nut of choice." I debated with myself about leaving them out, but I wanted to maintain the integrity of the original recipe, so I made the substitution. Another confession; I like the nuts in this bread.<br />
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Both of the recipes that Tracey and I have shared this week are part of an article in <b style="font-style: italic;">Sift </b>about ways to dress up a grilled cheese sandwich. Both the breads are so good on their own that at neither of our houses did they last long enough to get to sandwich making. They were eaten hot out of the oven. In fact, because everyone at my house was home all day today and were surrounded by the smell of the baking bread, I had to fend them off long enough to get the photos taken. Once I surrendered the loaf, they were right there with a knife and butter. <br />
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I am definitely going to make this again with the intention of using it for grilled cheese sandwiches. I also think that it would make a delicious french toast.<br />
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This recipe was originally posted on the King Arthur Flour website in January 2008. That recipe makes two loaves. The recipe included in the Fall 2016 issue of <i style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/essentials/sift">Sift</a></i> is halved, thus it makes only a single loaf. Other than that, the recipes are identical.<br />
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<a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/apple-oatmeal-bread-recipe">Apple-Oatmeal Bread</a><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03732415167340511555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-77349975821238649792016-11-25T14:45:00.001-08:002016-11-25T14:45:26.698-08:00Mix It Up Friday - November <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><i>from </i>Kris B.</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh87IDcnvQT-ApAz_i7H6eepp5r_RDLlNCp2SbtBf9qs2MO6uqFODE4Zznk5jnVjqkpsJRH_6523PlRuYZnuR06wxsrJTFJ0d8UaMCuXLt_5W3tXigd-k8LdEEE4nHfvNZAdRIfrE5nodi_/s1600/Iced+Chai+Cake+Mix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh87IDcnvQT-ApAz_i7H6eepp5r_RDLlNCp2SbtBf9qs2MO6uqFODE4Zznk5jnVjqkpsJRH_6523PlRuYZnuR06wxsrJTFJ0d8UaMCuXLt_5W3tXigd-k8LdEEE4nHfvNZAdRIfrE5nodi_/s400/Iced+Chai+Cake+Mix.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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It's Mix It Up Food Friday, the Friday each month where we share our experiences with a few of the King Arthur Flour mixes.<br />
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Though I am a fan of almost anything chocolate, to me, desserts with spices seem more like Thanksgiving. They complement the obligatory Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, I decided to try <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/iced-chai-latte-cake-mix">King Arthur's Iced Chai Latte Cake</a> ($9.95 from King Arthur Flour). I knew that my chai spice loving family would be glad to help me eat the cake over the long Thanksgiving weekend.<br />
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This cake mixes up easily and, according to the instructions on the box, can be baked in either a bundt pan or a 9x13 cake pan. Wanting a "pretty" cake, I opted for the bundt pan. The instructions did not specify a particular size of bundt pan so I used the one I always use, the only one I have. As I poured the batter into the pan, it didn't look like enough, but I continued on, figuring that the cake must rise a lot. The suggested cook time is 45-55 minutes. Knowing that my oven usually requires a little more than the minimum cooking times suggested for most items, I set the timer for 50 minutes. When I took the cake from the oven, it was a beautiful golden brown, a <i><b>short</b></i> beautiful golden brown. It did not rise to fill my pan all the way. Maybe half way???<br />
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I let the cake cool and then made the included vanilla icing. After mixing the required ingredients, the icing seemed very stiff. There was no way that it was going to pour and drizzle nicely over the sides of the cake. The instructions say to let the icing rest for 10 minutes before topping the cake. I did that hoping that something magic would happen and it would morph into the right consistency. The magic didn't happen. The icing was still too stiff to pour, so I added about a tsp. more milk. It was still fairly thick, but I hoped it would run down the sides. When all was said and done, the cake looked OK.<br />
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I was a little disappointed when we actually tasted the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/iced-chai-latte-cake-mix">Iced Chai Latte Cake.</a> For a recipe that uses three eggs and 12 TBS of butter, it was dry and not nearly as rich as I expected. It wasn't bad, just not what I expected. If you are wondering, it did get eaten. This cake was best with a nice hot cup of coffee.<br />
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I am willing to concede some user error here. The fact that my pan apparently was too big, which affected the cooking process and time, probably accounts for the cake being a bit dry. In my defense, however, the box did not specify any particular bundt pan size. I am going to buy a smaller pan and try this mix again. The flavor is delicious and the cake is one that would make a perfect addition to brunch, lunch, or dinner.<br />
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I am thankful to have plenty in my life to nourish my body and my soul. As we make our way through this holiday season, let us remember that there are many people who are cold, hungry, and feel unloved. Our response to our thankfulness should be service to those that have little or nothing for which to be thankful. Do something kind for someone less fortunate than you - feed them, smile at them, have a conversation with them, hug them, pray for them, let them know you care.<br />
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May joy surround you and those you love!<br />
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<b><i>from</i> Tracey G.</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The mix of choice for me to try this week, was the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/essential-goodness-everyones-favorite-chocolate-chip-cookie-mix" target="_blank">Everyone's Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">from the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/products/essential-goodness-mixes/" target="_blank">King Arthur Flour Essential Goodness</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">line of mixes. Where I live, it's rare to find their
products other than a few basics and their signature flours, the last trip to
my in-law's this past month though, allowed me to find this mix (and a couple
more for future testing!) at Target! (my closest Target is 2 hours away, so I
only get there when visiting downstate!) And they had a really good selection
of the Essential Goodness mixes to boot. I was so happy! Usually I just order
straight from the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/" target="_blank">King Arthur Flour</a> website, so this was a nice little bonus to find
them "in-person".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">This mix was sinfully easy to put together. I mean it - I
had cookie dough ready to go in mere minutes. The only required ingredients
were: one stick of butter and one egg. That's it. Before I knew it, I had my
cookies scooped, on the cookie sheet and in the oven. I don't think it could
get any easier, lol.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ok, so now that they were so easy, how were they going to taste? I must
admit, they could seriously pass for homemade. Easily. There are some
"variations" on the package for customizing your cookie texture. If
you want chewy, add brown sugar. Do you prefer crunchy? That can be arranged
too - add regular granulated sugar. The last variation offered was for a more
cakey-texture, to achieve that you add some milk. I went with the crunchy
version, although, I'm one who prefers chewy, the rest of my household likes a crunchy
cookie, so, I obliged them this go around, lol. And they were perfect. The
texture was perfect, everyone was happy - even I, the chewy-cookie lover, thoroughly enjoyed them! Yes!! The ONLY complaint I heard, was that there just
weren't enough, lol! I'll take that kind of complaint any day! </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">There's even ideas for using the mix on their <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/products/chocolate-chip-cookie-mix/" target="_blank">Everyone's Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix product detail page</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">- always fun to have more ideas for a product I think.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, if you need to make some cookies quick or in a no-fuss way, I highly
recommend the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/essential-goodness-everyones-favorite-chocolate-chip-cookie-mix" target="_blank">Essential Goodness Everyone's Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix</a> by King Arthur Flour!! You can't go wrong, well, unless you burn them or drop them
or something like that, LOL.</span></div>
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<b><br /></b>Kris Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02336146104606375687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-53322433997997142902016-11-18T12:14:00.000-08:002016-11-18T20:45:20.227-08:00Food Friday - King Arthur Flour November Bakealong Challege - Apple Pie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><i>from</i> Tracey G</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUtzsSze1KzR0HiMVF1XoR1nVN8nuL8KvJfJ1YGzAKZMs6Jiop0syLoD4wRDBRfHs78iQBrVsNG-hHwsaTTDW_KVjOM4idwDPPVGGyHmNdUw2TQs1LCadCo36z3Qb4mkRNE2JXc0biB1A/s1600/_DSC0160platedtxtm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUtzsSze1KzR0HiMVF1XoR1nVN8nuL8KvJfJ1YGzAKZMs6Jiop0syLoD4wRDBRfHs78iQBrVsNG-hHwsaTTDW_KVjOM4idwDPPVGGyHmNdUw2TQs1LCadCo36z3Qb4mkRNE2JXc0biB1A/s400/_DSC0160platedtxtm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It's November's <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/bakealong/" target="_blank">King Arthur Flour's Bakealong</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">week! But wow, I can't believe it's November already! </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Anyway, I am really enjoying the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/bakealong/" target="_blank">Bakealong</a>, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">and now every month I look forward to finding out what the </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">the Monthly Challenge is going be. It's one of the first things I do at
the beginning of the month - go check and see what the month's recipe is! I was
pleasantly surprised to see <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/apple-pie-recipe" target="_blank">Apple Pie</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">was this month's <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/bakealong/" target="_blank">Bakealong Challenge</a> </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I love apple pie, and it was a great excuse to make one
AND to try my hand at making my own pastry again. So, in effect it was also
reinforcing a skill I'm trying to master - or at least help me become fairly
proficient at, lol.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have to say, that in my opinion, this was the best apple pie I've ever
made. I don't know if it was the addition of the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/boiled-cider-1-pint" target="_blank">Boiled Cider</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">or the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/vietnamese-cinnamon-3-oz" target="_blank">King Arthur Flour Vietnamese Cinnamon</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I just started using, or if it was everything in
combination with the lovely Ida Red apples I used - but whatever it was, it
worked in a super duper way! This pie was wonderful - so wonderful that it
wasn't eaten as dessert - Jeremy and I enjoyed it for breakfast with our
coffee!! LOL! It was way too good to wait for dessert time!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The pastry was easy to put together, which made me happy
since I am still getting comfortable making pie pastry. The directions in the
recipe are so very helpful, they really put me at ease. Unfortunately I
couldn't finish the recipe the day I made the pastry, so it did refrigerate a
couple days, which wasn't planned, but I didn't have a choice. And you know
what? It still was a dream for a pie-pastry-challenged person such as myself to
work with! And seriously - do the edge roll that they recommend once you get it
flattened into disks, it really saved my edges on the roll-out as they said it
would. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I opted for a lattice top pie. I've only done lattice one other time,
and it's something I discovered then that it was fun to do, not to mention it
looks so pretty! I also took it one step further, I made a batch of their <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/classic-single-pie-crust-recipe" target="_blank">Single Crust Pastry</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">so that I could use my neat little pie pastry cutters in
the shapes of leaves that I just got, and, was dying to use to decorate my pie
(the kind that imprint the leaf's texture on the dough). And they didn't let me
down, it was fun AND pretty. I took the rest of the dough and let Harry cut some out, plus the leaves
already cut that I didn't use, and let Harry brush them with the egg white wash
I used on the finished pie before baking, and then sprinkle them generously
with cinnamon sugar - so we had some nice little bonus snacks!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The filling was wonderful and to be honest, I could've
eaten it just on its own, lol. Really flavorful - mine had a wonderfully
seasoned, sweet-tart taste going on. The
only thing it was lacking - vanilla ice cream! I unfortunately didn't have any,
very upsetting! LOL Next time though...I'll be prepared. Unless I decide on
whim I just gotta have some of this apple pie right now, whenever that moment
hits - which, with as yummy as this was, that is entirely possible!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">All in all, it ended up being just as pretty as it was
tasty. Pretty is something I always strive for when I do stuff like this, but
it doesn't always happen - and that's ok because the treats always taste good
which is THE ultimate goal after all, lol . This time though? I think I
achieved both goals! Yes! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/bakealong/" target="_blank">Bakealong Apple Pie Intro</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2016/11/01/apple-pie-bakealong/" target="_blank">Bakealong Apple Pie Walk-through</a></span></div>
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<b><i>from</i> Kris B.</b><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This week, as Tracey and I share our experience with <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/bakealong/">The King Arthur Flour November Bakealong</a>, you see one of the places where we are not quite so similar…she is the pretty one, and I am the more practical one. Lol! Actually, as we discussed how we would handle the Bakealong Challenges, we decided that one of us would follow the recipe as presented by King Arthur, and one of us would try to share some kind of variation of that recipe in an effort to show just how flexible King Arthur’s recipes are with a little creativity.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In addition to the monthly Bakealong Challenge, King Arthur is also sponsoring the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/bakeforgood/">Bake for Good program</a>. This program is intended to share a love of baking as well as help to combat hunger. Bakers are encouraged to bake some homemade goodness and share it with family, friends, and strangers. This is where my motivation to make hand pies based on this month’s Bakealong Challenge was born.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As a college professor, I am surrounded by hungry students (and a few hungry colleagues) every day. This is a good thing because when I have the urge to bake, I know that I can take my latest creation to school to share and not be obligated to eat the whole recipe myself. Everyone is always most appreciative…some days more than others. Because I teach at the community college, my classes are relatively small. That provides me the opportunity to get to know my students well, both academically and personally, their struggles and successes both in and outside of the classroom. And they know me not only as their music theory instructor, but also as a baker, in more than name only. Lol! With that in mind, I have to share a story from school this week.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For those of you who have been away from college for awhile, the face of the average college student is much different than it was when I was a student. My Monday-Wednesday morning class is very small, five students. On Wednesday, two of the young men arrived to class about ten minutes late. They both came through the door apologizing for their tardiness saying that they were late because they had “diaper duty.” One of these young men is a mid-twenties student who is an extremely talented and hardworking pianist. His wife works as a caregiver for a special needs child. They have a six month old daughter. This student has to wait for his wife to return home from her responsibilities of getting the child she cares for ready for school and on the bus so that she can then assume care for their baby during the day while her husband is at school. The second student on “diaper duty” is a young man, a percussionist working towards becoming a band director, who’s forty-three year old mother had a stroke a few months ago. Insurance will no longer pay for her to stay in a rehabilitation facility so the family is fully responsible for caring for their wife and mother, who is partially paralyzed. The father is working full time. The youngest child in the family, a girl who is a high school senior, can’t miss school. So, the two boys, my student and his older brother, are juggling their work and school schedules to make sure that their mother has twenty-four hour care. That is not the student experience I had! Why am I sharing all of this?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When I bring baked goods to class, it adds a touch of normalcy, of caring, of goodness to my students’ day. They can relax for the few minutes it takes to enjoy a homemade treat. There is no question that food has the ability to bring people together and create comfort in community. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The problem with baking the actual apple pie to share with this class was that although my classroom is well equipped for teaching, it is not well equipped for eating. I did not want to have to take plates and forks and a pie server to school. Hand pies seemed like a reasonable solution.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I made both the pie pastry and the crust exactly as directed in the King Arthur recipe. When I rolled the dough, I then used a 3” round cutter to cut the “bottom crust”, mounded the apple filling in the middle, and added a “top crust.” I used the same cutter for the top crust, but rolled it a bit thicker initially. Once cut, I then rolled it thinner and bigger before placing it atop each of the apple mounds. I then used a fork to crimp the two pieces together and poke vent holes in the tops. These need to be assembled directly on a parchment lined baking sheet.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once completely assembled, I used an egg white wash to brush the top of each hand pie and sprinkled the tops with coarse white sugar.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The King Arthur recipe calls for the full-sized pie to bake 20 minutes at 425 degrees and another 40 minutes at 375 degrees. I baked the hand pies on a parchment lined baking sheet for the full 20 minutes at 425 degrees, but only 20 minutes at 375 degrees.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I got twelve hand pies from the pie crust recipe. I did have quite a bit a filling leftover. My husband ate the extra apple mixture straight from the bowl and my daughter cooked it with a little butter and used it to top buckwheat pancakes. The possibilities are endless!!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2016/11/01/apple-pie-bakealong/" target="_blank">Bakealong Apple Pie Walk-through</a></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03732415167340511555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-23004629244542129972016-11-12T10:08:00.003-08:002016-11-12T10:08:38.345-08:00Food Friday - Pumpkin: Twists on Traditional <b><i>from</i> Tracey G</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfgjtVAk-zhjz8rTrncXKCi4k9tvC2U-7rTuFsX4EoW-Kp7yIpX3y3vcn3iZmvNBguS1hIZH_45pjEVCaoEpAn5hTJ2xcufl-Bx5cfpeNDbRErJ7xDmPdrMQt4fKjo9oGgLU1nsB3HQg/s1600/_DSC0253txtmplated.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfgjtVAk-zhjz8rTrncXKCi4k9tvC2U-7rTuFsX4EoW-Kp7yIpX3y3vcn3iZmvNBguS1hIZH_45pjEVCaoEpAn5hTJ2xcufl-Bx5cfpeNDbRErJ7xDmPdrMQt4fKjo9oGgLU1nsB3HQg/s400/_DSC0253txtmplated.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">I'm always looking for new ways to do something that's a well-loved
stand-by, lol. I love pumpkin pie, which is funny because I never liked it as a
kid. Wasn't my thing, I liked my fruit pies, blueberry especially. I can't say
I remember when I started loving pumpkin pie actually, I think I was into
adulthood to be honest! But anyway, I thought this recipe for <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/no-fuss-pumpkin-pie-bites-recipe" target="_blank">No-Fuss Pumpkin Pie Bites from King Arthur Flour</a> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">sounded like a fun way to get your traditional pumpkin
pie fix, in cute little personal-sized desserts! (probably why I love cupcakes
- they are small individual single-serving sized cakes, how fun is that?) Not
to mention how easy this treat would be to transport and share - it's already
cut, just needs some whipped cream (or not) or honey as my father-in-law
prefers and you're good to go! I mean, technically, you don't even need eating
utensils, as they are even contained in their own little wrapper to hold on to,
peel away and eat!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I did have a mishap though, and ended up making 2 batches.
The first batch, I had whipped up in a jiffy - it really is an easy recipe and
comes together super quick - and I had about 3 or 4 of the muffin tins filled
when I realized I used the wrong flour! I had even specifically bought
self-rising flour for this recipe. And since I couldn't find the King Arthur
Self-Rising flour in any of my stores (which are only like 3 to choose from,
lol), I ordered it from their website to be sure I had it, lol. But what did I
do? Not even thinking, I had used
regular flour. So, I hastily dumped the already-filled foil wrappers back into
the batter bowl, and stirred in a teaspoon of baking powder as per a quickly looked-up
recipe for homemade self-rising flour and hoped for the best. Well, they tasted
good, but the texture seemed off, too dry for what I expected them to be like. I
really wanted to get them done correctly, so even though they were yummy as is,
I made another batch. The 2nd batch was much better because it had a better
texture - more pie-like, than my non-self-rising-flour batch. As they state in
their description of the recipe, it's reminiscent of the "impossible
pie" recipes - and it is, the outer edge makes a sort-of crust, while the
middle is more of the pie texture - it all equals up to a big yum factor though
no matter what! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They are easy to make, easy to take and easy to eat! That
makes them a perfect dessert offering whether you are making them to take to a
gathering, making them package up and give away or making them just to eat at
home yourself. They certainly live up to their name - they are no-fuss in all
aspects!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The recipe:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/no-fuss-pumpkin-pie-bites-recipe" target="_blank">No-Fuss Pumpkin Pie Bites </a></span></div>
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<b><i>from</i> Kris B</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMsCRmcHMtW83RXDhvEwfB5tvps0aW2JnedqxwbfJqtZmJffFtesOGGUnVyXhZVRRUE3bOZMhOpZcSF2xYo12TPC3dvA16dSxndfr8bsGhcl7VzFo2q2WrVYPjjrOksOWiZlmcKUu5T5w/s1600/IMG_0592.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMsCRmcHMtW83RXDhvEwfB5tvps0aW2JnedqxwbfJqtZmJffFtesOGGUnVyXhZVRRUE3bOZMhOpZcSF2xYo12TPC3dvA16dSxndfr8bsGhcl7VzFo2q2WrVYPjjrOksOWiZlmcKUu5T5w/s400/IMG_0592.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Though it still doesn't look like fall outside
in Texas, there is definitely a feeling of fall swirling around. People are wearing sweaters and long sleeves,
despite the fact that the temperatures are still consistently in the seventies,
because that is what you are supposed to do in November. Hints of Christmas are popping up in malls
and a few peoples' yards, but most importantly, the grocery stores now have
their big displays of baking items front and center! Right now, there is an abundance of orange
from those gorgeous cans of pureed pumpkin!
Lol! I realize that you actually can buy puréed pumpkin all year long;
for whatever reason though, I only think about it in the fall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Last
fall, I shared my mom's pumpkin quick bread recipe. It may be my favorite recipe by which to
remember my mom. It is a traditional
"sweet" pumpkin bread. This
year, looking for something different, I found King Arthur Flour's Holiday
Pumpkin Bread. It is a yeast bread, not
sweet, but has all of the spices that I associate with my mom's pumpkin
bread. Plus, it is braided to add a
fancy look to your holiday table...or kitchen counter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/new-holiday-pumpkin-bread-recipe" target="_blank">Holiday Pumpkin Bread</a> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">is
the easiest yeast bread recipe that I have ever made.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">It requires no proofing of the yeast.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">All you do is throw all of the ingredients in
a bowl, mix them either by hand, mixer with a dough hook, or bread machine, and
set it aside to rise for about ninety minutes.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">After the first rise, the dough is divided in half.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">(It makes two 8"-9" rings.). Each
half is then divided into three pieces, from which 18" ropes are made and
then braided.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The braids are made
into</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">rings, placed in the two pans to
again rise for ninety minutes. Then they bake for 30 minutes.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">And then you have two beautiful Holiday
Pumpkin Bread rings.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">They keep for five
days, or may be frozen for several months.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">They look like you slaved in the kitchen for days. Lol!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
bread has a great deal of flavor on its own, but a little butter, cinnamon
butter, or honey and it becomes a real treat.
My daughter thinks that it would be good with cranberries. I haven't tried that yet; however, neither of
our two rings made it to the freezer so I'll be making another batch before
Thanksgiving. I may give the cranberries
a try!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Though
I bake a lot throughout the year, there is something different about baking at
this time of the year. It may be the
pumpkin...and the cinnamon; or, it may be that much of what I bake during the
holidays is shared or given away to others.
