Simple Two Ingredient Applesauce

I kind of made this recipe by accident last week.  Barney still isn’t doing too well, and I wanted to make him something special to eat.  I had some McIntosh apples hanging out in my fridge that were getting kind of old, so I thought I would make him some applesauce.  I cut up some apples and put them in a saucepan with some water and let them cook on various heats (my favorite is high) until applesauce formed.  When it was done, I tried some for myself and found that it was absolutely delicious!  The recipes I looked up had sugar added to them but since I was making this for a goat, I didn’t want to add sugar.  It’s definitely still yummy without the sugar. 

Ingredients:
- Apples (I used McIntosh)
- Water

Directions:
- Core, peel and dice apples
- Place in saucepan and add enough water to cover
- Cook on medium heat until mushy

I’m still not any better on directions!  I wrote the ingredients/directions like that because you can make as little or as much as you want, depending on how many apples you use.

Papa

My husband and I were browsing the local library last week when we came across a book about our county from 1985.  I guess it was kind of like the “Who’s who” of the county, with different families and their history.  I was just browsing along when I came across this:



The man standing at the far left is my grandpa, Papa.  In his youth, he was in a band with his family.  Those are his two brothers and sister there with him.  There were also two pages written about our family.  I found out that my great-great grandfather, Peter, came to New York from Austria and my great-great grandmother, Julia, came later from Yugoslavia.  Peter and Julia met because Peter was friends with Julia’s brother.

I got really excited when I saw that picture of Papa.  He passed away in 2006 and I was surprised to find a picture of him in a book!

Things I Need To Know About The Blue Lagoon

Since I’ve been living under a rock my entire life, my first viewing of the 1980 classic, The Blue Lagoon was Monday.  Since then, I’ve been plagued with all of these burning questions that the movie just couldn’t answer for me.

This is the point where I would say “spoilers ahead”, but I’m pretty sure everyone else has seen this movie at least once before.  If not, it’s on Netflix now!

Okay, so here are 5 questions that I was left with after my first viewing of The Blue Lagoon:

1. Are Emmeline and Richard related?:  I mean, they say they’re cousins…but are they actual cousins or their families are so close that they’re like cousins?  If they are actual cousins, then what kind of cousins are they?  Like first cousins or like tenth cousins?  How cousined are they?  The Wikipedia page lists the characters as having the same last name, but I mean, are they cousins?!

2.  Old Man Paddy:  What’s his deal? Why is he so uptight at the beginning?  He pushes the kids away but, when the ship goes down, he’s the first to get them in a lifeboat.  When they get to the island, Paddy is also very creepy.

3.  Paddy’s Death:  How did he die?  I mean, yeah he drank a lot, but did he accidentally drown?  Also, he loved that island life so much, so why did he up and die, leaving those two little kids to fend for themselves?  Dude wasn’t the role model for responsibility, but he seemed like he was enjoying teaching the kids survival skills and then he can’t even survive?

4,  Baby Paddy’s Swimming Skills:  That baby can swim!  I know Em and Richard taught Baby Paddy how to swim, but how can a baby swim like that underwater?

5.  This Is A Children’s Movie?:  A lot of the reviews on Netflix start off by saying that they enjoyed the movie when they were kids.  WTF?  I’m almost thirty and the nude scenes made me hide under my blanket!

These are only a few questions that I have in regards to The Blue Lagoon.  As you can tell, overanalyzing is my jam!

Map THIS!

My parents keep all of my report cards in a lockbox in their bedroom.  Some time ago, I was creeping in there for something and got detoured down Memory Lane for a while with the report cards.

The elementary report cards are my favorites, because the teacher wrote things on the back.  One of the things that I read was that I needed to continue practicing how to read a map because that was an area in which I was struggling.

Fast forward twenty years and I just fire up Google Maps on my phone and I’m ready to go!  The days of reading an actual paper map are coming to a close, I believe.  If only they knew that in elementary school, maybe I could have been taught more useful skills, such as small talk and how not to be so awkward.

