Holland Patent Prom

Courtney went to her first Prom tonight, in which she was escorted by her boyfriend Marcus, from Holland Patent. They looked great together, and I have to tell you, this was a half a day's ordeal! The nails last night, the hair today, the meeting at their house for pictures, and then Grand March at school....it's almost like a wedding!

Miss Emily returns....

once again! Sunday, she brought her friend who happens to look just like her, and was even dressed just like her. With matching dresses, they both looked beautiful.

Here's a sneak peak of her shoot....

I met my first weight loss goal!

16 weeks and 20 pounds lighter, I am finally posting some pictures. It is a rare site to see me in pictures, especially when I've asked someone (Ashley who happened to be home) to do them for me. Good job Ash BTW.

I will have a new pic to use on my blog for now, until the hair grows out some more, (and then I'll have to take a new one). Man, I hate this part of it, when you can't do anything with it yet. But it will get longer this summer, and not any too soon.

so here are two shots of me.....I have set a new goal now, and it has to be done by the end of June, when it's going to be really warm out.

Thanks for looking....this isn't as fun as looking at cute kids in pretty dresses!

Addison's Easter pics

Little miss Addison returned for her Easter pics this past weekend. What a difference 4 months makes, when you are talking Christmas at 12 months vs 16 months now! This girl can't be bothered with standing still, when there are kitties to play with, and neighbor kids she was watching, who were playing outside .

As always though, she's a pleasant little lady, who LOVES her mommy!

Easter cross Rye Rolls

A woman from the Fresh Loaf.com site referred me to her blog for some easy rye bread, which I made three batches of this morning, and just thought I would send you her way too, if you like bread baking, and like rye (Or anything else she has on her site!)

These were very easy and they taste awesome! Libby's site is At the Very Yeast, so give her a looksey.

And here are two pics to make you drool!



PS....they went over really well at dinner, so make sure you have some on hand for dinner guests!

Happy Easter eveyone!

I hope your day is wonderful, and that you may enjoy nice weather, and fellowship with your families and friends!

1st Communion photo shoot

This was my first time shooting a 1st Communion session, and Jordan was a great sport about trying a bunch of different poses for me....she's a natural in front of the camera too.

Here are a few of my favs from today:

Three brothers

These boys have grown, as I haven't seen them in over a year! This collage is a collection of their best individuals, and a pic of them with their mom. She's expecting a little girl this summer, and all 3 seem pretty excited! That little one, will be one well taken care of girl in school I'm sure, and she better be pretty tough on the homefront too, sticking up for herself!

Buttery Honey Whole Wheat bread

I am an avid reader of The Fresh Loaf website, which is a site dedicated to bread making for beginners through pros, and today, I made an excellent tasting, healthy recipe, using honey and whole wheat.
This is the Buttery Honey Whole Wheat Bread recipe that I used.

Joe's breads look beautiful, and while the tops of mine deflated a bit, from using an unsharp knife that I did, to score the top, it tasted wonderfully good warm with some butter on it! MMMMMmmmmmmmmm!

If you enjoy bread making, be sure to check out this site, and his too. He has some good stuff on there. On the Fresh Loaf site, there is pretty much everything you need to get yourself started, or to challenge you if you are already experienced....Enjoy the smell of hot bread baking in the oven.

Saturday weigh in!

Down another 1 1/2 pounds, but it took 3 weeks to get here.....it's slowing down, and I think I found the balance of calories in vs calories out.....that means I have to start exercising more.....if the rain would ever stop, I'll be good to go outside, and I can't wait to get on my bike!

down: 18 1/2 pounds!

K+K for Easter

I had two sisters and then Mom and Grandma too for a family picture to be done today.
I remember two Christmas's ago, when the eldest Miss K wouldn't even make eye contact with me. Then through two more sessions, she became my helper, and I even got some hugs out of her, and she let me help her with her coat too. It's the little things that come out of shoots like this, that make these days special!

Little Miss K turned one this month too, but she is at a stage where strangers are not her friends, so we were lucky to get a few of her by herself.

Nothing like home made bread!

This is a garlic-butter bubble pull apart loaf. Say that 3 times fast! This smelled so incredibly good while it was rising, baking, and after it came out of the oven!

Apparently, bread flour really does make a difference, as does good fresh yeast, both bought at the co-op in Little Falls.

Just wanted to share, and might even come back to put the recipe in too. It came from the Taste Of Home BAking cookbook.



Here's the recipe:

2 pkgs of acitve dry yeast, (2 scant Tbsp)
1/4 warm water (110-115 degrees)
2 cups warm milk(110-115 deg)
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp shortening
2 tsp salt
6 1/4-6 1/2 cups all purpose or bread flour
1/2 cup butter
1 Tbsp dried parsley
2 tsp garlic powder

In a large mixing bowl,dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, sugar, shortening, salt and 2 cups flour, beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surgace; divine into fourths. Divide each portion into 12 peices. In a shallow bowl, combine the butter, parsley and garlic powder. Shape each peice of dough into a ball; dip into butter mixture. Place in two greased 9-inx 5 in x3 in loaf pans. Pour any remaining butter mixture over dough. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. (Don't crowd them into the pan. put about 12 spaced out in two irreglar layers per pan)

Bale at 375 deg for 35-40 min or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes. remove from pans to wire racks.

Tortellini dinner

Thought I would share another dinner tonight, which was really easy to make.

The tortelli can be bought as a 16 oz pkg of frozen pasta, and for the sauce, start with a bunch of finely chopped veggies, like carrots, onions, garlic, celery, red and green peppers, and any other veggies you like. Cook them in a small amt of water,in a heavy pot till softened. Then add your favorite 26 oz jar or can of sauce and some cooked beans or 1 can of black beans. Heat till the beans are warm. Add the cooked tortellini, and add a mixed vegetable, and you have yourself a nice colorful dinner, full of Vit C, lycopene, and fiber!

Added some color to a dinner shoot

I used some Pampered Chef items for a picture of dinner tonight. I love their white dishes, but don't use them enough!, and a towel from a previous Fall Collection added some base color.

Tonight's dinner was Black Bean Chili Pot Pie (I used kidney beans in this dish)

The Recipe is from The Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook


taken while still hot and in the dutch oven. If you don't have a peice of cast iron cookware, but esp a dutchoven, you don't know what you are missing! It's a great addition to the kitchen, but is useful for so many reasons.

Dinner Fare......

I have really gotten into cooking again this past 3 weeks, trying out new recipes, and actually realized tonight, that we haven't had a repeated meal yet! Tonight's fare, with items bought at the co-op this am, was spinach fettucini with yellow squash and tomatoes, grilled fresh pinapple, corn frittata, and I made/ate beet greens for the first time ever. I really liked them too!

I have to say, that my dad is enjoying the lighter fare, if he is down for dinner, which is usually once a weekend.

I'm going to challenge myself to try setting up little sets on weekends for food photography. I think this is an area I'd like to experiment with!