Black and White Wednesday

Gee, I'm enjoying this! When I get my head stuck on something,

I'm like a dog with a bone.

Lisa's idea to wile away the winter blues and start experimenting

with black and white is a hit!

I took these pictures of Dahlia just after Christmas when she had a miserable cold so there were all sorts of 'not so pretty' things crusted to her face that I didn't notice till I downloaded them. So I fixed them up a bit but I like them in black and white better.

So then I let loose with a few other pictures. This was from the week-end - I shot a bunch of family pictures for the iheartfaces entry and here are a few more in blk and wh.

The one of us below didn't make the cut for the entry as I chopped off the frames on the bottom but it was fun to convert to black and white nonetheless.

And more of my muse.

If your thinking - hey, isn't it time you took some pictures of Milana? you're not the only one. I was thinking the same thing so we had a little session yesterday. Oh my, I just may have two models in this house. I'll post some later in the week.

So then I went into some files from our trip to China in August (which I still have to post) and pulled out two to convert. This is a beautiful lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang.

And below is one of my favorite pictures and memories of our trip. Here is Daddy, pushing the double stroller through the park by the same lake.

What is it about shots of people's backs? I'm always drawn to them. (Hmm....do I like people leaving me? Not really, so what's with that?)

Do pop over to The Long Road to China site here

for some fabulous black and white photographs.

And have a happy Wednesday!

I ♥ Faces

We are Family!

The theme this week at iheartfaces is FAMILY. So even though the couple (that's us 10 years ago) in the middle frame on the table was a family, the light didn't come into our world till we found these two darlings.

Now the circle is complete.

Recipes on Monday

It's Recipe Monday at The Crazy Eight blog. Click on the icon above to link.

Same picture......different goodie.

Here's another little thing to add to your sweet tray at Christmas or whenever.

These are Walnut tartlettes.

And here is my ancient recipe (check the date....this baby is old but I've made them every Christmas since....well.....I was 10 or something. Huh....what's that? Was that a laugh or a snort?)

;)



click to enlarge

I always make extra filling and add some heavy cream to it and heat for a couple of minutes
which is basically liquid fudge (oh....I'm beginning to quiver here) and then I use it on anything. A white cake, ice cream, in a spoon.



It just makes me happy!

Baby....it's cold outside......

......but who cares? Not us!

We laugh at the cold. Ha ha ha...........
......we look 'ole man winter' in the face and say - "you can't get us down.....'cause in the end, you'll just be a puddle of water and we....we'll be basking in the sun"

......yup....any month now!

In our attempt to embrace the inevitable, we ventured up north last week-end to the mountains where most folks go to ski - we go to eat. Yummy crepes smothered in good old pure maple syrup. The really dark kind. After our gorge-out we took a wee walk (it was bloody cold) in the little town. (St.Sauveur)

Danny spent a lot of his youth near here. He use to attend this church.

We had three goals for our day. One was the crepes - done! The other was visiting the little Christmas shop that is deliriously filled with every imaginable Christmas decor. Dahlia loves this shop and we have spent hours browsing (and sometimes splurging after we sent Daddy out to get the car...."quick, let's get this....we've got one minute, is your bag big enough to stuff it in?") but, alas, it was closed. 'Be back - Jan 30th' the sign said.

So we wandered down the street to our next destination - the ice-cream shop. Dahlia must have her ice-cream, Mommy needs no encouragement and I was imagining a tiny little cone for Milana - her first. Uh-ugh..........closed for the winter. "What.....pugh....wimps!"

So we drove around and went home.

And ate ice-cream!

mwa ha ha ha


And so, before I go, I thought I would remind myself of something that is buried deep in the frozen, snow-covered ground in my garden....waiting

just waiting

for it's time to come!

It's just my way of laughing at the cold.

Black and White Wednesday

A new challenge - I love it!

