Favorite Shot of the Week

Easter Island, would you believe?  Not quite.  Taken with my newest toy--a 50 mm Canon lens.

Knocked Down? Well, It's Time to Get Up.

Sometime life sneaks up on us and gives us a kick in the pants.  Our dreams get derailed.  Our plans go up in smoke.  The unexpected happens.  So today, I'm happy to share you with some uplifting words from one of great minds at TED.  It's a 3 minute talk...and 3 minutes well spent.  Enjoy!

The Results Are In

Landscape Tuscany
Originally uploaded by enzo.tiberi

Thanks so much dear friends, for participating in the Pick A New Title for my novel survey. You’ve given me valuable information about which names spark the reader's interest. I realize that some of you wanted to judge the titles based on the plot, but my purpose at this point was to find out which titles had “grabbing” power. So without further delay, here they are. Drumroll, please.  

• 1. Mussolini’s Secret
• 2. The Incident at Capodichino 
• 3. Remembering Sofia.

Because of your comments, I will also be changing the name of the village in my novel to something other than Capodichino because of the difficulty remembering and pronouncing it. 

Again, many thanks!  You made a difficult task a lot of fun!

Favorite Shot of the Week--Welcome Home

This week I got a great tip on a fantastic lens at a seminar at B & H Photo in New York.  The instructor was describing lenses that cost thousands of dollars, but happened to mention that their 50 mm f/1.4 lens for $89.00 was one of the best deals Canon offers.  Of course, I promptly bought it.   This shot of Tiffany's doors was taken with my brand new lens at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  What do you think?  Is there enough green in the doors?

Peanut Butter Bars with Chocolate Ganache

Now that I'm finished with school, I'm heading back into the kitchen.  How wonderful that the holidays give me an excuse to bake some wonderful treats.  Here's one that Alex and I baked last night that is absolutely decadent and delicious.  When Alex took his first bite, he could only say, "Oh my God.  Try this."  And so I did.  The chocolate was luscious and blended beautifully with the peanut butter.  The nuts add just the right amount of crunch.

I've modified the recipe a tiny bit from the Better Homes and Garden's Christmas Cookie recipe.  Instead of adding honey roasted peanuts and honey roasted peanut butter, I just used Skippy's Reduced Fat Super Crunch.


Ingredients:

1 2-layer devil's food cake mix
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 egg
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup honey-roasted peanut butter OR Super Crunch peanut butter.
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whipping cream or milk
3/4 cup honey-roasted peanuts, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 11.5 oz. package milk chocolate pieces (Ghiradelli's is my favorite.)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line a 15x10x1-inch baking pan with foil, extending the foil over the pan edges.  Lightly grease foil.  Set aside.
2.  In an extra-large bowl, combine dry cake mix, 1/3 cup melted butter, and egg.  Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 to 2 minutes or until mixture is combined.  Press mixture into the bottom of the prepared cake pan.  Bake in oven for 12 minutes.  Cool in pan on a wire rack.
3.  In a large bowl, combine 3/4 cup softened butter, peanut butter, and vanilla.  Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds.  Add powdered sugar and beat until combined, scraping bowl occasionally.  Beat in 2 tablespoons of whipping cream.  Stir in the chopped nuts (if adding separately).  Spread mixture evenly over cooked crust.  Place uncut bars in the refrigerator while preparing the chocolate ganache.
4.  For the ganache, in a small saucepan, bring 1/2 cup whipping cream to just boiling over medium-high heat.  Remove from heat.  Add chocolate pieces.  Do not stir.  Let stand for 5 minutes.  Stir until smooth.  Cool for 15 minutes.  Very gently pour ganache over uncut bars, lightly spreading it to the edges of the bars with a spatula.  Cover and chill for 1 to 2 hours or until set.  Using the edges of the foil, lift the uncut bars out of the pan.  Cut into bars.  Makes 48 bars.

To Store:  Place bars in a single layer in an airtight container; cover.  Store in a refrigerator up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.  To serve, thaw bars, if frozen.  Let refrigerator bars stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Cookies.  December 2009.  Page 33.

Pizza Night at Paesan's

Pizza Night ...
Originally uploaded by beebo wallace

Great pizza and pasta in a strip mall? I didn't believe it until our friends Rich and Kathy took us to Paesan's Restaurant in Winthrop.   Literally in the shadow of the jumbo jets flying overhead from Logan Airport, Paesan's reminds me of the local Italian restaurant from my childhood with checked plastic table cloths on the table, a baseball game playing on the TV, Frankie Sinatra on the radio, and bottles of Chianti, some with candles, which serve as humble decorations.

We go for the pizza, and pride ourselves in nearly finishing two whole pies, because it's just about as authentic as you can get outside of New York. Choices include the traditional, as well as buffalo chicken (Rich and Kathy's favorite), Pompeii (tomato slices, feta, black olives, and mozzarella), Melanzo (eggplant), and the New Yorker (garlic, feta, sun dried tomatoes, and mozzarella). But as we relish each slice, we have noticed people digging into plates of pasta and arrancini with obvious delight.  Their homemade specialties di casa include: gnocchi, pasta with meatballs and sauce, arrancini (rice balls stuffed with meat), and an array of the traditional items--veal and chicken parmigiana, shrimp and calamari scampi, chicken marsala and francese. Think supper at the Bada Bing with Tony Soprano and you'll know what to expect.  Nothing fancy, but good, honest food that grandma (or grandpa, in my case) used to make.

Warning:  Yankee fans are advised not to wear any part of the uniform upon entering the premises.     

For more details, click on the link:

Paesan's Restaurant, Winthrop, MA

10 Putnam St
Winthrop, MA 02152
(617) 539-1676

Favorite Shot of the Week

Savannah Shadows.  Taken last week with my Canon Rebel XT. 

Favorite Shot of the Week

Monday Morning in Savannah at Gallery Espresso

"Mornin'" people call out as we walk around Forsyth Park, joining a mix of locals with dogs and students in shorts and sneakers who head out in the early morning, in the cool air that doesn't linger long.

Savannah rolls out of bed late most mornings, so when we head up Bull Street and stop for tea at Gallery Espresso, we have our choice of seats inside or out. On our visit last week, my tea of choice was Assam, a full-bodied and rich black tea from India that tastes wonderful with milk and a little sugar.

We collect memories on every visit. This time it was art--an exhibit on Andy Warhol at the SCAD Museum and another on the American Progressives who flocked to the Netherlands in the early 1900's for inspiration--aesthetic and cultural.

But the main purpose, as always, is to visit with our son--unshaven, uncombed, overworked, but delightful as always.

Old School--New School

St Fagans - Old School (literally) Zeiss Ikonta 521/2 6x9
Originally uploaded by VEB Zardoz the Gravyboat

Well, I'm back at school. On both sides of the desk. I'm teaching English two days a week and taking two classes at U Mass Boston on Thursday nights, getting training to learn how to create web-based instruction. It's exhilarating to be back at school. To be quite honest, I'm one of those geeks who wanders through Staples, deliberating the merits of one binder over another. (BTW, there's a new model that has a little window on the spine for a label...)

Some observations:

Red Bull is the students' drink of choice.
Texting in class is commonplace. "But it's rude," I said to Alex, who replied, "Why?"
There is and will always be students who do assignments at the last minute.
Students can doze just as easily through a Power Point presentation as a lecture.
All that important information covered on the first night of class never sinks in.
You Tube videos can provide wonderful teachable content.
Streaming video broadcast from the library and into the classroom is the most amazing technological invention ever.