Friday Favorite - Inspiring Photography

I thought that I would start to post on Friday things that I really love that I have came across, already own...just whatever I happen to fancy at the moment. First up I came across this photography site earlier this week, and let me just tell you that it completely took my breath away! I LOVE Disneyland and seeing this photos definitely makes me want to go there. Like right now.

Tours Departing Daily is a daily photo site of amazing HDR photographs of Disneyland. Here are a few of my favorite photos from the site.

Photo by Matthew Hansen

Photo by Michaela Hansen

Photo by Kevin Crone

But until I can go back, I will just visit Tours Departing Daily to get my daily fix (of both beautiful photos and Disneyland!), and you should too!

Practice Makes Perfect

So thanks to a little prodding from my friend Melissa, I signed up for an online photography class with her that started a couple of weeks ago. And, this class started the same week that I got my new camera.

Whew....it's been a bit of a learning curve, (figuring out my camera & doing the lessons at the same time!) but I am so completely enjoying myself and what I am learning. I thought that I would share a couple of photos that I took yesterday afternoon while working on an assignment that was about shooting in manual. Yep, I am finally shooting entirely in manual! Yahoo!!

I can definitely see an improvement in my photos and I love having so much more control of my shots by shooting in manual. Now, I know these aren't perfect...but I am having so much fun practicing on my little guy and my pooch Roxy!

So, pretty much you will find me behind my camera for the next little while, because over the next few weeks I will be practicing, practicing, practicing! (I even called my neighbor last night and she is bringing over her daughter tonight for me to practice on...my little one is tired of mommy making him pose for her all of the time!)

Have an "Eggs"celent Easter!

Just a little note to say "Happy Easter" to you and your family!

We had such a fun time on Thursday dyeing our Easter Eggs this year. As Caleb gets older, things like this get to be more and more fun...and he had been asking for DAYS for us to get going on the eggs. So as soon as Chris got home on Thursday we got out the stuff and got to work!

And the munchkin and his daddy even made me a special egg!

Isn't he a total ham?!?

(I think that someone is starting to like getting his photo taken again!)

Tomato Pie with Pancetta & Basil

Last night I made my normally "Meat & Potato" kinda husband go out on a limb and try something new. Something not in his comfort zone (but totally in mine!) and try something a little different for him...Tomato Pie!

Now that's not a typical kind of meal in the Schell household. We usually do American fare of the easy variety...you know, the weeknight casserole's and crockpot meals. Pastas or something grilled. Tacos or enchiladas. Now don't get me wrong...I love trying something new. The husband...Not so much! But am I so very glad that he gave in and let me go off and try something new. Something a little different. Because the end result was so very, very good!

This dish is cheesy, tomato-y, and filled with flavor...definitely a great fresh summertime meal.  I made sure to use vine-ripened tomatoes to get as much flavor as possible. And, since it was a weeknight and I was on a time crunch, I just used a store bought refrigerated pie crust, but if you would rather, just substitute your own homemade one. I served it with a green salad and some crusty french bread. Delish!

I can't wait until my homegrown tomatoes are ripe...I know that this little dish will be making it's way back to our table over the summer as my crop comes in! I hope that you enjoy it!

Tomato Pie with Pancetta & Basil
Inspired by Simply Recipes

Ingredients

• 1 9-inch pie shell 
• 3 oz. thinly sliced Pancetta
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 4 tomatoes, cut in half horizontally, squeezed to remove excess juice, roughly chopped, to yield approx. 3 cups chopped tomatoes
• 1/4 cup sliced basil (about 8-10 leaves)
• 2 cups grated cheese (I used a combination of Monterey Jack & Colby, but it would be great with Sharp Cheddar or Mozzarella also)
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon of Frank's Hot Sauce 
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place pie shell in oven and cook for 8-10 minutes or longer until lightly golden.  If you are using a homemade crust, freeze the crust first, then line the crust with aluminum foil and pre-bake it for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.
2. Chop the Pancetta and saute in a small fry pan until cooked. Drain oil & set aside.
3. Squeeze as much moisture as you can out of the chopped tomatoes, using either paper towels or a clean dish towel.
4. Sprinkle the bottom of the pre-cooked pie shell with chopped onion. Spread the chopped tomatoes over the onions. Sprinkle the cooked Pancetta and the sliced basil over the tomatoes.
5. In a medium bowl, mix together the grated cheese, mayonnaise, hot sauce, a sprinkling of salt and freshly ground black pepper.
6. Spread the cheese mixture over the tomatoes.
7. Place in oven and bake until browned and bubbly, from 25 to 35 minutes.
Serves 6

