52 in 2013 - #5 Theme of the Week: Red

Guess where I was shopping yesterday! I took a few shots of the Valentine card display, but the RED of the Valentines didn't compare to the RED of these shopping carts, parked at the front of the store. I didn't have my camera with me, so this is from my iPhone.

52 in 2013 - #4 Theme of the Week: Macro

Because I started this 52-in-2013 challenge a little late, I'm three weeks behind. Maybe I'll double up this week to start catching up. 

I don't have a macro lens, but I do have a wide angle adapter that, when reversed, works pretty well as a macro. That's what I used here, on my high school ring. The shallow depth of field came in handy in this photo, since the focus is on the mascot and name of my high school rather than on my graduation date. Wow, that was a long time ago!

Cheer cheer for ole' Juneau's fame.

Hear all the echoes calling her name.

Send the red and black on high,

Shake down the thunder from the sky.

Although the odds be great or small,

Ole' Juneau's fame will win over all.

As her loyal sons go marching

Onward to victory!

Rah Rah Rah!

52 in 2013 - #3 Theme of the Week: Shadow

Spring must be around the corner. The daylight is lasting longer each day. This evening I caught the last rays of the setting sun coming through the window blinds and casting a muted shadow on our textured living room wall.

Sometimes the Magic Works. Sometimes It Doesn't

I'm trying with all my heart to keep my blood glucose level in control, and I've been pretty successful by eating a low-carbohydrate diet. I'm actually enjoying the challenge. For one thing, I feel better, physically, than I have in a long, long time. And I'm losing weight - around 28 lbs. so far.

But sometimes I just WANT to eat some PIZZA, which doesn't fit into my carb-budget. As I was surfing the Internet for some new ideas, I ran across several recipes for pizza crust made from - you won't believe this - cauliflower. The idea is to shred a half-head of cauliflower and microwave it for a few minutes to soften it. After it cools you mix it up with an egg, a cup of mozzarella, some Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. This makes a "dough" that you can pat into the pizza pan. You bake it to crisp it and then top with your pizza goodies and bake again.

So I tried it today.

Here's a picture of the crust before I baked it.

Here it is after the crust was crisped in the oven.

And here it is after it was topped and baked.

It looks yummy, doesn't it? Well, sometimes appearances are deceiving. The flavor was fine; I didn't think it had a strong cauliflower taste, although Dan took a bite or two and thought it did. But what was COMPLETELY WRONG about it was that the crust did not get crispy. I had to eat it with a fork, and even then the bites were limp.

What's the best part of a pizza? The crispy crust! I guess I'd just as soon do without as make this again. But I think I get an A for effort! I'll keep trying.

I don't mean to throw cauliflower under the bus, though. A couple weeks ago I did have a success with using shredded cauli as a substitute for rice in a fried rice dish. Dan thought it was good, but said he didn't think I should try to pass it off as fried rice. He said I should just call it fried cauliflower, and enjoy it for what it is.