I bake for my students as the semester becomes more stressful during the
final stretch, I bake for my colleagues because they are grateful for anything
that makes its way to the workroom as a quick snack between classes. I bake for holiday gatherings. And, I do lots of baking for gifts. The words "company" and
"companion" mean "with bread." This holiday season, make some bread and
break it with those you love. It is at
the table where true community flourishes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Recipe Link:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/new-holiday-pumpkin-bread-recipe" target="_blank">King Arthur Flour's Holiday Pumpkin Bread</a></span></div>
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<b><br /></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03732415167340511555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-60519127990697894852016-11-05T11:18:00.001-07:002016-11-05T22:03:36.522-07:00Food Friday - A is for Apple<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>from</i> Tracey G</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The minute I saw this recipe it intrigued me - my immediate thought was,
"what a neat way to do a pie!" I'd never thought to make one in this
style, and it was fun and easy to eat too - you could either do it the
"proper" way, with a plate and fork, or you could just grab a napkin
and eat it like a piece of pizza! This week, I present <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/apple-pie-bars-recipe" target="_blank">Apple Pie Bars</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">a King Arthur Flour recipe.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I'll admit that pie pastry and I have never really had a good
relationship, lol. In fact, I'd just buy mine in the refrigerated section (you
know the ones, the rolled-up-like-a-scroll crusts), and I absolutely love them,
so there was never a reason to venture into a territory that has never been
very hospitable to me. Then I read this recipe, and thought I'd give it another
go - but with a little help. So, in addition to some of the other ingredients I
bought (more on those later), I took the step and ordered the </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">King Arthur Flour <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/pastry-flour-blend-3-lb" target="_blank">Pastry Flour Blend</a>. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Of course you can make this without it, it says you can
use either it or all-purpose flour - but I wanted to see if using a pastry
flour would</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">help out my efforts. I must
report that this was the first time I've created a crust I was happy with! So,
I guess for those of us (ok, me!) who are pie pastry challenged, it doesn't
hurt to have a little ace in the hole by way of pastry flour!!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Among my previous ingredient purchases, I was happy to have a reason to
finally use the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/boiled-cider-1-pint" target="_blank">Boiled Cider</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">(it's apple cider boiled down to a lovely and yummy syrup) </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I'd also ordered from the KAF website, as this recipe called for it. But
from what I've read with other recipes that use the boiled cider, apple juice
concentrate (thawed) can be used as a suitable substitute. But I have to say I
am so glad I bought that stuff, the flavor is amazing, it's definitely going to
be a regular item in my baking pantry! There are a lot of things you can use this
wonderful product for, you can even reconstitute it to make regular cider! I've
all kinds of plans for this item, from cake glazes to a meat glaze - so many
possibilities!! I can't say enough about the boiled cider!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The recipe also calls for their <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/pie-filling-enhancer-12-oz" target="_blank">Pie Filling Enhancer</a>. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">It's a thickening agent (ClearJel) with a couple other things added,
some superfine sugar and ascorbic acid. I'd been wanting to try that as well
since it was something I'd bought when I got the boiled cider and so forth, so
it was fun to have the chance to break it out and put it to use! They also do
have other ideas for thickening the filling if you don't want to use this.
Their <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/guides/pie-baking/pie-thickener.html" target="_blank">Pie Thickener Ingredient Guide</a> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">has loads of information.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The only problem I had with this recipe - and it was
totally my fault - was the apples I used. Every fall, I buy a bunch of apples,
get the apple peeler out (well, Jeremy and Harry do!) then peel, core and slice
(all one step with the peeler!) up as many as I can, and then package in about
6 cups per freezer bag which is generally the amount called for in many pie
recipes and cobbler recipes. That way, during the winter, an apple cobbler on
the fly is easy peasy, since the time consuming stuff has already been done!
But, I didn't even think when I made this, that frozen for this sort of
not-in-a-dish pie might not be such a wise choice, lol. They do get much more
juicy as they thaw of course, so as I'm trying to get the filling made and on
the pastry, it was running like crazy and I found myself mopping up juice off
the bottom pastry with paper towels so it would seal properly! It was in
effect, a mess! Next time, I will make sure I drain them well if I am going to use
them for a recipe like this!! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Other than all of that, this is a wonderful and yummy
recipe - it most certainly did not last long around here at all. I had no
troubles rolling out the dough, although it did seem like it wasn't going to
make it to the sizes needed, but it did. I can definitely say this will be made
again - and has given me, once again, ideas on other fillings at some point! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Do try it - I don't think you'll be disappointed!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Link to the recipe:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/apple-pie-bars-recipe" target="_blank">Apple Pie Bars </a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Useful links to the special ingredients:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/pastry-flour-blend-3-lb" target="_blank">King Arthur Flour Pastry Flour Blend</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/boiled-cider-1-pint" target="_blank">Boiled Cider</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/pie-filling-enhancer-12-oz" target="_blank">Pie Filling Enhancer</a></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>from </i>Kris B.</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN2YACiuJLwhRW25ZzW-giew5Sn_CHuIOqLdtnkF5JBIWElrOlpnHzhnrT69vVqMMaFW1htPqnyEn0TAb7r71jjuYIvniR19ycU8SxvWJjQrtenc73SVdMNncp2fE4MWj2CIGtO1dGwCFk/s1600/DSC_0099.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN2YACiuJLwhRW25ZzW-giew5Sn_CHuIOqLdtnkF5JBIWElrOlpnHzhnrT69vVqMMaFW1htPqnyEn0TAb7r71jjuYIvniR19ycU8SxvWJjQrtenc73SVdMNncp2fE4MWj2CIGtO1dGwCFk/s400/DSC_0099.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">I am a firm believer in "an apple a day..." I take an apple in my lunch almost every day. There are those times, however, where I want it as a dessert rather than as a side. Unfortunately, when I have those dessert cravings, it is rarely when I have the time to stop what I am doing and whip out an apple pie. For this reason, I was happy to find the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/apple-tortilla-bake-recipe">Apple Tortilla Bake</a> recipe by King Arthur Flour.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Being from Texas, anything that has tortillas as an ingredient catches my attention, especially when using tortillas means that I can have an apple pie type dessert without having to make a pie crust! Though King Arthur does have a recipe for homemade flour tortillas, this recipe does not guilt you in to making your own tortillas though you certainly can if you want to. Because I have so many sources for fresh homemade tortillas that are much better than any that I could make, I bought mine locally, If you've never made homemade tortillas, it is something to try when you are feeling adventurous!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The tortillas form the "crust" for this dessert which has a custard and spiced apple filling. Cinnamon is the star player here. Cinnamon and apples...it's got to be good! The 6 oz. ramekins are lined with pieces of cut tortilla, filled with the custard mixture and the spiced apples are mounded in the middle. The processing of putting this together is quick and easy.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Though the recipe does not include this instruction, I placed the individual ramekins on a baking sheet before placing them in the oven. I am SO glad that I did this because they did bubble over. I may have been a lot less impressed with this recipe if I had had to clean my oven after making it . Lol! I did find that I had to increase the baking time to 38 minutes from the recipe's suggested cook time of 28 - 30 minutes. I'm not sure if this increase in cook time was necessary because of using the baking sheet or if my oven temperature needs to be calibrated. Doneness is based on the custard being set. After thirty minutes in the oven, mine were still runny.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I chose to place my tortillas in the ramekins with the small (pointed) ends up because I like the sunflower look that doing this gives. In the photo on the King Arthur recipe, it looks like they placed the smaller end in the cup and the bigger end formed formed a higher edge all the way around the ramekin. If I had done this, perhaps my cup would not have runneth over. Lol!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I made this recipe for the first time for my husband and me. He had one "complain." It was so good that eh wanted more than one. The recipe makes four 6 oz. servings. I made the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/apple-tortilla-bake-recipe">Apple Tortilla Bake </a>again for a luncheon and doubled the recipe for eight servings. It worked perfectly. Again, I placed the individual ramekins on a baking sheet. I did not have to increase the cooking time beyond the 38 minutes necessary when cooking only four servings.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Enjoy this while the fall apples are still delicious!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Link to the recipe:</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/apple-tortilla-bake-recipe"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Apple Tortilla Bake</span></a></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03732415167340511555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-33655571599370007062016-10-28T14:55:00.000-07:002016-11-24T19:59:55.157-08:00Mixed Up Food Friday - October<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Let's face it, as much as we may like making things from scratch, some days just don't allow for that. The last minute bake sale notice, the friends dropping by unexpectedly, that midnight craving all require fast action. And that means turning to a mix. And if you must use a mix, at least make it a good quality one! King Arthur has some great mixes that give you that homemade taste in less time! We are adding what will become a regular feature here of "Mixed Up Food Friday" where we will try a variety of the King Arthur Flour mixes.</span></i><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>from </i>Tracey G.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Kris and I were intrigued that King Arthur Flour had come out
with a new line of mixes, called Essential Goodness. They are pretty much as
close to homemade as you can get from a commercial mix. And being they are from
King Arthur Flour, I had no reservations in giving one (or two!) a whirl! To
sweeten the deal, King Arthur Flour is donating the cost of one meal to Feeding
America per mix bought! There is no end date to their program either, which I
find simply wonderful! Here's a link to the page with the information on the
mixes and the program: <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/products/essential-goodness-mixes/" target="_blank"><b>Buy a Mix, Give a Meal</b></a></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> And it's a program I'm happy to help support!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, my mix offering this week is the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/products/sour-cream-coffeecake-mix/" target="_blank">Essential Goodness Sour Cream Coffeecake</a>. It was sooooo simple to put together and so very yummy! Minimal
ingredients were required - eggs, milk and butter. Half stick of butter went
into the topping, and the other half went into the cake, along with the eggs
(2) and milk (3/4 cup). It all mixed up so easy and went together easily as
well. It was layer half the batter in a square pan (I used a 9x9x2" pan),
top that with half the crumb topping and press it in a bit. Top that with the
rest of the batter and then finish with the rest of the crumbs. Bake and then
enjoy! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Everyone in this household loved it. The cake was moist,
and had a really nice flavor. I'd read some reviews online for it and some complained
it was a bit too "nutmeggy" for them, well, I thought it was
perfect. There's a definite hint of nutmeg, I could really smell it when I was
mixing it up, but by the time it was baked and in combination with the cinnamon
flavor of the crumb topping, it was just perfect in my opinion! I think between
the 3 of us, I only managed to get 2 pieces before it was all gone, the boys
seemed to have seconds and possibly thirds each time we had some, lol. But that's a
good thing because it's so good it could be a serious detriment to my weight
management efforts to be sure!!! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I do hope you give it a try when you get the chance, it's
a yummy treat for a lazy morning with a cup of coffee!!! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Variations and tips for the mix:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/products/sour-cream-coffeecake-mix/" target="_blank">Essential Goodness Sour Cream Coffeecake Product Page</a></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>from </i>Kris B.</span></b><br />
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Why are doughnuts so good? I can resist almost any kind of sweet treat when I put my mind to it...except doughnuts. Chocolate iced cake doughnuts are my absolute favorite, but unfortunately, I'm not picky and if these aren't an option, I'll take any kind of doughnut that there is. The good thing is that acquiring doughnuts usually requires forethought. You have to plan on getting up early to get them from the local doughnut shop or grocery store bakery early in the morning when they are nice and fresh. Doughnuts are not something that are easily "whipped up" at home when you have a craving for them...until now! Enter <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/pumpkin-doughnut-mix">King Arthur Flour's Pumpkin Spice Doughnut mix</a>! Doughnuts, pumpkin (another definite favorite flavor of mine), and twenty-four hour availability...life is good!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A single box of King Arthur's Pumpkin Spice doughnuts makes a dozen doughnuts, but they are packaged in two half dozen pouches. This is good for two reasons: The doughnuts are baked, and a standard "<a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/standard-doughnut-pan">doughnut pan</a>" holds six doughnuts. And perhaps more importantly, I don't feel obligated to eat a ridiculous number of doughnuts in one sitting!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">About the baking of doughnuts...</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Most of us recognize doughnuts by their shape, the ring with the hole in the middle, or maybe just the hole itself without the ring, but doughnuts earn their status as such by their fat content and because they are deep fried. After I made the doughnuts from the King Arthur mix, my daughter "explained" to me that they really weren't doughnuts because they weren't deep fried. Well, maybe they aren't technically "real" doughnuts, but they taste as good of better than any "real" doughnut that I 'ever had recently! They have a "cake-y" texture that is absolutely delicious!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The batter mixes quickly and only requires the addition of 2 eggs, 1/4 cup of vegetable oil, and 1/4 of water. Easy! I used a 1/4 cup measure to scoop the batter into the rings. This gave me six perfectly sized doughnuts. And there was barely enough batter left to make licking the bowl a treat!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The doughnuts bake for 8-10 minutes. Once out of the oven and cooled in the pan for a few minutes, they can be dipped in glaze (a simple recipe for maple glaze is included on the package) or a non-melting sugar or powdered sugar. I tried both. Suffice it to say that the three adults in my house made short order of the six pumpkin spice doughnuts!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you cannot find the King Arthur mixes at your local grocery store, they can be ordered directly from King Arthur Flour, as can the doughnut pan.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Give them a try!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'm off to make a pot of coffee and my other half dozen <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/pumpkin-doughnut-mix">King Arthur Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts</a>!</span></span></div>
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Kris Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02336146104606375687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-59341080039091082372016-10-22T10:23:00.000-07:002016-10-22T10:23:10.467-07:00Food Friday - Everyday Whole-Grain Bread, October King Arthur Bakealong<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><i>from </i>Kris B.</b></div>
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In our effort to explore all that King Arthur Flour has to offer with its products, recipes, and projects, Tracey and I are participating in the King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge. Each month a new recipe is shared and bakers around the world are invited to try it and share their experiences on IG or the King Arthur website.<br />
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As its title implies, this is a basic everyday use for anything and everything bread - sandwiches, toast, or the favorite way at our house...straight off the counter with a little butter. Any way you slice it, this loaf will not disappoint!<br />
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Many people are convinced that making homemeade bread is either too complicated or takes too long. The process, especially with this only seven ingredient loaf, is simple. Waiting for the two rises to take place does take time, but it is time that you can use to do a load of laundry, read a book, or take a few photos. It's the kind of time that we all used to have and probably took for granted. I am as guilty of this as anyone else.<br />
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I love homemade bread. When my girls were little and I only worked part-time, I made bread twice a week. Back then, he only bread I ever bought was an occasional hamburger bun. I miss those days! Though I probably make more homemade food than the average person, it is far less than I used to do. Like I said, this recipe is quite simple and makes two loaves. Now that I'm not cooking for a family of four, a single recipe of <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/everyday-whole-grain-bread-recipe">King Arthur's Everyday Whole-Grain Bread</a> will last the two of us at least a week, maybe two if I don't take sandwiches for lunch everyday and come home to a snack of a slice with butter and jam.<br />
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Why is it that we refer to the days where most of food was homemade, our vegetables homegrown, our clothes homemade, and our family incomes much less, as the good old days? As simpler times? I for one can say that I would much rather worry about whether my bread is going to rise properly or whether I not I have the perfect color thread for the blouse that I am making than to worry about commute times and whether or not I am meeting all of the state mandated regulstions for educators. Yet as I write this, I have on my to-do list the creation of documents necessary for an importantvmeeting next week. My words and my actions are totally out of alignment here. How about yours?<br />
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Most of us cant go back to those "simpler times," but I suspect that every one of us can carve out an hour or two to roll up our sleeves and knead some bread for a few minutes. It really is a relaxing thing, feeling and smelling the soft dough as it squishes between your fingers. Ah! Heavenly!<br />
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King Arthur Flour, Tracey, and I challenge you to make bake along with us this month. Give the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/everyday-whole-grain-bread-recipe">King Arthur Flour Everyday Whole-Grain Bread</a> a try.<br />
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<b><i>from</i> Tracey G.</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As Kris said, this is the most current King Arthur Flour
Bakealong Challenge recipe, the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/everyday-whole-grain-bread-recipe" target="_blank">Everyday Whole-Grain Bread</a>. I must preface by
saying though, that I am having fun with the Bakealong Challenge, not only do
we get to try new recipes, but I'm sure there'll be new techniques as well
coming along in the future. I love a "reason" to branch out just for
fun! For example, last month's <a href="http://pixelsplatesandlols.blogspot.com/2016/09/food-friday-king-arthur-bakealong.html" target="_blank">Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins</a> (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">click the link to go to the post!) </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">were the first time
I've ever made a muffin with a cream cheese filling! So, not only did I try a
new recipe - but I learned a new technique/filling recipe I can apply to
another muffin one of these days. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I love to make homemade bread. As I've said before, I
used to make it faithfully every week, at least 4 loaves at a crack. My freezer
was always filled with homemade loaves. My mom loved to take sandwiches to her
dialysis appointment since it was right at about lunch time, and regular
store-bought, commercially made loaves of bread were loaded with deadly salt
for a person on a salt-restricted diet due to CHF issues (Congestive Heart Failure).
So, I'd prop Harry up in his bouncer on one of the kitchen counters (and in his
high-chair when he got older!) and get to making the bread for the week. Thanks
to King Arthur Flour's wonderful products and support (as demonstrated by their
wonderful recipes and blog posts making you feel like you could make anything,
lol) I'm rediscovering the fun of making bread again. And it's nice now not
hearing the whining anymore on how "you used to make bread all the
time" from the peanut gallery that is my Husband, Jeremy, lol. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This month's Bakealong Challenge, the Everyday Whole-Grain
Bread, is one of the best bread recipes I've ever run across! Wow, it's so
super simple it's not even funny, lol. I made two more loaves just yesterday,
after making 2 loaves a couple days before that. That means, that so far
this week, I've made four loaves of bread, in no time flat to boot! And as
there's only one left as I type this, I guess that means the people in my
household heartily approve of this recipe! And I do to, it will now be one I
turn to regularly. It's so simple and tasty, it's perfect. And not to mention
using King Arthur Flour's White Whole Wheat flour makes it a great way to get
more whole-grains in the diet! It's great plain, with butter, toasted - it
works with anyway you choose to eat it! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The dough is great to work with. The first time I made
it, it was a bit sticky, but it was a rainy day too - I am sure that the extra
humidity in the air affected that a wee bit. So, I ended up adding enough all-purpose flour to get a smooth non-sticky
dough. I did, however, do that very gradually as you can cross that fine line
of just enough flour stage to the uh-oh-I-created-a-dough-anchor stage. Not a
good thing, lol. The second time I made it, I left it slightly sticky - which
was kind of humorous. In getting it out of my mixer bowl, into the oiled bowl
for the "resting/rising" phase (more on that in a bit), I used my
whole hand to get it, and before I knew it, it seemed hopelessly stuck to my
hand - and I mean STUCK because I'd meant to oil my hand, but forgot,lol. But,
I was patient and waited for it to "let go" of my hand on its own.
Had I forced it faster, I am sure I would have had my left hand covered with a
coating of bread dough, lol. But, by letting it let go by itself, it all came
off like magic. Even if the patience was a little hard to come by, lol. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I exclusively use instant yeast, currently, the SAF brand
that I bought at the King Arthur Flour website. I used to use the Fleischmann's Rapid Rise yeast, also an instant yeast, and it's one of my favorites - and
easy to find in the grocery store in the convenient pre-measured packets.
However, I am now totally in love with SAF Instant yeast - mostly because it's
a good buy (a 16 oz bag that you measure out yourself), and, after reading that
it's pretty much all they use at the King Arthur Test Kitchens, I was sold.
From what I've read it's very dependable, and so far in my usage, I can attest
to that. I also love the method you use for using an instant yeast - you mix it
in with the flour of the recipe, and proceed as directed per the recipe. I will
admit I went my own way with this recipe as I not only mixed my yeast with the
first 3 cups of White Whole Wheat, I also mixed in the sugar and salt. I then
added the water and oil and let that mix until blended and like a thin batter.
