I Heart Faces Smiles

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces is "Smiles."  See more entires here:

Bull Sale 2010

This is my new favorite site.  Love this lil collage I made with it, though there is lots more to figure out and play with.  Super fun! 

Please notice the yellow and orange spoon in a tight grasp in the middle picture.  G never attached to a blankie, lovie, etc., but spoons are a different story.  She went through a phase recently where she took AT LEAST one of them to bed with her every night.

K, so the challenge at I Heart Faces this week is "Collages."  Mine is actually a collage that I made for my dad for Father's Day last year from all his grandkids.  It was in an actual frame, so the collage looks a little funny on here.  And I apparently deleted one of the pictures, so I had to improvise with another, so it's not QUITE what we gave to Pop Pop.  It turned out super cute in real life, maybe I'll take a picture of it and post it sometime.

For more collages, go to:

I Heart Desserts

This week at I Heart Faces the theme is dessert.  Yay!  This was a wonderfully tasty eclair from a little bakery we found in Downtown Reno called Earthly Delights.  Do yourself a favor and GO THERE!!!

For more dessert pictures go here:

Go on, I promise you won't regret it! :)

Salted Caramel Covered Strawberries by Steamy Kitchen

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces is "My Story in Photos: Dessert Recipe Edition," where we are supposed to photograph our favorite desserts.

I have a confession to make.

My "favorite dessert" that I photographed was more like a "I-have-got-to-try-this-recipe-and-I-don't-know-how-it-could-be-anything-but-my-favorite-so-I-will-cross-my-fingers-and-hope-for-the-best."

And I was right.  It is DEFINITELY a new favorite.  More than I thought it would be even.  You can find the recipe at Steamy Kitchen.

Start off with some beautiful, fresh strawberries.  Ideally, you would go onto the recipe from here.  But I got kind of forgot to continue and the strawberries looked, eh, less desirable a few days later.  But they still tasted fine, so we're good!

Then I made some Salted Butter Caramels (though I didn't take pictures cuz the last time I tried making any kind of candy, I failed miserably, and I do NOT respond well to failure!).

                                

Add a bit of whipping cream (about 1 1/2 Tablespoons) to half of the caramel recipe.  Microwave on half power for 2 minutes, checking it halfway through.  

                                

Ideally, you would chop your nuts up before you ever start any of this.  Or you are me and quickly do it while the caramel is melting.  I totally recommend the pistachios.  COMPLETELY AMAZING!!!

                              

Your 17-month old daughter will want to try a strawberry right when you are chopping nuts, stirring the caramel, adding far too much cream to the caramel (which you won't find out until a few hours later when they are not so much caramel-covered as they are caramel-puddled), taking care of your sick husband and procrastinating from studying.  What your daughter doesn't know is that those berries have been soaking in ice water and are a bit on the cold side.  She will promptly put the strawberry back where she (thinks) she found it.

Now dip away!  And make sure to take a lovely picture of your chipped nail polish.

                                  

Now roll the caramel-covered strawberry in whichever nut you have chosen.  Make sure to get really cocky about how you haven't gotten any of the caramel on the chopping mat...then 2 seconds later regret thinking that you are so amazing when you DO get caramel on the chopping mat.

                                        

Now lay them on waxed paper or parchment paper and let them cool.  Or eat three of them immediately, burn your mouth a bit every time, but keep doing it cuz they are sooooooooooooo YUM!!!

                                    

Give a little taste to your sweet little girl, who is a little reluctant because of her previous experience, but once she gets a taste of it....

                          

she won't be able to get enough!  She is, in fact, her mommy's girl!

Go to Steamy Kitchen's website to get the "real" recipe, and to I Heart Faces for more wonderful pictures of yummy desserts!