Day 66: UFOs and things!

I actually saw one!  A UFO!  And here's the proof--it's going through the "fly-through!"  ;o)

We hadn't been out for ages, and decided today to bag responsibility and go out to eat.   Neat reflections in the glass--including visitors from outer space!  Hehe.

Here's a couple more.  No aliens this time, though.  Sorry. 

Day 65: What's cookin'?

The thing about at 365 day project is trying to figure out what to take a photo of when you haven't been able to leave the house all day and when FINALLY you are able to take some time to take a photo, it is pitch black out, thanks to the time change.  So I go rushing around the house eyeballing everything, and this is what I came up with.

Both my husband and I love cooking, as you can probably tell from our partial cookbook collection.  These are the ones we use regularly, as well as a shelf of cooking magazines.  There are some fanshy-shmanshy ones still in a box in the attic--rarely used these days.  Sigh.  Now that I'm working from home full time, and hubby's off work, he has taken on the cooking routine, and I'm the beneficiary.  Last night and tonight's left overs?  Polynesian beef.  Yummer!  I'm a lucky woman!

Day 64: Corner View "Favorite Dish"

Today's Corner View was tricky!  At first I thought I'd cook or bake something.  But what is my favorite?  I couldn't decide.  So then I started looking around the house for my favorite dish.  Hmn.  I have lots of favorites, but I couldn't figure out how to make them photo worthy with the items that I had around the house.  They're pretty plain looking, and I wasn't feeling particularly imaginative in how to present them.  Not enough fruit to fill a bowl, I wasn't making french toast this morning, so the flat bottomed blue bowl that used to be grandma's and that I use often wouldn't work.  Finally, I happened across this.  This creamer set was given to Mom by my Great-Grandmother, Grace Schreiber.  We named our daughter after her, her middle name being Grace.  About three years ago, Mom was going through her things trying to downsize a bit, and asked me whether I'd like to have it.  Would I?!  Of course!

So I brought it home.  It was black with tarnish, and I just tucked it in the china cabinet for safekeeping, telling myself that I'd polish it one day.  That day was this morning.  I had read somewhere that baking soda and water worked great as silver polish, so I mixed a bit of goop together and rubbed it on.  Holy Hannah!  It was like magic!  Turns out that this set is actually copper with a silver overlay.    Pretty nice, eh?

Now I feel that I need to bake a cake and have someone over for a cuppa!  Would you like to come by?  Maybe I'll bake Jane's chocolate cake, which can be found here along with a list of other Corner View participants.

Have a lovely Wednesday!

Day 63: Tools

Adam, 3 years, reaches into a kitchen drawer and carefully pulls out particular tools, one by one.  He knows exactly what he needs and chooses with care.  "What are you going to make with those?" I ask.

His answer?

"Waffles."

Day 62: donut disaster

Monday night is Family Night at our house, and the biggest question isn't "What enlightening lesson has so-and-so prepared tonight" but rather, "Who is responsible for the treat, and what will it be?"  Tonight it was my turn, and J had requested donuts.  Which was a fun idea.  Of course, when it actually came to put together the batter, I realized that I didn't have the ingredients to make the ones I usually make (one uses orange peel, the other buttermilk).  So I tried a new recipe that I found online.  It looked fine. J and I put it together, then I heated the oil in the fryer and started to dunk them.  They seemed to go brown awfully fast in the time that they were supposed to cook, and I had to take them out early for fear they would burn.  They did look pretty nice:

And they tasted pretty good, too--if you happened to get one that wasn't raw in the middle.  I took the first bite and "bleh--goopy!" 

Sigh.

Usually I don't use vegetable oil, but that's all I had this time.  Maybe that had something to do with it.  But they were overbrowning almost as soon as they hit the oil, let alone what they would be like if I let them sit there for 2 minutes.  Thankfully, enough made the "cooked enough to be edible" grade, so all was not lost.  And the preparation was fun.  I was too busy with the hot oil to take a photo of J patting, rolling, cutting, and hole-ing,  but you can imagine what a blast that was for a 6 year old.

I guess it's a lesson in being prepared.  Now I'll have to keep orange peel and/or buttermilk in the freezer so as not to have to experiment again.

Day 61

OK--today I have something extra special for you.  Ready?  Wait for it...

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Have a great evening!

Day 60: Beauty in the oddest places

About a month ago, I posted this photo, one of a few plants encased in ice during an unexpected weather glitch. Here it is:

 
(Ed. 11/07):  Just found that it's  milkweed.  But you knew that, right?)

Yesterday, I took my usual weekly drive to Bedford, and when I was coming back, I saw what has happened to them since the weather has warmed up and we actually had an Autumn.  I couldn't stop and take a picture then, so today when I was out running errands, I took a little trip to take some pictures.

 
Aren't these plants amazing? 

 

Talk about telling the whole world "HEY!  Look at ME!  I'm REPRODUCING!!!"  It's almost obscene, really, but oddly beautiful, even though it's just a weed. 

One of the things that I've discovered lately is being able to find beauty in the strangest places.  Taking the challenge of taking photos every day means that I have to look beyond the usual to look at things that I normally would just pass by without a second glance.  It's such a blessing, and it gives me a reason to be grateful every day.  My work consists of hours sitting in front of the computer at home.  It's great having a reason to leave the house, even if it's just into the back yard or around the block, and take a close look at the world.  I'm having a great time finding little treasures everywhere I go.  Thank you, 365 Day Challenge!

I'm going to stick this one in for my mom, who always looks forward to photos of the kids on here. Here's one of the Boy-o on the tire swing.  He went from loving it, to being scared of it, to loving it again.  How I love this little munchkin.