At that point, I added in the remaining all-purpose flour called for - all of
it since I knead it in the mixer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But anyway, using an instant yeast, I choose to use a
one-rise method, for the most part. When working with the White Whole Wheat
flour, or any of the bread doughs for that matter, after I get the kneading
done in my stand mixer, I pop it into an oiled bowl to rest - and it rises a
bit too. I usually give it about 20 min or so. Then I divide it, shape it and
let it rise for the formal rising, lol. Once it was divided, I chose to make
rustic loaves instead of using a traditional loaf pan, just for fun. I lined my
baking sheets with parchment paper, placed the loaves on them and let them rise
for about 30 minutes. After rising, I then dusted the tops of my loaves with
flour and gave them a few slashes with a sharp knife for decorative-purposes
just before baking - I did it then so the cuts didn't rise and lose their
definition - this way they were pretty after baking, lol. I had to bake mine a
bit longer than the 30 minutes suggested -
but that's only because I had my rustic loaves on cookie sheet, one on the top
rack and one on the bottom, so I had to add about 10 minutes to that time. They
were perfect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I can honestly say that I wish this was the bread recipe
I cut my bread making teeth on all those years ago - I would've thought myself
a pro! I remember vividly my first attempts at bread making when I was 19 or
so, and it was a laborious process let me say for so little reward, lol. This
recipe would have kept me going, and I bet I wouldn't have quit trying there
for a few years, you can't go wrong with this one. I do hope you try it! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Here's
the link to the Bakealong Challenge page, introducing this month's recipe (it also
has some good tips for the recipe under the links!)</i><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/bakealong/" target="_blank">King Arthur Flour October Bakealong Challenge</a></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Just the recipe:</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><u><b><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/everyday-whole-grain-bread-recipe" target="_blank">King Arthur Flour Everyday Whole-Grain Bread </a></b></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>The blog post recipe walk through:</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2016/10/03/everyday-whole-grain-bread-bakealong/" target="_blank"><b>Everyday Whole-Grain Bread Walk-Through</b></a></span></div>
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<br />Kris Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02336146104606375687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-42171746271530656382016-10-15T14:30:00.000-07:002016-10-15T14:30:50.888-07:00Food Friday - Going Bananas! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><i>from</i> Tracey G.</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfETVTs23CHn0JsQIJZCE7EP3_l2k-czkc6gtr3w11txHN1y_tKNIjdiNVigU5vWWpb7ht9_08p-12-hGgbRTtbqnN1XZLXJ3RUAayiYANecfxisDhKbL_yNfgVp57gzGuiTfYFpL_fmM/s1600/_DSC0102final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfETVTs23CHn0JsQIJZCE7EP3_l2k-czkc6gtr3w11txHN1y_tKNIjdiNVigU5vWWpb7ht9_08p-12-hGgbRTtbqnN1XZLXJ3RUAayiYANecfxisDhKbL_yNfgVp57gzGuiTfYFpL_fmM/s400/_DSC0102final.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Have you ever picked up an ingredient and then forgotten
what you were going to use it for? I did. And that's precisely how I came to
have my bag of King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour in my cupboard. I have no
recollection as to what I bought it for - I know that I bought it for a
specific reason and recipe, but what that was, I have no idea. I can only hope
that it comes back to me! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So anyway, I have this bag of whole wheat flour and no
idea what I bought it for, so that then makes it fair game right? I need to
find some recipes to use it in, and who better to ask? King Arthur! Well, King
Arthur Flour that is, lol. And since Kris and I decided on bananas this week, I
found a recipe for<a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/100-whole-wheat-banana-bread-recipe" target="_blank"> Whole Wheat Banana Bread</a> (click the link to get to the
recipe!). I'd never really thought to use whole wheat flour for anything beyond
bread, regular whole wheat bread or rolls. So, for me, it was decided - Whole
Wheat Banana Bread it was to be!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It came together very easily, a one-bowl thing is always
welcome! And I am also finding I do love using my kitchen scale and weighing
out ingredients, there's just something fun to me about it, lol. I had
everything on hand for it, which is another thing I look for in a recipe -
especially one that I might want to make on the spur of the moment, so you can
be sure, that now that I've discovered this recipe, I will be keeping whole
wheat flour on hand! The other ingredients needed were of course, bananas, and
eggs, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, vanilla, butter, honey and walnuts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
didn't use nuts beca</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">use Harry doesn't care for them in things - but I do, so
next time I may either make 2 batches or divide the batter, add walnuts to half
and then make mini-loaves out of it or muffins. The only thing different from
the usual banana bread recipe using regular flour, is, you let the batter rest
in the pan 10 minutes before baking as this allows time for the whole wheat to
absorb moisture since it takes a bit longer than regular flour. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I did have a problem with one corner sticking and
therefore ripping my loaf when I tried to get it out of the pan. I have no
idea, why, I lightly greased the pan as called for, and the rest didn't stick
at all - just that one corner. And I think my oven is having temperature issues
or something because I think it came out a little dark - even after tenting the
top with foil for the last 10 minutes as the recipe directed to do. My whole
"outside" of the loaf was brown, over-browned I think, but still
tasted good. Next time I will maybe try reducing the oven temperature or
shorten the bake time. I think it's time to invest in an oven thermometer to
see just what is going on in there! LOL <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The bananas I had to use weren't exactly as ripe as I'd
have liked for banana bread, so they didn't really make it too banana-y as I
like it - Jeremy said it tasted more like Brown Bread than Banana Bread, but as
I said I am guessing that it was the not-so-ripe bananas that are the reason
for that. The bread was really good, nice crumb and moist - and tasted pretty
darn good! Plus, I discovered it is even better the next day, I forgot that
quick breads are always better after they've "cured". It's one I would gladly make again, and love
to try experimenting on! I'd like to cut the fat - using either applesauce or
yogurt and add an extra banana or two for moistness, sweetness and flavor.
Doing so I could probably cut back on the honey/brown sugar. There is one other
variation I am just itching to try - substituting the honey altogether with the
Boiled Cider (apple cider boiled down to a syrup) and see what kind of tasty
results that produces! I also had an idea to use the recipe I found on the King
Arthur site for a glaze using the Boiled Cider and drizzle the banana bread
with that... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So many ideas and thoughts! Makes me want to get working on
another batch as soon as I'm done typing this!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Link to the recipe courtesy of King Arthur Flour: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/100-whole-wheat-banana-bread-recipe" target="_blank">100% Whole Wheat Banana Bread</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Here's also a link to their step-by-step post on their blog, Flourish:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2011/05/09/the-most-sought-after-bread-recipe-online-is-fill-in-the-blank/" target="_blank">100% Whole Wheat Banana Bread Flourish Post</a></span><br />
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<b><i>from</i> Kris B.</b><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Have you ever heard the saying, “Life is what happens while you are busy making plans?” I’ve heard it...and I experience it more regularly than I care to admit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Despite being out of town last weekend and knowing that that would disrupt the rhythm of my life this week, I thought I was on top of things. Whereas Tracey had whole wheat flour needing a purpose, I had frozen bananas. We decided way back on this week's banana theme. I knew what I wanted to make, <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/banana-cream-cheese-roll-recipe">King Arthur Flour's Banana Cream Cheese Roll</a>. I had my week scheduled so that everything that needed doing would get done. Though it cut things close, that plan called for baking, photographing and writing on Friday. That may make me appear to be a procrastinator on the surface, but in my mind, everything was well scheduled. It would work. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Then life happened.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">My well-calculated plan even allowed me to sleep in a little on Friday morning. I got up more rested than I have been in days and began gathering the ingredients for the week's recipe. I knew that had everything that I needed. Grocery shopping had happened right on schedule, earlier in the week. However, I failed to check the size of the jelly roll pan called for by the recipe. Despite a cabinet full of baking pans, I did not have the requisite size, a 9 1/4 x 14 jelly roll pan. Weber graciously volunteered to take me to get one. Great! Problem solved. I could manage a fifteen minute delay in my schedule to run up to Target. Three stores and an hour later, I got home…with no pan. Apparently the required pan is not a standard size. I came as close as I could with a 9 x 13 jelly roll pan. I figured I could make that work by not using all of the batter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Back on track, I got the batter made and put in the oven. After a few minutes, I realized that I had used all of the batter. At that point, I just had to go with it and hope for the best. When the cake was baked, I pulled it from the oven and, following the recipe instructions, I began the process of rolling it to cool. I bet you know what happens next. It didn’t roll, it cracked because it was too thick. This was definitely “user error” and user error was not in my plan. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I texted Tracey and told her about my failure with the Banana Cream Cheese Roll and assured her that I would go to my Plan B, Banana Chocolate Chip muffins. My forethought had included having a Plan B, but I really didn't anticipate having to use it! Tracey and I discussed the situation back and forth and then I had the idea that maybe I could salvage the project by cutting the cracked roll into three layers and making it a layered cake rather than a roll. We have always been about keeping things real. Sometimes real is pretty and everything works perfectly and sometimes real means nothing works right and you have to punt. We decided that I would keep it real and finish my failed attempt at the Banana Cream Cheese Roll.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Fortunately the roll cracked such that I had three equal pieces. That made going forward not look so bad. I started making the syrup for the recipe. While I’m waiting for the brown sugar and water mixture to thicken, a process that required close supervision and frequent stirring, Weber said, “There’s a black lab on our front porch.” I asked if it was ours and he said, “No.” Being a sucker for animals, I turned off the stove and went to see if I could catch the dog. She was a young energetic pup perfectly happy to come to me. Unfortunately the only collar she had on was one that works with an electric fence. She had no identifying tags. We put her safely in our backyard called our local animal shelter to see if anyone had reported a missing dog. There had been no reports, so the officer came out with his chip reader hoping that the dog had been chipped and we could get her home that way. Fortunately she did have a chip and we found that she lived five or six houses down from us. Animal Control called and left a message for the owner. The owner was out of town and the dog had somehow gotten away from the house sitter, who soon came to retrieve the dog The situation was resolved, but now I was another forty-five minutes behind. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I reheated the syrup and finished cooking it. Made the cream. And put the ‘Variation on a Banana Cream Cheese Roll” together. I really wasn’t happy with the fact that the roll didn’t roll. I set out to do the photos of my “failure,” a process for which I realized I had no interest or energy. I could not get past the fact that it did not look like it was supposed to. Because of that, no photo that I took was good. Again I texted Tracey and said that the photos were ugly and boring. I could not use them. I sent one to her just to prove my case. Her more objective observation was that it was OK. “I think it looks great because it looks homey and yummy and like total comfort food.” Homey comfort food…that’s what I enjoy making. I don’t dress stylishly. My home is not furnished and decorated elegantly. I am about practical and real living. Why should the aesthetics of what I cook be any different? So, I went with it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">According to Weber, who cares not what food looks like as long as it tastes good, this recipe tastes great! So, I share with all of you my "Variation on <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/banana-cream-cheese-roll-recipe">King Arthur Flour’s Banana Cream Cheese Roll</a>." I used vanilla instead of rum, and I also garnished the top with sifted powdered sugar and sliced banana to give it a somewhat "finished" look. Really, it worked. Lol!</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "\22 arial\22 " , "\22 sans-serif\22 ";">Here's also a link to their step-by-step post on their blog, Flourish:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "\22 arial\22 " , "\22 sans-serif\22 ";"><a href="http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2013/10/09/banana-cream-cheese-roll/">http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2013/10/09/banana-cream-cheese-roll/</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">"Failure is the key to success: each mistake teaches us something." </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;"> - Morihei Ueshiba</span></i></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03732415167340511555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-22924199990418922502016-10-09T14:48:00.000-07:002016-10-09T14:49:18.475-07:00Food Friday - Dinner and Dessert courtesy of the King! (King Arthur Flour that is!)<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><b><i>from </i>Kris B.</b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Tracey and I are enjoying trying recipes from the King Arthur Flour archives. </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">After last week’s scones, I decided that I needed to make a savory dish.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I ate way too many of those scones!</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Lol!</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I had some fresh spinach that needed to be eaten before we went out of town this weekend, so I started my search on the King Arthur website looking for a recipe that called for spinach.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I found recipes for various pizzas and calzones and spinach dip and soups and wraps and many things in between.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I settled on this recipe for </span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><i><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/miraculous-spinach-quiche-recipe">Miraculous Spinach Quiche</a>.</i></b></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">As I read the recipe, I was carried back about ten or so years to when my girls were both still at home and <b><i>Impossible Pie,</i></b><i> </i>a Bisquick recipe, was a weekly meal at our house. Since at that time I had one child that was a vegetarian and one who was a carnivore, the Bisquick recipe was easy to accommodate both. I could mix the “batter” and pour it over veggies for Offspring No. 1 and over meat for Offspring No. 2. Basically, it was made to order Impossible Pie at our house.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The King Arthur recipe uses ricotta cheese, as well as a generous amount of a shredded cheese of your choice, in its batter, making its consistency a bit more dense than the Impossible Pie, but very good! Despite the fact that I was not making this recipe for my girls and their disparate food preferences, I still found myself faced with the vegetarian and the carnivore dilemma. The recipe calls for only spinach in the filling.. Weber wanted some meat. Since I also had some bacon that needed to be eaten, he got his wish. Because I used the bacon, I sautéed the onions and wilted the spinach in bacon drippings rather than the oil that the recipe calls for. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">This recipe is super easy to prepare. Basically a little sautéing of veggies and then everything is mixed together in a large bowl and then spread in a pie plate to bake. The crust forms “miraculously” during the baking.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">With our first bites, Weber and I found ourselves trying to describe the texture of the<b><i> <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/miraculous-spinach-quiche-recipe">Miraculous Spinach (and bacon) Quiche.</a> </i></b>It was familiar, but we couldn’t quite place it. Then it hit us. The texture was much like that of tamales. This is not a criticism, just an observation. Tamales are a favorite of mine so I am perfectly OK with this masa like consistency. We enjoyed this meal for dinner and a few lunches thereafter. Its definitely a keeper for us!</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I do have to share a humorous story that the night I made this recipe for dinner. My beloved husband posted this on Facebook:</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">“Kris Elliott Baker just told me that before we could eat dinner, she had to shoot it…This is life with a photographer.”</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Um, yeah. This is the way it is at our house. Doesn't everyone shoot their dinner before they eat it?</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b><i>From Tracey G.</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Since Kris was doing a pie of sorts, I decided I wanted
to do something "pie-like" as well. I knew I had some apples to use
up quickly, so, I searched the King Arthur Flour website - for apple recipes. I
ran across these <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/rustic-fruit-tarts-recipe" target="_blank">Rustic Fruit Tarts</a>, and this is one thing I have always wanted
to make. They've always intrigued me in their simplicity and ease of
fashioning, but for some reason I've never attempted them. I find that rather
crazy on my part!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The dough was simple to prepare - a couple eggs, flour,
butter, milk, sugar and salt. I mixed it up in my stand mixer, then divided it
into 6 pieces. After I did that, I prepared the filling. After getting the
filling on each dough disk, I decided to toss a couple blueberries each on/in
each one just for some color, lol, and they worked really well! The filling was
simple also - diced apples, sour cream (I used a light version), sugar, lemon
zest, flour and cinnamon. It also lists cardamom, but that's optional. I didn't
have any, so I didn't use it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Putting together was fun and easy! You roll out each
dough disk to about 8-inches. Now, the recipe calls for rolling out the dough
and placing on the baking sheet to fill and fold. Well, I wouldn't be able to
get all the disks on the sheet, so I rolled them out on my counter (covered
with freezer paper, the waxy side up and dusted with flour), one at a time.
Then I filled it, and folded it and used a metal spatula to transfer the tarts
to the baking sheet that I had lined with parchment paper. Worked like a
charm!!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I did brush half with some milk and sprinkled with sugar just to see
how they'd turn out and look, and they were pretty!!! I want to try it with the
coarse sugar as they've used in their photo - mine should be here this week as
I ordered a bunch of goodies from the King Arthur Flour website! This recipe
has inspired me to want to experiment with other fruit fillings. Fun stuff! Hooray
for baking season!!! I'm looking forward to it this year! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Here's another link to the recipe - do try them and enjoy! Between Kris and I this week, we've provided an easy meal and an easy dessert to go with! ;-) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/rustic-fruit-tarts-recipe" target="_blank">Rustic Fruit Tarts from King Arthur Flour</a></span></div>
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Kris Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02336146104606375687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-70891641276119236912016-10-01T20:50:00.001-07:002016-10-01T21:15:50.465-07:00FOOD FRIDAY - Bake for Good with King Arthur Flour<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><i>from </i>Kris B.</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3eyskq9jCVAB_RcgmugmRlTN-Fwdchzvp0dHPdh2AVdeGjZQJ6KRRnxcPtkZpL8oqwS_r1OURAF8Q5U1y1qDKyQMEwERgFLd377eovQpIN30LJ3W5Ipbjg7Wtaf5xMdYpWfmkUvw10Bg0/s1600/FINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3eyskq9jCVAB_RcgmugmRlTN-Fwdchzvp0dHPdh2AVdeGjZQJ6KRRnxcPtkZpL8oqwS_r1OURAF8Q5U1y1qDKyQMEwERgFLd377eovQpIN30LJ3W5Ipbjg7Wtaf5xMdYpWfmkUvw10Bg0/s400/FINAL.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">And so it is fall...long jeans and sweaters are starting to fill the racks in the department stores, the produce stands around town are dominated by big bins of orange pumpkins, and as I enter the grocery store, I am now being greeted by the overwhelming smell of cinnamon coming from the bags of cinnamon infused pine cones in the floral department. That is not a complaint; I live the smell of cinnamon! I think that is why I was drawn to this week's recipe for whole wheat cinnamon scones from King Arthur Flour. Though everything around me says fall, there is a little part of me that is still missing the afternoon scones that I had for the two weeks that I was in England over the summer. Perhaps making this recipe was a way for me to bid summer a final farewell and fully embrace the beauty of fall. That really shouldn't be too difficult since fall is my favorite season. I love everything about it - the weather, the clothing, and the food!</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Throughout the month of October, Tracey and I are going to be sharing recipes from King Arthur Flour. We are doing this to help support <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/bakeforgood/">King Arthur's Bake for Good </a>Month. This initiative asks bakers to pledge to bake and share their creations. For every pledge received, King Arthur will donate the cost of one meal to <a href="https://secure.feedingamerica.org/site/Donation2?df_id=19008&19008.donation=form1&s_src=Y16YP2B1X&s_subsrc=c&s_keyword=feeding%20america&gclid=CjwKEAjwvb2_BRCb_s7Yo7_ZlHASJABz6L0jsej12ZdeYkQYn-H3kj_Jypx2Oo0Yrr2ZvF5GB3BSnhoCvJzw_wcB">Feeding America</a>, an organization that helps local food banks across the United States. They will also send those of us who pledge on the King Arthur website a 75 cent coupon good on King Arthur flour. One of the things that you are asked on the "pledge" form is, who will you feed? I often take my baked goods to school and share them with my students. I know that many of them don't take the time or have the resources to eat well. They are always hungry and most appreciative of a fresh blueberry muffin, peanut butter cookie, coffee cake, or whatever else I happen to come up with. I have learned that I also need to make enough for my colleagues. Once word gets around that there are treats in my classroom, everyone stops by for a mid-morning snack. This scone recipe only makes twelve scones so I'm going to have to make multiple batches to get everyone fed!</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">After getting excited about making the cinnamon scones, I ran in to a bit of a problem. The recipe calls for cinnamon chips and I could not find any locally. I went to four different stores in my area, one of which I have to be very desperate to enter. No cinnamon chips to be found anywhere. I looked online and discovered that Hershey's makes them as does King Arthur. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to wait for them to be delivered. So, I had to punt. I used salted caramel chips instead of cinnamon. Caramel is a fall flavor too, right? Think caramel apples. In my defense, the recipe states that you can substitute any chips of your choice. The caramel chips taste just fine, but I have ordered the cinnamon chips and will makes this recipe again so that I get the full effect of the cinnamon. I want my scones to have that same aroma of cinnamon that I get from the pine cones at the grocery store.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/cinnamon-whole-wheat-scones-recipe">Here</a> is the recipe for <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/cinnamon-whole-wheat-scones-recipe">King Arthur Flour's Whole Wheat Cinnamon Scones.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">We enjoyed our scones plain. No butter. No nothing. But, I'm sure with a little cinnamon butter, or if you're feeling a bit decadent, brown sugar cinnamon butter, they would be supper delicious!</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">On a photography note...watch your own shadow when you are photographing, particularly up close. Lol! My schedule has been such that I don't have much natural light time for photos. Artificial light and foam core boards have been my saving grace. This means I can bake and shoot photos into the wee hours of the night. I must say that this is not the ideal way to do things, but in a pinch it works! Lol!</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Happy baking, eating, and photographing!!!!</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b><i>from Tracey G</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As Kris said, we decided to bake all King Arthur Flour
recipes this month in honor of and to help promote their <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/bakeforgood/" target="_blank">Bake For Good</a> campaign
- which we both think is a pretty great idea! I love to bake - and even though
I do occasionally like to eat the items as well, I more enjoy sharing! I think
it's a fun thing to do, which is why I usually make myself crazy during the
holiday season - I love to bake and share so I generally have a "to bake"
list that's much too long, and end up scratching off a few items to save my
sanity, erm, I should say what's left of my sanity! ;-) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am always interested in working with modified diets for
many reasons. My mom, during the last few years of her life, was on a
Kidney/Renal diet AND a Heart Healthy diet - and believe me, lol, balancing the
two was not easy! I made bread like it was going out of style, 4 homemade
loaves a week that would get frozen because my mom loved taking sandwiches to
dialysis since her set time was around lunch time every day. Commercially
prepared bread is crazy high in sodium and if I remember correctly was the
number one food item listed on the list of foods to stay away from when we were
getting information from the doctors on her various dietary restrictions! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I
myself have worked with a restricted diet, I was diagnosed with Interstitial
Cystitis back in November of 2004, and I immediately learned to use the IC Diet
to manage my symptoms along with the medications, but I said it then - and I
still say it now, the diet was my one of my biggest tools for managing my
symptoms. It was just as important as my medications! Even though, now a days,
I've been in remission for the most part, if I have a troublesome day, I
immediately revert to the diet - which is a low acid diet. So, as you can see
I've had my fair share with special diets, and one that I find I'd like to
learn a few things about and how to adapt to is gluten-free. I'm always on the
lookout for a gluten-free baking mix to try and now recently, I've been
wanting to try my hand at from-scratch
gluten-free baking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When Kris gifted me with my Spring 2016 issue of Sift
magazine, put out by King Arthur Flour, this recipe for gluten-free lemon bars
caught my attention. I ordered the King Arthur Almond Flour right away, but
then the weather never cooperated for baking! It was always WAY too hot, and I
wasn't about to add to the heat by firing up the oven, lol. So, when Kris
suggested we bake all King Arthur recipes this month, I knew immediately which
one I was going to make first! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The recipe is delicious and easy. Harry and Jeremy have
both put their stamp of approval on it, and no one was the wiser that it was
made with an almond flour crust. And honestly, what's not to love about almonds
anyway, so it can only be good! LOL Unless you don't like almonds, but even
then you don't taste "almond" so I say try it anyway I don't think
you'll be disappointed! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This was also the first time I weighed out all my
ingredients as they were added. All except the liquids and eggs of course. I
recently got a handy kitchen scale, so I decided I was going to give it a shot.
