No Flash, Hand-Held Off-Camera Flash- Sparklers in the Rain for One

Thanks to everyone who sent birthday greetings. Nothing like announcing “Hey, it’s my birthday” publicly and then being the recipient of such lovely wishes.

Rain kept us from going to see fireworks Thursday night. Anna had her Pap light a sparkler or two and she tired to enjoy them in the rain in the front yard.

For the second day in a row I took the photos from the porch. It was totally dark.

The first photo was taken without a flash but there was some light from the house and the sparkler.

The second was taken with hand-held off-camera flash. Thought i would experiment as I read about it but never really tried it. I avoid using the flash as much as possible but wanted to experiment for some different dramatic lighting effects. Thanks Anna you were most cooperative.

The cord I bought about 9 years ago and never really used. I will try it again when I have some more willing subjects.

you can see the raindrops

Not too dramatic lighting but a few visible raindrops.

Experimenting with light and hand held off camera flash

Anna in motion. With flash.

Happy Fortieth Wedding Anniversary- Marlene and Donald!

June 2, 1973. Swissvale Pennsylvania. Happy 40th Anniversary Marlene and Donald.

Marlene and Donald’s daughter Erika is married to my son Mark and we share the grandchildren- Anna, Michael, Jack and Maura. Last year I posted the church they were married in , Madonna del Castello, and all of a sudden a whole year has flown by.

Here’s a photo of the family at Laura and James’ wedding November 2011. V’s idea to find a photo of you and the grandchildren, 40 years after your wedding day. Send me a wedding photo and I will add it to the post. I should have taken a photo of one when we visited Memorial Day weekend or taken a new photo of the two of you with the grandchildren.

(I was going to post my friend Donna’s wedding cake topper from the same era but the bride’s hair was brunette in the photo and Marlene is blonde)

Marlene and Donald with their daughter Erika, my son Mark, and the grandchildren. Columbus OH

Peter Celebrates the Big Five O (+)

Stuffed grape leaves, and fancy cheeses. Goat cheese and fig jam on bruschetta. Green grapes. Some bubbly to toast. M and D brought the most drinkable wine. A secret in the carafe, a blind test. Carlo Rossi. No kidding. Beat out the pricey Portuguese wine. What do we know?

Dates and nuts in a chocolate South African pudding recipe, topped with whiskey whipped cream, created by his wife Janice. Happy Birthday to Peter. Live music at a party makes the evening rhyme. Marc on harmonica and Peter and Doug on guitar. Kim sang a number with the lyrics on her cell phone.

A fun surprise party. Well done, J.

Raspberries and Blueberries on Vanilla Häagen-Dazs

Accompanied by ginger snaps!

This is the dessert my friend V served at a lovely home cooked dinner last Saturday. It was delicious. A generous helping, too.

A nice finish to a simply perfect meal. Walleye caught by Cousins Jeff and Jeffrey, a baked sweet potato and salad with whisked lemon juice and olive oil dressing. Found this in my phone tonight and was thinking about how everything was so good. She said she was following the same idea my mother used to profess- Buy the best food you can and do as little to it as possible. Good advice.

The Pamela’s Ginger Mini Snapz are gluten free and quite tasty. Hope you have a good day Saturday. HBTY!

There are at Least 14 Ways to Spell It!

And here is an article explaining the most popular and the second most popular way to spell- Hanukkah or Chanukah? The Festival of Light.

Tuesday- the fourth night.

I was invited for potato latkes and the lighting of the Hanukkah candles at my friend’s house. We taught together these past 6 years until I moved to the high school this year. The first photo is her beautiful Menorah on the mantle. Her kids are grown up and out of town, too. She and her husband and I sat by there fire and then she lit the fourth candle. It gets dark so early now as we approach the shortest day of the year. The warmth of the fire and the glow from the colorful candles was lovely.

After we ate the latkes(served with sour cream and or applesauce) Ann lit the fourth candle.