My new friend and mentor, Lisa at The Long Road to China, has invited all who are so inclined to participate in Black and White photography. I've never really worked with black and white, probably because so much of my decor and closet is black and white so I need a little color.

But I love a challenge and am so enthused to learn all I can about this new world of photography - so here I go.

This photo of Dahlia may not be technically correct but I can't get enough of that face, so what better place to start. (When I can get Milana to sit still for a second, I may try and grab one of her....hmmmm....maybe in ten years - lol.)

We went up north on the week-end and it was such a grey day, most of my pictures were almost in black and white naturally. I just increased the blacks. This is St. Sauveur mountain. (Tiny by comparison but very pretty.)
This is kinda how our world feels lately. Can you say......cccooooolllllddddddd !!!

Pop over to Lisa's site and see some of the other entries. This is going to be fun!

Happy Wednesday!

I ♥ Faces

This is the face that I love!

My Dahlia - the little girl who made me a mommy, more than five years ago.

And makes me so happy!

This picture was taken 2 days ago, just before we started putting away our Christmas decor.

It's the one year anniversary over at the iheartfaces site. And this week's photo challenge is - pick your favorite face. Well, that was easy. Hop over and check out all the other entries. They have an amazing group of judges for their birthday celebration.

Recipes on Monday

See that solo chocolate ball on the little white dish?

That......is a truffle!

Or as close to heaven as I can imagine.

I've had a few people asking for the recipe and I thought I would post it as the first submission in Colleen's Monday recipe challenge, over at her Crazy Eight blog.

This chocolate truffle is part of my Christmas desserts that I have prepared every year since we began our home. It's the easiest recipe imaginable....but so delish!

Chocolate Truffles

• 
  
  8 squares (1 oz. each) semisweet chocolate
• 
  
  1/4 cup sifted confectioner's sugar
• 
  
  3 Tbs. butter


• 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten (yes, raw....see how old this recipe is?)


• 1 Tbs. brandy (ok....a lot more than that....'k?)


• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

In top of a double broiler over hot, not boiling water, melt 6 squares chocolate with sugar and butter. Remove from heat. Stir a small amount of hot mixture into slightly beaten egg yolks; add yolds to chocolate mixture, stirring well. Blend in brandy. ( I sometimes mix it up and add Ameretto and then toss with crushed almond powder or Mint Liquer and toss with icing sugar.)

Chill without stirring for 1 or 2 hours until firm.

Finely grate remaining 2 squares of chocolate; stir in cinnamon. Shape chocolate into 1-inch balls; roll in grated mix until well coated. store in refridgerator. Makes about 20. (And just in case you wanted to know, they're about 85 calories each - but I try not to think about that.....and succeed very well, thank you very much.)

Tip: don't waste your time making only 20. (Twenty?!?.....that's a snack....there'd be none left for company.) Triple this baby.....at least. They freeze well. (Translation: edible any old time.)

Enjoy!

Ode to feet.....

....not really...it just sounded good!

Take a guess what this is.

A mouse? (No, I wouldn't advertise that....:o )

Try again.
Still not sure?

It's Zizi's paw (or foot - thus the title).

Bedtime rituals in the bathroom with Dahlia were always something shared with the company of her beloved cat -Zizi. But since Milana's arrival, we've had to close the door so the light won't wake her up and most nights we forget to invite Zizi in before we close the door.

So......what's a cat to do?


Well.....at least now she feels somewhat included.



Then the other day I heard clomping on the hardwood floor in the loft. But my brain did not compute. Dahlia was in school, Danny doesn't clomp and Zizi is a quiet little thing, she is.



I turn the corner to investigate and look what I see. The kid is still wobbly on her feet but oh......it's started already. Get the girl some high heels.

She's raring to go!

Yes, they're backwards but.......

they ARE high heels.

Outta my way!
I've got things to do, places to go and people to see.
Hmmm....let's see what else I can get into while sissy's in school.
Happy Friday everyone!

Wordless Wednesday

2009.....quite a year!