Macro Monday ~ Dandelion Seed Head

My friend Carolyn really liked my last photo of a dandelion seed head that I posted here. I love feedback! So I went to find some more. I am very happy with this capture, even with all the background noise. I am looking forward to taking shots like this with my DSLR, however, as then I will be able to really work on my background and foreground more distinctly. Still I could never ever complain at what my little point and shoot has given me. 


Is it really Monday, again? Already?


I linked up with Lisa's Chaos.

Camera Critters ~ Meet Mrs. Frog

If you remember this post , I have snakes living under my deck. EEK! Luckily for me, I didn't know that the night Mrs. Frog paid a visit. If you have been following my blog for any amount of time, you know how much I love frogs. One of my favorite things in all the world. The night in the above mentioned post, I was sitting still as could be waiting for moths to land near so I could photograph them. Good things come to those who wait...

I am not afraid of the dark or being out in it by myself. In fact, I often find it peaceful. Yet I couldn't help but wonder as I sat their in complete silence other than the beating of many moth's wings, what that somewhat loud thump was to my left. I waited a moment and when no other "thumps" came, I turned and snapped a photo in the dark. My review screened showed not a only a frog but a fairly large one at that! I think she might have eaten a few neighborhood cats before stopping by my deck for some moths. Good froggy.

She is a green frog, which are very common in central Wisconsin. She is also one of the largest ones I have seen. Very healthy and bold too! 

I linked up with Camera Critters.

Beer Cheese Dip

 recipe from tidymom.net

We don't watch any type of sports here. At all. Just not our thing but we will gladly partake in all the "game" day appetizers rolling around the net, especially any sort of dip. 

I have to admit, I found this dip very tart. It may be because I ,um, don't like beer? It doesn't taste like beer, yet that may be the factor in why it is so tart and not to my liking. 

I found this recipe on Pinterest, along with rave reviews so I thought that even though it isn't to my taste, it may be to yours?

If you do make it or already have, I would appreciate your feedback on it.

Ingredients:

2 - 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup beer

1 envelope Ranch Dressing mix

2 cups shredded cheddar mix

Beat cream cheese, beer and ranch dressing until well blended with hand mixer. Stir in cheddar cheese by hand. Chill and serve with pretzels, chips or veggies.

*if dip is too thick, add a little beer to thin it down

Wisconsin Autumn Sunrise

I think one of the most overlooked areas in photography may be the sky. It could be that due to the vastness of the subject, most captures rarely pick up what the eye is actually seeing and the photos fail to show the depth of the clouds or the amazingly vibrant colors tend to be flat. 

The sky, just like the weather, here in Wisconsin changes often. Clear blue skies can change to dark clouds in a matter of minutes and then change back as if it never happened. To be honest, I found this a great challenge. At first I was so frustrated, trying to capture color, depth and clarity of what was an amazing sky. My eyes saw so much, my camera processed so little.

After many many many attempts to find the settings I needed, I was finally rewarded with some results. You'd be surprised what a good point and shoot can do once it's user learns a few things. I used my Canon point and shoot for these, not my DSLR.

 I changed my white balance setting to Tungsten (which I rarely use). I disabled my flash and set my ISO at about 800 (to let more natural light into my camera). I also used Landscape focus mode in my manual program settings. That is why the background is more clear (farther away) than the tree branches (closer). 

 Again white balance set to Tungsten, flashed disabled, ISO changed to 600 and Macro focus settings used. Nothing here is really in great focus, color is a little more skewed. Depth is still here but in a much softer way.

Lastly, white balance setting changed to Vivid, flash enabled, ISO 400 and Manual focus used. Everything but the sky is more detailed, colors fairly accurate too.

I did not use zoom on these. I find when taking more of a landscape, sky shot it rarely picks up depth and most often really skews colors.

Maybe some of these tips will help you? I hope so! These settings will also work with a DSLR and most lenses. 

I can't choose a favorite, I like them all for different reasons. What's yours?

Oh and Happy Friday! Thanks so much for stopping by!

I linked up with Skywatch Friday.

Cheeseburger 'N' Fries Casserole

A few years back, a colleague of mine held an office Christmas party in her home. She really went all out and had a ton of amazing dishes for us throughout the night. A version of this was one of them. While I liked the concept, it seemed very bland to me. 


I was going through my recipe stash (ok, it's more of an ever-growing mountain of goodness) and stumbled across this long forgotten dish. Thought I would see if I could add some pep to it for the guys and I. 


It was a success. My picky eater loved it! Great for kids of all ages and quick and easy for those busy weekdays too.


Ingredients:
2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 (10 oz) can condensed golden mushroom soup
1 (10 oz) can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1 (20 oz) package frozen seasoned french fries (any style)
1/2 cup medium cheddar cheese
ground black pepper, to taste




Brown ground beef in skillet. Drain. Stir in soups and pepper. Mix well. 


Pour into greased 9 x 13 x 2 inch baking dish.


Arrange seasoned french fries evenly on top. 


Bake, uncovered, for 40 - 45 minutes or until fries are golden brown.


Top with grated cheese right out of the oven. Let sit 5 minutes and serve. Yum!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins

adapted from instructables.com

If you only make one pumpkin recipe this fall, you might want to make this it. Seriously these muffins were so delicious! The texture and just right pumpkin flavor made these the best pumpkin muffins I have ever had. That says a lot since I have a problem saying no to any muffin let alone a pumpkin one. Add cheesecake to the equation...and I dare you to try to keep me away from them.

One issue I have with many pumpkin recipes is the actual lack of pumpkin flavoring when it is mixed with spices like the dreaded Allspice, ginger or cloves. I never use any of these in my recipes. The result is a full pumpkin flavoring with no aftertaste of other ingredients. 

This recipe can make mini, standard or jumbo muffins. I made standard size.

Ingredients:

15 oz. can of pumpkin

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1 large egg yolk

5 Tbls. sugar

1/8 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix canned pumpkin, oil and sugar together, either by hand or with a mixer on low. Add in eggs, one at a time, combining thoroughly after each. Add vanilla.

In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.

Slowly add flour mixture to liquids, combining thoroughly and scraping sides of bowl with a spatula until well combined.

In another separate bowl, mix together cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla until well combined.

Grease muffin tins or line with paper liners.

Drop in spoonfuls of pumpkin mixture. Add smaller spoonfuls of cream cheese mixture on top. Use a skewer or toothpick to swirl cream cheese mixture into pumpkin mixture.

Bake as follows, turning the tins halfway through baking times.

Mini muffins = 20 - 25 minutes

Standard muffins = 25 - 30 minutes

Jumbo Muffins = 30 -  40 minutes

Lady's Thumb ~ Sweet Shot Tuesday

This small, dainty (about the length of my thumb and a foot in stem length) has a somewhat odd name. The name Lady’s Thumb comes from a spot on the leaves that supposedly looks as if a lady pressed her (very dirty?) thumb against it. This spot helps distinguish Lady’s Thumb from some of its relatives that are native to North America.


Lady’s Thumb (Persicaria maculosa) is a member of the Buckwheat family, and it counts rhubarb and buckwheat among its more illustrious relatives.


These are found all over the United States. I took this shot on one of Spencer and my walks this summer. One of my favorites too!

I linked up with