This is a repost of a blog originally published 10/25/13. How do you like to travel? Do you pick a destination and then spend every spare minute researching what to do and where to go and what to eat? Sometimes that is the best way to make sure nothing important is missed. A lot of people have one opportunity to get to a location in their lifetime and no one wants to get home to find out they missed the Grand Canyon when they were in Arizona or Mount Rushmore when they drove through South Dakota. The internet has made trip researching and planning easier than ever with the advent of such sites as TripAdvisor and Google. Experiences by other travelers are openly shared on the internet helping to point the compass in the right direction. I decided to approach my last trip more like a wandering nomad with only a general sense of driving west or east today, north or south tomorrow. It went against every grain of Type A personality planning that I have carried around since birth. This was not easy...at all. I find comfort and security in plans. I know what I'm doing. I don't have to worry about what might happen if... I decided to do it because someone I admire a lot used to travel that way. That person was Ernst Haas. He talked about it in his film documentary "To Dream With Eyes Wide Open": I was always accused of not knowing where I am going and what I'm doing. This is really true because there is an element of surprise which for me is very, very important. Could this really be true, I wondered? Had I been behaving like a banker my whole life and worse yet, on my photography trips? Taking out every ounce of creativity as I marched through my itineraries, checking off my to-do list one by one? I decided to put my trust in Ernst Haas. Just once. I took comfort knowing that if it didn't work, I wouldn't do it again. I knew where I was sleeping at night and that was it. I let the car do the driving and if something piqued my curiosity I explored it, letting myself be available to any whim that arose. From the very first photo of my trip, it lead me to off the beaten track places like this: to the very last photo of my trip. Was it successful? I don't know, but I felt like this method of travel worked out very good for me and I will definitely try it again. On repeated occasions I remember thinking how lucky I was and being grateful for every moment I had and working like crazy before the clock ran out of time.
I hope you enjoyed this blog and I thank you very much for coming by. As you may have noticed I am test driving a new logo. Comments are open so feel free to let me know your thoughts. Thank you! Recently I decided to take care of some refinishing projects that have been building up around the house for the last 8 years or so. It started with one little project that went so well, I decided to do them all. At least that was the plan until I ran into a really tough project. It wasn't this one, this was the easy job that set the ball in motion and got me thinking I was some kind of refinishing expert. This old side buffet (not entirely sure it was a buffet) was acquired awhile back for about $75 at a yard sale, probably from a guy named Jimmy. At the time, it was bought as a temporary storage piece. Currently, I have been thinking about a room and the furniture that was in it, and a very large empty space that needed to be filled and what to do about it. When I looked at this old piece, I really just wanted to post it on Craig's list or something to see if I could recover the $75 originally paid for it. The truth was, it wasn't supposed to be permanent and I really didn't want to keep it. It's a pretty solid old piece of furniture though. The legs have some nice detail, and it is made of real wood as opposed to particle board, so I started thinking this still had some life in it and maybe it should get another chance. I recently bought a couple cans of paint for another redecorating project, so after giving it some thought, decided to paint it one of those colors. Probably not the color I would have chosen if I went to the store and picked one out, but I am trying to use all my resources right now, so this was just going to have to work. It was this color or turquoise and with royal blue walls behind, I preferred the green. I decided it would also need some new handles. I searched the internet, found these on Amazon and ordered them direct from China. There were some real nice domestic handblown glass handles available that would have been beautiful, but they were over $50 a pop and I wasn't ready to sink that kind of money into this piece. These 6 handles were less than $30 including shipping. Reviews of similar handles were poor but I am happy with these. They are good enough for this purpose and I think they update the piece nicely.
What do you think? I'd love to hear your comments. Until next time, thanks for stopping by and I hope you are enjoying this time of year. It's a good idea when shooting something at night to spend a little time during the day getting familiar with your subject before it gets dark. When there are a lot of subjects or objects, it's an even better idea to zone in on what you are going to work on before the lights go out and hope you will be able to find your way back. It's harder than it sounds. In this case, it was my last day/night in the yard, and this particular car caught my eye. I put it on my list to come back to for a night shoot. The inside was pretty dirty, although since the driver's door was missing (which is why it's so dirty), it made for easy access to shoot into the car. As is typical, the list of cars I intended on getting done that night was long and the clock was ticking away. I had more to work on in other areas, so I decided to just shoot the side panel. Here is the daylight capture of it: And the night image: This is a 1970 Buick Wildcat and was the last year this car was made by Buick until 1985. If you want to see something cool, check out the Google images of the 1985 version which was a concept car: https://www.google.com/search?q=1985+buick+wildcat&espv=2&biw=1396&bih=1245&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CB0QsARqFQoTCPKSvZSHzMcCFYxtPgodP08BYg#imgrc=2AiTzBl11QmGuM%3A As always, I appreciate your visit and hope you are enjoying the last days of summer. No worries, he is strictly an indoor cat. This is cat tv at it's best.
July 'round here means it's time to make two recipes which reside in my July cookbook: Napa Valley Cabernet Burgers and Cinnamon Crunch Peach Sundaes. These are best made in small stages throughout the course of a day or two. I started in the morning to have everything easily done for dinner at night. Follow along while I make both specialties. Napa Valley Cabernet Burgers comes from a July 2003 issue of Bon Appetit and is James McNair's recipe. I usually double this recipe, but the following is for 4 servings. You can easily make twice the amount by 2x all the ingredients. Ingredients 1 750 ml bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon 1/4 c. minced shallots 9 T. unsalted butter at room temperature 2 t. golden brown sugar 1 T. minced fresh rosemary 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef (15% fat - I have used lean in the past however) 1 t. salt 1/2 t. black pepper 1 c. packed grated extra-sharp white cheddar cheese 4 4-1/2 inch squares focaccia, cut horizontally in half 8 large tomato slices 2 c. arugula Boil wine and shallots in medium saucepan until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 20 minutes. Add 1 T. butter and brown sugar, whisk until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Mix remaining 8 T. butter and rosemary in small bowl. Set aside. Prepare barbeque (medium-high heat). Mix beef, salt, pepper and 1/4 cup wine-shallot mixture in bowl. Form meat into 4 5-inch squares or rounds. Brush grill rack with oil. Grill burgers until brown on bottom, about 3 minutes. Turn burgers and brush with wine-shallot mixture. Continue grilling burgers until cooked to desired doneness, turning and brushing occasionally with wine-shallot mixture, about 4 minutes longer for medium-rare. Sprinkle with cheese after last turn and grill until cheese melts. Spread cut sides of bread with rosemary butter. Grill, cut side down, until golden, about 2 minutes. Arrange bread, grilled side up, on plates. Top bottom halves with burgers, then tomatoes and arugula. Cover with top halves of bread. Now here is the recipe, step-by-step with my personal photos and commentary. Boil wine and shallots in medium saucepan until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 20 minutes. 20 minutes is up. I know from experience that this takes a lot longer than 20 minutes, but I am measuring it so you can see how much over 3/4 c. it still is. 15 minutes later, let's check it again. Hmmm, closer, but still over the limit. This is better, still over, but good enough for me. Add 1 T. butter and brown sugar, whisk until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Mix remaining 8 T. butter and rosemary in small bowl. (I use a little less butter, as 2 T. per bun seems a bit much.) Set aside. I like to get my focaccia at Trader Joe's because the price is right. This stuff can get pretty spendy. If you need 3 packages of it and it's 5 or 6 bucks a package, well you get the idea. But Trader Joe's didn't have it. I have a minimalist Trader Joe's by me, they are always out-of-stock on stuff. Anyways, I went to the local grocery store and settled on this because it was $1.99 a package. They are pretty small. I know I'm going to need 2 packages for sure. This bread needs to be trimmed to make the edges even. Spread cut sides of bread with rosemary butter. Grill, cut side down, until golden, about 2 minutes. Arrange bread, grilled side up, on plates. This is a good time to get the arugula ready as well as the cheese and tomatoes. The best price on arugula is again at Trader Joe's. This bag was $1.99. It will cost double that or more at a regular grocery store. This is a very bitter lettuce but it is a nice counter balance for the sharpness of the cheese and the sweetness of the burgers. Prepare barbeque (medium-high heat). Mix beef, salt, pepper and 1/4 cup wine-shallot mixture in bowl. (Do not mix this until the last minute. If you mix it ahead of time, it will separate in the bowl or on the plate and there will be wine running everywhere.) Form meat into 4 5-inch squares or rounds. Brush grill rack with oil. Grill burgers until brown on bottom, about 3 minutes. Turn burgers and brush with wine-shallot mixture. Anyone counting? You are correct, I used extra beef and made this into 6 burgers instead of 4. Some are also a little smaller for people or kids who want a smaller burger. Continue grilling burgers until cooked to desired doneness, turning and brushing occasionally with wine-shallot mixture, about 4 minutes longer for medium-rare. Sprinkle with cheese after last turn and grill until cheese melts. Top bottom halves with burgers, then tomatoes and arugula. Cover with top halves of bread. Cinnamon Crunch Peach Sundaes is from an issue of Bon Appetit, not sure of the date. I think this is Barbara Frenzl's recipe. 1 c. plus 6 1/2 T. sugar 3/4 c. water 6 T. dark corn syrup 3 cinnamon sticks, broken in half 6 whole cinnamon graham crackers, crushed to coarse crumbs 4 1/2 T. unsalted butter, melted 6 medium peaches, pitted, sliced into wedges 1 1/2 T. fresh lemon juice 3/4 t. ground cinnamon French vanilla ice cream (or I used vanilla frozen yogurt, just as good IMHO) 6 cinnamon sticks (optional) Stir 1 C. plus 2 T. sugar, 3/4 c. water, corn syrup and halved cinnamon sticks in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves; bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer until syrup is reduced to 1 1/2 c., about 20 minutes. Cool, remove cinnamon sticks. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover; refrigerate.) Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine cracker crumbs, butter and 1 1/2 T. sugar in small bowl; toss to coat evenly. Spread mixture out on small baking sheet. Bake until golden, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Cool. Mix peaches, 3 T. sugar, lemon juice and ground cinnamon in medium bowl. Let stand until juices form, at least 15 minutes and up to 1hour. Place 2 scoops of ice cream in each of 6 bowls. Spoon peaches and juices over ice cream. Drizzle with syrup and sprinkle with crunch topping. Garnish with cinnamon sticks, if desired, and serve. Again, here is the recipe broken down into steps, with my photos and comments. Stir 1 C. plus 2 T. sugar, 3/4 c. water, corn syrup and halved cinnamon sticks in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves; bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer until syrup is reduced to 1 1/2 c., about 20 minutes. Cool, remove cinnamon sticks. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover; refrigerate.) The cinnamon syrup is done. Now let's move on to the cinnamon crunch. Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine cracker crumbs, butter and 1 1/2 T. sugar in small bowl; Why am I adding cinnamon? Because I only had regular graham crackers, so I'm turning them into cinnamon graham crackers. toss to coat evenly. Spread mixture out on small baking sheet. Bake until golden, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Cool. Did I mention that you'll want to double this part of the recipe? Why? Because it's so good you or your kids will be snacking on it and then there won't be enough for the sundaes later. The cinnamon crunch is done. Now for the peach part of the recipe. Mix peaches, 3 T. sugar, lemon juice and ground cinnamon in medium bowl. Let stand until juices form, at least 15 minutes and up to 1hour. Place 2 scoops of ice cream in each of 6 bowls. Spoon peaches and juices over ice cream. Drizzle with syrup and sprinkle with crunch topping. Garnish with cinnamon sticks, if desired, and serve. And here is the grand finale. As always, thank you for stopping by and I hope you are enjoying a fabulous summer!
These old cars have a lot of character and the dashboards are where their interior personality really shines through.
This is a pretty cool old sign. Most Arby's don't have these anymore. It's about 4 or 5, maybe even 6 feet tall. Now I'll have to go back and get a better sense of the height.
I started attending Record Store Day a few years ago on account of trying to make lemonade out of some lemons. About 7 years ago, at the end of several back-to-back moves, and after the dust had settled, I realized one of those helpful moving guys who we generously tipped had stolen my entire box of albums. This was my second record collection, one I started after college when I lived near the old record store, Oarfolkjokeopus, now known as Treehouse Records.
My first (high school) record collection was sold during a weak moment in college one Friday afternoon when I needed money to go out. I don't recall getting more than $2 for any record at that time, but I was more interested in raising cash than preserving memories and collections. So post college, I ended up slowly rebuilding albeit an entirely and completely different record collection than the one I had in high school. Twenty years later, feeling the sting of robbery and with no recourse because too much time had passed and there were multiple moving companies involved, I decided the only remedy was to start over again, for a third time. Here I go, working on it for the 3rd or 4th year in a row. |
AuthorI am a photographer who lives in Minnesota. I blog about Minnesota, photography, music, food and miscellaneous topics. Archives
November 2016
Categor
All
|