Weekly Photo Challenge

the subject is
 “Tranquility”
suggested by Brilliantlypure

Keep on taking those photos,

 

Weekly Photo Challenge

the subject is
 ”Texture”
suggested by featherland

I like texture, possibly too much.  I like vivid color with light and shadow and use it on my pages knowing it may be disconcerting to some people.  But I enjoy it and as I am on my pages more than the visitor I decorate to suit myself.  Don’t we all do the same? Our surroundings influence how we feel and how we feel is important to wellbeing.  Texture, pattern and color influence emotions.

Texture is normally something we can feel with our fingers.  On a flat surfaced graphic, texture created by detail, color, light and shadow is what makes the image come alive giving it depth for your vision to travel around.  The artistic creator can add or take away to his own satisfaction to improve interest.   Many of my photos don’t have what it takes to make it special.  If the photo has a quality I want to keep but no excitement I play graphically trying for changes I think can improve it’s interest.  Interest, in my opinion, is what the end result is all about.  A boring photo or graphic is a waste of good space.

Photos I played with for the “Texture” challenge:

At the top left a house we saw as we drove labor day weekend.  When I viewed the photo all I could think was BORING.  I decided to add clouds and the cows to the image top right.  I still couldn’t stand it.  Next step, gradient color for interest.  The final two tries, bottom right and the one below I like well enough for a greeting card.  The texture of tree branches framing the image and the colors made it fun enough to like.

Wild and crazy it may be but this wildly colored graphic is my favorite but another edit, having studied the final entry of the house and the cows over and over, I still can’t stand the thing.  As it is in this entry it will remain here but it doesn’t do it for me, at all.  It’s a wasted bit of work having no real interest like the photos below do. 

This was a beautiful view on the side of the road.  I like this image with all the natural texture.  I decided to play for the fun of it and created the image below which is a favorite, for me, in this challenge entry.

Editing this thought into this entry:  It occurs to me “imagination” adds a huge amount of texture to an image.  If you look at this image and think of the deer, the fox or the pheasant that may be hiding in the brush or the man who has exited his car and gone over the rail in need of a few seconds hiding behind one of the shrubs, there is a tremendous lot of added interest. 

I really like this one also.  Sometimes photos, texture and color call to me just to play.

 

Keep on taking those photos,

 

 

PictureHeaven challenge #16:
 ”Gifts”

I love gifts in all sizes, shapes and aromatic smells but the gift I have enjoyed ongoing for years are my computer, my camera for digital photos and my graphics editor Paint Shop Pro.  The creativity these three things have encouraged have also allowed me to make gifts of my creativity, tangible and otherwise.  I have spent a lot of time playing and learning and having fun with the unit of three so it wasn’t hard to decide to write about them as a gift I myself have enjoyed that in turn has created gifts.  Having said this I’ll enter a group of photos/graphics as a display from the use of my camera, computer and Paint Shop Pro.

This is my photo I began with.  It was taken with my, quite outdated now, Kodak digital camera.  Taking photos always produces gifts.  I get outside and fill time with the pleasurable gift of taking the photos and then enjoy viewing them when I come home and load them into my computer.

   

After selecting this particular photo to work with, I removed everything but the detail then added graphic playing with Paint Shop Pro.  There are many graphics editors on the Computer software market.  You can spend bundles or not so much.  Paint Shop Pro gives you a lot for not a lot of money and for me it has been very much “problem free”. 

I gave the image a new base color of green.

I began adding images I cut out from other photos I took plus Hettie who came as a share for tubing from my friend Tim Beddard from the U.K. and I add touches of color, some sunshine, blue sky and some clouds

for the finished product.  My image can be printed out as the upper half of a fold down greeting card which I would add some text on the inside and my name and a copyright on the back of the card.  I might choose to add it to an album of my work or even print for framing.  The fun of the creating is a “constant gift” for me and I feel my original cards are gifts to whomever might receive them.  I couldn’t enjoy the fun of the creating without the tangible gifts of my  computer and  camera and my very much prized software  Paint Shop Pro.

 

Keep on taking those photos,

Art Rage Challenge
The topic for the month of September is:

“Lights”

This challenge allowed me to use photos I might not normally use.  They aren’t the best photos but some are very exciting because of the bursts of “lightning like” lighting created by different light sources.  I have played with some graphic fixing to remove pixelation.

