Friday, May 25, 2012

Russel the Turtle


When my family was eating dinner tonight, I heard a really loud rustling noise in the bushes.  We eat on our porch when the weather is nice, and we have bushes and other plants surrounding it.  I went to investigate, and this is who I found.  I named him, yes he is a he, Russel because he was rustling around in the leaves.  Cheesy, I know, but I like quirky names.  Anyway, this is our resident turtle.  We have been seeing him around in the garden and landscaping for about the past two months. He is an old turtle, with the most beautiful eyes.  You can't really tell in the pictures, but they are bright red.  Hope you liked this little bit of randomness that I had to photograph because I'm just weird that way.


Thursday, May 24, 2012

Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque


I got this mask at around Easter, and I just started using it again.  I forgot how amazing it is. This masque is light green and smells like mint (no shock there).  It is a really creamy consistancy and applies very easily.  As it dries, you can see it pulling the impurities out of your skin.  It removes black heads, dries up acne, reduces pore size, and generally just makes your skin better. I love what this masque does to my skin, and it's really simple to use.  Just apply a thin layer to your face, let it dry completely, and wipe off with warm water and a washcloth.  I buy mine from ULTA, and for $3.99 a bottle, it's a steal.  It also does not test on animals, which is always good.



Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Peach Cake


My mom loves to buy fruit in bulk, and the rest of my family hates it.  She gets so much, there is no way we can eat it all without some of it going bad.  Because of this, I have a long list of recipes that call for fruit that is a little over ripe.  I decided to bake something to give to a friend of the family for all his help with our duck carvings, and we had peaches that needed to be used.  What a perfect combination for a peach cake.  This cake is very easy and will send any hungry male in your house searching for the source of the cinnamon and peaches baking.  My brother is calling me cruel because I won't let him eat any.  I can always tell if something is good when my brother a.) starts searching the house for what is being baked and b.) tries to pluck the peaches off the top when I'm not looking. There are always benefits to having eyes in the back of your head. 

This recipe works best when the peaches are soft, but normal or even frozen peaches work fine. 


Ingredients:
1/4 pound room temperature butter
1 cup sugar
2 extra-large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
3 large or 5 small ripe peaches



Cream the butter and sugar for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, on low speed.

Add the sour cream, yogurt, and vanilla extract and mix until smooth.

The mixture should look like this when done mixing.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a seperate bowl.

Add the flour mixture slowly to the butter, sugar, egg mixture until just combined.

Place half the batter and layer half the sliced peaches ontop into a greased 8-inch baking pan.


Layer the other half of batter and other half of peaches ontop.  Sprinkle with the cinnamon and nutmeg.

Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean, at 350F and let cool on a cooling rack. 


Ingredients:
1/4 pound room temperature butter
1 cup sugar
2 extra-large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
3 large or 5 small ripe peaches

Instructions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 F. and grease an 8-inch baking pan.
2.) Cream butter and sugar together for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.
3.) Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat on low speed.
4.) Add the sour cream, yogurt, and vanilla.  Mix on low speed until smooth.
5.) Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a seperate bowl.
6.) Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients slowly on low speed.  Mix until just combined.
7.) Peel, pit, and slice the peaches.
8.) Add half the batter to the pan and smooth the top. Add half the sliced peaches. Repeat with the other half of the batter and peaches.
9.) Sprinkle the top with cinnamon and nutmeg.
10.) Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.
11.) Let cool on a cooling rack. 

Enjoy warm or room temperature.


Monday, May 21, 2012

Nail Polish Review


This is my newest and favorite nail polish. It is OPI's Just Spotted the Lizard, and the color is almost the exact color of the Green Goblin. This color is also very similar to Chanel's Peridot. Out of all the colors in the new Spider-Man collection, this is by far my favorite. In the bottle it is a gold, greed, blue, and purple duo-chrome. When applied to the nails, you can only really see the gold and green. It was a little disappointing, but I still love the color. The only time when you can really see the other colors is when you have water on your hands. This applies very easily, and it seems to dry quicker than other OPI polishes I own. I applied two coats and it lasted for five days wihout chipping. Five days is good for me because I always have my hands in water and never wear a top coat. After the fifth day there were a few chips on my cuticle, so I put an extra coat on top. It lasted me a week before it really started to look worn.


Just Spotted the Lizard


You see this gold color about 75% of the time.


This green is visible about 25% of the time.


One coat, gold.


One coat, green.


Two coats, green.


Two coats, gold. As you can see, not all the colors in the bottle are visibl on the nails.
I apologize if any of the pictures are a little fuzzy. I was about a hundred pictures and ten seconds from throwing the camera out the window.

Friday, May 18, 2012

National Aquarium in Baltimore

On Wednesday, my class and I went to the aquarium in Baltimore for our class trip.  A huge step up from going to the park like last year.  It was a lot of fun, and I of course went picture crazy.  I figured that I would put up some of my favorite pictures so all of you could see.
Right when you walk in, there is a huge tank at ground level full of rays and sharks.

This is a closer image of one of the cute sharks in the open tank.  You would think that they would not be allowed to have an open tank.  People could fall in, but I guess they made it safe enough.

A nice shark that we saw.  Well, at least I think he is nice.

A cute little fish.

The plant was the main reason I took this picture, but the fish are nice too.

An eel that finally woke up after standing there for about five minutes.

A fish that was feeding on the side of the tank.

A REALLY big turtle.

This was in the rain forest. It of course had to start misting right when we went in, but this little bird landed right next to me, so I had to take a picture.

It's a parana.  A red-bellied parana, very original name.

A poisinous yellow frog.

The cutest fish I saw there.  He puffed up for the picture, so I guess he is pretty used to people.



Hope you enjoyed the pictures as much as I enjoyed the aquarium.  Have a wonderful day!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Getting to know me :)

Hi everyone, my name is Mandy.   I'm 16 years old and I live on the East Coast of the United States.  I made this blog because I love being able to write and express myself.  I'm not the most average girl you will ever meet, at least where I live.  I have been playing the violin for the past 8 years, and have been in an orchestra for the past 5 years.  I am also very involed in my county's 4-H.  If you don't know what that is, then the easiest way to explain it is to tell you to look it up on the Internet.  If you are in 4-H and know what it is, then you know what I mean.  I also love art.  Painting is my favorite form of art, but I also love to draw.  I cook and am always trying to find new recipies to make.  The most uncommon thing about me is that I hunt.  I go rabbit hunting with my dad, grandfather, and friends of the family.  I wish I could go deer hunting, but that's the busiest season for work.  Going along with the hunting theme, I also carve duck decoys.  My dad, brother, and I learned to carve them from a Master Carver with whom we are very good friends.  He taught us how to carve for the "carving out future carvers" program for the Ward Museum in Salisbury, Maryland.  This is just a very brief summary of who I am and what I do.  Please keep reading and let me know what you think.  Have a wonderful day!