food, crochet, merriment
“New Year’s eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights.”
~Hamilton Wright Mabie
Other than the Egg Nog Fudge from yesterday–which wasn’t much of a challenge, little Jiffy here is my very first photography model. She was bored out of her mind so she just sat there, patiently, barely moving–which, of course, was perfect for a Nikon noob like me.
See, there are a ton of buttons and dials and switches and slidey things on this pretty little brand new camera of mine–that, quite frankly, I have no idea what to do with.
Oh, fear not. I’ll figure it out.
But until I read all the manuals–there are 4, and watch all the dvds–there are 3, and check out all the websites–there are 10 billion, it would be in everyone’s best interest if I took it slow and just, you know, photographed things that don’t move or melt or run away or have their own agenda at all, like– a potted plant, or a bowl of Fruity Pebbles, or a wedge of smoked Gouda on a platter–minding it’s own business.
Lucky for me, every now and then, I do have one very still, very patient, very bored little kitty. And you know, that beats shooting a slab of cheese…
any day.
Know any good sites for beginners?
If you’re like me, and still have a bit of Egg Nog left in the fridge and you’re just dying to figure out something clever to do with it– here’s a lovely idea.
Smooth, creamy, Egg Nog fudge. Incredible. In fact, you may just faint and wake up to find half the pan gone.
Yeah…not responsible for that.
Heh, heh.
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup eggnog
10.5 oz. white chocolate chips
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
7 oz. marshmallow cream
1 tsp. rum extract
Butter a 8 x 8 Pyrex pan. In a 3 quart sauce pan, combine sugar, butter and eggnog. Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 8 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in white chocolate chips a little at a time until melted and smooth add nutmeg. Move to mixer and add marshmallow cream and rum extract. Beat until well blended and pour into pan. Sprinkle a tiny pinch of nutmeg over the top. Allow to cool then cut into squares.
Early in the morning on Christmas eve, Lyndi showed me this–on her computer. It’s Santa’s official flight route. Of course he is able to get a fabulous head start in those countries that are a day ahead in the time zone.
I’m sure that really helps the old fellow.
It was pretty great to be able to track the dude from one Eastern European country to another, and even know where he was headed to next.
Of course, my real interest was…
making sure he didn’t miss my silly boy in his new, very cold town–Krasnoyarsk, or “Krasno” as he calls it. Sure enough, Santa made it to this freezing place–
that sometimes looks as much like the North Pole as any place on earth can–without actually being the North Pole.
I sure hope he brought my boy a blanket.
