Throw Back Photos from 2009

Probably not technically throw back photos, since they are just from last year, but I like to call them that.  I have been slowly moving my photos from iphoto (my internal hard drive) to my external hard drive (and new editing software).  I still have about 2300 photos to move and almost 3700 sitting in my editing software waiting for me to re-look at them.

I love taking a fresh look at old photographs.  Most of these are of my daughter.  I have a lot of photos of her.  Some I thought were no good at all, I have been able to tweek into something special.  Like the photo above. My little girl at just a little over a year old already had a shoe fetish - which a year later has not gone away!  Those are my niece's shoes she is parading around in in that photo. I have to keep a close eye on her at indoor play sets that require shoes be taken off - most of the time she ignores the huge play set and heads over to all the shoes, guess she thinks they were left there just for her.  We are in for it when she becomes a teenager.... because she also has a purse fetish.

The above shot was taken in Washington DC.  We were on our way home from a parade, but she just had to stop in this field to pick the flowers. I hope this passion to stop and smell the flowers never diminishes within her.

The above shot was taken during that parade we were leaving.  I have several versions of this photo, which does not seem to be a big hit with people.  However, its one I love.  And this version I think I love the most.

Foody Friday

Lately, I have been in a cooking and baking mood.  I go in these waves of cooking everything under the sun to barely touching a pot.  I don't think my husband has been minding this up wave of cooking.  I recently blogged over the holidays about my cheesecake attempt and now here are two new items I cooked today.

My mom is a pro at simple and cheap foods.  Not that she is actually either of those, but she was good at making really yummy stuff for cheap when money was tight.  Her "Secret Recipe" - that my best friend thought was some extravagant, hard to cook recipe was actually Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup with Elbow Noodles.  We had that at least once a week growing up, and now I make it probably even more often now for my child (and the hubby as well).  If you have not tried it, please do!  It's a perfect lunch.

Anyhow, today I made her other staple in my childhood.  English Muffin pizzas.  I laugh sometimes at how different the foods my husband and I had growing up are so different.  Maybe its a culture difference or a geographical difference or maybe both.  The man had never heard of Strawberry Milk before I came into his life.  How weird is that?!  For the English Muffins:

Preheat oven to 350, toast muffins in a toaster, and place on baking sheet.  Slather on some of your favorite spaghetti sauce, add some additional oregano & garlic powder if you want, slice your favorite cheese (these were colby jack) and place on top of sauce.  Heat in oven till cheese is melted.

This next recipe I made last week for the first time and it came out so good, I had to have it again.  Its so easy and I got it from a Crock Pot Slow Cooker Cookbook - click here


I'm hoping since I linked the book that its okay to post the recipe.  It's on page 143

Simply Delicious Pork
  Boneless pork chops -- it lists quantity but I just use what I need at that time or comes in the package
  4 Golden Delicious Apples, sliced (not peeled)
  3 tablespoons light brown sugar (though I use almost 4)
  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (though I use almost 1 tablespoon instead)
  1/2 teaspoon salt (I don't measure, I just pour in till I think its enough)

Place pork in crock pot, cover with apples.  Mix other ingredients in bowl and sprinkle over apples. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.  ---  I recommend knowing your crock pot.  I can put mine on Low 10 hours and this recipe is done in 4 hours.

Pork will just fall apart and your house will smell like an apple pie.

Merry Go Rounds

When I was little, my father ran an indoor amusement park.  It was just for a few years, the final few years the place was still open.  Some of you may have heard of the place - the Palace Amusement Park in Asbury Park, New Jersey.  I was eight years old and have free reign of the entire place.  A kid's dream come true, especially for a little girl - who not only got to spend the day at an amusement park but also with her dad.  It was the best part of my childhood, and has filled me with ever lasting memories. 

One of my best memories was of their merry go round.  They even later installed a tiny version for toddlers, it was the cutest thing ever.  There was this amazing woman that I spent so much time with, and her job was maintaining the merry go round. She painted all the horses and the other pieces.  Her work was just beautiful.

In honor of this past love, life, experience, and memories; I am starting a new photography series:  Merry Go Rounds.  Featuring photos of every merry go round that I come across while I have my camera with me.  And I am sure there will be plenty of opportunities considering my daughter is 2yrs old and in love with them.  

I hope these photographs bring back fond memories and a passion for having fun.

If I won the lottery and won big, I would hunt down as many pieces of that place as I could (it was all sold off piece by piece) and restore it back to its glory at a new location.

If you would like to read more about this magical place that once was, here is the website:  http://www.palaceamusements.com/