Day 12 theme for April Photo a Day is Stairs.
:-)
Michelle
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Day 103 - 12 April 2012 - Stairs
Hello!
Day 12 theme for April Photo a Day is Stairs.
I was going to get all artsy and find some really groovy stairs, but our day was completely full and nowhere was there a stair. So I came home at the end of the day and photographed my own stairs.
:-)
Michelle
Day 12 theme for April Photo a Day is Stairs.
:-)
Michelle
Day 102 - 11 April 2012 - Where I ate my breakfast
Hello!
The theme for Day 11 in April Photo a Day was "Where I ate my breakfast". I had my breakfast on the run, but my morning coffee was at Bar Metzo in Brisbane.
They serve good coffee fast.
:-)
Michelle
The theme for Day 11 in April Photo a Day was "Where I ate my breakfast". I had my breakfast on the run, but my morning coffee was at Bar Metzo in Brisbane.
:-)
Michelle
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Day 101 - 10 April 2012 - Cold
Hello!
Day 101 of 2012. Back to work today after a lovely long long week-end. :-) I had a slow start to the day due to a series of delays, one of which I'll share in the photos.
Late last night I decided to finally purchase Hipstamatic (for the grand sum of $1.99). I envied photos my brother took at Christmastime and he told me he used Hipstamatic. I looked at it then, and I hesitated over the $2.49 price tag, LOL! Well the price went down, and since I've started using Instagram, I thought I'd give it a go. Well, the first five photos were TERRIBLE. 100% black, or completely yellow, or not what I thought I was taking...oh dear! So I put it on my 9 year old daughter's iPod and thought she might find some tips for me (she's pretty good with techy things). In about two seconds this morning she'd already worked some things out for me, so I ran with that little bit of knowledge.
This is what I got today.
Brisbane City, corner of Adelaide & Creek Streets, Koala House in front.
The sky.
The road as the sun headed towards the horizon.
One of my photos I also edited in Instagram, and the combination of Hipstamatic and Instagram is magic. This is the front of Central Station, on Ann Street.
I wouldn't want to take my photos like this all the time, but I do like the effect. I think, with some practice, I might get some good shots!
I did get two other photos today that I'll share. The first is one of the delays I encountered this morning. I entered the kitchen and the little one (4 years old) says "Don't come in! I'm writing a secret message!!!" I had to wait for her to painstakingly write her message for me. This is it.
What she was trying to tell me, in her pre-school, learning to read and write by herself kind of language (and yes, her "d" is upside down), was: I don't like my toothpaste. A very important message to write down when Mummy is running late for work. But of course, when the little angel writes so beautifully, Mummy just melts and forgets about getting to work on time. :-)
The other photo was for my April Photo a Day themed Cold. Well it may be officially autumn, but it is way opposite to cold! It is still swimming weather. So cold came out of my fridge.
Yeah, that full, unopened bottle didn't stay that way for long.
:-)
Michelle
Day 101 of 2012. Back to work today after a lovely long long week-end. :-) I had a slow start to the day due to a series of delays, one of which I'll share in the photos.
Late last night I decided to finally purchase Hipstamatic (for the grand sum of $1.99). I envied photos my brother took at Christmastime and he told me he used Hipstamatic. I looked at it then, and I hesitated over the $2.49 price tag, LOL! Well the price went down, and since I've started using Instagram, I thought I'd give it a go. Well, the first five photos were TERRIBLE. 100% black, or completely yellow, or not what I thought I was taking...oh dear! So I put it on my 9 year old daughter's iPod and thought she might find some tips for me (she's pretty good with techy things). In about two seconds this morning she'd already worked some things out for me, so I ran with that little bit of knowledge.
This is what I got today.
Brisbane City, corner of Adelaide & Creek Streets, Koala House in front.
I did get two other photos today that I'll share. The first is one of the delays I encountered this morning. I entered the kitchen and the little one (4 years old) says "Don't come in! I'm writing a secret message!!!" I had to wait for her to painstakingly write her message for me. This is it.
I dont lic mi tooftsae.
What she was trying to tell me, in her pre-school, learning to read and write by herself kind of language (and yes, her "d" is upside down), was: I don't like my toothpaste. A very important message to write down when Mummy is running late for work. But of course, when the little angel writes so beautifully, Mummy just melts and forgets about getting to work on time. :-)
The other photo was for my April Photo a Day themed Cold. Well it may be officially autumn, but it is way opposite to cold! It is still swimming weather. So cold came out of my fridge.
:-)
Michelle
Day 100 - 9 April 2012 - Younger Me
Hello!
Day 100!!! 100 days of blogging my photos each day, and I've missed so few! And I know I've blogged more than 100 photos, because I have a hard time choosing photos each day so I share too many. :-)
You can join me ANYtime you feel like it. This is fun!
