Filed under: Arizona, Home, Phoenix, Recipes | Tags: Arizona, Flora, Home, Phoenix, Recipes
Cream butter, beat in garlic and lemon juice. Mash in basil; season with salt and pepper. Place bowl in refrigerator to firm butter. For a nice, simple appetizer use room temperature butter on grilled pieces of baguette or French bread.
Yum, that sounds good…and easy. I finally “get” it about growing your own food and this basil plant is really the only thing we’ve successfully grown and used. I’ve never had a garden and, with 10 outdoor cats and several other neighborhood cats, it might not be a great idea but I do love checking the progress of this potted basil plant, grown from seed. I haven’t pinched the flowers off like you’re supposed to because I thought it was too cool to see it flower. Basil likes it sunny and dry and that is certainly our summer weather in AZ. Next…some other herbs.
More basil info here.
As an aside, what kind of jerky photographer am I? On Tuesday night, I saw the most dramatic weather event I have ever seen, a gigantic haboob rushing toward and then engulfing us and it was only after it had passed, quite awhile later, that I even thought about my camera and wondered why I hadn’t used it. You’ve probably seen photos of it but if not, check out this video. It was extremely dramatic, not the most violent dust storm I’ve ever been in, but certainly the most eerie, visually stunning, and exciting one.
Pizza
After work, I stopped at Nello’s to get a pizza, the best in Phoenix, in my opinion. There are only 5 in the whole metropolitan area, though. It was delicious, as always.
Peanut Butter Cookies
Then I tried this quick and easy recipe:
1 cup peanut butter
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Stir together well. Drop in spoonfuls on a cookie sheet, press with a fork. Bake 10 – 12 minutes at 350 degrees.
My neighbor likes PB cookies so I baked them with her in mind.
Photojojo.com
If you like unique ideas about what to do with your photography, sign up for their newsletter. Some of their projects might appeal to you. And read their forums, too, as there are several fun challenges you can participate in as well as just learning new techniques. Check out these cool glass jar frames in the latest newsletter (http://photojojo.com/content/):
Petroglyphs
This is an old photo of some local petroglyphs.
Can you tell I’m having a hard time posting tonight? One of my personal goals is to post 5-7 times a week. So I guess some of them are going to be a little lame.
Off to spend some time with my Pussycats.
‘Night,
Candace
I don’t cook…at all…really. Once in awhile I bake something from a mix or throw a salad together or stick something in the microwave. But I was inspired. Yesterday after seeing Kelli’s yummy root vegetables (africankelli.com), I couldn’t get them out of my mind. I didn’t copy…exactly…but I stopped at Sprouts on the way home and bought sweet potatoes, rutabagas, and portobello mushrooms. Came home, chopped ‘em up, put them in a casserole dish after adding sherry (and drinking some, cook’s privilege), cayenne, basil, thyme, sage, oregano, tarragon, and summer savory, baked at 350 for 50 minutes (25 with the lid on, 25 lid off). I was shocked; it was good! Even Tony thought so and he can cook! I’d post a photo but it just didn’t look appetizing in the picture, unfortunately.
So, I was on a roll. I had also been thinking the last couple of days about adapting the 5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake recipe to a different flavor, for the sake of variety. And it was very tasty. I substituted vanilla pudding mix for the cocoa and crushed walnuts for the chocolate chips, added cinnamon, and increased the vanilla extract to a teaspoon instead of a splash. It’s definitely a keeper.
Here is the 5 Minute Vanilla Mug Cake:
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla pudding mix (sugar-free)
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons crushed walnuts (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug
Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the walnuts (if using) and vanilla extract, dust with cinnamon, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 2 minutes, 45 seconds at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
Now, if I would just pick up that crochet hook and start doing those stitches that my friend Michelle showed me and get some scarves made, I would have a handle on this domesticity thing.
But I think that tomorrow I’ll be back to art again...cooking’s hard, art’s easy.
Candace
Filed under: Home, Phoenix, Photography | Tags: Home, Phoenix, Photography, Recipes
There’s a 60 percent chance of rain tonight in Phoenix. We’ve been getting a lot of rain lately which is a good thing in the desert. My favorite thing to do when it’s raining is to curl up on the couch with a good book and a couple of cuddly cats but that doesn’t usually happen. This photo is from one of last week’s storm days on the way home from work.
Yesterday’s post was pretty long and chatty so I thought I would cheat a little on today’s post. If you’re on the internet much, you’ve probably seen this recipe umpteen times but, on the off chance you haven’t, here is the 5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake:
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug
Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
Since I’m kitchen-challenged, I always feel very domestic making this. Seriously, it’s pretty tasty and you almost always have the ingredients around. We sometimes have this on Sunday evenings to stave off the back-to-the-old grind feeling that sets in about then.
Hope your week is off to a good start!
Candace