This is an older photo taken in Ohio from the opposite entrance of a covered bridge.  For this challenge, I pulled in what I felt important, the rear tail lighting of the auto and the barely noticeable welcoming window lighting in the home in the background and the very subtle light left in the oncoming night sky still peeking through the cut outs in the top of the bridge and in the distance. 

Here, screaming colors of headlights and business off the side of the road created by the movement of our car and what the camera can see, the lights and their jostled colors.

Neon lighting was everywhere when I was young in the fifties.  It decorated the windows of the bars, ice cream parlors and the little steel diners that were popular.  Neon has made a comeback and I really enjoy seeing it.  It’s eye catching and festive; the forth of July every night.  This neon is not far from us in a small center of food shops.

Another “jostling of light and color” as we travel through the Hampton Roads underwater tunnel in Norfolk, Virginia heading home from a visit.  It’s exciting to drop into the tunnel with the only light from car headlights and some wall lighting with you zooming past walls that appear to close in on you.  Sign’s warn “Do not change lanes as you drive the tunnel” which is 7,479 feet in length and 108 feet below sea level at its lowest point.  The burst of daylight at the end is very welcoming and the camera sees it the same way.

Auto shopping at night allows you get photos like this one.  This photo was taken through the windshield of our car while my other half is inside dickering prices with the salesman. 

A familiar spot to many of us who get the hungries at night.  Our hungries on this outing were during a trip made to visit Wordwarrior39 in Ashland, Kentucky.  This Burger King was near our motel and we were very glad it was.  The nice thing about late night hungries is there are no long auto lines but there is strange lighting for you and your camera to play with.  Notice the carry out being handed through the window to the driver of the car.  Whatever it is in that bag, I could eat one right now.

A quieter setting to end my entry, taken on our way home from Virginia.  You can see the mountains and hills in the background.  My intent was to try to catch some of the contrails that were everywhere that evening.  You can see, faintly a couple of them, one in the blue of the sky and one just above the darkness of the trees silhouettes.  I managed to get very few contrails in all the shots I took but the sun was in its magnificent display lighting mode.

Please remember the lights that went out today at the World Trade Center USA.  Remember the lives lost.  Never forget 9/11 and the wake up call it brought to the United States and the historical change the destruction made.  God Bless America with the will to stay strong in the face of adversities and the courage to discover the correct way to continue on in a changing world.  My prayer is for the discovery of better ways of dealing with nations, people, education, economies and above all, the environment. 

Keep on taking those photos,

 

 

Weekly Photo Challenge

the subject is
 ”Feet”
suggested by Reed44

I like Happy Feet and my feet have requirements for happiness.  They like wiggle room and fun.  Their favorite fun is paddling around in cool water in a creek.

Painted pigs are top priority for grandma feet and grandchild feet.

Foot Massage, my feet like a good rub.  Petting with your feet works both ways.

Tired Feets gotsta rest.  Give your feet some down time.

Foot bath, body bath, whatever.  Happy feet jump with joy at the pampering of a bubble bath.

We were endowed with feet and legs for a reason.  We are supposed to walk.  Walking is the best exercise for feet and legs and the body (don’t forget the body).  The walking costs nothing but the doing.  Treat your feet and your curiosities with some walking.  Don’t forget to take your camera. 

A story about feet:  I wear a size 9 shoe.  It used to be a six then an 8 and then an 8 and a half and finally a nine.  I grew up when fashion was coming into the school systems.  Shoes and nice clothes and make up were of interest to all the girls.  I myself loved shoes but the smaller sizes which looked so nice in the shops didn’t look quite as nice in the larger sizes.  I had a tiny Italian aunt who as an adult wore a size 4.  She purchased children’s size shoes for everyday but her closets were filled with designer heels from the special display racks.  I could never find the sweet little heels like she wore and many of the girls in my school, though they didn’t wear a size 4 always had great looking clothes and the most popular shoes showing off their smaller feet.  I didn’t like myself, I understand young people and lack of self esteem.  I was thin, flat chested and had big feet.  That is what I saw and a later dating situation that included the brother of my date and his date, Helen, did little for my ego as Helen managed to notice and pick on the size of my feet regularly.  Her foot size was a 5/6.