I did notice though, that the online version of the recipe doesn't have the
weights listed, so I will type out the ingredient list as well as link to the
recipe online instead of just linking! I read through some of the first few
comments listed on the recipe's webpage, and I didn't have any of the issues
the commenter's seemed to have had - so in my opinion and experience it was
perfect as it was! And using my handy little ruler I keep for baking/cooking, I
got exactly 16 2"x 2" squares out of my pan!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gluten-Free Lemon Squares with Almond Flour Crust</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Courtesy of King Arthur Flour, can be found here: </i><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/gluten-free-lemon-squares-with-an-almond-flour-crust-recipe" target="_blank">Gluten-Free Lemon Squares with Almond Flour Crust</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Makes 16 Squares</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Crust</i><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2 cups (6 3/4 ounces) King Arthur Almond Flour<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">6 tablespoons (2 5/8 ounces) sugar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3 tablespoons (3/4 ounce) gluten-free cornstarch<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1/4 teaspoon salt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">6 tablespoons (3 ounces) cold butter, diced<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Filling</i><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2 large eggs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1 cup (7 ounces) sugar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1/3 cup (2 5/8 ounces) lemon juice<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2 tablespoons (1/2 ounce) gluten-free cornstarch<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">pinch of salt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">confectioners' sugar for dusting, optional<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8" square
pan or 9" round pan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>To
make the crust:</i><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl, whisking to
blend. Add the cold butter, working it in with your fingers or a pastry blender
until the mixture is evenly combined and crumbly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dump the mixture into the prepared pan, shake to
distribute, and press the crust into the bottom and about 1/2" up the
sides of the pan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bake the crust until it's light golden brown, about 8-10
minutes. While the crust is baking, whisk together the filling ingredients. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Remove the pan from the oven and pour the filling over
the hot crust. Return the squares to the oven and bake for 14-18 minutes, until
the filling appears set. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Remove the squares from the oven, and cool in the pan before
cutting into 2" pieces. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Dust
with confectioners' sugar before serving, if desired. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><b>Nutrition information: (1 square, 48g):</b> 199 calories, 3g
protein, 22g carbohydrates, 4g fat, 2g fiber, 4g saturated fat, 35mg
cholesterol, 64mg sodium, 18g sugars, 2mg vitamin C, 1mg iron, 36mg calcium</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Kris Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02336146104606375687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-90259601505551376622016-09-25T18:34:00.000-07:002016-09-25T18:34:53.181-07:00Food Friday - King Arthur Bakealong Challenge!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><i>from Tracey G</i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdCBJ9XsSN6oN1V-_Y0E66s9-tOgHeeokxIbfiqZ2BPuO_ET5HCUOejGbaA8TG34CEYnGak0LNjqU02Kn0eqtk1pC6XJPNyqRog7yIdJ2JEtaH7pjFr-gVdz-iom2OsMtB-TV2QgCa9Lk/s1600/_DSC0026finalwtxt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdCBJ9XsSN6oN1V-_Y0E66s9-tOgHeeokxIbfiqZ2BPuO_ET5HCUOejGbaA8TG34CEYnGak0LNjqU02Kn0eqtk1pC6XJPNyqRog7yIdJ2JEtaH7pjFr-gVdz-iom2OsMtB-TV2QgCa9Lk/s400/_DSC0026finalwtxt.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This week we're having a little fun... I discovered the <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/bakealong/" target="_blank">King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge</a> (click the link to go their page on it along with the links to this month's recipe!) on my Instagram feed. As soon as I saw it,
I immediately sent a text to Kris saying that this would be a fun thing for her
and I to do, just because. At the time I wasn't thinking of the blog. Then, one
day last week, it hit me that it would be fun to incorporate it this week into
our Food Friday post, if she was game! Since we were a month behind, we each took a
recipe to make this time around. I couldn't locate the proper sun-dried
tomatoes needed, so I asked Kris if she'd mind making the Bakealong Challenge
Recipe #1, the Pane Bianco and I'd make the #2 recipe, Inside-Out Pumpkin
Muffins. It was a deal! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Well, it was fun! I enjoyed trying something new - and
let me say that as soon as I find the proper sun-dried tomatoes I am making the
Pane Bianco because it looks yummy and fairly easy! I am finding that I am now
looking forward to the next month's recipe challenge. We also have been
bantering back and forth on how to incorporate the King Arthur Bakealong Challenge
recipes every month on the blog. I know we'll come up with something fun to do
with it because was a fun experience and will be a fun one to share too! If you
make it, let us know! Or tag it on Instagram with the King Arthur Bakealong tag,
#bakealong and mention us so we can see your creations! Our Instagram id's are @allinadaykris and
@traceann24. You'll see us there, so join in on the fun!! And the treats! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now, on to the recipe. It was super simple to make and
let me tell you it's one of the yummiest muffins ever and has spawned some
ideas in my brain of using the technique on other muffins - think carrot cake
with the frosting on the inside! And I really enjoyed making it, although for
some reason I was totally unorganized feeling! I have no idea why, but it just
felt like I did everything out of order - but even then, they came together
beautifully and perfectly! I think it's one of the times I actually was pleased
with how they looked after they were baked off - I thought they looked lovely!
And I did use the cookie scoop as they suggest and wow, did it make it easy to
make the whole thing, every stage, the scoop was great!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Here's the link to the recipe walk-through, on the Kind
Arthur blog:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2016/09/01/inside-out-pumpkin-muffins-bakealong/" target="_blank">King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge #2 Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins Walk-Through</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And here's just the recipe:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/inside-out-pumpkin-muffins-recipe" target="_blank">King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge #2 Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffin Recipe</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have a feeling this is going to be a lot of fun!!!
Enjoy!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 115%;"><b><i>from </i>Kris B.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 115%;"><b><br /></b></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcopBmRpK5t78Os64hkgPGMzKmJW7pcQTeM_PUytTRVBmhW2rRzc3eWAnHtgyXZqey50FAb3X6dxFxUNzrICGijE5sYVQqz1QDW62q13DyXxL6qPmOVG_NGQR8_wb-lscU1eLDfH6q0HHZ/s1600/PANE+BIANCO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcopBmRpK5t78Os64hkgPGMzKmJW7pcQTeM_PUytTRVBmhW2rRzc3eWAnHtgyXZqey50FAb3X6dxFxUNzrICGijE5sYVQqz1QDW62q13DyXxL6qPmOVG_NGQR8_wb-lscU1eLDfH6q0HHZ/s400/PANE+BIANCO.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I’m almost up for a challenge, especially when it involves food and or photography. To find one that includes both is like hitting the jackpot. As Tracey said, she found out about the King Arthur Bakealong Challenge two month’s into it. That’s OK; it gave us each a recipe to try! Deciding who would do which one was easy…Tracey had the ingredients on hand for the pumpkin muffins and I have two basil plants with enough leaves to make pesto for the entire state of Texas so I was happy to make the Pane Bianco. At the least, it gave me another use for some of the basil! Sadly, we did not have homegrown tomatoes this year so I did have to buy sun-dried tomatoes. But, there’s always next year for the homegrown….</span></span></div>
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<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This is one of those recipes where the final product makes it look much harder than it is. The bread requires just a little cutting and shaping of the dough to give it an artisan look. All you need to know is how to make the letter “S.” lol!</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; min-height: 15px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The recipe says that the dough will be a “soft” dough. Mine was not. It was a bit dry when first combined. I kneaded with wet hands and that helped. My first rise time was almost double what the recipe indicated. I’m not sure if the differences I encountered were due to the flour (I did use King Arthur bread flour.), the weather here in Dallas, or user error, but in the end, all was well. The bread is absolutely delicious!!!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Try the recipe as is or stuff it with some of your favorite ingredients. Several of the posts on the King Arthur site suggested that black olives would be a nice addition. I’m not an olive fan so I am perfectly happy with the recipe as is. Whatever you use, the recipe warns not to over stuff. Cooking is all about having fun and being creative! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Here's the link to the recipe walk-through, on the Kind Arthur blog:</span></div>
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<a href="http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2016/08/08/pane-bianco-bakealong/">http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2016/08/08/pane-bianco-bakealong/</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">And here's just the recipe:</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/bakealong/pane-bianco.pdf">http://www.kingarthurflour.com/bakealong/pane-bianco.pdf</a></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">If you make either of these recipes we’d love for you to share pictures of your projects. No worries…you don’t have to share your muffins and bread! </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As Tracey said, on IG #bakealong and mention us, @traceann24 and @allinadaykris so we won't miss your creations!</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03732415167340511555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-20485520138593453622016-09-19T05:59:00.000-07:002016-09-19T05:59:23.203-07:00Food Friday - Breakfast On the Go<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><i>from</i> Kris B.</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYRGuew0zcbUXn5UkDqsMvf7YRl1grPMRPXLoMdX_Qkt95-Hu95O7sBdp4AOX1XPBu8Ie6szgKjTVeWm32dV4ekSCFLLB7Qqy0GP_mWyvxRUlvpjaftgZlZgZ65BVB-J-EseWQVOqgmSvL/s1600/FINAL+Muffins+with+Text.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYRGuew0zcbUXn5UkDqsMvf7YRl1grPMRPXLoMdX_Qkt95-Hu95O7sBdp4AOX1XPBu8Ie6szgKjTVeWm32dV4ekSCFLLB7Qqy0GP_mWyvxRUlvpjaftgZlZgZ65BVB-J-EseWQVOqgmSvL/s400/FINAL+Muffins+with+Text.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Tracey and I do our best to share recipes on Food Fridays that we both enjoy making and eating and our hope is that you will find a few that you like as well. There is no question that we both enjoy the cooking, photographing, and then eating whatever it is that we share in these posts as well. But honestly, often the “behind the scenes” conversations that we have about what we are doing is the most fun of it all! I am going to share a bit of this week’s text messaging about our progress toward getting this week’s post done. You guys will either lose complete respect for us (assuming you ever had any, LOL!); or, you will wish you were part of our circus!</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">One of my favorite things to think about is text messages that are sent that if were read and of context are either hilarious, frightening, or grounds for a stay in a mental health facility. Here is one such exchange between us this week.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><i>Me: </i></b><i>I need to go shoot muffins.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><i>Tracey: “</i></b><i>And what did you do on Saturday? I shot some muffins!”</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><i>Me:</i></b><i> It is hunting season, right?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><i>Tracey: </i></b><i>Small game I think, so that would be mini muffins…</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><i>Me:</i></b><i> Uh oh! I am shooting jumbo muffins…without a license!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><i>Tracey:</i></b><i> I won’t tell the DNR!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I am so glad that I have a friend who has my back! Oh, and this whole conversation was going on amidst another conversation about cup sizes…and not measuring cups!!! You are going to have to wait for Tracey to share that one with you!!! Trust me. You won’t want to miss it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Now for this week’s recipe, which I believe originally came from <b><i><a href="http://www.tasteofhome.com/">Taste of Home</a></i></b>…</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I have been trying to get up early enough on school mornings to have a nice, calm slow breakfast that involves multiple cups of coffee. (Nope! Not coffee cup sizes either.) This works fairly well on the days when my first class is a 9am. Tuesdays and Thursdays when class starts at 7:30, it’s a once cup morning, with that cup being a travel mug, and sometimes a grab and go breakfast. These Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins are a great compromise when my taste buds want oatmeal and my schedule say, “Not today, sweetheart!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>INGREDIENTS</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">1 1/2 Cups quick cooking oats</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"> 1 1/4 Cups all-purpose flour</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">1/2 Cup packed brown sugar</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">1 tsp baking powder</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">3/4 tsp baking soda</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">3/4 tsp ground cinnamon</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">1/2 tsp salt</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">1 Cup unsweetened applesauce</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">1/2 Cup milk )I used almond milk)</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">3 TBS canola oil</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">1 egg white</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>For the topping:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">1/4 Cup quick cooking oats</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">1 TBS brown sugar</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">1/8 tsp ground cinnamon (I probably used closer to 1/4 tsp)</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">1 TBS melted butter</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Mix together all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl, <b>excluding those used for the topping</b>. In a second bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring just until incorporated. *Fill greased muffin cups 3/4 of the way full. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Mix all of the topping ingredients together and sprinkle evenly on the tops of the muffins.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Bake at 400 degrees for 16-18 minutes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">This recipe yields 10 regular muffins, 6 jumbo muffins, or 20-24 mini muffins. Choose responsibly depending on whether or not it is muffin hunting season in your area! </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">And, using muffin liners negates the need for greasing the tins. :-)</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">One more thing...There is great debate in food photography as to whether drips and crumbs should be left in photos. I am a realist. I think they should. And, I can't get muffins in the tins without dripping somewhere. So, I left the burnt on drip. That is me! If you are a perfectionist and secretly, or not so secretly, want to be Martha Stewart, clean your pans carefully before you bake and photograph. Or, become a Photoshop whiz! I have neither the real skills of Martha nor the PS skills to make me look like a fake Martha. Therefore, drips it is. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>from </i>Tracey G</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQtShWPYwHCt4L0Llt9c5F9pfjpgAwWYSL86GAHggkCcs3iUaU2q58r7GBHHX3XOVTjxb5xAUumGwUZvJaqGWn6iGIdEb63d4UiaHKqz-3Cx5Be0lZQHeNYebRLh1CJOdMtGVHNXqg94Y/s1600/_DSC0029plated5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQtShWPYwHCt4L0Llt9c5F9pfjpgAwWYSL86GAHggkCcs3iUaU2q58r7GBHHX3XOVTjxb5xAUumGwUZvJaqGWn6iGIdEb63d4UiaHKqz-3Cx5Be0lZQHeNYebRLh1CJOdMtGVHNXqg94Y/s400/_DSC0029plated5.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ok, I'll admit it - after
reading through my friend's post first, before I sat down to write mine, I
realized I am a drip-wiper-upper before I bake! LOL! There's never really been
any thought to it, it's just something I do, whether I am photographing it or
not! Now I wonder if it's not some other manifestation of my tendency toward
the perfectionist regime...something to think about for sure as to my motives
to do so! Ha!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My post has been quite the
project for me this week - not the making of or photographing of, but the
getting-it-done-and-all-put-together done kind of thing. I've had a nasty cold
and other another illness, involving needing antibiotic, that's been making me
feel yucky as well. Geesh, when it rains it pours! So, my attention span has
been really shallow, due to feeling tired and just plain blah and icky. It's
hard to think when you just want to vegetate and sleep! So, I apologize now for
it being later than usual!! Unfortunately, it now seems to have morphed again
into a sore throat thing, which is not pleasant at all to deal with and making
me rather annoyed, I just want to be back to normal healthy! LOL And here I
thought I was starting to feel better....silly me! I should have known better!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am still in my mode to
find things that can be convenient to eat and convenient to store - preferably
in the freezer until they're needed and can then be heated and eaten. No muss,
no fuss. I found a few recipes for breakfast items that can be an individual
serving right out of the oven or the freezer. This one is my own version of a
few breakfast-in-a-muffin-cup kind of things. I adjusted ingredients and
amounts to suit my tastes, so that
should tell you that you too can do the same thing. Adjust it, add to it - make
it yours. Among the variations in my research, things like chopped onion or
chopped green pepper can be added to change it up. I am thinking I am going to
try a "Greek Version" using feta and spinach, and possibly chopped
tomato in the egg mixture. I've lots of ideas for this one, and decided that if
the child didn't like them, it didn't matter because I did - and this is
something that can help me be on the healthier eating straight and narrow. It's
quick and easy to make, and to reheat to eat later - especially if it's one of
those times I'm rushed and would be tempted to turn to something either
processed or not-so-healthy! And they even are good for brunch/lunch, not just
for breakfast, I tested that out as well, lol. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, here we go, here's the
super simple recipe that could potentially have quite a few variations! Let me
say here though, that I had a heck of a time getting them out of them out of
the muffin cups, even though I sprayed them well. I am thinking that next time
I make them, I may use the foil cupcake liners. I'd just have to make sure to
remove the foil liner BEFORE I reheated in the microwave! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Egg and Sausage Muffins</b></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Makes 12</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1/2 lb bulk pork sausage<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">12 eggs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1/2 tsp garlic powder<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1/2 tsp salt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1/4 tsp onion powder<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1/4 tsp pepper<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1/2 c shredded cheddar
cheese (or more to taste! Or even a different cheese if you prefer!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>1)</b> Preheat oven to 350°F. In
a skillet, cook sausage, breaking into crumbles, until no longer pink; drain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>2)</b> In a large bowl, beat
eggs. Add garlic powder, salt, onion powder and pepper. Stir in sausage and
cheese.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>3)</b> Prepare muffin tin by
spraying with cooking spray. Spoon egg mixture into muffin cups, about 1/3 cup
in each. Bake for about 20-25 min, or until a knife inserted near center comes
out clean.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><i>Freeze Option:</i></b> Cool baked
muffins completely. Place on wax paper lined cookie sheets and freeze until
firm. Transfer to a resealable plastic freezer bag (or another tightly covered
freezer container) and store in the freezer. To use, place in greased muffin
pan, cover loosely with foil and reheat in a 350°F oven until heated through.
Or microwave each muffin on high 30-60 seconds or until heated through. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><b>Nutritional Information
(approximate), per muffin:</b></i> <i>160 calories, 12g fat, (5g saturated) 207mg
cholesterol, 346mg sodium, 137mg potassium, 1g carbohydrate, 11g protein<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<br />Kris Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02336146104606375687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-73135569965990972802016-09-10T14:52:00.001-07:002016-09-10T14:52:15.895-07:00Food Friday - Grab and Go<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<b style="text-align: left;"><i>from </i>Kris B.</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUjgb_vE_v5CJRvab3RRhcxXtERHM7a1bFul_ECm3qaeYvj_ocCsZ0h1aZAjHvKWpyRTfXsE3Y6N2Sk77JOuGMIlY65PPdtofThB9m4Ko7NSosGUKCqz-tmBofYOWsNdNXbEDj4quPGCEZ/s1600/Pizza+Pockets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUjgb_vE_v5CJRvab3RRhcxXtERHM7a1bFul_ECm3qaeYvj_ocCsZ0h1aZAjHvKWpyRTfXsE3Y6N2Sk77JOuGMIlY65PPdtofThB9m4Ko7NSosGUKCqz-tmBofYOWsNdNXbEDj4quPGCEZ/s400/Pizza+Pockets.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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My head is still wrapped around easy lunches and, if necessary on a busy evening, quick dinners. I have always loved the idea of the commercial Hot Pockets and Lean Pockets, but tend to steer away from packaged foods. It is the "hot" part of these sandwiches that appeals to me.me. Though I do love my PB&Js, a hot sandwich seems more like "real" food. I know. I'm a little weird in my thinking. Now that we have established that...<br />
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I am sharing here a process rather than an actual recipe. This is my solution to a hot sandwich as well as na good choice when I can't decide what I actually want to eat. These pizza pockets are a little bit sandwich, a little bit pizza, a little bit cheese and crackers, a little bit calzone, and a lot of tasty goodness!<br />
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Start with pizza dough. I make my own dough using the recipe from <i style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Artisan-Pizza-Flatbread-Five-Minutes/dp/0312649940/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473481402&sr=8-1&keywords=pizza+and+flatbread+in+Five+minutes">Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes A Day</a></i> by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. Their process allows you to make the pizza dough and store it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, using only as much as you need each time. I can make one pizza a roll or I can make a dozen or more. The dough is there for the using. But, any pizza dough recipe will work. Or, if you prefer, you can even use canned or frozen dough if you are really trying to keep things simple. Roll the dough to 1/4" thick. You will need a 4x4 square of dough for each pizza pocket.<br />
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Choose you filling. For me, this is my favorite pizza toppings - Canadian bacon, spinach, bell pepper, and onion. Anything you like will work. Layer your toppings on the dough square leaving about an inch of dough all the way around.<br />
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Then place a mozzarella cheese stick in the center. Carefully roll the dough around the cheese stick sealing the seam and both ends. Place the pizza rolls on an uncreased cookie sheet. Brush each one with melted butter. Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese on top and, if desired, add a little garlic salt to the tops as well.<br />
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Bake at 400 degrees for 22 minutes. **If you are using commercial pizza dough, your cooking time may differ. Follow the manufacturers instructions.<br />
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Serve with pizza sauce for dipping. <br />
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These can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days or frozen and reheated as needed. They are best if reheated in the oven or toaster oven, but in a pinch, the microwave will do.<br />
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<b><i>from</i> Tracey G</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMQKRttiQ-BgMWFvw9cn74nGH4maCSHWGSiAQ99pu39t7aTH-NGqhUHeIVwg_EQ7tLol6aZO1S4zGe23i9mDnPPcJBhbTWunQ0rgZ6w_C1z0C-9oqHbOPs7pxVnI6wil_pnDVAhHjIwYk/s1600/_DSC0110plated.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMQKRttiQ-BgMWFvw9cn74nGH4maCSHWGSiAQ99pu39t7aTH-NGqhUHeIVwg_EQ7tLol6aZO1S4zGe23i9mDnPPcJBhbTWunQ0rgZ6w_C1z0C-9oqHbOPs7pxVnI6wil_pnDVAhHjIwYk/s400/_DSC0110plated.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am forever it seems looking for snack-type items that
are fun and that Harry would like - especially for after school. There's that
time between getting home from school and getting dinner on the table that I
hear the never-ending, "but I'm starving!" from Harry. Lately he's
been on a total corn dog kick, I have to keep them in the freezer constantly it
seems. He absolutely loves them, so when I spotted this recipe on the Wilton
site, I was intrigued! It's a little snack version of a corn dog! And looked
super simple to make - which was better yet! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Well, let me say they did come together super easy, a
total snap to make. It said that it made 4 dozen, and I got four dozen, plus
some batter left over so I made a pan of just mini plain corn muffins. Now I
should say here, that I, do not care for corn dogs. I like hot dogs and corn
bread, but not put together - never have. BUT, I really liked these little
things! Harry, on the other hand, was not too impressed. And the only reason
for that is, because they aren't the commercial, deep-fried dogs on a stick.
