TTV, Oh Let Me Count The Ways...

Okay, here's the history. My friend the INCREDIBLE Shannon of Shannon Redrawn months ago blogged about the wonders of TTV (Through The Viewfinder). It's the technique of taking an old camera and using your digital camera to take a picture Through the Old Camera's Viewfinder! Since I don't have an old camera I recently discovered how to fake it with my Photo Program! But Luckily my mother still has my Grandmother's Kodak Brownie Hawkeye and she's bringing it to me next week so I can make my own for Real TTV Photos. So in the mean time, here's what I've been working on and soo over the moon giddy about doing! Enjoy!

PLEASE REMEMBER: You can click on any of my pictures to see them larger and in more detail!

The FABULOUS Adam and Sabrina! Adam's my cousin and Sabrina is his adorable wife of Pink Coffee Beans fame. They visited me last week and if you've been checking the blog you know all about it!

Here's a picture for my sister-in-law. This is her dog Copper when he was a puppy. I took this picture when we visted in February of this year. How cute is he?

Yup, these are my feet! I must admit that I can NOT wait to get back into jeans, wear my crocs and walk through the fall leaves! Summer, not my favorite season. It's just the waiting period before the best season begins!

I really love how this photo turned out! Great food too! Resaurant Eve in Olde Towne!

Here is another photo I did for my sister-in-law. This is a photo of the fountain in Prattville AL. Prattville is known as the Fountain City.

This photo was taken at Quail Hollow State Park in Ohio. For some reason I can't remember if my mother took this photo of if I did. I think she did, we'll say it's her's!

What do you think of these pics? Oh I can't wait to get my hands on the Brownie! Stay tuned for new photos. Now I'm seeing everything in a whole new light!

Thai Garlic Basil Chicken Over Rice...

Before we begin our Recipe Tutorial, Beanie the Wonder Dog (aka Weiner Beans) would like to take a moment to say hello. She feels that a gross injustice has occured as she feels she hasn't appeared nearly enough on this blog. So per my new contract with her that she forced me to sign, here is Weiner Beans!

Several people have asked me for my Thai Garlic Basil Chicken Recipe and so I decided to show a tutorial on my blog. I was preparing the ingredients and had my camera sitting on the counter when The Bear came in to see what I was up to, he grabbed my camera and snapped this photo of me before I knew he was even there! Isn't he sweet?

First I'd like to speak to me wearing gloves. I was chopping up the peppers and taking their seeds out. No I don't always cook with gloves. Just thought I needed to speak to that. Oh, and Sabrina, that's the apron I bought for $5 at the I-76 Antique Mall.

I will give the full recipe at the end of this post for you all. Here are the prepared ingredients. Onion cut in half then sliced, I also add some green onions for a fun texture, Thai Basil (NOT the same as our basil. It has a purple stem and tastes different, you can substiture regular basil if you must but its worth going to the asian market) Thai Chilies seeds removed and chopped. Garlic minced.

Here are the liquids. Peanut Oil for the stir-frying, Fish Sauce (Do NOT be afraid of it. It's a key in grediant. It WILL smell nasty but cooks out fast and does NOT taste like is smells I promise) And lastly, SWEET Soy Sauce. This is what took me the longest to find. You can NOT use regular Soy Sauce it's way too salty. If you can't find the Sweet Soy then you might as well not even make the recipe.

Here's my electric Wok! Oh how we LOVE our wok. Thanks to my mum-in-law for this one! Add the Peanut Oil and crank up the wok!

You add the Garlic first till its fragrant, then add the White Onion. Once the onion is a little tender then add the Ground Chicken. (note I didn't take a picture of the chicken in the ingredients section. Figured you knew what it looked like!) Once the chicken is no longer pink add the green onions.

Then you add your chopped Thai Chillies! It's starting to look pretty don't you think?Let that cook for about a min or two.

Now you add The Sweet Soy Sauce. This will turn it a darker nuttier brown color. Stir to combine then you add the Fish Sauce. Remember, it will smell nasty but does cook out.

The last thing you add are the Basil leaves. They are left whole, just plucked off the stem.

Once they wilt in a few seconds then it's done! Yummy! Time to eat everyone.

Serve over rice and of course with chop sticks! Also a glass of tea would be nice.

All in all trust me, it takes longer to chop and prepare this recipe than it does to stir fry and throw together. Very very quick. It's soo good that I can no longer order this when we go out for Thai as I'm always disappointed that it's not as good as mine!

Hope you've enjoyed the show!

Thai Garlic Basil Chicken

2-3 Tblsp Peanut Oil

8-10 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped

1 small Onion, halved then sliced

1 bunch Green onions, trimmed

1 Lb. Ground Chicken

10 Thai chillies, seeds removed then chopped

1Tblsp Sweet Soy Sauce (I use a little more)

2 Tblsp Fish Sauce

1 bunch of Thai Sweet Basil, leaves left whole and just plucked off stem

Have fun cooking my lovelies! Remember if there's ever a recipe you've heard me make and want the recipe just let me know and I'll pop a cute recipe postcard in the mail for ya.

