Happy New Year!!

One of my new years resolutions is to start blogging again this year!  It's been so long and I have missed it.  Stay tuned!

Spicy Shrimp Spring Rolls

This is a great, low fat and healthy recipe that is much easier

to make at home than you may think!

You can get creative and fill them with just about anything you like.  I decided to make a spicy shrimp roll with everyday items I already had in my fridge and cupboards.  You can pick up the Rice Paper Wraps at any Asian market in your local area for a few dollars and they last until you need them, stored in your pantry.

You can spice them up if you like a little or a lot depending on your taste!  They are simple and quick to make and the recipe can be adjusted to your liking with what you have in your kitchen. 

Here's my recipe - Serving size 3 rolls:

• 20 Small Shrimp cooked in Garlic Butter with lemon juice and diced (could use Olive Oil)
• 2 tbsp. chopped Fresh Cilantro
• 1 cup chopped Arugula
• 1 cup grated Carrots
• 1/4 cup small diced/grated Onion
• 3 tbsp. Greek Yogurt - just enough to coat and dress
• 1 tsp. Sirachi Sauce - a little goes a long way and is available in local grocery stores or your Asian Markets
• 2 tbsp. diced Pepperocini Peppers
• 6 larger leaves Baby Spinach per roll

Mix all ingredients, except the spinach, together.  Follow directions for rice paper wraps (soak in warm water until pliable) and place on plastic chopping board.  Layer spinach leaves as a bed in a row towards front of roll.  Spoon filling over leaves.  Pull wrap over top of filling, wrap sides in and finish rolling wrap.  Slice on diagonal in half.  Serve with light soy sauce or another complimentary sauce like a thai peanut.

This recipe is great by itself! 

Alternative Ingredients: Chicken, Cucumber, Basil, Mint, Lettuce, Ginger, Green Onion, Red/Green Peppers, Bean Sprouts, Cellophane Noodles, Water Chestnuts, Chopped Peanuts/Cashews.

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Have fun, throw in whatever you want and enjoy as a snack, appetizer or a meal

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Moist Blueberry Muffins with a TWIST!

So my husband is a big muffin fanatic these days it seems.  Being from England he likes his breads and pastries.  Over there traditionally it's a love of scones but over here I think it's more about the muffin.  With our newly renovated kitchen I have found myself starting to bake more.

After a quick, and yes, failed attempt at a less than moist blueberry muffin I began my search.  I recalled a recipe I made often growing up that I thought I'd give a try but added a little bit of my own twist.  I got the thumbs up so I felt it be worthy of sharing this recipe.  The TWIST...It's made with a box of cereal!

• 12 ounce box of Special K Fruit & Yogurt
• 3 cups of flour
• 3 tsp. of baking soda
• 1 tsp. of salt
• 3 eggs
• 5 ounces of vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 cups of buttermilk
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 pint of fresh blueberries

Grease your muffin tin and bake at 400 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes.
Yields 12 jumbo or 24 regular sized muffins.

Tip: To make buttermilk from regular milk add 1 tablespoon of distilled vinegar for each cup and let stand for 5 minutes.

You can use a regular box of Special K flakes if you prefer.

Simple, easy and tasty too!  I hope you enjoy them.

Magical Sunset PSE Action

So I wanted to share some of my editing actions and the results they have on the photos.  You may have noticed that one of "My Favorite Things" is the Coffee Shop Free Actions & Presets blog site.  Rita runs the blog and I receive her RSS feeds on her latest posts.  Often times she will have new actions for me to use in my Photoshop Elements program.

Recently she sent out the "Magic Sunset" action and I tried it out on one of my many photos taken in the UK last year.  This photo is of Corfe Castle located in the village of Dorset.  I loved this photo but had put it aside because it had a power line running right through the top of the photo.  When I received this new action I thought I would revisit editing this photo using the Magic Sunset action.  This is what I came up with.  Let me know your thoughts and critiques.

4th of July - Simple Sweet Treats!

DID YOU KNOW?

Independence Day, commonly known as July 4th or the Fourth of July, commemorates the Continental Congress’ adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

The document, primarily written by Thomas Jefferson, served as a formal announcement that the 13 American colonies were no longer part of the British Empire and would henceforth be free and independent states. Regarded as the birthday of the United States of America, the day is typically celebrated with parades, fireworks, ceremonies, barbecues and family gatherings.

Many of us will be having or attending a 4th of July celebration this Sunday!  I am always looking for simple, yet holiday specific, dishes to share with my family and friends.  These are great bite sized sweet treats that are sure to impress your party guests!

****FRUIT TART FLAG ****

RECIPE:

• Fill premade miniature tart shells or phyllo cups with sweet mascarpone cream (recipe below), then arrange on a tray and top with blueberries and halved strawberry slices to create stars and stripes.

• Mascarpone Cream:  Beat an 8-ounce container of mascarpone cheese and 3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar with a mixer until smooth. Gently fold in 1/2 cup freshly whipped cream.

Have a Safe and Happy 4th of July weekend!  Make sure to post comments on how much your guests enjoyed these delicious little tarts.

Digi Scrapbooking

Ok, I recently purchased My Memories Suite by polaroid and am going to be trying my hand at Digital Scrapbooking.  Do we have any Digital Scrappers wishing to share there own words of wisdom.  I'll let you know once I have dug into it and let you know what I think.  Would love to hear from you on great sites with free stuff!

Who Makes The Best Photo Books?

I recently went in search for the "Best Photo Book" printing services.  I read many reviews and pondered a lot of information about what and who publishes the best photo books.  I found that there is far more out there than just Shutterfly and Snapfish! 

Who knew there were so many?  And what makes them the best and so different than the rest?

It really boils down, to some degree, to what you want from your book!  Another important consideration is quality.  Quality of the book and quality of the image printing.  What paper is being used?  It seems 100 lb. archival quality silk paper is a nicer more sustainable paper used and you should look for this.

Next, and not at all the least, is price comparison.  When I reviewed prices it seemed they all were just within a few dollars of each other and offered the same size photo book options.  When you added shipping in they averaged in at about the same in cost. 

The other consideration, and an important one, is additional page costs and page number limitations.  Average you will find for pages included in the price is commonly 20 (1 page front and 1 page back = 10 pages in total)  This can considerably increase your cost if it's not added in to from the start.  How many photo's and how much journaling in the photo book would you like?  The more photo's per page the less each will stand out on their own.

I came across this link that proved very helpful in making my decision and thought I would share:
http://www.digitalhomethoughts.com/news/show/97676/the-great-photo-book-round-up-review-who-makes-the-best-photo-books.html

I have ordered family books from Snapfish in the past and was fairly pleased.  But I want to make sure my professional portraits are being displayed in their finest possible so I thought I would do a little more research.

In the end I chose to purchase my first book from Inkubook.  The software to build the book was user friendly although I had a glitch or two, over the weekend, when designing the book.  This was recognized by Inkubook and they offered to extend any discount deadlines in the event it caused me to miss out on a special offer.

My next book I plan to order from AdoramaPix.  I like some of their professional design templates at first glance.  Nothing too busy and a classic elegance to display my photo's nicely.

I'll let you know of my final review when I receive my book.

I hope this has been helpful and welcome your thoughts on your own Photo Book experiences!