 
This week I am linking up to: Hodgepodge Friday, Friday Favorites, Feature Yourself Friday, Foodie Friday, Whipperberry, La Bella Vita, Made by You Monday, Just Something I Whipped Up, Homemaker Monday, This Week's Cravings, Today's Creative Blog, Take A Look Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tasty Tuesdays, Tip Me Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Show & Tell, Trendy Treehouse, What I Whipped Up  

I love game night

The game Smart Ass

I'm a total dork, but I absolutely LOVE playing board games. And when my husband and I can get together with friends to play games and have a few drinks things can get hilarious. This past weekend we got together with our good friends the Moore's and this game night, just like others we have had, was full of fun and hilarious answers. First we played a game that was new to all of us, Smart Ass. (If you know my husband...it is seriously the game with the name that best suits him!)

And for once I actually won a game! (This is when you imagine me jumping up and down doing the happy dance, because I never, ever win at game night!! Yee-Haw!)

Scattergories

Next up we played a mean game of Scattergories. And this is when the funny happened. I think the drinks were starting to get to us and we all came up with hilarious answers!

For one game I used the completely wrong letter....seriously I don't even know how I did that. While everyone else was using the letter 'B' I was going on my happy way using the letter 'H'. (I mean, really who does that?!?)

And my friends, I have to ask, have you ever heard of the musical instrument "Hoboe"? Yeah, neither had any of us. (Well, except for a certain person...one who will not be named).

And then as we all got tired, a little tipsy and since we all were wanting to win we kept adding as many adjectives to words as possible to get extra points. Sexy slutty secretary, super secret special Safeway sales and the like. We also have people making things up and trying to sucker us all into believing that they are real. My husband's best one this game was creating a new magazine out of thin air...one named Operation Weekly. (Don't worry...we didn't let him get away with that one...the joy of having smart phones with internet. You can check just about anything out!)

Yeah...game night to us gets a little competitive. And argumentative. And fun. Lots and lots of fun!

Are you a board game lover like me? If so what are your favorites? My favorites are Sequence, Scattergories, Taboo and Balderdash.

And now a dedication to my husband...his very own copy of his magazine, Operation Weekly:

Yeah. As I said before, I'm a total dork. I made up a cover to his fake "magazine" just for him! I showed it to him last night and he loved it and thinks we should get it framed!

The Schell's are STILL growing!

It's time for a garden update! 

And my garden is still growing, growing, growing! Yep, you heard that right...I haven't killed everything yet!

I am so happy with my raised vegetable garden this year. The weather has been perfect down here in the desert. A little rain, lots of sun, a few cloudy humid days and everything is growing like crazy. I have tomatoes already growing on my tomato plants and my squash & zucchini have large broad leaves & blooms...I can't wait to begin harvesting!

On a small sad note: My cucumbers did not seem to want to grow. They sprouted up, grew to be about 1/2 an inch tall & them promptly died. I have since replaced them with 2 bell pepper plants, one red and one green. (Fingers crossed that they do well since they got planted a little late)

Here is what we started with about 2 1/2 weeks ago:

And here is my little garden as of this morning!

Doesn't everything look great! Hopefully I can keep everything alive when the heat begins to hit in full force within the next couple of weeks. I am thinking of having my husband create something that I can put over the top of everything to keep the 115+ degree sun from frying everything this year...I will have to talk with him to see what he can come up with.

iTunes Winner!!

I just pulled the winner for my little giveaway! And the winner is...

Comment #5: At Home With Michelle!!

Congrats Michelle...please make sure to contact me to claim your prize!