Heaven forbid we like homemade better! But, I like them quite a bit and Jeremy
did too - they're even good cold out of the fridge in my opinion! But then
again, I can eat just about anything cold out of the fridge, a proclivity I'm
sure I inherited from my father - he was the same way, didn't matter what it
was, it was good right out of the fridge, no need to reheat! LOL!! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I did tweak the recipe a bit by adding in an extra
tablespoon of sugar, the batter just wasn't the right sweetness to my taste
(yes, I had to taste the batter, raw eggs be darned!), so instead of 2
tablespoons, I used 3. And I made sure I used good all-beef hot dogs too, my
personal favorites these days, the Nathan's Bun Length Hot Dogs - I think that
those really added to the yum factor for me as well!! The recipe does include a
dipping sauce that sounds really yummy, but I didn't make it because I knew it
wasn't something that would appeal to Harry, but I know I'd like it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As I said, I found this recipe on the Wilton site, so it
can be found here: <a href="http://www.wilton.com/mini-corn-dog-bites/WLRECIP-8570.html#q=mini+corn+dog+muffins&start=1" target="_blank">Mini Corn Dog Bites </a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And here's the recipe, as written!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mini Corn Dog Bites</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Courtesy of <a href="http://www.wilton.com/" target="_blank"><b>Wilton.com</b></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Makes 48 mini muffins (4 dozen)</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1 package (15 ounces) all-beef bun-length hot dogs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1 cup all-purpose flour<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1 cup yellow cornmeal<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2 tablespoons granulated sugar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1 teaspoon salt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1/2 teaspoon baking powder<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (melted and cooled
slightly)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1 cup milk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1/4 cup sour cream (additional 2/3 cup for
dipping sauce)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2 Eggs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3 tablespoons Dijon mustard<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2 tablespoons honey<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1) Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare Mega Mini Muffin Pan
with vegetable pan spray.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2) Cut each hot dog into 6 pieces.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3) In large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar,
salt and baking powder. In medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, milk,
sour cream and eggs. Stir butter mixture into flour mixture until just
combined. Divide batter evenly among prepared pan cavities, filling each about
half full. Place one hot dog piece in the center of each cavity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">4) Bake 14-16 minutes or until muffins are golden brown
around edges. Cool in pan on cooling grid 5 minutes. Remove from pan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">6) In small bowl, stir together sour cream, mustard and
honey. Serve alongside warm Mini Corn Dog Bites.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><br /></b>Kris Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02336146104606375687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-65949748207068744122016-09-04T22:11:00.001-07:002016-09-04T22:11:18.676-07:00Food Friday - Ode to the Lunchbox<div style="line-height: normal;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "helvetica";">f</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">rom </span></i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Kris B.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">School started for me last Monday. As I was sitting at the dining room table that morning drinking my coffee and running my day in my head, it dawned on me that that day, August 29, 2016, was my fiftieth first day of school. I started kindergarten in September of 1966 at age 4. I have been involved in education, on one side of the desk or the other, ever since then. I spent thirteen years, including that year in kindergarten, as a public school student, three and a half years as an undergraduate, seven years as a graduate student and graduate teaching fellow, a year as a pre-school and elementary music teacher, and the last twenty-five years as a professor of music theory. I posted something along these lines on Facebook on Monday morning. One of my friends posted a comment that said, “Where is your first day of school picture?” That started me thinking…</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I remember a few first day of school photos that my mom took, maybe kindergarten, first, and second grade, but that’s it. She was not a picture taker. When my girls were in school, I did take first day of school pictures of them, but it never crossed my mind to either take one of me or even one of the three of us together. When I read my friend’s comment I wondered what it would be like to have all of those fifty first day of school pictures. Maybe if I’d known back in elementary school or junior high that my whole life would be spent in education, I might have thought to document it this way. Sadly, I didn’t. So, I had to rely on my less than vivid memories to help me “celebrate” this "golden anniversary."</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">;</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I thought about all the schools that I had attended, all the teachers that I had had.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I smiled as I recalled those that had truly inspired me.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I said “thank you” to those who had a part in shaping me into the teacher that I am.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I forgave those who made school miserable at times.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Names of friends who I haven't thought about in decades crossed my mind.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I wondered what happened Steven Leonard, the kid in fourth grade who threw up in class every morning that his mother gave him Carnation Instant Breakfast.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I lamented the fact that I kept in touch with exactly zero of my girl friends from high school.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I could have spent a long time wandering aimlessly through the past not sure where I was going or for what I was looking.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">About this time, I happened to look at the clock and realized that it was time for me to head out the door.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Back to the present, to a time where I knew exactly where I was going and what I needed to be doing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As I sat down for lunch that day, those twinges of nostalgia crept back into my thoughts. Though first day of school pictures were not part of my start of school memories, other things were. I remember getting new clothes, mostly dresses because I am old enough that girls had to wear dresses to school every day. This was the case until I was in junior high. I got new shoes, shoes that I had to take off as soon as I got home from school because school shoes were not play shoes. I got new notebooks and pencils. But, my favorite thing about the beginning of a new school year was that I always got a new lunch box. They were always metal and came with a “real” breakable Thermos. I had them with pictures of astronauts on them and Peanuts characters. I had one that looked like a mailbox and another that was red plaid. My all-time favorite though was the one with Johnny Gage and Roy Desoto from the TV series <b><i>Emergency</i></b>. Lunch boxes themselves have changed a lot in the last fifty years, but the fact that I still get a new one at the beginning of every school year has not. And, neither has my preference in lunch box meals.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I do take leftovers from the previous night’s dinner or salads for lunch several days a week, but I have to admit that my favorite lunch is a tried and true PB&J, chips, fruit, and a sweet treat. When I was little, my PB&J was made with Skippy peanut butter and grape jelly on white bread. Now I eat it with homemade peanut butter and red plum jelly on preferably homemade oatmeal bread. My chip preference used to be Fritos, probably because you got a free Frito Bandito eraser in the package. Now I eat pretzel thins. Most days I still eat an apple, though occasionally I branch out to another fruit. Somewhere along the line I bought into that notion of an apple a day… And, my two or three Oreos or chocolate chip cookies as a sweet treat have been replaced by a small piece or two of dark chocolate. If only I still had Johnny and Roy on my lunchbox… Though my food choices haven't matured much, my lunchbox has, sort of.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">This year’s lunchbox is sort of like a </span>Bento<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> box.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I like the small compartments because they help with portion control.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Yeah…the need for portion control was not an issue for me fifty years ago either.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I am thankful that these day I enjoy my faithful PB&J most often in my office by myself rather than in a noisy school lunchroom. There are some benefits to growing up!!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And now its time for a confession…as I sit here writing this, I am drinking coffee and eating pumpkin spice </span>Oreos<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span>Oreos<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> may make their way back into my lunchbox this year!!! </span></span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>from </i>Tracey G</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This week Kris and I have been musing about school, the
first days of, lunches, and so forth. Harry starts school on the 6th this year,
just a few days away. Hard to believe summer has flown by so quickly, yet it
really didn't feel like it went by that fast. It's a strange combination of
perception this year! I would have to say it was a good summer, didn't do a
whole lot of anything, but a lot of that was directed by Harry, so as long as
he was happy, that's good enough for me! I think he really was ready for some
unstructured kid time after a school year of nothing but structure and rigid
routine. This summer was one full of lazy days - up late and sleeping in late,
which I know he's loved every minute of! I even think there were a few days for
him he never even got out of his lounge clothes - and I would bet my right arm
that if asked him, those were his favorite days of all, lol.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But there is something to be said about gearing up for
the new school year - and getting him ready for it always reminds me of all my
years of getting ready for the First Day of School. The ritual of school
clothes shopping was my favorite, of course, lol, my parents would give me a
nice budget and let me go nuts - good times! We didn't use backpacks back then,
they weren't a "thing" until college (and let me say I wished they
were the thing when I was in Junior High and High School because that was a LOT
of book juggling!). Why, I have no idea, like it wasn't cool to carry one until
college, lol. Crazy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The choosing of the lunchbox though was a big deal - that
was something special to be sure. I don't remember when I stopped buying lunch
boxes. Probably 6th grade if I hazard a guess. By 7th on up I ate school lunch
because it was a la carte by that stage and way more fun than bringing lunch
from home! The funny thing is, I can
remember my first few - of course they were metal (called "vintage"
these days), and the first couple included Speed Buggy, I'm sure a Speed Racer
one and maybe a Scooby Doo thrown in the mix. I remember 5th grade's for sure -
Wonder Woman!! Only by that point it was an insulated vinyl material. But after
reading the draft of what Kris had to say, I could have only wished I'd been
able to have an "Emergency" themed lunch box - I was head over heels
crushing on the character Johnny Gage from the time I was like 3 on up, lol.
Randolph Mantooth (who played the character Johnny) was my first fangirl crush!!!
And I'll never forget I wanted to be just like nurse Dixie McCall! (played by
actress AND singer, Julie London - I remember when my dad told me she was a
singer too, I didn't believe him until he pulled out her album!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> But, back to the
lunchboxes, I do remember that we had this crazy little lunchroom ritual when
we brought lunch in my early elementary school (only grades K-2 if I remember
correctly), for some reason upon
entering the lunchroom, we'd slide our lunchboxes on the floor to the table we
were going to eat at! It was like lunchbox shuffleboard, lol. My metal
lunchboxes took a beating...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In the shopping for Harry's lunchboxes I can't help be
reminded of how much things have stayed the same (kid's favorite characters!)
yet how much they've changed (materials!). I do have a hard time letting him
pick his own, lol, I see the ones I like and it's like I'm a kid all over again
and gently remind myself this is HIS lunchbox, not mine, so if he wants Miles
From Tomorrowland over Star Wars, that's what it is. Even if I do secretly
covet that cool Star Wars lunchbox... This year though, since he opted for a Minecraft
themed backpack, we searched for a cool lunchbox in the same theme, but there
weren't any to speak of. So, this year, it's a plain black one with lime green
piping and handle. It's pretty cool I think - and it matches his backpack
fabulously. And he likes it, that right there makes it perfect. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The items that go inside have changed quite a bit as well
- where I had pretty much eaten out of my thermos (Campbell's soups were a
favorite of mine), because I was one of those odd children that didn't like
peanut butter and jelly. I just started liking it actually not that long ago,
lol, and even now I prefer no jelly/jam on my peanut butter sandwich, but
sometimes when the mood hits, sign me up for the addition of some yummy
seedless blackberry-black raspberry jam! But anyway, there's so many cool
portable lunch products out there these days! I love the drink/juice bags, I
remember when the ONLY brand out there was Capri Sun - I remember when they
came out, and let me just say that was well AFTER my school lunch days, lol.
They became a camping staple for me, lol. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have to confess, I love individually packaged items.
Yes I know I could buy a big container of things and portion it out myself a
lot more cheaply I'm sure, but what it saves me in time and peace of mind, I'd
rather have those individual bags of Goldfish and pretzels! Not to mention the
cheese sticks - not only the string cheese, but the colby-jack and cheddar! The
applesauce pouches (and just about any fruit you can imagine in a squeezy
container, lol) are a wonderful thing - no utensils necessary, no trying to
open the little cup of the stuff - awesome, lol. I do get a few things that are
less than the healthy route, but I believe in all things in moderation, so a
little treat is nice to have occasionally as well to help keep the hum-drums
out of lunches packed from home when you're a 7-year-old kid, lol. So he'll
find the occasional Rice Krispies Treat square or fruit gummies - and maybe
sometimes an individual package of chocolate chip cookies when I don't have
homemade around for him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What I do know is that there are so many cool choices out
there - fairly healthy, and of course some that aren't so healthy but are
guilty pleasures nonetheless - that would have probably had me taking lunch
from home WAY more often than I actually did as kid! Kids these days (and
adults who pack a lunch every day or almost every day) have a lot of fun
choices to keep things fun and fresh in the realm of packing that lunchbox!!! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Kris Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02336146104606375687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-3920888941999018452016-08-31T20:49:00.000-07:002016-08-31T20:49:06.212-07:00Tuesday in Texas - The Routine of Routine<i>from </i>Kris B.<br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Like many, my “year” revolves more around the academic calendar than the yearly calendar. The end of August/beginning of September is my January. Every April, as the school year’s end finally seems within reach, I begin making grand plans for all that I will do during my summer break when I have lots of " free time.” I must admit that during the final stretch of the school year, I tend to focus on the negatives of my rigid schedule from September to May, constantly repeating mantras like, “I’ll be glad when summer gets here and I finally have time for </span><span style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;">fill in the blank.”</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> or “If I didn’t have to do this right now I could,” again, “</span><span style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;">fill in the blank.”</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> I make lists of all of the things that I want and need to do during those few summer months. Perhaps this is all only a silly game that I play with myself, a kind of defense mechanism, a way to get myself sanely to that moment when all of my grades are submitted and academic obligations met, that moment when I can say with confidence, “I am done!” Then what? What really happens during June, July, and August?</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I must start by saying that I had a good summer. As soon as school ended in May, I had several weeks at home. Those were the weeks where I was going to clean out drawers and closets. Those were the weeks where I was going to sew on missing buttons and mend split seams. Those were the weeks when I was going to try all of those recipes that I have clipped and pinned over that last nine months. In my defense, I did some of those things, but not nearly as many as I thought I would. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I was also going to read, for pleasure. I was going to knit. I was going to take more pictures and study and practice to improve my photography. I was going to write more. I love writing and it is one of those things with which school really does interfere. (Lesson plans and lecture notes don’t count as writing!) These are the things that I never did. Yet, these were the things with which I filled in those above blanks. Why didn't I do them?</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">During July we travelled…a lot. First a week in Pittsburgh for a conference and then two weeks in England on a choir tour. It was all good. It’s not every week that I get to sing Evensong every night of the week in a beautiful cathedral dating from the 12th century. I must have spent June recovering from May and preparing for July. We returned home on August 1 and all of the sudden it was time to start planning for the 2016-2017 academic year. The twenty-four hour days that come at the beginning of August as the first day of school approaches seem to pass twice as quickly as the twenty-four hour days at the beginning of May as the semester is coming to an end. And now, here it is, the final week of August and I am back in school. I should be looking ahead to all that this school year will bring, but I find myself looking backwards and asking myself why I didn’t do all of the things that I “really wanted to do” over the summer. This morning as I was writing my morning pages, the answer to that question became crystal clear.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Let’s start with the morning pages themselves. (If you are not familiar with Morning Pages, they are a discipline of free writing for 30 minutes first thing every morning presented by Julia Cameron in her book, The Artist’s Way.) I have written morning pages for many years. It is in these pages where true self is revealed…all of me…the good the bad and the ugly and the beautiful. I did not write regularly over the summer. It was hit and miss and mostly miss. I'm not sure how I managed to write nearly every day during the school year, even the days where I taught 7:30 am classes, but didn't manage to maintain the discipline on my leisurely summer mornings. This morning, I found myself writing about how I was going to miss the freedom of the summer yet how I love the routine of the school year. How is that for cognitive dissonance??? The truth for me is that I am like a toddler; I need to routine to function well. I need to have a reliable template into which I can insert my day. Then I can function well. During the school year there is very little flexibility in my daily schedule. I know that if I have one free hour in my schedule and if I want to go take photos it has to be done then, then I will go do it. Without routine, I find myself saying, “I’ve got all day. I’ll do it later.” And then, you guessed it…later comes and goes and whatever I was going to do never happens. I need the routine of routine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">This realization about myself isn’t new. My left brain self and right brain self have been playing tug-o-war with one another for fifty years. What may be new is my perception of this reality. I am finally learning how to balance my desire for both routine with my desire for plenty of room for a creative spirit to move within me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I don't live in a fantasy world; I know that I don’t have time for everything I want to do and choices, sometimes hard choices, must be made. So, I am learning to prioritize…prioritize honestly. What this means to me is that I am thinking deeply about what I absolutely have to do, primarily work related things, and what I need to do. Work is self explanatory, but need is not.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I used to define the things that I needed to do as those things necessary to make and keep others happy. As a parent, this is a natural thing. I viewed doing things that made me happy as wants, not as needs. We all grew up hearing, “You can’t have everything that you want.” I bought into this wholeheartedly. As an adult with a busy schedule, the pecking order of priorities was always have to’s, need to's, and then the want to's, with time and/or energy often running out before the want to's were even considered.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I haven’t figured out how to add more hours to my days, but I have learned that many things that I once considered wants are really needs and have thus been moved up on my priority list. I <u>need</u> a creative outlet. Creating makes me feel alive. I <u>need</u> to spend time relaxing with family and friends. Community may be my number one need. And relaxing just feels good. I need to sleep more. I am not a very productive or a very nice person without healthy sleep. I don’t need, nor do I have to, to have clean drawers and closets all the time. I don’t need to wear the one or two shirts with the missing buttons. I don’t need to always put the needs of others first. I am not being lazy or totally egocentric here. I am trying to be realistic. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">To summarize all of this thinking out loud…I absolutely require routine in my life. That routine must include time for things that I believe deep down in my soul that I need. I also know that my routine must be somewhat fluid so that it can change as my have to’s, need to’s, and want to’s change. I’m glad for the structure of my days now, but I will miss the luxury of my "free" time at home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Do you have a routine? Do you need a routine? Do you want a routine? Is the routine that you have working for you? Does your routine include what YOU need? Are you open to your routine changing?</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Ponder the routine in your routine.</span></div>