April is turning out to be my iPhone photo month, using Instagram (my new toy). 9 April was a wonderful day, Easter Monday. The April Photo a Day theme was Younger You. I photographed an old photo of me.
I love this photo. I was about 4 years old. We were living in Nauru. I had just had my bath. There is a matching photo of my brother, which has to be one of my very favourites of him as a little boy also. We were sitting in these groovy little chairs. I was happy. :-)
This photo makes me realise that my little girl has lots of similarities to me. Here are a couple of photos taken down at the park at the end of our lovely Easter week-end. She's 4.
Those are orange tights, her legs haven't gone orange, LOL!
We went to the dog park so that my little girl could say hello to the dogs. The irony is that to get my dog to go into the dog off-leash area, I have to put her on the leash (and drag her in). Defeats the purpose of the off-leash area really... she was hiding under my feet the whole time we were there. All the other dogs came over to say hello, but she wouldn't come out. The funny thing is, outside of the dog off-leash area, she will play with any other dog that comes along. It is just that one place where she refuses to be social. I have a crazy dog.
:-)
Michelle
Day 100!!! 100 days of blogging my photos each day, and I've missed so few! And I know I've blogged more than 100 photos, because I have a hard time choosing photos each day so I share too many. :-)
You can join me ANYtime you feel like it. This is fun!
April is turning out to be my iPhone photo month, using Instagram (my new toy). 9 April was a wonderful day, Easter Monday. The April Photo a Day theme was Younger You. I photographed an old photo of me.
This photo makes me realise that my little girl has lots of similarities to me. Here are a couple of photos taken down at the park at the end of our lovely Easter week-end. She's 4.
:-)
Michelle
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Day 99 - 8 April 2012 - Buona Pasqua!
Hello!
Day 99 is Easter Sunday. Happy Easter! For lunch today I made Torta Pasqualina (Easter Pie). Last night I made a delicious roast lamb, but unfortunately, no photos.
Here is the lunch plate:
Yummo!
This is what the pie looked like whole:
Yes, that's bunnies running around the edge. :-)
How did I get the bunnies to be whiter than the rest of the pastry? I used egg wash on the pastry and then added the bunnies afterwards with no egg wash.
One of my friends asked me for the recipe, so I am going to attempt to give it to you here. The basic recipe idea and technique I got from the Italian website Giallo Zafferano. It's in Italian, so if you don't speak Italian it won't be fully useful, but the pictures might help you. There is also a useful video. I did not use their recipe totally, because first of all I did not have the right amount of ingredients, and second of all I always tend to make my own version of things, even when I'm "following" the recipe.
Torta Pasqualina
Ingredients
300g - 500g of fresh spinach leaves
1/2 onion diced
olive oil
500g ricotta
150g parmigiano reggiano (good parmesan)
10 eggs (you may want to add extra, if you are making a bigger pie, or serving more people)
pepper
salt
nutmeg
puff pastry (this is what I used, you can use filo, or you can do it the Italian way and make lots of layers of pastry yourself) I used three sheets of ready-made, but this depends on the size of your pie dish.
Method
Cook onion slowly over low heat in a good slosh of olive oil until it is soft and clear (the low heat is important to get the sweet flavour). Add salt and pepper. Then add chopped spinach leaves and cook them (still on low heat) until they "melt" (soft and floppy). Set aside to cool.
Line oiled pie dish with puff pastry (I used a square pyrex dish, but would have used a deep pie dish if I had one).
Mix ricotta with 1/3 of the parmesan, a sprinkle of nutmeg, some pepper, and three eggs.
Mix spinach and onion mixture with two eggs and 1/3 parmesan.
Add spinach mix to bottom of pie.
Add ricotta mix on top of spinach layer and use spoon to make little nests for the egg yolks to sit. Sprinkle over some parmesan.
Separate eggs (I used 5). Keep whites aside and add yolk to the nests in the ricotta mix.
Mix egg whites slightly and then spread evenly over top of ricotta layer and egg yolks. Add remaining parmesan on top of egg white. Keep a little egg white aside for the top of the pie.
Top pie with puff pastry and join the bottom and top edges and fold them back into the pie dish. Brush a little egg white over pie crust. This gives you a shiny, golden brown finish.
Cook for about 45minutes in 180 degrees celcius oven.
Serve warm or cold, it is great either way.
I have made this pie before and just mixed the spinach and ricotta all together, and it tastes just as good. It doesn't look as pretty when served, and you don't get the separate flavours of the spinach and the ricotta. I also make this using silverbeet, which gives you a stronger (equally delicious) flavour.
Okay, change of topic. The theme for April Photo a Day today was "What's in Your Wallet". Here is the photo of my wallet.
Yep, not much there other than a lot of cards, a photo, and $10.25 in cash.