I was in my twenties when I met my husband who wears a size 11D in a mans shoe.  Somehow we clicked and married within six weeks of meeting, 40 years by the end of this year.  John and I are touchy, feely people.  We enjoy foot cuddles or legs resting closely to each other or neck and back rubs while just talking, anything for the electricity fed to us by a touch.  On this occasion, I can’t recall the exactness as it was emotional, we were doing nothing out of the ordinary but he was rubbing my feet and he said “do you know one of the things I love about you is your pretty, little feet.”  It brought me to tears and in fact, changed my life as it allowed me, immediately, a new and more accepting view of myself.  Thank you my dear and very special husband.

 

Many a famous foot has been at the site of great discovery.
Use your feet and keep on taking those photos,

 

 

Xanga,

Have a safe Labor Day Weekend.

Find a pleasant picnic spot and enjoy.

CLICK HERE for 1024 x 768

Enjoy your weekend,

Becca

 

 

 

Weekly Photo Challenge

the subject is
 ”Mountains and Hills”
suggested by Rainy! dame

I was raised understanding diversity within ethnic groups, religion and topographical geography.  Ethnic groups, I am.  Religion of all kinds was as close as the neighbor on my little street and topographical understanding came from navigating messy girls bed spaces, climbing over piles of dirty laundry and books and toys and what all else girls collect through the years so paved the way of understanding for some of what mountain climbers encounter.   

The geographics of Ohio shows off some lovely hills.  Some elevations reach mountain height, unobtrusively, in Bellefontain, Ohio.  My favorite Ohio hills reach up along the Appalachian trail that feeds through Hillsboro, and on toward Chillicothe.  It is my favorite Ohio drive.  Some of Ohio’s extremes are shown off most beautifully as the road winds its way among the rolling hills.  Most of Ohio is hill territory, not mountainous but rolling and filled with diversifying attributes.   Cincinnati where I have lived near all of my life is known as “the city of seven hills“.  You can even buy a book, Cincinnati, City of Seven Hills and Five Inclines.

It’s a shame all the shots I don’t have.  Most of my life has been lived before the age of the digital camera.  I do, however, have some that let you know my eyes were wide open to claiming, photographically, hills and mountains along the roads I have been most fortunate to travel, carrying my small, trusty, well used little Kodak camera.  

Photos © RSBlain 
 Mountains and Hills 

This is an upheaval made eons ago.  It is a small example of how mountains are made and it is a very small portion of this state park.  For the life of me I can’t remember the name of the park.  Anyway, this solid mound of rock sits as a reminder of greater things.  My friend sitting on top of this rock is WordWarrior39.  I emailed him for the name of the park and it is Carter Caves State Park in Kentucky.  Thank you so much Jim.  I am so glad your memory is better than mine.

This is the same park and the hill / mountain to the left is quite large, high and rocky.  It is filled with caves and you can see the mouth of a cave to the left and behind the trunks of the trees.

In the distance you see Debuke, Iowa.  This incline takes visitors to the level of the city and to the top of the hill where photographers can take some wonderful photos.

This is a view you can see from the US Grant home in Galena.  I loved this hilly view and treasure the photos I took.  I have no idea what the sculpture is supposed to represent.

This is a scene typical of areas in Virginia.  The ground is rocky and there are a lot of Mountains and the sheep are very much at home in the environment.

This cut in the mountain provided the way for the highway traveling through West Virginia, USA.  This scene was taken through the windshield of our car.  I titled it “Negotiating the Curves” and had to really steady myself to get this shot I feel very good about.

Negotiating the curves seems to be exactly what this driver didn’t do.  This (previously posted) photo was taken very close to my home.  The hill the upturned car is resting against is another cut out providing for the road.  The hill isn’t quite the magnitude or interest of the previous photo.  It did however manage to stop this driver and it may have saved someone else’s life.

Mountains and hills provide homes for wildlife, minerals we wear and heat for our homes plus recreational facilities and beauty found no where else on Earth as the conditions are only right in the mountains environment.  Hidden underneath this blanket of flowers is a mountain.

This photo has been edited into this challenge entry after John and I decided to take the drive up the Appalachian highway to the Hillsboro area during the labor day weekend.  This was taken not far from the Thunder in the Hills festival / lake area.

A marvelous movie about mountains,
“The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain“.  I recommend it highly as quietly fine and the data base gives it a 6.4 rating.

Some wonderful mountain information I found while doing Internet surf studies for mountains. 

