Category Archives: Photography

Delightfully Living: Day 126 – Day 133

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365 photo project – the simple act of taking a picture every day for a year. The idea behind starting the project is for me to try to get myself to slow down and take a different look at the world. The series is called Delightfully Living. This is Day 126- 133.

What you will see: moments of time, food, details of the world around me and things that I enjoy.

Day 126: Blue Raspberry Frozen drinks with my hubby.

Day 127: Celebrating my husbands birthday with a cake and his favorite dinner, chicken parm.

Day 128: Tried out a new recipe for Chicken Francese with rice & green beans. It was so good I want to eat it every week!

Day 129: Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Bar filled with cookie spread. So good it’s DANGEROUS!

Day 130: I was having a pretty rough week. All I had the energy to do this day was go home, put on some pj’s and catch up on “Scandal”.

Day 131: Dinner with friends to celebrate Mr. Sweet’s birthday. Delicious food shared with great friends.

Day 132: Mother’s Day. I was so busy with my mother that this is the only picture I took all day.

Day 133: Trying out a new beer.

Chicken Francese

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Chicken Francese
adapted from Tyler Florence
4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts
All-purpose flour, for dredging
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Dried Parsley, Oregano and thyme (I only had dried on hand)
4 large eggs
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
1 cup chicken broth
1 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions
Pound the chicken breasts with a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/4-inch thick. Place flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt, pepper, parsley, oregano and thyme (seasoned to your preferred taste); mix with a fork to distribute evenly. In a wide bowl, beat the eggs to make an egg wash. Heat the oil over medium-high flame in a large skillet.

Dip the chicken in the egg wash to coat completely, letting the excess drip off, dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour. When the oil is nice and hot, add the cutlets and fry for 2 minutes on each side until golden, turning once. Remove the chicken cutlets to a large platter. I usually place a paper towel on the platter to soak up the excess oil from the chicken.

Add the wine, broth, and lemon juice to a headed skillet. Simmer for 5 minutes to reduce the sauce slightly. Roll the butter in some flour and add it to the skillet – this will help to thicken the sauce. Stir to incorporate and dissolve the flour. Reduce the heat to medium-low and return the chicken to the pan. Simmer gently for 2 minutes to heat the chicken thoroughly.

I served my chicken with rice boiled in chicken stock (instead of water) and green beans! Enjoy!

Delightfully Living: Day 118 – Day 125

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365 photo project – the simple act of taking a picture every day for a year. The idea behind starting the project is for me to try to get myself to slow down and take a different look at the world. The series is called Delightfully Living. This is Day 118-125.

What you will see: moments of time, food, details of the world around me and things that I enjoy.

Day 118: Taking pictures of flowers while on our daily walk.

Day 119: Isn’t she just the cutest!

Day 120: Laying in the grass soaking up the sun.

Day 121: Kitty paws. Just cause!

Day 122: Sushi Buffet for my sisters birthday. We ate so much you had to roll us out of there.

Day 123: Baking my famous banana bread as requested by my cousin. His birthday was that Saturday and he wanted a pot luck. My contribution was two loaves of this banana bread.

Day 124: My husband found these already frozen pouches from our local liquor store. They are perfect for when you want a cool refreshing drink without having to bring out all of the tools to make it or go to the local bar!

Day 125: Tacos, margaritas and homemade guacamole! Yumm! On Cinco de Mayo Mr. Sweet & I had a impromptu taco party at our house with some friends.

Delightfully Living: Day 110 – Day 117

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365 photo project – the simple act of taking a picture every day for a year. The idea behind starting the project is for me to try to get myself to slow down and take a different look at the world. The series is called Delightfully Living. This is Day 110 – Day 117.

What you will see: moments of time, food, details of the world around me and things that I enjoy.

Day 110: Waffles for breakfast!

Day 111: Someone made herself comfortable in our bed! Pulled the covers over herself and was even snoring.

Day 112: A little gift to myself from Baltimore – a bunny cotton holder.

Day 113: While watching a movie Layla wanted to get in on the action.

Day 114: Cupcakes for Take Our Daughters & Sons to Work Day I hosted at work.

Day 115: Brownie Waffle Pinterest Fail!

Day 116: A little treat: Trader Joe’s Peanut Butter & Jelly Chocolate Bar.

Day 117: Saving the Elephants Party Hosted by Amarula Cream at the Bronx Zoo.

Delightfully Living: Day 102 – Day 109

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365 photo project – the simple act of taking a picture every day for a year. The idea behind starting the project is for me to try to get myself to slow down and take a different look at the world. The series is called Delightfully Living. This is Day 102- Day 109.

What you will see: moments of time, food, details of the world around me and things that I enjoy.

Day 102: One of the best and biggest crab cakes I have ever had! So good!

Day 103: A behind the scenes experience at the Aquarium in Baltimore.

Day 104: On our way home from Baltimore we stopped to eat. For the life of me can NOT remember what the place was called. I do remember the BBQ chicken nachos. They were sooooo good!

Day 105: Missing Baltimore.

Day 106: An extreme close-up of Layla. She is really starting to love the camera.

Day 107: We are big breakfast for dinner kind of people. Our breakfast pizza contained sausage, cheddar cheese and a fried egg.

Day 108: “How do dinosaurs..”

Day 109: Books, tissues and tea. Trying to get better.

A visit to the Bronx Zoo.

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This weekend Mr. Sweet & I decided to pop in the car with two friends and take the short drive over to the Bronx Zoo.  It was one of those perfect Saturday’s where there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the temperature was in the 70’s with a cool breeze and you didn’t want to spend your time indoors.

With 265 acres of wildlife habitats and attractions, the Bronx Zoo’s size and impressive exhibits make it impossible to see everything in a single visit.  If you ever decide to go, don’t forget to wear sneakers.  You will be doing a LOT of walking.  You also have to go in with a plan, which of course we did.  We hit all of the major sites we wanted to see: Butterfly Garden, World of Reptiles and African Plains.  We then leisurely walked back to the gate we came from popping in and out of exhibits.

Ever since I was a kid I always loved visiting the zoo.  It isn’t simply an excursion to see animals from the wild, but also a way to learn about them and a way to feel inspired to help protect them.

If you are ever in the NYC area I suggest you take a trip to the zoo.  It is fun for all!

Note: Be aware that there are several exhibits and attractions that are not included in the regular cost of admission, including The Children’s Zoo, The Bug Carousel, the Butterfly Garden, camel rides, the zoo shuttle and the Congo Gorilla Forest.  We bought a VIP pass ($29.95) which let us into all attractions.

Delightfully Living: Day 95 – Day 101

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365 photo project – the simple act of taking a picture every day for a year. The idea behind starting the project is for me to try to get myself to slow down and take a different look at the world. The series is called Delightfully Living. This is Day 95–101 Day .

What you will see: moments of time, food, details of the world around me and things that I enjoy.

Day 95: A bit of reading. Little did I know the next two weeks were going to be packed.

Day 96: Mr. Sweet & I had a showing of the first “Evil Dead” movie with friends at our place. We forgot how cheesy and hilarious the first one was!

Day 97: An afternoon showing of the new “Evil Dead” and lunch with friends. We took over the theater!

Day 98: Kitty Paws! They are too cute!

Day 99: The sun shining through the windows in our living room with kitty toys everywhere.

Day 100: A storm that hit quickly! Went in the store it was light. Came out and it was dark.

Day 101: A romantic dinner with Mr. Sweet