:-)
Michelle
Day 99 is Easter Sunday. Happy Easter! For lunch today I made Torta Pasqualina (Easter Pie). Last night I made a delicious roast lamb, but unfortunately, no photos.
Here is the lunch plate:
This is what the pie looked like whole:
Torta Pasqualina
Ingredients
300g - 500g of fresh spinach leaves
1/2 onion diced
olive oil
500g ricotta
150g parmigiano reggiano (good parmesan)
10 eggs (you may want to add extra, if you are making a bigger pie, or serving more people)
pepper
salt
nutmeg
puff pastry (this is what I used, you can use filo, or you can do it the Italian way and make lots of layers of pastry yourself) I used three sheets of ready-made, but this depends on the size of your pie dish.
Method
Cook onion slowly over low heat in a good slosh of olive oil until it is soft and clear (the low heat is important to get the sweet flavour). Add salt and pepper. Then add chopped spinach leaves and cook them (still on low heat) until they "melt" (soft and floppy). Set aside to cool.
Line oiled pie dish with puff pastry (I used a square pyrex dish, but would have used a deep pie dish if I had one).
Mix ricotta with 1/3 of the parmesan, a sprinkle of nutmeg, some pepper, and three eggs.
Mix spinach and onion mixture with two eggs and 1/3 parmesan.
Add spinach mix to bottom of pie.
Add ricotta mix on top of spinach layer and use spoon to make little nests for the egg yolks to sit. Sprinkle over some parmesan.
Separate eggs (I used 5). Keep whites aside and add yolk to the nests in the ricotta mix.
Mix egg whites slightly and then spread evenly over top of ricotta layer and egg yolks. Add remaining parmesan on top of egg white. Keep a little egg white aside for the top of the pie.
Top pie with puff pastry and join the bottom and top edges and fold them back into the pie dish. Brush a little egg white over pie crust. This gives you a shiny, golden brown finish.
Cook for about 45minutes in 180 degrees celcius oven.
Serve warm or cold, it is great either way.
I have made this pie before and just mixed the spinach and ricotta all together, and it tastes just as good. It doesn't look as pretty when served, and you don't get the separate flavours of the spinach and the ricotta. I also make this using silverbeet, which gives you a stronger (equally delicious) flavour.
Okay, change of topic. The theme for April Photo a Day today was "What's in Your Wallet". Here is the photo of my wallet.
:-)
Michelle
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Day 98 - 7 April 2012 - Shadow
Hello!
Day 98. It was my plan today to take my girls to the park and play with shadow photos for the shadow theme at Photo a Day April. That didn't happen. We got to the end of the day, and I was hurrying my kids to get out of the bath and dressed so that I could take the photos. By the time they pulled themselves into clothes, the sun was well and truly on its way below the horizon...sigh! So we went to the rumpus room and made do with a spotlight and playing shadow puppets. I got some great shots of my kids while they played. This one is my choice to share.
My eldest daughter making love hearts to share with her little sister. Oh, how I love these girls.
:-)
Michelle
Day 98. It was my plan today to take my girls to the park and play with shadow photos for the shadow theme at Photo a Day April. That didn't happen. We got to the end of the day, and I was hurrying my kids to get out of the bath and dressed so that I could take the photos. By the time they pulled themselves into clothes, the sun was well and truly on its way below the horizon...sigh! So we went to the rumpus room and made do with a spotlight and playing shadow puppets. I got some great shots of my kids while they played. This one is my choice to share.
:-)
Michelle
Day 97 - 6 April 2012 - Lunch and the Full Moon
Hello!
Day 97 and the Photo a Day April theme was lunch.
I'm sure it doesn't look as good as it tasted, LOL! This is scrambled eggs on toast. I always make my scrambled eggs with onion, tomato, ham, and cheese. Like a scrambled omelette. It was delicious.
Late last night I realised that the moon was AMAZING. Full moon. It took me several photos before I got a half-decent shot. I played with shutter speed, ISO, and aperture, all while hanging halfway out my bedroom window and twisting to look straight up above me. This is what I got.
It looks black and white, doesn't it? It is a full-colour photo. There was an amazingly clear sky and the moon was so bright I had to use ISO100 and a fast shutter to get ANY detail in the photo.
I'm pleased I caught the full moon, and that it was a clear night. Next month I'll try to remember to look for it as it rises, instead of discovering it right overhead late at night.
:-)
Michelle
Day 97 and the Photo a Day April theme was lunch.
Late last night I realised that the moon was AMAZING. Full moon. It took me several photos before I got a half-decent shot. I played with shutter speed, ISO, and aperture, all while hanging halfway out my bedroom window and twisting to look straight up above me. This is what I got.
I'm pleased I caught the full moon, and that it was a clear night. Next month I'll try to remember to look for it as it rises, instead of discovering it right overhead late at night.
:-)
Michelle
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