• a mountain is a land mass that projects well above its surroundings; higher than a hill wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn 


• A mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. A mountain is generally much higher and steeper than a hill, but there is considerable overlap, and usage often depends on local custom. Some authorities define a mountain as a peak with a topographic prominence over an arbitrary value: for example, the Encyclopædia Britannica requires a prominence of 2,000 feet (610 m).
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain 

• A mountain is a raised part of the earth’s surface. It is bigger than a hill. A mountain has to be at least 1,000 feet above the earth’s surface. Some mountains look pointed and sharp at the top. Other mountains look more round. When a mountain has a crater in its top, it is a volcano.
  www.howardcc.edu/kids/geovoc.html 

Ohio elevations:  Ohio  lowest land = 850 ft  highest = Campbell Hill  1,549  the Ohio River  455 .  Campbell Hill (Wikipedia) from the reading I have done slopes upwards in a relatively boring manner thus losing it’s mountainous appeal. 

This is where you will find, the BEST HIKING in OHIO. 

I found An ASSORTMENT OF PAGES filled with the MAN’S MAN mountains of the WORLD including the United States, for rugged climbing and there are some really fine photos on the site. 

Keep on taking those photos,

 

 

Picture_Heaven challenge #15

I love color and go for upbeat and colorful moods using them.  As getting out for photos in the heat we are having isn’t an option right now, I am posting some of the banner headers I have made and used in the past on my site.  My banners are indicative of my color tastes.

If I create a graphic it usually involves a lot of color.

This is a banner I created for my use with Paint Shop Pro.

Flowers leaves and trees are target when I am out.  I always have my camera with me.

What you see here are Petunias.  These pinks were so gorgeous they took my breath away.  They were in a Wonderful clay pot in Symbolreader‘s yard. 

These Bloodroot leaves are growing in my yard.  Their green leaves look so fresh and cool you might think you could wrap food in your lunch cooler with it.  Notice peppermint on the left.

These are a decorator bouquet I saw in Sams???  My memory is failing but the color in the photo isn’t.  Red violets spectacular and if you squint you can see rainbows.

Mother’s Day Tulips in the softest pinks, limes and white.  My daughter sent them to me.  I probably took a hundred different shots they were so beautiful.

Christmas Poinsettia in Christmas Reds in pots purchased for my Christmas decoration.

Gorgeous shades of green!!! evergreens in my sister’s yard in Columbus, Ohio.

Bugs, I love to take photos of colorful bugs and snails or ???

Photos of Bumble Bees aren’t easy to get but with that soft yellow color, who could resist?  This photo taken at Lake Isabella park.

 

This caterpillar at the lake moved a bit slower in gold and gray coat.  It’s amazing how fast they really are.

With his wonderful orange eyes and black accents this Cicada tempted my camera eye.  He was one of the millions in Cincinnati for the 17 year locust deluge a few years ago.

And this snail was at the side of my porch on a brick.  His golden tones were amazing to see along with all the texture in his body.

I would love to add more color to this entry but am afraid my page will load as slow as this snail moved.  Unless I come up with something spectacularly more colorful to add, these will fulfill my entry for the “It’s All About Color” Picture Heaven challenge.

Keep on taking those photos,

 

 

Weekly Photo Challenge

the subject is
“Pose for the Camera”
suggested by LadyLioness1973

POSING!!!  Not being photogenic I seldom share photos of me.  The recent “a day in the life of” entry plus another recent entry on my LittleEgypt site is above and beyond my comfort level.  I do, HOWEVER, have a husband who has a wonderfully photogenic smile and he tolerates my photo taking.  My husband’s family values the past and present in photography and they do a lot of genealogical photo sharing. 

… Lucky Me …

  My honey … “Posing“for posterity  

… and to keep me happy, clicking away …

John and I decided to do some pretend commercial shoots.  One local commercial is for a healthier vegetable juice, touting its merits over sugary sodas.  The words for the commercial are “You could have had a V8” which if you will notice the v8 can held, that is exactly what he is doing.

From the parking lot above, we went into Cici’s cafeteria style “all you can eat” pizza parlor.  The food is decent and the prices more so, $4.49 per person.  Drink water and no add on.  Add a drink for a buck.  They serve a whopping sixteen styles of pizza, have a nice salad bar and a pasta bar and soup and a dessert to go with the Pizza.  Cici’s Pizza, this is your free commercial via Xanga’s  Weekly Photo Challenge.