For the record, I can now read a map.  I once guided my friend to a location 4 hours away only by map.  I also guided my husband on a couple of road trips by atlas alone.   I also once guided my husband to go around the same roads like five times because I misunderstood the GPS.  So there’s that.

Easy 3 Ingredient Macaroni and Cheese

Floating fork pictures are all the rage!  I read that setting up a tripod makes these kind of photos a lot easier.  Of course, I was trying to octopus it up by holding the camera in one hand, the fork in the other and trying to put the flashlight on the bowl.  Yeah, a tripod would make things easier!



Anyway, this macaroni and cheese is yummy and, with only 3 ingredients, it’s super easy too.  You totally could just use a box macaroni and cheese, but I didn’t have any [gasp!] and I wanted something quick and easy for dinner.

   
3 Ingredient Mac and Cheese
- Macaroni Noodles
- Velveeta Cheese block (I used about a quarter of a block for 1 box of Macaroni)
- Milk

Cook macaroni noodles per instructions on the box & drain.  Put back into the pot and add cheese and milk until melted.  Add as much milk and cheese as you want, depending on the consistency you’re trying to go for.  I know some people like their mac super cheesy and creamy and some people like it a little drier.  It’s totally up to you.

Can I take this opportunity to say that I will never be a chef?  With instructions like that, how am I ever supposed to make it big in the cooking blog world?!  Spoiler:  I’m not! ;)

Grapetober

    
I’m lucky to live within a close distance of two large grape producing areas.  The town my husband and I visited last weekend was full of vineyards like this.





I love me some concord grapes.  They’re my favorite.

Those two are different pictures, I promise!  I just take a lot of the same shot, obviously!

The Best Camera For Blog Photography

Everyone wants to take great photos for their blogs, right?  I’m always reading about how DSLRs are the best and how you aren’t really a blogger until you can take the lenses off your camera, but I don’t really believe it.  I’m here to tell you that you could possibly already own some of the best photography equipment for blogging!

The point and shoot camera is totally acceptable for blogging.

No, really.  Before this blog, I ran another blog for a year using nothing but a point and shoot camera for my photos…and I took photos like this:

 

What is a point and shoot camera?

The camera I used to take the above pictures was a Sony Cybershot.  The zooming capabilities on that thing are fantastic.  I’m writing from my experience with the Cybershot, but I’m sure there are many other brands/styles of point and shoot cameras out there that will do a great job.  They’re compact and can go with you anywhere.  They can slide in your purse or hang out (discreetly) in your car or wherever.  One of the big drawbacks with my DSLR is that it’s bulky.  I can’t just stash it away discreetly in the car.  Also, when I’m out and shooting with it, everyone knows that it's there.  I can’t just take a few photos and put it away.  It would be a nightmare at an amusement park.  Where would I put it if I wanted to get on a ride?  A point and shoot might be kind of safe in a pocket, but I can’t exactly get on a rollercoaster with a big camera around my neck!

Another option is the camera in your cell phone.  Even though I personally don’t have one that takes great photos, I’ve seen some phones that take incredible photos; like photos that could rival a DSLR.  Camera technology has come a long way and made it easier than ever to take and share great photos.  Phone photography is cool because you most likely have your phone with you anyway, so it’s easy to just bring it out and snap away.  There are also a ton of apps that make photo editing easy.

Know your camera.

With my new camera, I’m a fish out of water.  There are so many buttons and sometimes, I just can’t even.  With my point and shoot, I just set a few simple settings and I was ready to go.  I really think it’s important to know how your camera takes pictures so you can take the best pictures possible.  I knew my point and shoot could zoom like no other, and at what point the zoom would make my pictures blurry, so I could adjust myself accordingly.  I also get all up in the subjects I’m photographing.  To get this photo, I stuck my lens through a chain link fence:

Editing your photos is key.

Now, I have to say that I currently use a Canon Rebel, but I’m not sure if you can really tell by my photos because I edit them to no end.  I’m still learning and frankly, sometimes I feel like I need to step away from the editing buttons!  I love how editing can change the entire look of my photos and set a completely different mood to them.  I’m also a HUGE fan of the straighten tool!  I can’t take a straight picture at ALL, so this has saved me so many times. 