We left for an adventure, traipsing around Squirrel Hill, Murray Avenue and Forbes. Up and down trying to decide where we should eat! At least it wasn’t raining. We had a nice evening, catching up on our families and school and mutual friends. When we walked by the Giant Eagle supermarket and a young man asked if we were Jewish and she said, yes and he asked if she had candles. Then we saw the table set up in front of the market with another young man cooking latkes on a griddle. They had applesauce available and their organization had a big sign on the Menorah. They told me they were “spreading light in the world.” I asked if it would be okay to blog them and they gathered to gather for a group shot. Pulled out the cell phone camera. Yep, my camera was back by Ann’s house in the back trunk of the car.

Thanks Ann for including me in the candle lighting and for taking me on a good healthy walk around the neighborhood to find the best dinner.

Forgot to Post the Pilgrim Trolls, So Ugly They’re Cute?

Trolls have a really bad name these days. The internet troll is the first to come up with a google search. UGH. The word conjures visions of creeps on the internet doing extremely negative things.

But there was a time when the word trolls meant little plastic doll with crazy hair sticking up and beady eyes-

and before that they were written about in Norse Mythology and Scandinavian Folklore.

The trolls of the rubbery type, a protruding belly with navel, glassy eyes and colorful hair were around when I was in grade school in the late 60’s.

Did a search for the origin of the troll dolls and they were created in 1959 by a Danish man, Thomas Dam. They are also called Dam dolls.

Chicago John noticed the Christmas troll, dressed as a caroler, on my Sunday breakfast table. The wikipedia post says that some people collect THOUSANDS of them. No kidding. I have a few of the Christmas ones that have been around for years and I brought them out for the grandkids who had fun with them last summer.

When I was with the family in Virginia over the Thanksgiving Holiday, my son’s in-laws had this pair of Pilgrim Trolls on the mantle. They made me laugh when I saw them.

I did turn these two so they were looking at the camera cause initially they just had eyes for one another. (scroll down)

Sounds like they are having a bit of a comeback these days with a new generation. Any troll collectors out there?

Turkeys of the Day

;

The haystack turkey is in Roanoke VA

And the live turkeys are at the farm next door in Hardy, Virginia

The turkey chrysanthemum centerpiece is from my sister who is visiting at E’s in Albany. She sent it on her phone.

The gluten-free pound cake I posted early this morning was appreciated but best of all it tasted good! Some added ice cream and others ate it plain. My grandson Michael ate some and gave me the thumbs up and a big MMMMMMMMMMMMM!

What else could you askfor? Grateful for family and friends, far and near.

and Flat Ruthie is with the main course on Cardboardmetravels

;

<;/ask.

32 Years Later

Happy Birthday Matthew. Remember when we pulled off Interstate 80 on the way to NYC last August?

Here you are last summer in front of your first home in Clarion PA. The house we brought you to from the hospital, 32 years ago.

Of course I didn’t send a card, just like last year! So this is my birthday wish for you. A day filled with love!

You sure give all of us a lot of love. (Matthew’s the one who says about my photographing people, It’s annoying now, but later you’re glad)

Thinking of you today and everyday.

love. Ma

Maura Clare is 4 on November 17th

Four is a great age to be.

You’ve seen her pop bubble wrap. Eat cake. Pose with Murphy the Airedale. Run with her siblings across the lawn, carrying an Easter basket or a doll, wearing a red hat. Gardening!

It’s been a fast four years!

And the most recent shot below

Pignolis- An Heirloom Recipe from a Friend’s Mother

The one thing I can tell you is, don’t mess around with the confectioner’s sugar amount as it is needed to make the cookie take shape!

Parchment paper is key, too.

You can see I should have put this recipe in a plastic sleeve. It is well used and always appreciated. People devour them.

Thinking of how wonderful it is that Esther was so generous to share her hand written recipe at least twenty years ago. Her daughter, Diana, will take her iPad to show her this post on Tuesday as we have no school due to the storm winds and rain predictions. I called and asked if it would be okay to post and Diana said, “Yes” so thank you Diana and her mother, Esther.

I baked these for Laura’s wedding last year and made them for the House Concert for my gluten-free friend.

(Smidge, this recipe is for you, too!)