It has been very hot here in the States.  We ventured out for a picnic this past Sunday as it was a little cooler.  Lee’s Famous Recipe Fried Chicken is our choice for a fast food picnic or tailgate and was I ever in the mood for fried chicken.  I had the camera ready to go before John was but I liked this shot even if on the sobre sober side.

This is a resting pose after his “after the Lee’s Famous Recipe meal walk”.   

John got to laughing with my asking him for poses.  As we were talking commercials he took out his Verizon cell phone.  “Can you hear me now?“.

This downed limb is one of the Woodland Mound Park trees.  Cincinnati was hit by a storm early in the week.  It missed our little town completely (we seem to be in a protected area, knock on wood).  The storm took out a lot of trees including this one plus a lot of damage to homes.  I had to talk John into a Crocodile Dundee lll type pose (remember Dundee and associate in the tree after the croc took the boat under and the limb cracking and falling into the water?).  John didn’t trust the limb but it was calling to me for photo use.

I managed to get a few relaxed shots where John wasn’t staring at the split in the tree, listening for tell tale cracking. 

Mentioning the flowers used in my graphics, they are photos taken of wild flowers growing in the park.  The purple is Ironweed and the yellow is Goldenrod.  The Goldenrod, by the way, makes a very nice tea by rinsing it first free of bugs and dirt then steeping leaves and flowers, dry or fresh in boiling water.  I prefer fresh over the dry.

A small photo of the split in the tree which is pretty good size, the tree and the split.  The downed limb is nearly as big around as John is so it’s heavy. 

Enough for now.  John is a willing partner in my photo taking.  I have lots of candid shots and poses of him I enjoyed taking.  You will see him often in my entries as he is willing to put up with me.  What would I do without him?  

I had fun posting for this challenge.  I am not positive he had as much fun posing as I had taking them.  I hope anyone viewing enjoys his willingness to tolerate and help me with this challenge.  All links by the way take you to the genuine article, V8, Cici’s Pizza, Lee’s Famous Recipe, Verizon Wireless and Woodland Mound Park.

  

Keep on taking those photos,

 

 

Weekly Photo Challenge
subject is “Vegetables”
suggested by Closethippie

We like vegetables in our house.  In fact if we miss eating greens for a while we feel ill.  We have to have our ration of greens and other vegetables.  We like about anything, except Beets and if they are harvard prepared, I’ll even eat those.  We eat fresh, canned and frozen depending on price and availability.  We are not vegetarians.  I like meat though we don’t eat as much of it as some people do and we love fresh fruit, grains and nuts.  I am picky.  If the veggie or fruit isn’t up to par, I feed our compost pile.

My photos are a mix of food / vegetable shots.  I like taking food photos.  I think it’s because I like to eat that I appreciate the visible beauty of vegetables in the field, in the grocery and on the table. 

My photos:  I like to think of my food photos as, 

“ photographic vitamins “

This is wild Poke, appreciated a lot in the Southern USA.  You pick the young and tender leaves and stalks in the early Spring for eating.  The berries come on later and are poisonous but are used for cloth dyes and more.  If the plant has berries, it’s normally considered too old for salad.

Tender poke makes a good salad.  Elvis Presley, Jerry Reed and others sing the tune Poke Salad Annie.  Click the link to read the lyrics.

Recipe:  Poke Salad

Poke Salad = fresh picked leaves and young stems

1 to 2 lbs. Poke Salad
6 to 8 slices bacon
1 lg. onion
2 eggs

Pick and wash poke salad, bring to a rapid boil for 20 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold tepid water. Bring to a rapid boil, starting with cold water, for a second boil for 20 minutes. Again drain and rinse with cold tepid water. Now for the third time, starting over cold tepid water bring to a rapid boil for 20 more minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Let drain completely.

Meantime fry bacon and save drippings; set aside. Clean and cut onion in quarters. Take drained poke salad. Cook in fry pan that you fried your bacon. Add 1/4 cup of drippings and shortening from bacon. Add onion, 1/4 cup of water, salt to taste. Let steam fry until onions are sauteed, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve and garnish with hard boiled egg and bacon.

 This is field corn waiting in the field for picking.  I am glad it was waiting, I love this photo.  When dry, the corn is picked and husked and shucked and loaded into feed bags or into silos for feed for cattle and pigs on the farm.  It can be ground into meal and used for baking corn bread.  You can buy cornmeal in white and yellow meal.  I prefer the yellow as it bakes up prettier.  My favorite recipe for corn bread came from this site and we do love it.