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Farewell, August.</div>
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Hello, September.</div>
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Kris Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02336146104606375687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-34661548788117935892016-08-27T13:34:00.000-07:002016-08-27T13:34:33.771-07:00Filters and Borders and Word Art...Oh My!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This week Tracey and I are sharing more photo recipes. We are going to explore what you can do with the RookieCam app and the Rhonna Designs apps.</div>
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I must confess that I resisted relying on my phone for photos for a long time. I was convinced that it just couldn't possible do justice to the images that I wanted. As is often the case, over time I have been proven wrong. The images are often just as good; and the truth is, I almost always have my phone with me so I "get" the shots that I would have missed if I relied solely on my DSLR.</div>
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And here is another confession, sometimes it is more fun to play with editing apps on my phone that it is to edit in Lightroom or Photoshop. Again, the editing can happen anywhere. I don't have to wait until I get home to my computer, which often is late at night. I guess what I am saying is that sometimes I am lazy when it comes to editing. Lol! Both RookieCam and the Rhonna Designs trio of apps make editing quick and easy!</div>
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Here is the original shot, a leaf on my lantana. I think that I took the shot trying to catch a butterfly or a dragon fly that I obviously missed. I was about to delete the photo, but I really monochromatic shots so it caught my attention. As I looked more carefully, there was something about this leaf that drew me in. Maybe I'm just easily amused. :-)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3_tSMZLN2U5qIOfyAXk7VzwA98-asD35UNcRoDUDSvAqgYowLvmJN6DWnP-_GJdpNu8z5CVMJi-Q025yoU0UTzZ-NUeBRHvlaMUI-pjJ0sh5xtdfLOWsXltYICFx0C1UE5QQaLyNWtV66/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3_tSMZLN2U5qIOfyAXk7VzwA98-asD35UNcRoDUDSvAqgYowLvmJN6DWnP-_GJdpNu8z5CVMJi-Q025yoU0UTzZ-NUeBRHvlaMUI-pjJ0sh5xtdfLOWsXltYICFx0C1UE5QQaLyNWtV66/s400/FullSizeRender.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I came to the conclusion that what I liked about it was all the curves...the curved edges of the leaf itself, the curves of the veins, the tiny curves of the scalloped edges, and the way the leaf curves around itself in the upper right. As I thought about if and how to edit this shot, I decided that I wanted to use something that would make all of those curves more pronounced.</div>
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This is the edit using the Timber filter from RookieCam. It adds some "harshness" to the photo, but to me it also brings out all of the curves as well as some more of the smaller details of the leaf. I then bumped both the shadows and the highlights a tiny bit.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPEoLr7m-ll3hhHcAuwTflN4fDJ_zxrodP9ULtu_tmwGoPweYb0iiLrhwcpcMNJ5LALh7hDDmbxCoDByzn_lTEWa4Fu52KAwjbjW7r0ZlE7T2dHhCi4GHWwGnu4YcDKpB2rlIBEK-YXX6_/s1600/IMG_6502.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPEoLr7m-ll3hhHcAuwTflN4fDJ_zxrodP9ULtu_tmwGoPweYb0iiLrhwcpcMNJ5LALh7hDDmbxCoDByzn_lTEWa4Fu52KAwjbjW7r0ZlE7T2dHhCi4GHWwGnu4YcDKpB2rlIBEK-YXX6_/s400/IMG_6502.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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This particular filter added some graininess that I don't usually care for, but I can tolerate it here I think because it adds a little more texture to the monochromatic image. I am not a big fan of adding textures to my photos. RookieCam has some included, but I have never used them.<br />
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Once I bumped the Highlights and shadows in RookieCam, I realized that there was more light play in this than I had first noticed. Because Tracey and I are looking at the Rhonna Design appas as well, I challenged myself to create a different edit focusing more on the light rather than details of the leaf itself.<br />
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Here is the same original image with the the Dreamy filter from Rhonna Magic applied.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZKBavAJXrVhYxTxdj73CgRE0ga56ucR8iJQFfA4XfxoMRdmcfIsaAjpYx2wnudHwmNEFIgC4qaJa2A7-WFbs49jXwIFRn5msA77eSGYswjCRrI87f4wZ7YoOl6fYaRwDr3F_jog288xD_/s1600/IMG_6506.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZKBavAJXrVhYxTxdj73CgRE0ga56ucR8iJQFfA4XfxoMRdmcfIsaAjpYx2wnudHwmNEFIgC4qaJa2A7-WFbs49jXwIFRn5msA77eSGYswjCRrI87f4wZ7YoOl6fYaRwDr3F_jog288xD_/s400/IMG_6506.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Though I like this, I wanted to see if I could make the light in this image a bit more dramatic. Rhonna Magic has some light leaks that can be added, but none of them gave me what I was looking for. <br />
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I then took the above image first edited with Rhonna Magic back into RookieCam. I used RookieCam lightleak 20 with the screen blending mode. The subtle bokeh adds some texture to the shot, but, in my opinion, it also changes the mood. It makes it seem happy, joyful, lighter, in an emotional way. Though I started with the same photo, this edit creates a completely different feeling than did the first. There is no judgment as to which is better. I am simply making an observation. This does, however, illustrate just how much control photographers have over the impact of our photographs on the viewer. What is it that we see in our images? And, what is it that we want our viewers to see?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEqiOt5L-EDaG9jfgWlahMydyV7B9AlKZW3APj7cvicEcG6uq0zvEhHxS_QdnpQIcKAwZsC3fkvcEiyvmEqdVf4xuCQ-volNU6vXf-7XVmIcxinOT5XvW4PGLedc71-QNTm4TNNnWF-Tb0/s1600/IMG_6507.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEqiOt5L-EDaG9jfgWlahMydyV7B9AlKZW3APj7cvicEcG6uq0zvEhHxS_QdnpQIcKAwZsC3fkvcEiyvmEqdVf4xuCQ-volNU6vXf-7XVmIcxinOT5XvW4PGLedc71-QNTm4TNNnWF-Tb0/s400/IMG_6507.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Because I have a thing for adding text to my photos, and because the Rhonna Designs app has some fantastic word art, I went back and added a bit of text.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi5y2LktoffXdCDvVEmGYGlkchK58GtK_ON_s8rFN6njL_CrjQjcSyS255xNlwZQP-ykNb0UP1-7rNVRKzrxYgnHCgT0572rupYO7dcQfTZZHKs8-A0d1BkNZpttIMaDc1tH29tInke7Yo/s1600/IMG_6508.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi5y2LktoffXdCDvVEmGYGlkchK58GtK_ON_s8rFN6njL_CrjQjcSyS255xNlwZQP-ykNb0UP1-7rNVRKzrxYgnHCgT0572rupYO7dcQfTZZHKs8-A0d1BkNZpttIMaDc1tH29tInke7Yo/s400/IMG_6508.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I could have continued to play with different combinations of filters, and borders, and little tweaks here and there, but at some point you just have to stop and say, "I'm done."<br />
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<b><i>by Tracey G</i></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I like to challenge myself
occasionally and just use my phone's camera and apps for my photos. I like to see
if I can capture things just as I can with my big camera. For example, this
month my CY365 is all phone photos, except for one I believe, but that was
because it was a photo that did double-duty: blog and photo-of-the-day. In
doing so, though, I do tend to lean toward and on my favorite apps to help me
out. This week, as Kris said, we're working with the Rhonna Farrer suite of
apps and RookieCam. I love the fact that with the Rhonna apps, they all can
work together. If you edit partially in RD Magic app, you can open the photo in
the Rhonna Designs app right from there and keep on trucking in your edits. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I chose to use the RookieCam
app as a stand-alone, even though I don't normally, I thought it would be good
for this. I usually flip back and forth between Rhonna's apps and RookieCam for
different things. I love the frames and textures in RookieCam, so I use those
quite a bit. And in Rhonna's I love the fonts and word art. I usually have a
hard time with the adding of text in the RookieCam app, once it's set, it seems to
be set - you can't come back and reposition etc. And color picking isn't easy to
get consistent results with each word. I like to do my wording as individual
items so I can arrange them as I want to, and it's not that easy in RookieCam,
for me, I should add. There's probably a super simple way to do all these
things, I just haven't figured it out, so I'm not faulting the app at all - I'm
sure it's operator error, lol. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I'll start with my original
photo, that I took with my Camera+ app:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG9L-_jBvb2yPt2hIjEhs2jMpp73BqB5S_JQ_w8k7lvc-2advz9FVrNmAWyJgstrMhRMOwL1dB9pYcuMEqHj14yYFJz7G10zFvmXSP6sxZ_9YoTT4bw9CjGyQ-wLRH2x-AG9H_bKZa_1o/s1600/IMG_6424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG9L-_jBvb2yPt2hIjEhs2jMpp73BqB5S_JQ_w8k7lvc-2advz9FVrNmAWyJgstrMhRMOwL1dB9pYcuMEqHj14yYFJz7G10zFvmXSP6sxZ_9YoTT4bw9CjGyQ-wLRH2x-AG9H_bKZa_1o/s400/IMG_6424.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">First up, is my edit in
RookieCam:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0UYfYe1JKSk7CAc1e9Tpr3odyGmNbBNEOTMV4sAQqHufiqOLxqzlPjV6vt7xEF5ztfcxmnmCOdNOfyMtidp8geMj2uyTdWKJZxm5OlKOG31dy0JiRUDpCnHaqI-hd2AYxB2PSebaJcNQ/s1600/IMG_6455.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0UYfYe1JKSk7CAc1e9Tpr3odyGmNbBNEOTMV4sAQqHufiqOLxqzlPjV6vt7xEF5ztfcxmnmCOdNOfyMtidp8geMj2uyTdWKJZxm5OlKOG31dy0JiRUDpCnHaqI-hd2AYxB2PSebaJcNQ/s400/IMG_6455.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I chose the 'Maple' filter
under the "Ordinary Moment" category of filters. I processed it at
50%. I then added a pin-line border and changed the color to pink. I added the
text, and since I couldn't get the two words in the exact same shade, lol, I
opted for the artistic look of making the word "Pink" actually pink
as a visual representation of the color as well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Next is the edit with the
Rhonna collection. I started in the RD Magic app, and then migrated the photo
(via the RD app "Open In" option) into the Rhonna Designs for
finishing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj72p99W6nWxm7zeek_W5pwGr4nm7FJBk6gcH2-Giq3-WtWtgmHbpqceNKXzpcegBkFNnKB7KqHn1j25ywVo6Pnri4vT3FhCs2izVbz-ciQG_HeQABBmgB-JmHKypOhXmifYnDtjWyq-Ow/s1600/IMG_6456.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj72p99W6nWxm7zeek_W5pwGr4nm7FJBk6gcH2-Giq3-WtWtgmHbpqceNKXzpcegBkFNnKB7KqHn1j25ywVo6Pnri4vT3FhCs2izVbz-ciQG_HeQABBmgB-JmHKypOhXmifYnDtjWyq-Ow/s400/IMG_6456.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In the RD Magic app, I
bumped up the contrast and warmed up the image a little bit. I then added some
"Edges". I LOVE the edges in the RD Magic app by the way, they add
some nice texture. I combined two for this image. The first one I applied, was
#EG18 and adjusted to 50%. Then, I added #EG11 and adjusted to 85%. I then opened
it in the Rhonna Designs app. Once there, I added the "Fade" filter
(a personal favorite of mine and I use it a LOT) and left it at 100%. Lastly I
added the word art and pronounced it done. Otherwise, as Kris said, I
could have kept on going and going - sometimes you just have to make yourself
stop, lol.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I do hope that our
experimenting with apps helps out a little bit, showing you what you can do
with even just a few editing apps! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><br /></i></b>Kris Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02336146104606375687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-59273319587907907622016-08-14T16:20:00.000-07:002016-08-14T16:21:58.516-07:00Food Friday - Scones!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>from </i>Tracey G.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">It's funny the day that Kris and I came up with scones
for a Food Friday, if I recall correctly, she was still in the U.K. and we'd
started talking about the scones she was enjoying. And then just like that, our
texts crossed and pretty much said the same thing - "we should do scones
for a Friday!", lol. And so, here are our scones! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">My boys went to the local pick-your-own blueberry farm
this week and I have plenty of fresh blueberries to work with, so I chose
blueberry scones. This is a recipe by King Arthur that can be found here: <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/new-fresh-blueberry-scones-recipe" target="_blank">Fresh Blueberry Scones</a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">It was easy and super yummy. Harry, who's never had a
scone in his 7.5 years, loudly declared "I love scones!!" when he had
one during our taste test! Yay! I love it when a recipe is a success! And if he
likes it, along with myself enjoying it - I consider that a huge success.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Now, it does
call for <i>fresh</i> blueberries
specifically, and I am sure that has a lot to do with the way the dough is
worked with, otherwise I think you'd end up with purple dough before you even
got them in the oven, lol. It's not a huge amount required, just a cup, so I
think even for me, in non-blueberry season it wouldn't be too hard or costly to
make with the fresh blueberries in the grocery store. The only thing I wished I
would've done differently in the execution of this recipe, and it's just for my
preference, is that I wished I would've patted the dough into a circle instead
of a rectangle as they call for - I had a heck of time getting evenly sized
triangular scones, lol</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">They state that they're yummy hot, cut in half and
slathered with butter - and I am sure they are!! <o:p></o:p></span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">So, without further ado, here's the recipe!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 115%;">Fresh Blueberry Scones</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">2
cups unbleached, all purpose flour or pastry flour (King Arthur brand
recommended of course)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">1/2
teaspoon salt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">1/4
cup sugar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">1
tablespoon baking powder<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">6
tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">2
large eggs, beaten<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">1/3
cup vanilla yogurt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">1/2
teaspoon vanilla extract<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">1
tablespoon lemon zest or 1/4 tsp lemon oil (extract)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">1
cup blueberries, picked over and rinsed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">2
tablespoons melted butter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">2
tablespoons sugar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>1)</b> Preheat
oven to 375°F. Sift the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add the butter and
rub it into the dry ingredients with your fingers (I cut it in first with my
pastry blender, <i>then</i> rubbed it in
with my fingers).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Stir the eggs, yogurt, vanilla extract and lemon zest (or oil) together. Add to
the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Stir in the blueberries. This
dough is the consistency of a wet drop-cookie dough.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>3)</b>
Liberally flour your counter and your hands. Take the dough out of the bowl and
place it on the counter. Pat it into a 1-inch thick rectangle. Cut into 10 triangular
scones. Place on a well-greased cookie sheet (I skipped the greasing and just
used parchment paper on the cookie sheet).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Brush the scones with melted butter, and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20
minutes, or until lightly browned and a cake tester inserted into a scone comes
out dry. Cool completely on a rack. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b><i>from </i> Kris B.</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">When in England, do as the English do. I cannot tell a lie...while I was in the U.K. last month, I had my share of scones and tea. It didn't help that the cathedral cafe at Bristol Cathedral where we were the choir in residence had pretty good scones. Rehearse, eat a scone and drink tea, sing Evensong became my afternoon routine for the week we were there. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">I also managed to find many other places with good scones while we were traveling about as well. I knew I would miss this luxury when I returned home. I think it was a text message to Tracey while I was still away in which I was whining about how much I was going to miss scones that prompted this week's recipes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have always liked scones; I just don't think about them much here at home. Except around my birthday. My daughter always makes "take and bake" chocolate chip scones for me as a birthday gift. Since my birthday is in December, the last batch is long gone! I was eating plain scones in England. Well plain with clotted cream and jam. The chocolate chip ones that Brooke makes for me require no "garnishing." They are good without any extras. It is the recipe that Brooke uses that I am sharing this week.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am glad to have a mid-year batch of scones as this last week has turned out to be a bummer of a week. I had several pre-skin cancer spots frozen off of my arm. It was really no big deal and they don't hurt. They're just ugly blisters that now need to heal. And then after being good and working our every day on the treadmill (to get rid of the remnants of all the scones) and ended up with shin splints and stress fracture in my left leg. So, no walking/running for 4-6 weeks. Needless to say, I'm seriously bummed about that. I did negotiate with the doctor for limited time on the stationary bike. But, that is just not the same. So, I am drowning my sorrows in chocolate chip scones! I know its not the most mature response to my situation, but its the one I've had.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">This is the recipe that my daughter uses to make my favorite scones. It is <i>My Best Flaky Buttermilk Scones </i>from the cookbook, <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Passion-Baking-Bake-Celebrate-Nourish-ebook/dp/0848731794/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471214783&sr=8-1&keywords=a+passion+for+baking"><i>A Passion for Baking</i> by Marcy Goldman</a>.</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">INGREDIENTS</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4 Cups all-purpose flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1/2 Cup sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1/2 tsp salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2 tsp baking powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1/2 tsp soda</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1 1/2 Cups unsalted butter, cut into chunks and frozen</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1 large egg</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1 1/4 Cups buttermilk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">* 1 Cup dark chocolate chips </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">*The original recipe does not call for chocolate chips.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Stack two baking sheets together and line top with parchment paper. Arrange oven rack to upper third position.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">In a food processor bowl, add flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and pulse briefly. Add butter and pulse to make a course grainy mixture. Turn our into a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add the egg and most of the buttermilk. Lightly stir with a fork to blend. Add the remaining buttermilk, if necessary, to make a shaggy dough. *Stir in the chocolate chips.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured work surface and knead 6 to 8 times until mixture is just barely rollable. Pat or roll to a 1 inch thickness and cut into desired shape. (The recipe calls for the scones to be cut into wedges. Brooke usually makes mine square, because it is way. The scones I was eating in England were round, so I made this batch round. The shape really doesn't matter. Lol!) Place the scones on he prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops with milk or melted butter and dust with sugar. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Bake until golden, about 12-15 minutes.</span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03732415167340511555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-38073088402129770892016-08-05T23:03:00.001-07:002016-08-05T23:03:34.195-07:00Food Friday With A Twist - Hip(stamatic) Recipes<i><b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">from Tracey G</span></b></i><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7SBIYF7HlASKSgVMZBtNisM9NgXUCI7Lhpp3oKOtMnT5QMOH5UeZZbBYs_0fpu6RSgdM90XJszz7dGxhh3FxOzDi3vXjFcAblPjHIiW62FPFw44Gja_sndGL7quVm2md3qyoZ5TnFlTg/s1600/loftus%252Bdc.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7SBIYF7HlASKSgVMZBtNisM9NgXUCI7Lhpp3oKOtMnT5QMOH5UeZZbBYs_0fpu6RSgdM90XJszz7dGxhh3FxOzDi3vXjFcAblPjHIiW62FPFw44Gja_sndGL7quVm2md3qyoZ5TnFlTg/s400/loftus%252Bdc.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Loftus lens + DC film</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">I am a HUGE Hipstamatic app fan, even though I haven't used it a lot lately, that doesn't mean I love it any less, lol. It's been one of my favorites for a long time, because it's fun to see what you can come up with with all the possible lens/film combinations you can dream up, plus all the fine-tuning you can do once you finally decide which combo you're going to stick with!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> I would also like to say that for these examples, I used the lens an film combination at full strength of both - I didn't adjust them at all.The first photo, at the top of my post is with my favorite combination, that I've used a lot, it's the Loftus lens and DC film. I seem to fall back on this one more often than not because I just love the look and love the forgiving nature of it with the various "blurred" elements it produces. I use the Loftus lens quite a bit, as I'm sure most of my photos taken with and/or edited by Hipstamatic will attest to! It works well with most of the films!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">When I want a "vintage" look, the Gregory lens is a favorite of mine lately. It adds a bit of the hazy yellow/orange tones to the image. Here's a couple examples using that lens with two different films:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVYd1NMtHmcXyHkq1VfkdwaXj8RIYdh5d-zjjX1kZ2XU07X6CWzVxjA52bAAeZ_5e8agIlFbklBvdqTnqpVv8IljcLNtKtURIuUPJpZO83033lFd8gh4IAmlZwONVwEelLqimFgHg_QM/s1600/gregory%252Bfreedom13.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVYd1NMtHmcXyHkq1VfkdwaXj8RIYdh5d-zjjX1kZ2XU07X6CWzVxjA52bAAeZ_5e8agIlFbklBvdqTnqpVv8IljcLNtKtURIuUPJpZO83033lFd8gh4IAmlZwONVwEelLqimFgHg_QM/s400/gregory%252Bfreedom13.