Soap Henge, Buffalo Bugers And A Great Day Out...

Who would have thought that when I casually mentioned lastnight that I'd like to go to the farmer's market that we would have ended up seeing Soap Henge? Erynne, this pic is for you my dear. When The Bear saw it he immediately said "You have to send that to E. and tell her it's from me! She'll know why ;)

How can you not want to pull out your camera and a recipe?

Eggplant always makes me smile and think of my grandmother. Oh how she loves these purple beauties.

Maybe it's just me but this made me laugh. Did the farmer get a release to use their image? Man do I miss my chicken Penny. She loved to spend her days riding on the back of our horse Frosty. They were such a cute couple. Oh the good ol days.

Is it Christmas morning or is it just the excitement of being out and exciting the senses?

You can't take The Bear to a market without him grabbing a bag of maters! He won't eat one from the grocery store. "When you're raised on your own home grown maters, store bought one just taste like wax". I secong that! Actually if you know The Bear at all, you'll know he didn't use the word "wax" I decided that for a more family friendly blog I'd take the liberty of inserting a different word!

You better believe that next week we will be prepared with a cooler in the car to grab some of this meat. Oh man am I craving a Buffallo Burger and perhaps sausages?

Funny story for you all. When I was little my parents and some friends of ours went to the local Buffallo farm and got some burgers. Well they grilled them up and I was soooo excited to try something that seemed so exotic. But as I bit into it I was really disappointed "THIS TASTE JUST LIKE A REGULAR BURGER"! What a let down. Well years later I came to find out that they pulled the switch on me. That's right MY PARENTS HAD LIED TO ME! Geesh. They didn't think that I would like it so they fed me a regular burger and just TOLD me it was Buffallo meat. Makes you wonder what else they switched on me hmmm? Yeah, I'll find out sooner or later, you can't fool me forever MOM! ;)

Eden Center Feels Like Home...

The Bear and I felt like going on a date and wandering around the Eden Center. If you feel the need to take a vacation to an Asian Country but can't afford the flight or the time off then wander over to Eden Center. It's a lovely place that we love wandering around where everyone is always so welcoming. The sights and smells are amazing. I have no idea what 98% of things are that I see since everything is written in Vietnamese but it's all so gorgeous.

Not only is everything colorful but the varying shapes and textures scream to be photographed.

If you follow this blog you'll know my new found love for Bubble Tea. Well the Bear was out of town when I fell in love so today he was able to try it for the first time with me and the verdict is he really liked it!!! Yay!!! This one was a Thai Tea flavored Bubble Tea. Sooooo delish!

Then it was time for lunch of course! I love the table setting.

Noodles on the bottom various veg like carrots, cucumbers, lettuce and lime leaves. Sliced crispy spring roll, delightful shrimp and two kinds of pork! So refreshing and tastey.

All in all a very wonderful date afternoon with the Bear. We walked around, shopped at the market to get ingredients for Thai Garlic Basil Chicken which I'll make from scratch tomorrow. Once you've had it you'll never order out for it again!

Have a lovely weekend everyone. Let me know what you have been up to!

Comfort Food Doesn't Have To Be American...

For those of you who spend any time at all chatting with me or the Bear know our LOVE of Pho. Vietnamese Noodle Soup, pronounced F'Uh. Since we talk about our favorite food that we eat it seems almost once a week I thought that I'd better give you a look at it. If you ever come to town and see us you'll be asked if you'd like to try it with us, so be prepared! The meal starts off with THE WORLD'S BEST Crispy Spring Rolls! They are a MUST. They are handmade fresh and I dare you to find better anywhere.

And here it is. A steaming hot bowl of Pho. It's the food of the Gods as far as we are concerned. The broth is so teaming with flavor you feel your life force being recharged as you sip it. Next to my bowl is a plate with slices of lime for squeezing into the soup, bean sprouts which the Bear loves to add to his bowl and the VERY important Thai Sweet Basil. It's not the same a our basil, trust me. You pick off the leaves and add them to the broth.

You can almost smell the goodness can't you? The noodles are on the bottom. My favorite Pho consists of Raw Beef, Meatballs, Tripe and Tendon. The Beef is sliced so thin that the super hot broth cooks it before you can even dive in. We have our favorite place down the street that makes the best Pho in town. They do such a good job that we never even think of going anywhere else.

I hope this inspires you to try something new. It doesn't have to be Pho with tripe and tendon but SOMETHING new! You may be suprised. I never thought that a food from another culture could become my comfort food. I crave it, I need it and best of all, it makes me HAPPY!

Destiny, Google and A Fabulous Flit About Town...

My cousin Adam called on Sunday and said "Hey, Sabrina and I are going to the beach and Google gave us direction that are running RIGHT by your house. How about we stop by for a night". HELL YEAH I replied. So Tuesday afternoon Adam the wonder musician and his fabulous wife Sabrina arrived at my door. Cue Flit About Town! Me on the left and Sabrina on the right, infront of a gallery window with art that we admired and wished that we had done ourselves.