~Absolute Best Mexican Cornbread

 ”This has got to be the tastiest and the most moist cornbread I have ever made. Don’t let the ingredients fool you. It’s unbelievable.”  Original recipe yield: 6 servings.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
4 eggs
1 (15 ounce) can cream-style corn (for the UK readers, cream style corn would be compared to corn cut off the cobs while fresh with the milky juices and add a little sugar and cornstarch or thickener to make it a heavier consistency.  Maybe like a corn pudding but not real thick.) 
1/2 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers, drained (Add the peppers carefully to taste.  If you don’t like hot spicy food this will be too hot.  cut the amount into a half or forth)
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

——————————————————————————–

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.
In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in cream corn, chiles, Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese.
In a separate bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to corn mixture; stir until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted into center of the pan comes out clean.
(Becca’s preference for cooking:  use a deep iron skillet, grease it and put it into the oven to get hot while preparing the batter.  Pour the batter into the hot skillet for a crisp browned crust and adjust the cooking time by watching and checking with a toothpick.)

 Pumpkins for soups but most recognized for pies or puddings.  You can dry the seeds for eating also.

Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients: 3/4 cup heavy cream, 3/4 cup whole milk, 1 can pumpkin (15 ounces), 1 cup dark brown sugar, 3 large eggs, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Fresh pumpkin can be used, but cook it first (usually by cutting the pumpkin into pieces and baking in the oven.  NOTE:  most pumpkins in the market are carving pumpkins and won’t be as good as the canned you can buy).

Prepare a 9-inch pie crust or defrost a frozen pie crust. Using a fork, punch holes into the dough so it won’t rise while prebaking. If using pie weights, this step is unnecessary. Prebake the pie crust according to directions or at 400°F for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk pumpkin and spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt) together over medium heat in a medium sauce pan. When the pumpkin begins to cook, whisk in the brown sugar.

Once the mixture is fully blended, scrape the sides of the saucepan down and whisk again.

Add milk and cream and continue to whisk.

Once the mixture begins to bubble and splutter, remove from heat.

Beat the eggs to form a nice creamy consistency (about two seconds in a blender).

While blending on low speed, pour the pumpkin pie filling through the feeder hole in the blender cap. This will help break down any fibrous or tough parts of pumpkin creating a smooth filling.

Pour the pumpkin pie filling into the prebaked crust. If you used a deep dish pie crust, this should fit perfectly. If using a “normal” pie crust, there was about a cup of filling left over, which can be made into pumpkin custards by filling ramekins. Bake at 400°F for 25 minutes or until center of pie is jiggly when pie is rotated gently.  The general rule is to fill two thirds full.

Remove from heat and let cool on a cooling rack for at least one hour. The center will fully set without over cooking the outer edges by removing the pie early. Refrigerate and serve cold, warmed up, or at room temperature.  Garnish with whip cream.

Fresh shelled peas right from the garden are good to eat raw or in salads.  Snow peas can be eaten with the hull.  If I want to cook the peas, I like to saute them lightly in butter in a pan just to heat.  If cooked too long they turn starchy.  Treat them gently like Asparagus.  For a meal, bake a potato, split it and garnish with the cooked peas and cubes of lightly heated ham and black pepper.  You might like a little butter and sour cream on it also.  Add some slices of fresh tomato on the side with a sprinkle of dill weed, cold pressed olive oil and raspberry wine vinegar.

The background is fresh sweet peppers.  We love them stuffed with a rice, ground beef and parmasan cheese filling then dropped into a hot tomato sauce with tomato pieces in it.  Make enough to cover the peppers.  Cook it down to about half for a gravy.  We like them served up with mashed potatoes. 

The greens are spinach greens with fresh pork cooked then added to the greens and cooked long enough to give a meaty flavor to the greens.  At the top you see a steak dinner with a side of mixed garden vegetables lightly saute’ in butter.  Bottom right is Chili prepared with red kidney beans and ground beef and tomatoes, salt, pepper and lots of cumin and whatever other ingredients you want in your chili.  I fix the soup separate and add the cooked ground beef into the bowls.  The meat keeps more of its flavor. 

I am h-u-n-g-r-y after fixing this entry.  I am in the mood for a pot of soup beans with greens on the side and some cornbread.  Fresh tomato slices would be good with nice young cucumber and onion slices. 

Yummy

Keep on taking those photos,