Have Fun!

I’m not out there trying to win photography awards.  I just like to take photos for fun and to document my life.  I’m not trying to be #omgprofessionalphotographer or anything like that.  Also, I personally can’t even tell what kind of camera that other bloggers are using just by looking at their photos.  The only reason I bought a Canon Rebel is because I wanted an upgraded camera since the Cybershot was a couple years old and had been dropped a million times and wasn’t working quite right.  My dad also recently purchased a (more expensive) Rebel and I loved taking pictures with it.  It just seemed like there wasn’t a ton of editing that needed to be done if I didn’t want to mess with it.  I don’t even think I edited this picture of Barney at ALL:

These are just my thoughts on blog photography.  Personally, I don’t want to spend a lot of money on blogging stuff because I know my blog probably won’t be all that successful.  I like taking pictures anyway, so I know that I will use my Rebel even without having a blog.   Also, I know that my pictures aren’t the best.  I’m still learning!

I totally won’t think any less of someone who uses a point and shoot.  Now disposable cameras are another story!  I finally talked my mom into using their Rebel when they took a road trip recently.  She was planning on using a disposable!

tl;dr version:  Use whatever camera you want!  You don’t have to spend loads of money on a fancy camera if you don’t want to!

How NOT To Be A Better Blogger

You guys, I want to be a better blogger.

I want to be all up in the #lifestyle blogger genre.

I’ve been Googling “winning at blogging” & reading a ton of stuff.

But um, here’s the thing…

I get distracted…a lot.

It happens every time.

I’m hardcore focused & then I’m like “Hey, let’s see what [insert random social media site/forum] is up to!  I can control this!  I’ll just look around for a sec & get right back to studying for the big ‘better blogger’ test I just made up in my head.”

Yeah right.  Two hours & a million tabs later & I suck at blogging!

Come on, girl, FOCUS!

Songs I Like

Here are a couple songs I’ve been digging lately.




Tyler Farr – A Guy Walks Into A Bar
I love Tyler Farr’s voice.  Dude can sing the phonebook & sound awesome.  Also, how cool does he look in this picture?  The song is a take on the old joke “A guy walks into a bar…” except the joke is on the singer because he’s been recently broken up with.  I love how the song goes full circle.  It starts off with meeting someone in a bar & then returning to the bar once they’re gone.











Brett Eldredge – Mean To Me
I love romantic songs & this song definitely covers that!  With lines like “If I could be the reason your hair's a mess” & “If I could be the fire in your firefly”, it captures what it feels like to be in love absolutely perfectly.  The line that absolutely slays me is “If mine could be the name that changes yours”.  OMG.  I’m in a puddle on the floor right now.  It’s everything you want your man to say to you & more.

Apple Tree

 

I’ve lived at the same place for seven years & just noticed this apple tree the other day!

This land has been in my family for years & someone once told my parents that the land used to be an orchard, but this looks like one of the only trees left!  I do have another apple tree out front, but those apples taste nasty!  I hope these apples taste good! 

   

I’ve been really into using homegrown fruit lately.  Maybe next year I’ll plant a garden.  I just hate all the prep work for a garden, but love having homegrown stuff! 

Grape Picking

 

 

My late father-in-law has an amazing grape vine growing on his property & I just couldn’t let all of those grapes go to waste!  I had this crazy idea to make grape jelly so I needed a lot of grapes.

 

  We ended up with a ton of jelly.  It’s soooo yummy too!

Barney Update

 

The vet came out today to examine Barney.  I was on my way home from work when I got a call from my mom.  I let it go to voicemail because I didn’t want to know.  I assumed the worst.  When I finally got to my mom’s house, I went out to the barn & Barney was still there.  I then went to the house & my mom said that the vet had just left & Barney didn’t have a fatal disease.  The vet thought maybe he was sore because he had his horn removed about a week ago & it was kind of traumatizing for him, being as skittish as he is.  The vet didn’t find anything immediately physically wrong, which was good.  The thought of him not being with us is terrible.

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted.