Fast Friday and Popeye... Who knew?

 

Another Vintage Valentine

 

Cottage Living

Friday is here already...My hiatus is coming to an end. No more late nights, a new improved organized me, sprinting into the weekend. It looks like we will get a little blue sky which will help the shift into "real life". On another note (excuse the pun) I had the opportunity to do some "veggie" note cards for Growing Gardens of Portland, a non-profit group that organizes hundreds of volunteers to build organic, raised bed vegetable gardens in backyards, front yards, side yards and even on balconies to help low income families. What a fun project. In keeping with the Valentine's theme I present the "Tomato" or as the French used to call them, pommes d'amour: apples of love.

The tomato note card

Before and after Project 365

Before

A cupboard door with hook... I know. These things attract me. Go figure. I really want the focus to be on the hook not the out of focus bright red knob.

After

I have added a "focal point" right over the hook, which keeps the hook sharp and clear and slightly lighter, fading out to a soft blur in the rest of the image and knob. Then I added a color bump just for interest.

 

 

 

Another example of using a focal point mask layer and light to direct the eye to the subject which is competing with the outside light.

Before

After

 

 

Lowcarb livin'

Baked Spinach and Kale Chips... hard to believe but absolutely simple to make and astonishingly delicious. I devoured mine before I could photograph them so will use someone else's image and link to their site. Here These are very easy. Take spinach leaves (I use baby) or kale, toss them in a bowl with just a tiny bit of olive oil. It's amazing how a little oil goes a long way. Spread them out on a cookie sheet on a piece of parchment paper or "Silpat". Sprinkle lightly with sea salt pepper and what ever spice or herb that you love. Smokey paprika, pepper flakes even a little shredded parmesan. Bake at 275 degrees until dry. Each oven will be different. About 20 minutes should do.

The seasoned spinach leaves before baking.

After

 

These are light, crispy, salty, melt in your mouth all at the same time fabulous. Try them. Kids will love them too. Be warned they will disappear very quickly. Now I don't miss potato chips. You can eat a whole bag at a sitting, and it's spinach for gosh sakes.

Pause for thought

Until next time...