Here are Sabrina and Adam infront of that same gallery window. Aren't they just the cutest?

They even tried raw oysters for the first time! I am a HUGE lover of oysters and try my hardest to rope anyone I can into going out to eat them with me. Sabrina was the first to try one and even had a second one! I'm so proud of them both, food can be so fun as you can see from the so cute look on her face!

You never know what you will find just by flitting aimlessly about town. We found a shoppe solely dedicated to selling beads! So many colors it was amazing.

This is the kind of store you dare not step foot in with the intention of buying beads unless you have a very specific project in mind. There's just way too many choices for the brain to process.

Isn't the little smiley face flower logo EXTREMELY FUN? Okay here is your first look at Bubble Tea! I have really been wanting to try some Bubble Tea and Adam and Sabrina to mmy delight were willing to go with me and try some. The "bubbles" are large pearls of dark tapioca. If you want to learn more than google's the place for you!

Just know that I have a new found obcession and it's name is "Royal Milk Bubble Tea". At this point I really wished Adam and Sabrina lived closer and we could have fun times like this all the time.

The next morning we rose from our weery beds and went back to Olde Towne for Breakfast, wait for the CupCake place to open at 11am before they had to leave for the beach by noon. Here again, I'm in love with Sabrina, stopping to take pictures of lovely random things. She's just like me! Bear's always turning around and finding he's lost me due to a photo op!

Sabrina was in love with the fun signs all over town. This is Restaurant Eve. I LOVE their sign. I've eaten here before with the strikingly gorgeous Jennifer for her birthday last fall.

Breakfast at La Madeleine. A girl after my own heart, she photographs her food and coffee as well. Ah, kidred spirits me thinks!

And we wait, and wait and wait for 11am to tick closer and closer. 11am comes and the door does not open. But oh when that door does open, Blood Orange Dreamcicle CupCake of my dreams you are all mine!

We were the first customers of the morning but trust me definately not alone. Who doesn't love CupCakes?

I belive adam described this place as looking like Sabrina threw up all over it "It's definately you my dear" I think was his actual words!

Then they were off to the beach. Leaving me alone with the CupCakes Sabrina had lovingly made herself and hand delivered to me. When ever I hear of her making a new batch I alway tease that I wished she delivered this far East. This time my wish came true! Thank you Sabrina!

I miss you both and hope your trip to the beach is a good one. Take lots of photos!

Sabrina and the Greatest Shoe Day EVER...

Okay, so next to The Lavendar Moon CupCakery is a designer consignment shop called Mint Condition. I've never noticed this shop before due to always having the droolingly delicious Blood Orange Dreamcicle CupCake on my brain every time I'm on this block. CupCake tunnel vision I guess you would call it.When Sabrina spied this shop she knew it was right up her alley so we had to stop in. While she and Adam wandered into the back room I spied the cutes pair of pumps I've seen in some time. When I picked them up and looked at the price sticker underneath I was greeted with a $225 price! YIKES! But next to that CRAZY price was written "Sex and the City". Now Sabrina is a HUGE, GIANORMOUS Sex and the City fan. So I had to show her these shoes.

Before I could even shoe her the sticker she pointed and quietly shouted "I know those shoes"! I HAVE to try them on. I've never seen a girl so excited in my whole life. Her face and smile practically exploded off her face. She couldn't stop talking about those shoes all evening.

The weird part comes later that evening when we were all gathered in my apartment livingroom flipping through the channels and BAM there was a Sex and the City rerun. I turned it on for Sabrina. I personally have never seen even one episode. 5 minutes into the show and Sabrina squeals "THIS IS THE SHOW WITH THE SHOES!!!!!!"

At this piont I call bullshit cause with 6 seasons of shows what are the chances that this is THE episode.

Well someone go and run right friggin now to go and buy a lottery ticket cause what are the odds?

Look how excited she is! Well that just sealed it cause we had to go back the next day to try them on again.

I think that we need to start a fund raiser to get Sabrina these shoes. They are even her size! Imagine that.

Sab, I'm so glad that we could give you the BEST shoe day ever! Long live Sex and the City shoes.

What Has Green Chunks and Supposed To Be Dessert...

Give up? Well the answer is we don't know either! The Bear and I went out the other week for lunch and tried a new Indonesian place. We love trying new places and new foods so when it came time to think about dessert we knew it would be weird but we pointed to something and off she went to get it. Well, This shows up. We look at it. Smell it. Look at it again. "What is that in there? Nuclear waste?" Well I tell you, The Bear and I are NOT picky eaters by any means but when The Bear takes a sip and HE makes a face, you KNOW it's bad. Bears taste description "Um it tastes EXACTLY like a cow pie"! Yep folks a chunky green cow pie and it smelled like one too.

What a trooper though I must report. He drank almost the whole thing. I even did my duty and took a sip and let me tell you after that one sip I was handing The Bear "The Brave Drinker" award of the year. Hmm, I wonder what's next on the menu to try. Oh, you don't think that one bad Green Chunky Cow Pie drink is gonna stop us do you?