Entry #8 (The rest of the Zebra Party)

Ok, I have summed up the rest of the part in one last post 

I didn't get pictures of the process in making the cake, 

I was at work while Mom and Dad did it. 

But, it's a Zebra Cake!!

We decided it would be easier to melt the icing 

and pour it over the top. 

This was only half the icing, 

we figured if we didn't let this much of it set up before putting the rest on

 we would end up with a plate of frosting instead of an iced cake

 

Now we can pour the rest of the frosting on. :)

 

While mom is finishing the cake Dad and I go outside a put up the decorations

And since my mother would not appreciate a picture of the cluttered back porch on here,

this is the best picture I got of the back. 

And these are the front porch decorations.

A better picture of the sign

The doorway in the Dining room 

(the Steelers game was on in the background, and may I add that we won) 

Ran out of pink zebra balloons, had to use the yellow 

The finished cake! 

The drink bar in the background is a bookshelf covered with table cloth,

it has more of the black ribbon and zebra ribbon taped to the front in different lengths.

All 23 (yes, zebra print) candles

It is at this time that I would like to say 

that I did, in fact, blow them all out with one breath

The inside of the cake was done to look like zebra print

And it was served on zebra print plates 

with chocolate swirl ice cream!

Just in case you didn't catch it, the theme was pink zebra print ;) 

What will we blog about next?!? 

I haven't had my coffee yet....... oh yeah, here's a seven layer dip for your enjoyment!!!

I have soooo been falling behind on the birthday party updates

 soo....to make it up to you, HAVE SOME DIP!!!

Everyone LOVES momma's 7-layer taco dip. It never lasts long, 

which is why we couldn't make it all the night before. 

That being said, lettuce begin. :D

Behold, mamas dip tray (It needed rinsed out)

Start with a can of re-fried beans and spread it (layer 1!)

This is a mixture of 1 block cream cheese and 1 container of sour cream (layer2!) 

Layer 3 is salsa of your choice, as much as you want (we buy ours at Sams)

layer 4 is CHEESE!! (I love cheese!)

We use the whole bag..

Layer 5: Peppers from the garden! I would say green but ours turned red. 

Layer 6 is green onion. :)

Sorry, no conveyor belt noises this time

Isn't it so pretty?!?

For the final Layer we finely dice a tomato (yes, from the garden)

Then serve with Tortilla chips.

 (notice it didn't even last long enough for me to get a picture.

MAN, that stuff is going quick!

I better go get some before it's gone! 

Entry number 6 (Ramblings of an amature photographer)

While we wait for more adventure tales from the birthday party I thought I'd share my big news.

It's actually pretty exciting stuff for an amature photographer. 

I've been published!  Not in a magazine, but on the morning news and the internet.  I submitted a photo to the local TV station for their Photo of the Day and it was used! On the morning news! And their website!

I. am. so. excited.  !!!

I bought my first SLR camera in the early 80's. (Side note: SLR stands for single-lens reflex. A fancy way of saying that I see the same thing the film is seeing as opposed to looking through a viewfinder.) Back then I had to worry about what speed film I bought and using it up before I needed a different speed for a different event.  I also couldn't see what I'd done wrong until weeks after taking a photo...and by then it was too late to capture the moment and I'd forgotten how I had the camera set up.  So it was very frustrating to learn.  My most frequent mistake was forgetting to change the shutter speed when I used a flash--so half the picture would be brightly lit; the other half would be dark.  Argh!

I set it aside when I bought my first digital point-and-shoot camera many years ago. It was instant gratification to see the photo. It did most of the thinking for me. I couldn't change much on the camera, though.  Then years later I bought a "better" (and lighter weight) point-and-shoot camera. It had a few preset scene settings I could use.  It was nice, but I still missed my SLR.

But about 11 months ago I bought my first Digital SLR.  OH, what fun that beautiful camera is!  It is so much nicer to instantly see the picture and make necessary adjustments. Not only that, but it records all the settings so I can go back and see how I had the camera set up for each photo.  Very geeky stuff, I'm tellin' ya!  And it's right up my alley.

Alas, life has been bumpy this year and I haven't had the opportunity to record happy moments like I thought I would. But there have been happy moments.  Like the day I walked out onto my porch to water the mums and found a Praying Mantis perched on top of them.  Not only did he stay there while I grabbed my camera, he posed!  And this is the photo I submitted for Photo of the Day:

And here is a picture that I took of the Super Moon back in June:

Now, if I've done this right, you should be able to click on the photos to see the larger image in case you want to use it for a desktop background.  

And if I haven't: OOPS!


P.S. Once this was posted I went back and checked on the photos. Yes, clicking on them shows a larger image, but Blogger only allows just so big of a file so they aren't as large as they could be.

Entry 5 (Chocolate covered pretzels)

I promised chocolate covered pretzels, it is late being posted but allas here it is....

First,we melt the chocolate....and again have to add Crisco. 

then........begin dipping!!!

Mommy said I wasn't dipping mine hard enough.....so I dipped it all the way down, that hard enough mama?

Ain't they so purdy?!? 

Then we grab a couple handfuls of Semi-Sweet (very exact amount) and melt it. 

Didn't need Crisco for the milk chocolate.  

Then we drizzle the milk chocolate. 

ummm......what do we do with the left over chocolates? 

we make a giant sheet of chocolate! 

drizzle stripes....

And when it has cooled solid, break it up

Behold, the pretzels, bark, chocoate, cookies I picked up from work,

 and the unsalted peanuts mixed with some salted peanuts. 

Later you'll see how to make a 7 layer taco dip, and also see a Zebra cake. 

Entry 4 (ramblings of a McDaughter)

OK, a few snippets from the day. Because the whole day was so awesome I couldn't pick one moment. 

First, let me introduce you to the stray cat. Semisolid. I usually call him Semi. He melts into a semisolid when you pet him. And this morning he was rather fat. 

 I have this weird obsession with Duck Tape, I make wrist-let key chains, roses, wallets, bookmarks. And I sell them. I also have an obsession with Duck Dynasty. 

As soon as I find the rest of my gear I'll start figuring out what I can do with this beauty....

 IT'S SO AWESOME!

OK, on to other matters. A couple weeks ago my moms friend informed her the apple tree was over flowing and can we please come over and pick them. Soooo.........we did. now what are we going to do with them? freeze them!

And I, of course, find whatever annoys my mother to no end and do it.......she hated when I put the apple on top of the slicer. 

 We still have two more bags full.........this may take a while

 As we slice them (rather mom sliced them, I put them on the peeler and took pictures) we put them in lemon water so they don't brown. 

 Look at all those apples!!!! You go mommy!!

 Thanks to mommy's lil Daisy Stripper I could peel the apples and take pictures at the same time. 

 Ummmm..........this is our GB (Garbage Bowl). 

Why is there a picture of the GB?

I don't know....

No one wants to see the trash....

I was tired ok.....

You are your mothers daughter aren't you....

 Oh boy, now we get to line them up all neat and pretty....

The right camera angle and even sliced apples soaked in lemon water looks pretty......

   If I put two apples on it am I twice as annoying? 

I think tomorrow we are going to make Zebra pretzel rods.......