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: '"arial"', '"helvetica"', sans-serif;">This first one is the Gregory lens with the Freedom 13 film, which, by the way is another one of my favorite films. I use it when I don't want the film to interfere too much with the effect the lens produces, and when I don't want a border. It only has the red, white and blue little lines in the corner.</span><div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglYnFBUazas9uOhwJ1qCAPY3ii8Igi1mqPtzduZF0uX84wHuvSU9trkXq0OqPcs3pLjh9sNg_Dpo1Y79jW0P_HKOJdlKuT9gKHGRdfWg9pmCVAKuFV129BM14jX2Zdxdx-qipZZVaM_jw/s1600/gregroy%252Btilda.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglYnFBUazas9uOhwJ1qCAPY3ii8Igi1mqPtzduZF0uX84wHuvSU9trkXq0OqPcs3pLjh9sNg_Dpo1Y79jW0P_HKOJdlKuT9gKHGRdfWg9pmCVAKuFV129BM14jX2Zdxdx-qipZZVaM_jw/s400/gregroy%252Btilda.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">This one shows the Gregory lens in combination with the film Tilda. It's a subtle difference, but it's a difference. The Tilda film seems to lighten it up a bit more, by adding a bit more haze. It also seems to reduce the yellow/orange tones that the Gregory lens gives to the photo. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAgte8p8hO2-gKLM3SprtB8kACwr9cJZq99w5p-kdJEb09HAbiqRKze_cVs-25kqVarc2N_WEI8S2tf2seBp93S21XkJoLCRwN_Hb4uvJwSFS1WvdXCa2RKkf6Y_IMj7DSkorWc8S0QN8/s1600/buckhorst%252Bfreedom13.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAgte8p8hO2-gKLM3SprtB8kACwr9cJZq99w5p-kdJEb09HAbiqRKze_cVs-25kqVarc2N_WEI8S2tf2seBp93S21XkJoLCRwN_Hb4uvJwSFS1WvdXCa2RKkf6Y_IMj7DSkorWc8S0QN8/s400/buckhorst%252Bfreedom13.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: '"arial"', '"helvetica"', sans-serif;">This one is an example of the Buckhorst lens and Freedom 13 film. This combination seems to brighten the yellow and reduce the shadows a bit. I really liked this combination for this photo, it makes the yellow of the cookie really pop!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">And one more...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoZmTdH0J35EchQU13pjC9ObXUNl8OUZaMxjuGB0n6bKgEMRdwp7W80c998xAhefN180nU_tvrnqNz4bnicp_XhOpKcKNEYhNF3SYupN74JeCji34KyOYjKjkVbbw2UxkYabjhAo5fRvo/s1600/adler%252Bfreedom13.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoZmTdH0J35EchQU13pjC9ObXUNl8OUZaMxjuGB0n6bKgEMRdwp7W80c998xAhefN180nU_tvrnqNz4bnicp_XhOpKcKNEYhNF3SYupN74JeCji34KyOYjKjkVbbw2UxkYabjhAo5fRvo/s400/adler%252Bfreedom13.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This one uses the Adler 9009 lens and the Freedom 13 film. This seems to add haze and light pink tone to it while still letting the yellow of the cookie come through.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">As you can see, there's so many choices you can make with Hipstamatic - it all comes down to the look YOU want your image to have, and what feel you're going for. It's all about what you want and what your image is asking for! Just make sure you play around with the combinations and have fun. I will say that it's easy to get overwhelmed at first by all the possibilities, but once you figure out what you're after, that does make narrowing down your selections a bit easier!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><b><i>from</i> Kris B.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">After being away from home for three weeks and having only the apps on my phone and iPad with which to process photos, I am even more appreciative of the power of these apps. As with Tracey, Hipstamatic is also a favorite of mine. I like it because, with the right combination of film and lens, I can create almost any mood. sometimes it takes some time to find just the right paring of film and lens, although the process is fun. Seeing how an image can change with just one simple click on a different lens or film still fascinates me every time.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">For the purpose of today's "recipe" I chose to photograph grapefruit. Why? Because I like grapefruit and was looking forward to eating the prop when I was done. I'm not sure that this was my best choice. Tracey and I both ended up using a yellow(ish) citrus theme. Sometimes great minds think too much alike. Lol! Here is my grapefruit, nonetheless.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuK4iqKpfj3Ot8L8X3cUX1h0RR0f6-wUT1KghtxPO4F_DzJDB1qBl1Y_JGJnMgUpsv7q4oNGkT_Cp3XT-ZtDv95uPtYMyN6QQ6HmlpvP_gzuUPynBQRY1zdnSESD4ePK6EAuwxv-zQ0li2/s1600/Loftus+and+Telegraph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuK4iqKpfj3Ot8L8X3cUX1h0RR0f6-wUT1KghtxPO4F_DzJDB1qBl1Y_JGJnMgUpsv7q4oNGkT_Cp3XT-ZtDv95uPtYMyN6QQ6HmlpvP_gzuUPynBQRY1zdnSESD4ePK6EAuwxv-zQ0li2/s400/Loftus+and+Telegraph.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This combination only slightly enhances the color and texture of the grapefruit.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgR_bkJBtI1208JJZDZm0iuq9dQy0Kqji-nH3FYo2vfpEA5FTjrPT9gSvL1c1u2o9ehbHCtMrdhkOYl-kiRj43D4-emkbA1CWUL15JDVmZMuFuGq-848Ek0yO6YoFJsV_feRlesFQvGGAD/s1600/Jack+London+and+Telegraph.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgR_bkJBtI1208JJZDZm0iuq9dQy0Kqji-nH3FYo2vfpEA5FTjrPT9gSvL1c1u2o9ehbHCtMrdhkOYl-kiRj43D4-emkbA1CWUL15JDVmZMuFuGq-848Ek0yO6YoFJsV_feRlesFQvGGAD/s400/Jack+London+and+Telegraph.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here, by changing only the lens, a bit of the warmth and brightness seen in the previous image is lost.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlXdU4NlMJG722WekKmzXL4wNPbbCvg9LSBGUEiOWBvmRXCwjdokld9vnHQSLVLU5m6q0ZFOThaMA0CDSM1L3jYdUORHQZWQFYWmfwhbCIKjNzVTYmeCmqo24V_eAUcvxbgGucYjtmnwkP/s1600/Florence+and+Robust.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlXdU4NlMJG722WekKmzXL4wNPbbCvg9LSBGUEiOWBvmRXCwjdokld9vnHQSLVLU5m6q0ZFOThaMA0CDSM1L3jYdUORHQZWQFYWmfwhbCIKjNzVTYmeCmqo24V_eAUcvxbgGucYjtmnwkP/s400/Florence+and+Robust.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: '"arial"', '"helvetica"', sans-serif;">To me, the slight vignette and border in this combination create a more rustic look. I did not do any fine tuning of this image. I might consider either lightening it just a tad or boosting the highlights a little.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I wasn't paying attention when I bought the grapefruit. I prefer the ruby red variety and was a little disappointed when I sliced this one open. Just for fun, I tried to see if I could find a Hapstamatic combination that would give me at least the illusion of a ruby red grapefruit. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHjyd-vxO0xWWdswY4ZhQ11fWmCDAmgD3MIMq6pEZ3KFE1LuKzjD-Gq2K3GQyFyQFNLgLRb04Y3_UjcHKa1bQ2ZfZzK8PCfui7JNoK3YnehS28iULD1jWGmiqpDqAgNHPNTkoxuMZe93qR/s1600/Neville+and+Gotland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHjyd-vxO0xWWdswY4ZhQ11fWmCDAmgD3MIMq6pEZ3KFE1LuKzjD-Gq2K3GQyFyQFNLgLRb04Y3_UjcHKa1bQ2ZfZzK8PCfui7JNoK3YnehS28iULD1jWGmiqpDqAgNHPNTkoxuMZe93qR/s400/Neville+and+Gotland.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm not sure that this is exactly what I wanted, but this combination does recover some of the highlights that are lost with the Florence + Robust combination. I could probably continue to experiment and stumble upon a combination that would create exactly the ruby red grapefruit look that I want, perhaps with a few tweaks beyond the lens and film combinations. The possibilities with Hipstamatic really do seem endless.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The basic Hipstamatic app is free. Then you can buy 99 cent add-on packs that give you both a couple of film choices and a couple of lens choices. We are giving you fair warning that delving into the Hipstamatic world may cause time to evaporate and your paycheck to disappear 99 cents at a time! Of course, it is all worth it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Have fun creating with this powerful phone app.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03732415167340511555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-89758495290936137292016-08-03T07:52:00.002-07:002016-08-03T07:52:42.435-07:00Tuesday (Back) in Texas - An Aha Moment...or Month<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: #fce5cd;">First of all, I want to thank Tracey for keeping things rolling here while I have been gone. I had intended to post while I was on tour in England, but logistics and my schedule made that impossible. I felt like I was letting my friend down, but she wasn't having any of those feelings from me. for that, I am eternally grateful!</span></span></i><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: #fce5cd;">One of the greatest moments in a teacher's world is when a student has an "Aha moment," that moment when the student's glazed over eyes become crystal clear, something clicks and all of the sudden all of the jumbled pieces of the </span></span><span style="background-color: #fce5cd;">puzzle fall effortlessly into place. Witnessing such a moment in one of my students is what keeps me doing what I'm doing. Recently, I experienced such a moment not from the perspective of a teacher, but rather from that of a student. I had an "Aha" moment. I was somewhat surprised by it, but am continuing to savor that moment, doing my best to absorb all that it has to offer me.</span><br />
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This is my fourth year of taking a photo a day. During the first year, my primary goal was to establish and maintain, what I perceived to be at that time, such a lofty discipline - a photo a day every single day. Having conquered that, my intention during my second year was to create and establish my own style of photography. I wanted there to be something about my photos that made them uniquely mine, like when I hear a piece of music by Bach or Debussy, there is no question that I am hearing Bach or Debussy. Sadly, after two and a half years, I have yet to do this.<br />
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Yes, I do tend to photograph certain subjects - my family, food, Lego; so do lots of other photographers. I often shoot with my camera set to VIVID creating a somewhat unique color saturation in my photos; this is only a camera setting and is available to anyone. I prefer a 4x5 rather than a 4x6 crop; that has nothing to do with a personal style. These are choices I've made that perhaps contribute to establishing my personal style, but they are not enough; they are not "it.". There has to be something else. What is it that creates a unique photograophic style? <br />
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My "aha" moment recently came when I realized that a big piece of what creates a photographer's personal style is true passion for what they are photographing. It doesn't matter what the subject is - people, street scenes, food, Lego, flowers, whatever - we have to love looking at it. Our job as photographers is to share a uique perspective of whatever it is that stirs up such passion within us. That is what has been missing in my photos. For all this time I have been passionate about taking pictures. This, however, is completely different from being passionate about creating a compelling image of a particular something, a something to which I feel strongly connected, a something in which I see beauty where perhaps others don't, a something where my photograph might offer a perspective not yet seen by others. Yes, the technical stuff is important, having all those camera settings correct and finding good light, but those things are unnecessary without a subject to photograph.<br />
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This brings me to the second part of my "aha" moment...finally discovering what it is that I am drawn to photograph. I do enjoy portraits. This was somewhat of a surprise to me because for many years I wanted no people in any of my photos. I would go out of my way or wait forever to get the shot I wanted free of all humans. I'm not sure what that was all about. It's something to be expolored at another time. Lol! I now also like to photograph food, another bit of a shock to me. Photographing food has forced me out of my comfort zone. For a long time I wanted nothing to do with photographing food because my attitude (still) is that bad food photography is that worst kind of bad photography. I feared that I would fall victim to my own harsh judgements and I most certainly did not want that! My raw technical skills have been challenged and have improved because of photographing food. Though I find enjoyment in portraiture and food photography, neither of these is where I have found true passion.<br />
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On my recent trip to England, I discovered that I love photographing architecture. At first I thought that these feelings were coming solely from the fact that I was surrounded by amazing cathedrals, structures like nothing we have in the United States. If that was the case, I was in for a huge let down being that I had only thirteen days in such surroundings. Upon further reflection, I realize that it is not just the old building to which I am drawn, but rather to their geometry. Every structure, old or new, has geometry. I also photographed buildings and bridges while in Pittsburgh last month. I love all of the the lines and the angles. The squares and rectangles. The circles. The triangles. The convergence of lines and all of these other shapes. I like searching for and finding a perspective that reveals shapes beyond the obvious. This is where I now want to focus my attention. Architecture is the subject with which I want to work to create and establish my personal photographic style. For now, it is the place where my passion lies.<br />
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As I ponder this new revelation, I find myself saying, "Duh. Big surprise!" Why? When I think back to those dreaded days of high school, I loved geometry. It was my favorite math class. Calculus? Not so much. I am also fascinated by origami, another manifestation of the intrigue of shapes. My favorite puzzle is Tangrams. I love piecing quilts and hate actually quilting them. My newly discovered passion in photography is not much different than my passion in math classes, crafts, or puzzles. Geometry. When you add light and shadow to the already fascinating lines and shapes of architectural structures, a whole new world emerges, a world for which I have great respect.<br />
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Looking back over my photos from July, I can now see that my "aha" moment really is rather an "aha" month that began with my trip to Pittsburgh.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmw1ewZCqPT7q4n-pZYjHZUuf1YVI1N4s2GLxUvdZPqjfz3UA5JVfx7bAUFn8PMN1-35AlYwolrFTU8xmBrdbTg06FKVIZPmIdCC47lxj81PLovzuCtXSLzoSSOP9tYssGL-KWKwuGqw2t/s1600/PITTSBURGH+CITY+SCAPE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmw1ewZCqPT7q4n-pZYjHZUuf1YVI1N4s2GLxUvdZPqjfz3UA5JVfx7bAUFn8PMN1-35AlYwolrFTU8xmBrdbTg06FKVIZPmIdCC47lxj81PLovzuCtXSLzoSSOP9tYssGL-KWKwuGqw2t/s400/PITTSBURGH+CITY+SCAPE.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pittsburgh Cityscape<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhWDe9PGs_FDV8nv_u3Bwu-oyC3fCUlkYQPSolny2v2rsEQxkq6bFs7dcI3xyn_0VWe1NqZvi2EHwTP_PqdYib-zE8x60kr93PT3bNn6dFjA0uIq_hvBHbHWKWV1OySXKdicInJT0OP7H7/s1600/DSC_5557.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhWDe9PGs_FDV8nv_u3Bwu-oyC3fCUlkYQPSolny2v2rsEQxkq6bFs7dcI3xyn_0VWe1NqZvi2EHwTP_PqdYib-zE8x60kr93PT3bNn6dFjA0uIq_hvBHbHWKWV1OySXKdicInJT0OP7H7/s400/DSC_5557.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lines of the Pittsburgh bridges<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ_pY6NsGuWqdMOZRsD7d7IJGmYiK7X8oLZQCW2zT3RMaMdgUCuayw6U9t8aaQOKrOsLFOI1hSEiabw_QdbXBz4FMXIYsHzupOOc6geY1LNjVW2-8_sMACp3MClNnh9RKBai1l1UGCK-2O/s1600/IMG_0392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ_pY6NsGuWqdMOZRsD7d7IJGmYiK7X8oLZQCW2zT3RMaMdgUCuayw6U9t8aaQOKrOsLFOI1hSEiabw_QdbXBz4FMXIYsHzupOOc6geY1LNjVW2-8_sMACp3MClNnh9RKBai1l1UGCK-2O/s400/IMG_0392.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reflections on Pittsburgh<br />
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As my visit went on, I began focusing on smaller details.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwrz0UTzS0sYLEkb4POOZK7Px7F_VeJDCjeyOjpvDCZneMunNrEdtxH87n9s7i_aW-MXiUMWHKdsTRdeFdpP90mgMMiPXBhr7P6aXQnocByp_DAzYwvM-VtCn5lSHr5zNywOGkj4n4qFiJ/s1600/FINAL+Reflected+Building.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwrz0UTzS0sYLEkb4POOZK7Px7F_VeJDCjeyOjpvDCZneMunNrEdtxH87n9s7i_aW-MXiUMWHKdsTRdeFdpP90mgMMiPXBhr7P6aXQnocByp_DAzYwvM-VtCn5lSHr5zNywOGkj4n4qFiJ/s400/FINAL+Reflected+Building.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Building on a Building</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5wgQQNVe-o7Wc_01IzcgxAoUtKaDRD7lE9TvVJxYRw3V07uMbhtixGCMDCYob909w-RXOpJnfYV9Y2aUf_yxHRQDZUTj_O7oNW8RatQEyIlc0kt90gYzsJPm8arHitnmvhG7Sr6pQTD-5/s1600/BLUE+SKY+BUILDING.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5wgQQNVe-o7Wc_01IzcgxAoUtKaDRD7lE9TvVJxYRw3V07uMbhtixGCMDCYob909w-RXOpJnfYV9Y2aUf_yxHRQDZUTj_O7oNW8RatQEyIlc0kt90gYzsJPm8arHitnmvhG7Sr6pQTD-5/s400/BLUE+SKY+BUILDING.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skylines</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJgWTeswtjtu5pFpeJgSBRSjJ9Jdul5bhIV5LdkZN0c1QRa0ZYfhWPH6Z6mGH_pKqqDsxd2vFgQ040zYNUOEPDViK08UHQYdw1wfzVGqRtu7AGj68YOrR0qp6-vDCUD6L6X_kOthRSIDUR/s1600/BLACK+AND+WHITE+BUILDING.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJgWTeswtjtu5pFpeJgSBRSjJ9Jdul5bhIV5LdkZN0c1QRa0ZYfhWPH6Z6mGH_pKqqDsxd2vFgQ040zYNUOEPDViK08UHQYdw1wfzVGqRtu7AGj68YOrR0qp6-vDCUD6L6X_kOthRSIDUR/s400/BLACK+AND+WHITE+BUILDING.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Archi-texture</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The modern mirrored buildings and green building practices provided me with some fascinating photo opportunities. I only wish that I had had more time to spend time photographing this beautiful city. Unfortunately, I was in Pittsburgh for a conference and my free time was quite limited.<br />
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Forty eight hours after returning home from Pittsburgh, we left for almost two weeks in England. Thankfully, my photography time on that trip was not nearly as limited, and it was during these last few weeks of July that I realized my love of photographing architecture.<br />
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I did take some photos of "the big picture"...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkAZFU7m1qYMIzhtL8zR2YnGNiTq14m5kC7-yVDKfSsMD9wNvNBDyjn4w1cMnDZi0ofQlOFR3Bygqk4nXK3jP_PCc0qB8QHqRyqGj2p8iTZ6UFhs9slOyXyWF14pUMG3zokdGww3mGcPxY/s1600/FullSizeRender+10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkAZFU7m1qYMIzhtL8zR2YnGNiTq14m5kC7-yVDKfSsMD9wNvNBDyjn4w1cMnDZi0ofQlOFR3Bygqk4nXK3jP_PCc0qB8QHqRyqGj2p8iTZ6UFhs9slOyXyWF14pUMG3zokdGww3mGcPxY/s400/FullSizeRender+10.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wells Cathedral</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4bupd2X6Btm5gj6vO19ull3Td0y7v5eCLyThL4Jk1e3ee994dSuLZ1QT3wy3dLU_75w8LvB-MwwvhOAa3lDPWmcEbNf8D-8plcCgg7dJGzGC8Y3LSKOuVW8lQenax5Lm6tjddfymCfr_r/s1600/IMG_0474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4bupd2X6Btm5gj6vO19ull3Td0y7v5eCLyThL4Jk1e3ee994dSuLZ1QT3wy3dLU_75w8LvB-MwwvhOAa3lDPWmcEbNf8D-8plcCgg7dJGzGC8Y3LSKOuVW8lQenax5Lm6tjddfymCfr_r/s400/IMG_0474.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tintern Abbey</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC_vmr0986tCp_y88dvoioj2uCyLt1s01m2HxOgnbOFzTto_FJDH5VcQ2V4Sjp_8Fx3pUW5k6Tk7y8QGZgFdTbq8hCTnpXn4WPGQbbL4b1bbWMVh1pRRnm3UKhHz1__zSwFTuIb56m4q2n/s1600/IMG_0492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC_vmr0986tCp_y88dvoioj2uCyLt1s01m2HxOgnbOFzTto_FJDH5VcQ2V4Sjp_8Fx3pUW5k6Tk7y8QGZgFdTbq8hCTnpXn4WPGQbbL4b1bbWMVh1pRRnm3UKhHz1__zSwFTuIb56m4q2n/s400/IMG_0492.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shrine to Apollo at Stourhead Gardens</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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but, I quickly realized that focusing on less was really more.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9honh9U9wrWZ182lyf7_MXhGpFaVqkR8F9aTOl8Q_UtCvRO3o2hjapEQeTAR7TDq2-8gUW7xqYRwnJTQbkFQ4eunsIedpvEe1GrZi740EzYn8ADfs7KhV-Nxpjgp8H3FfBMDn0J_edBH/s1600/IMG_0466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9honh9U9wrWZ182lyf7_MXhGpFaVqkR8F9aTOl8Q_UtCvRO3o2hjapEQeTAR7TDq2-8gUW7xqYRwnJTQbkFQ4eunsIedpvEe1GrZi740EzYn8ADfs7KhV-Nxpjgp8H3FfBMDn0J_edBH/s400/IMG_0466.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bristol City Hall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRLety-BEPIAm7WEjhg2b-KG2GWeFx-s6Oz2vHJmwGp0yOknWUxH3FhTskimESuyxQwMlEWiBLPNkv55sLdlzDbKUhZuubMt8GsIRJ37PvD9P6w344QJ17CAg-1sMPLun-rMI39nW9M8hx/s1600/IMG_0510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRLety-BEPIAm7WEjhg2b-KG2GWeFx-s6Oz2vHJmwGp0yOknWUxH3FhTskimESuyxQwMlEWiBLPNkv55sLdlzDbKUhZuubMt8GsIRJ37PvD9P6w344QJ17CAg-1sMPLun-rMI39nW9M8hx/s400/IMG_0510.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">from the interior of Tintern Abbey</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz-cT7pGMZxtL5YfgYs3Aoo92P6SM0KRa0Y7u47TGT9ug3bGFcyeAsCodXoE2Fshj0w4UMpWCAKgc_1g7gtuHmpwUldExoTU9HNinin-cI7oEYL0famTFRZK69xj7jvWS7J9TouMy_gXFK/s1600/IMG_0453.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz-cT7pGMZxtL5YfgYs3Aoo92P6SM0KRa0Y7u47TGT9ug3bGFcyeAsCodXoE2Fshj0w4UMpWCAKgc_1g7gtuHmpwUldExoTU9HNinin-cI7oEYL0famTFRZK69xj7jvWS7J9TouMy_gXFK/s400/IMG_0453.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Berkeley Castle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBjYmdLnaYQJa1_6F8V5JODwckdz8dxIV3oTLVGspkiwjDD1HISYuzZ1Ydm42-cA_dR3DL1idxUA89wi7K6VKtJcIfq4b3X_ROTp1WtQMpSGF1KqfXQbiQdIKVkpU8D1UYgJa-CORRSeVA/s1600/FullSizeRender+12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBjYmdLnaYQJa1_6F8V5JODwckdz8dxIV3oTLVGspkiwjDD1HISYuzZ1Ydm42-cA_dR3DL1idxUA89wi7K6VKtJcIfq4b3X_ROTp1WtQMpSGF1KqfXQbiQdIKVkpU8D1UYgJa-CORRSeVA/s400/FullSizeRender+12.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">from the garden at Bristol Cathedral</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR5kQe3gJDgwnH4I0xHnBsvBFrWp8HFptJYuySlFTbMK1V9tkZ96qPYPk58__h5iGir69Sr2Jwox1ycJkaR0hSqcEUvuCdVlnUI5q8ubjtOC7QkPbQPmfEup4Cn8mnYkuebHA_ymeTEGrp/s1600/FullSizeRender+21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR5kQe3gJDgwnH4I0xHnBsvBFrWp8HFptJYuySlFTbMK1V9tkZ96qPYPk58__h5iGir69Sr2Jwox1ycJkaR0hSqcEUvuCdVlnUI5q8ubjtOC7QkPbQPmfEup4Cn8mnYkuebHA_ymeTEGrp/s400/FullSizeRender+21.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ely Cathedral</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTbfYIRsRzMoCHcNeObklevp8D24PHHcdfHAbnzPuhefVuyj4eYTxugl3YtM-9As92zuAmKtDnptP5WALZm7IdNs3-rkB7RBurdXOcBjcrmWwL9vtaxJxI5xoCJG5FHQDGPNAmahOzXrOE/s1600/IMG_0436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTbfYIRsRzMoCHcNeObklevp8D24PHHcdfHAbnzPuhefVuyj4eYTxugl3YtM-9As92zuAmKtDnptP5WALZm7IdNs3-rkB7RBurdXOcBjcrmWwL9vtaxJxI5xoCJG5FHQDGPNAmahOzXrOE/s400/IMG_0436.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bristol Cathedral</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I became fascinted with the view through windows...<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUhurshLftksU7bBtSnpwryd-4bUhKsBIRMBezpoHbLmjxFB0YLGgKOTC-bFfj_pXHQjkUAStz71zjb9haTEaEObK4WbREfeU391tvT-vDIQp8Ky0Y3ia3I_DAVUJHTp3LOIZWZwPYIBI/s1600/IMG_0477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUhurshLftksU7bBtSnpwryd-4bUhKsBIRMBezpoHbLmjxFB0YLGgKOTC-bFfj_pXHQjkUAStz71zjb9haTEaEObK4WbREfeU391tvT-vDIQp8Ky0Y3ia3I_DAVUJHTp3LOIZWZwPYIBI/s400/IMG_0477.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tintern Abbey</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXpmiKxC2ssCtz49usT_DQz5ASSzVxXXhIGePI0hJsHbxvNl-d2tyd1jBNlZeMowhgna9Ya15CbYl1m3HNneukhlQHMj8-wAvCkwl3VKrE3Hq3fqKy_2tHUPt9EIFr3R-iNK0kxQB6GOWs/s1600/IMG_0449.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXpmiKxC2ssCtz49usT_DQz5ASSzVxXXhIGePI0hJsHbxvNl-d2tyd1jBNlZeMowhgna9Ya15CbYl1m3HNneukhlQHMj8-wAvCkwl3VKrE3Hq3fqKy_2tHUPt9EIFr3R-iNK0kxQB6GOWs/s400/IMG_0449.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Berkeley Castle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaXltR4EGm63MV70P6-zc6UpL2_eCnc7QmZ6za9mpnoP-QVsajrw-GTK0Aa_nECoEdl_95aO25fDrsfxpJ7LBrM32rQhB0yZ-VTOBK7ihyZq0sXLFlO3tO_ZKKPSx7zPqOiH2AyvQ47Cmn/s1600/IMG_0452.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaXltR4EGm63MV70P6-zc6UpL2_eCnc7QmZ6za9mpnoP-QVsajrw-GTK0Aa_nECoEdl_95aO25fDrsfxpJ7LBrM32rQhB0yZ-VTOBK7ihyZq0sXLFlO3tO_ZKKPSx7zPqOiH2AyvQ47Cmn/s400/IMG_0452.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Berkeley Castle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCpTKUCnhMKsezTMlcGPPoiLGWDcog22oT9KDzESd7n7WwwXzHrFlxxk5z3yzwp0jQtkVymhoSdCq536-oV3vUoaT0gR_DHTKDYXRjSyNsmz3bRvRxg7zVew4RijmtkvTwOBYDsLkk2-Ua/s1600/IMG_0470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCpTKUCnhMKsezTMlcGPPoiLGWDcog22oT9KDzESd7n7WwwXzHrFlxxk5z3yzwp0jQtkVymhoSdCq536-oV3vUoaT0gR_DHTKDYXRjSyNsmz3bRvRxg7zVew4RijmtkvTwOBYDsLkk2-Ua/s400/IMG_0470.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wells Cathedral</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK8y4oBhWa0xVKWSfJp-AU4mzfyve5DlNEFKu8eCQpgIzaYjKaYMu9n4KAX868rYVXakRZ2R1xlzvs9WJUhTT3_RisSmCVLtkgJXk9i1OV7dyTBSldN1IxKR6QJG4TK716ELk1NgBFkEvn/s1600/IMG_0476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK8y4oBhWa0xVKWSfJp-AU4mzfyve5DlNEFKu8eCQpgIzaYjKaYMu9n4KAX868rYVXakRZ2R1xlzvs9WJUhTT3_RisSmCVLtkgJXk9i1OV7dyTBSldN1IxKR6QJG4TK716ELk1NgBFkEvn/s400/IMG_0476.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tintern Abbey</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
