Butterball Cookies

Butterball Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Ground Walnuts
• 2 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 Bars Unsalted Butter
• 1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 1 tsp Almond Extract

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350. 
• Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl. 
• Roll into small (1 inch) balls. 
• Place balls about an inch apart from each other on a baking sheet. 
• Bake for about 35 minutes or until golden brown.
• Let cool for about 5 minutes. 
• Roll balls in powdered sugar and place in cookie jar.
• Enjoy!

DIY Candle Making - Great idea for Christmas gifts!

We just came back from Thanksgiving in North Carolina with my parents and cousin Pete. While there, we decided to do some crafts. Candle making happened to be one of them. We stopped by Michaels and The Dollar Tree for the necessary things to put it together, and got to work.

Here is a look at what we did:

 ^My mommy's final product.

^She is such a cutie!

^Pete with his final product :)

1st Photobooth

Hey friends. 

So sorry for the long hiatus.

It's one of those busy seasons of life.

You know how that is.

Just wanted to share with you a recent project of mine.

There was an event called the Gaming Social at ignite April 23, 2011.

I was asked to do a photobooth at the event.

Let me remind you, I am still new to this photography stuff.

Nonetheless, I agreed.

You gotta start somewhere, right?

How else am I gonna learn?

So, like every pre-shoot I've been doing, I started the research.

I read any and every article out there about photobooths.

I joined a photography forum.

I read articles and threads about:

How and where to set them up.

What I need.

Aperture settings.

Shutter speed.

ISO.

Lighting.

Lighting.

The one thing I had no idea about.

So, I put a list of all the things I wanted for this shoot and all the things they wanted and I went shopping.

I bought props galore from Party City and a piece of fabric from Joann's for the backdrop.

Now, from all my research, you don't usually pin a piece of fabric to the wall for this type of thing,

but if you ever consider doing this, just buy a piece of fabric. 

It works just as well as all the other, more expensive stuff. Just sayin.

So the day came to try all of these things out. 

The trial.

I set up some lighting that was there.

The results were not to my liking.

Not horrible, but not great.

I knew I could do better.

I had to do better.

After all, this was reflecting my skills as a photographer.

On I went to do more research. 

This time it was all about lighting.

In the end I found a great informative article and began the search for local rental shops.

I went in with Ruben, told them what I was trying to do,
told them what I thought I needed, they helped, and we reserved the stuff.

The day before the event came.

We went to pick up all the stuff. 

I was SUPER nervous.

They taught me how everything worked.

Saturday, April 23, 2011 arrived.

No more trials. This was the real thing.

The results?

I would say for my first, ever photobooth shoot,

it was a success. 

Here are some photos from that night:



facebook.com/ignitenetwork

Not Everyone Likes What You Like

So recently, I have been attempting to learn more and more about photography. 

Today I'm going to talk to you specifically about one thing I discovered.

I worked so hard on specific pictures that I fell in love with.

Those very photos turned out to be the ones that were liked least by the photographed persons.

I, of course, told myself to stop trying to take pictures cause I'm clearly not good.

My friend Joel was there the first time this happened to me.

He explained that this should be expected and is common. 

People look that themselves, not the photo as a whole.

Then I remembered that I did the same thing.

When I got my pictures back from my wedding, I looked at myself.

I didn't care about composition, exposure, clarity, colors, anything really.

I just cared about how I looked. 

Now I look at photos very differently.

I try to keep in mind that "Not everyone likes what I like", 

and that's ok.

Just because someone doesn't like the way their ear looks in one of my pictures 

doesn't mean it isn't a good picture :)

I press on.

Here are some recent just-because-I-was-there shots:

(Believe it or not, there was no posing for any of these shots. 

I was just at the right place at the right time.)

Honey Dijon Salmon - Failed Attempt

I just want to let you know beforehand that, 

I am not including this recipe with these photos.

The reason I'm not including it is because it wasn't good enough.

I decided I don't want to post recipes unless I absolutely love the recipe.

I think this was a recipe-gone-wrong because I kind of guessed with a lot of it.

It was meant for grilling, but it's freezing outside so that was not an option.

I also didn't include the asparagus or Worcestershire sauce.

Also,for some reason I read corn meal instead of cornstarch..

Yea, I know. Way to go, Evie.

Anywho, if you want to try it the way it was meant to be, click here.

We used couscous as our side. 

That part actually came out delicious.

So here it is, my failed attempt at honey dijon salmon:

First, I thawed the frozen salmon filets.

Then, I made the sauce.

Then, I chopped up some walnuts.

Then, I got some foil out and put it all together.

Then, Ruben made some couscous.

Finally, we ate it.

Don't be fooled. It wasn't as good as it may sound or look. 

Well, the couscous was.

I'll try it again another time and if it comes out better I'll let you know.

Have a great weekend!