...and doors.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimc8MDa923TnL5leTwhyZwsQ-o63Hf5g4jSx9lFQUZSk2bLdLMLkzeEOgyzJ0VwLvh26IvaTOeFvjKewBZ923hwN1Jtzq53NJn_AJRoYlRtoQig8JW4i0PgWOazbQEfvKOtjuL3SOQIon_/s1600/IMG_0480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimc8MDa923TnL5leTwhyZwsQ-o63Hf5g4jSx9lFQUZSk2bLdLMLkzeEOgyzJ0VwLvh26IvaTOeFvjKewBZ923hwN1Jtzq53NJn_AJRoYlRtoQig8JW4i0PgWOazbQEfvKOtjuL3SOQIon_/s400/IMG_0480.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tintern Abbey</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUcqZ6F15gwG8m3kQXO57IRDm3gXgFmJ4rj49U-4Th_L8yzEi671K18qFGQ7SaMlkSo5slEBnWhTGLcFlg_KQAqLSzNeoUh4n6rk1EQXfYj0DF4h0vEoTblPT_rZb747khQ2TN5qburIoF/s1600/IMG_0451.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUcqZ6F15gwG8m3kQXO57IRDm3gXgFmJ4rj49U-4Th_L8yzEi671K18qFGQ7SaMlkSo5slEBnWhTGLcFlg_KQAqLSzNeoUh4n6rk1EQXfYj0DF4h0vEoTblPT_rZb747khQ2TN5qburIoF/s400/IMG_0451.JPG" width="246" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Berkeley Castle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbZcDZA82tKgiuu1g9ag6AbEW26_89zGxLK-W3lNbC-QgZw9G9pq45GD9NOHaCHg9uED0TxMO3OoJ6Xh6pr7cfyN4v671ZeaGzPMoqymQAqjsRDHEAK6nH4cxe5bpUlZKY9jdQRJaGw4Ld/s1600/IMG_0426.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbZcDZA82tKgiuu1g9ag6AbEW26_89zGxLK-W3lNbC-QgZw9G9pq45GD9NOHaCHg9uED0TxMO3OoJ6Xh6pr7cfyN4v671ZeaGzPMoqymQAqjsRDHEAK6nH4cxe5bpUlZKY9jdQRJaGw4Ld/s400/IMG_0426.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Mary Redcliffe - Bristol<br />
<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaf0UErYh3mFMEUwEz20pcc-ovsp-mCSCL9aaDv5GlJkC_tDKug_c4-DYsW5slO8XpzVL18kUvChbJIo49CMQVab7Zgj3gPNQLBClMR1kormk9JQNqZTBaiw1-iXvOIOsHL_jrvPU5v7fd/s1600/IMG_0484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaf0UErYh3mFMEUwEz20pcc-ovsp-mCSCL9aaDv5GlJkC_tDKug_c4-DYsW5slO8XpzVL18kUvChbJIo49CMQVab7Zgj3gPNQLBClMR1kormk9JQNqZTBaiw1-iXvOIOsHL_jrvPU5v7fd/s400/IMG_0484.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chepstow Castle </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Steps.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIhpi8T8dyVyyUXgAVYDYdXzK0MQzXYpE-Z3TMhmb2XpTNrtiL1job27ohihYuHEAHuI4dvgijAtZuECXZ6sVB1Tik6HSyYV3ZLpTe9TOeeWoAx82qgetayITYrsUSzvgMrGB6Gf0tV1AW/s1600/FullSizeRender+13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIhpi8T8dyVyyUXgAVYDYdXzK0MQzXYpE-Z3TMhmb2XpTNrtiL1job27ohihYuHEAHuI4dvgijAtZuECXZ6sVB1Tik6HSyYV3ZLpTe9TOeeWoAx82qgetayITYrsUSzvgMrGB6Gf0tV1AW/s400/FullSizeRender+13.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wells Cathedral - leading to the Chapter House<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhROGYxRfRDA2dFn0_S8w1u2okecrc8rlIgqbuSHCAr-IY1Q-yIe6o3R8nT4ecErI8Qj5WHsfy0jAQaVV1dqB7x_rSmySJrzdwXB2E7wLoPocdQIdwtTtBNBxfEFhZZdsGzxkXMLA8694Ty/s1600/IMG_0416.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhROGYxRfRDA2dFn0_S8w1u2okecrc8rlIgqbuSHCAr-IY1Q-yIe6o3R8nT4ecErI8Qj5WHsfy0jAQaVV1dqB7x_rSmySJrzdwXB2E7wLoPocdQIdwtTtBNBxfEFhZZdsGzxkXMLA8694Ty/s400/IMG_0416.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exterior Spiral Stairs at Cambridge University</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br />
Sometimes the architecture just provides a beautiful backdrop for another subject.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuSqfPUZCY3o0Gz4kGrHOjiL2in0r5qFzDMUv5fj7d5BTjtD17dU1Cc5BPD9FFbeJDcjUlD5lCpbldRXHNNJhGGicBS8-drG3e-sQz6XcSbvHMpwDTePqgplnt5kkPLeP3v3Y4ivX9r4De/s1600/FullSizeRender+9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuSqfPUZCY3o0Gz4kGrHOjiL2in0r5qFzDMUv5fj7d5BTjtD17dU1Cc5BPD9FFbeJDcjUlD5lCpbldRXHNNJhGGicBS8-drG3e-sQz6XcSbvHMpwDTePqgplnt5kkPLeP3v3Y4ivX9r4De/s400/FullSizeRender+9.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lavendar at St. Mary Redcliffe</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdxn3_nRfL4I0WtbwIAnzzGN_q0w4xGd2f4xjnKOPuKp5h7TJBEI9XdELdK5t5lly4A4aqljNpeycTa_1D4OP6MjA4v4GTyQ5YXHfOG7E2ED4x8WdUtiPmFgCalYVIOa5iQTQG9fBcCq5m/s1600/IMG_0434.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdxn3_nRfL4I0WtbwIAnzzGN_q0w4xGd2f4xjnKOPuKp5h7TJBEI9XdELdK5t5lly4A4aqljNpeycTa_1D4OP6MjA4v4GTyQ5YXHfOG7E2ED4x8WdUtiPmFgCalYVIOa5iQTQG9fBcCq5m/s400/IMG_0434.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Quire at Bristol Cathedral</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
I<br />
really don't like choosing a favorite of anything, but as I continue to scour the hundreds of photos that I took during the month of July, there are many that I really like, but one continues to jump out at me. I suspect that only a part of this dominance is due to the technical aspects of the photo itself. The real meaning is in the feelings and emotions that I experienced in this place and the photo's ability to draw me right back into them.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0tAs0wPg1BxR5C8E6buoLckmCCE5yyRVdnvRjyJ_CZpYtBWmf0SBLbtKJSh6vuQaq1XkQtqQQI5P3M9gh7iuMIZTcR1RjnohVmB3r23K9QKSAASejdgx3N6GiNIi8H_JIbwIx1G1yXxgR/s1600/IMG_0478.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0tAs0wPg1BxR5C8E6buoLckmCCE5yyRVdnvRjyJ_CZpYtBWmf0SBLbtKJSh6vuQaq1XkQtqQQI5P3M9gh7iuMIZTcR1RjnohVmB3r23K9QKSAASejdgx3N6GiNIi8H_JIbwIx1G1yXxgR/s640/IMG_0478.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Magic and Mystery of Tintern Abbey</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I treasure every moment that I was away, but I am glad to be home. Obviously Dallas does not provide the same types of architecture as Medieval England; it does, however, have many opportunities for architectural photography. They are just different. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It is not a city's or a building's job to look interesting or intriguing or beautiful; it is the photographer's job to find those aspects and perspectives in what's there and convey beauty and intrigue in our photos.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My hope is that each of you will findthe thing or things that you love to photograph, find a passion that makes your internal light shine brightly. And then, snap away to your heart's content!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Thanks for reading.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Kris</div>
<br />
<br />Kris Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02336146104606375687noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-38086931622138738752016-07-29T21:18:00.000-07:002016-07-29T21:18:03.366-07:00Food (for thought) Friday - Handy Cooking/Baking Helpers Part 2 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7hDbXU59XFl9FAJ9-7M44kAH6Rk_YVlAwxtYfVilba6gRaDHmbHi7pOQOsUOL1G-g_K4ozn0X7fAl_14_mRXWZBjR7ED4Nt2QmbRaK6pYN4yqwVXNSzrRe73WuAFYPA0Gl7D0xz5Z5HU/s1600/dry+ingredientstxtm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7hDbXU59XFl9FAJ9-7M44kAH6Rk_YVlAwxtYfVilba6gRaDHmbHi7pOQOsUOL1G-g_K4ozn0X7fAl_14_mRXWZBjR7ED4Nt2QmbRaK6pYN4yqwVXNSzrRe73WuAFYPA0Gl7D0xz5Z5HU/s400/dry+ingredientstxtm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There was more that I wanted to add to my last helps
post, but it would have been a bit too long, so I decided I'd just break it up
into 2 posts, and actually I've probably enough for another one or two. There's
a lot of these I've committed to memory because I've used them enough times
that it's just common knowledge to me. I'm sure it is to most of you as well,
lol. When you cook and bake a lot of this information becomes second nature!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But there are some things that I have to look up every
time, as for some reason, they just don't stick in my head, lol. So, of course
I have them all written down in my book in one handy place. I know I could look
some up in my red and white Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, and find stuff
on the internet on my phone by Googling it - but sometimes it's just easier to
pull my book out and look there. Because all my usual need-to-knows are there. And
lately, with portion control, I seem to used them at least once a week!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, once again, I share them with you...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Dash
or Pinch = less than 1/8 teaspoon</b><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Teaspoon
to Tablespoon</b><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1
1/2 teaspoon = 1/2 tablespoon<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3
teaspoon = 1 tablespoon<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Cups
to Tablespoons and Teaspoons</b><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1/8
cup = 2 tablespoons; 6 teaspoons<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1/4
cup = 4 tablespoons; 12 teaspoons<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1/3
cup = 5 1/3 tablespoons; approximately 16 teaspoons<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1/2
cup = 8 tablespoons; 24 teaspoons<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2/3
cup = 10 2/3 tablespoons; approximately 32 teaspoons<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3/4 cup
= 12 tablespoons; 36 teaspoons<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">7/8
cup = 14 tablespoons; 42 teaspoons (3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1
cup = 16 tablespoons; 48 teaspoons<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Fluid
Ounces</b><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1/2
ounce = 1 tablespoon; 3 teaspoon<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1
ounce = 2 tablespoons; 1/8 cup<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2
ounces = 4 tablespoons; 1/4 cup<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">4
ounces = 8 tablespoons; 1/2 cup<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">6
ounces = 12 tablespoons; 3/4 cup<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">8
ounces = 16 tablespoons; 1 cup; 1/2 pint<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">16 ounces
= 2 cups; 1 pint<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">32
ounces = 4 cups; 2 pints; 1 quart<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">64
ounces = 8 cups; 4 pints; 2 quarts<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">128
ounces = 16 cups; 4 quarts; 1 gallon<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Pounds</b><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">16
ounces = 1 pound<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03732415167340511555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-59810154336399830412016-07-15T18:25:00.000-07:002016-07-15T18:25:05.263-07:00Food (for thought) Friday - Handy Cooking/Baking Helpers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtUY3ZlQHD0eWCaGmhuNpSgJRmWkKweG-XshitqqYJ1iL95TLEvOGRdOG3wORWca9hRzJvn2-Etc-eGxeSfWzyLETQegKHHyXy0rEVYD8sFDuCJd5Muj5ZKLyRPJwZ5bgLMxpPswWoIqk/s1600/book77amedit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtUY3ZlQHD0eWCaGmhuNpSgJRmWkKweG-XshitqqYJ1iL95TLEvOGRdOG3wORWca9hRzJvn2-Etc-eGxeSfWzyLETQegKHHyXy0rEVYD8sFDuCJd5Muj5ZKLyRPJwZ5bgLMxpPswWoIqk/s400/book77amedit.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Today
as I was making my macaroni salad to go along with dinner tonight,(which can be found here on the blog: <a href="http://pixelsplatesandlols.blogspot.com/2016/04/food-friday-simple-pasta-salads.html" target="_blank">Grandma's Macaroni Salad</a>) I thought of
my mom and how often we had homemade salads of that nature when I was a kid.
She always seemed to have potato salad or something ready to go. I'll admit it,
I'm guilty of buying my salads from the deli for convenience-sake more often
than not these days. I don't know why, potato salad or a macaroni salad aren't
that difficult to prepare! I think for me, what it boils down to is planning
ahead. I usually think of these things too late in the day for the salad to be
ready by dinner. While they are easy to prepare, they can be slightly time
consuming (cutting and cooking potatoes for example or prepping ingredients for
mac salad) and not something you want to be doing while you're cooking the rest
of your dinner, they are to be made ahead of time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That
then led my brain-thoughts onto time saving things. Which, as I was reading my recipe out
of my book, I was reminded of the other things I write in my book to save me
time. I have through the years added to my own "Special Helps"
section - things I've looked up at one time or another that was relevant to
what I was making at the time. I decided to save myself the headache for next
time, and add the note in the back of my book. That way, next time around, I
have my information in one handy spot - thereby saving me time by NOT having to
hunt it down, again!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So,
I thought I'd just share a few of my little notes that have helped me along the
way with one food project or another! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This
bit of "cups per 5 or 10 lbs of flour, sugar and butter" and other information,
I remember came from gearing up for Christmas baking. I take all the recipes I
am planning to make in their respective quantities, and I add up all the
butter, flour, sugar and eggs etc.. That way I can figure out just how much I need in total and how
much I should buy. Figuring it out in bulk saves me a lot of time, lol! And as
stated, the amounts are all approximate, but it does help give me numbers to
work with when I'm making my shopping list for the ingredients. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hope you find these as helpful as I did through the years! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Cups
per pound of all-purpose flour</b><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">approximately
3 1/3 to 4 cups = 1 pound of flour <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">approximately
34 - 40 cups in a 10 lb bag<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">approximately
18-20 cups in a 5 lb bag<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Cups
per pound of sugar, as per type</b><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Cups
per pound of granulated sugar: approximately 2 - 2 1/4 cups<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Cups
per pound of powdered sugar: approximately 3 3/4 to 4 cups<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Cups
per pound of brown sugar: approximately 2 1/4 - 2 1/2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Butter</b><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2
cups per pound of butter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Chocolate
Chips</b><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1
cup = approximately 6 oz.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Applesauce
for Vegetable Oil Swap</b><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Use
the same amount of applesauce as you would oil in your recipe. This does work
better in some things than others - as it's not recommended for cookies, but
works pretty well for cakes and brownies! I use this one bit of information a
lot. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03732415167340511555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030894008919290690.post-64048463855900657682016-07-08T19:34:00.000-07:002016-07-08T19:50:14.927-07:00Food (for Thought) Friday<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>by </i>Kris B.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Friday’s will look a bit different here during the month of July. I am traveling over the next three weeks so accomplishing food and photos will be impossible. Rather than leaving my faithful partner to do all of the cooking by herself this month, we decided to take a break from recipes and give you Food (for thought) Fridays. You will hear from me today and on July 22; on the alternate Fridays, you will hear from Tracey. In August, we’ll resume our regularly scheduled programming - food photos and recipes.</span></i></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I had my thoughts collected and ready to go for today, and then last night happened…</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Last evening Weber and I went with my youngest daughter for the second round of wedding dress shopping. We stopped for a late dinner before picking up my oldest daughter from work at 9pm. As we pulled into our driveway, I got an emergency alert message from the Dallas County Community College district, for whom I teach, saying that one of our campuses was on lockdown due to of police activity in the area. This was not the campus on which I teach, but it was a little unnerving. Yesterday was the final day of the first summer term. I wondered, had a student “lost it” over a final exam? And then social media went crazy. Things in downtown Dallas were much more serious than a distraught student. We sat down in our recliners and turned on the TV, and remained glued to it until nearly 3am.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The mayhem began at the conclusion of a peaceful protest around the recent police shootings of young African American males by white police officers in other parts of the country. The Dallas protest was calm and upbeat. Though there were a hundred Dallas police officers in the vicinity of the protest march, they were not dressed in riot gear, but rather in their summer uniforms like they would be for any other July evening in Dallas. Rather than an “us against them” atmosphere, the march through downtown was one where law enforcement and citizens who want to see justice for all came together.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The march concluded and the gunfire began.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">For several hours, statistics changed constantly. Multiple shooters, two shooters, one officer down, five officers down, one officer deceased, two innocent bystanders shot, two suspects under arrest, a photo of a person of interest was released, a chase occurred and two more people were detained, the person of interest was questioned and released, ten officers down and three deceased, there are bombs all over downtown Dallas, a shooter is cornered and police are negotiating…</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">After six log hours, when all was said and done, five law enforcement officers had been killed and seven more were injured. Two bystanders were shot but sustained non-life threatening injuries. And the whole incident was the work of one lone gunman, one assassin who had carefully planned, calculated and executed an attack that specifically targeted white police officers.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In light of recent police actions in our country, this man’s anger is certainly justified, but his actions are not.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I don’t want to get into a debate about gun rights, but I do want to state some facts. First of all, I am in favor of the strictest gun laws possible. That said, I know that many, many people disagree with me. That’s OK. I am willing to agree to disagree. However, for those who think that if the general public is armed, there are more people to take down “the bad guys,” let’s look at last night’s incident on the streets of downtown Dallas.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Milling about the march route, there were one hundred or more armed law enforcement officers and one lone sniper. Thirteen people were shot, five fatally. Of those thirteen shot, eleven were armed officers trained to use their weapons under these circumstances. Were there also armed citizens on the streets of Dallas last night? You bet. Did any of them fire their weapons? Not that has been reported. What did some of them do? As soon as the first shots rang out, they found the nearest police officer and handed over their guns. Why? So that they wouldn’t be mistaken for the actual shooter. A wise move, especially since the video of such an exchange that has surfaced is of a young African American man handing over a weapon that he was carrying openly and legally to an officer. I applaud him for that though I know his actions were motivated by fear, the very fear which sparked the evening’s rally in the first place. Oh, I should add that it was a picture of this young man that was the first released as “a person of interest.” Fortunately, someone had the cell phone video showing him handing over his gun as the gunshots were echoing through the downtown streets.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Since today’s post is entitled food for thought, I invite you to think about this: if one hundred armed and highly trained law enforcement officers lost so many of their own to the trigger of a single sniper, what makes any of us think that a terrified school teacher with a handgun in her desk drawer could thwart an incident like Sandy Hook? Or, a college freshman who may think himself invincible could prevent any of the increasing numbers of shootings on college campuses? Lets be realistic…the odds are not in the average citizen’s favor. Admittedly, like the lottery, there is that 1 in 227,000,000 chance where things may work out differently.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">All of this hits way too close to home for me The place downtown where all of these events took place is fifteen miles from my house and not far from the downtown arts district, an area where I have found myself many times in the evening. The stand-off with police concluded in the parking garage of one of our sister campuses. Students like I see every day and faculty members who are my colleagues were huddled in bathrooms for hours not knowing what was going on around them. It is all very surreal and absolutely real at the same time.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the light of a new day, the people have come together. Our community is rallying around the Dallas police and there has been an outpouring of love and support for the families of the fallen officers. Barriers of race, religion, gender, age, socioeconomic standing have all been broken down as the city of Dallas unites and begins the process of healing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is an unstable and scary world that we live in right now. Not just here in Dallas. Everywhere. Last night’s mass shooting happened on the streets of Dallas, but it could just as easily been on the streets of your city. These widespread feelings of fear and uncertainty can not and must not be blamed on any one segment of our population. It is a national crisis, one in which we have all, every single person who calls the United States home, had a part in creating, either by our actions or our inactions. The bright spot here is that we all also have the capacity to either hinder or remedy the current climate in this country by the choices we make in terms of our own inaction and action.</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">For now, please send your thoughts and prayers to Dallas, a city that stands tall amidst hurt and hope, sorrow and strength, pain and possibility, and darkness and light. Thank you.</span></span></div>
Kris Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02336146104606375687noreply@blogger.com0