A Rare Posting - A Recipe for the Masses

So this is a special edition of my blog post... Courtesy of my lovely wife.

Last weekend I attended a framing party for Help Portrait. I brought a bucket, yes literally a one gallon bucket, of Peppernuts that my wife had made. They were a hit. When I left two hours later the bucket was drained as several people took ziplock bags of them home with them.

Many of the folks who attended asked for the recipe and tonight Nathan reminded me that I need to get this recipe out there; or else. So here it is.

Peppernuts 

Ingredients:

3 cups white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1½ cups of butter
3 eggs
1½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. oil of anise
9-10 cups of flower
(Optional - ½ to 1 cup of crushes nuts; peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, etc.)

Steps:

1. Cream together sugars and butter.
2. Add eggs and set aside.
3. In a new bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Add to creamed mixture from Step 1 with oil of anise.
4. Kneed thoroughly on lightly floured board or using a mixer with a dough-hook. Do not try and use a mixer without a dough-hook or you will burn it out. No dough-hook means kneed by hand.  
5. Two options for Step 5 pick one:
• Option 1: Roll dough into long ropes, ¾ inch in diameter. Using scissors, snip into ½ inch long segments.
• Option 2: Split the dough in half and roll each half flat until it is ¼ inch thick. Cut into 1"x1" squares. 
6. In Step 7, start with a small batch, of six or so, and experiment with how your oven cooks.
7. Bake at 325° for 12 minutes. 

*IMPORTANT - Do not over bake. At twelve minutes these will be crispy cookies or nuggets, depending on your choice in Step 5. If you go over twelve minutes and they will burn. If you take them out at nine or ten minutes, the center will be firm but chewy, a little like salt water taffy in texture. You can experiment with this timing to get the results you want.

If you are seeing this...

If you are seeing this post, it is because you come here on your own and not because I posted it in to the social webs. This means you are interested in what I have to show, teach and talk about. Thank you. I won't be sharing on my personal social media sites any longer. If the few that actually want to come see these posts, they can do so of their own free will and not because I used my personal social media accounts to whore myself out.

I have been posting a lot lately about fall, mainly because I experienced two full months of fall this year. Normally in Oregon, we get one week of fall. Under normal conditions, the trees in Oregon start to change colors and then the first big storm comes in with high winds and heavy rains and rip both fall leaves and green leaves from the branches and all of the color ends up on the ground. One week, boom, and fall is over.

This year was different. Fall lasted a what felt like forever. It was only two weeks ago that the landscape truly looked winter-stark. It was beautiful year to live in Oregon in the fall.

But it is time for me to move on and stop dwelling on the beauty of fall. It is time for me to shift my focus on my New Years resolutions. I know, those lames resolutions, but I actually did well on my resolutions this year and I am looking forward to developing next year's.

Last year's goals and results were focused on giving and were as such:

• Educating
• Giving
• Execution

In the realm of education I taught numerous low-cost workshops to teach photographers. By low cost, I mean I didn't pocket much, if any money per workshop. In total I may have made $30 this year after all expenses were paid. I made it a point to make myself available to members of my photo club members to answer their questions during our events.

In the realm of giving I volunteered at the local humane society, until my car broke down and then a few months later I sold all my lighting equipment and wasn't able to make the pet portraits properly. I participated in the help portrait event this year, as a matter of fact I am going to a framing party for this help portrait today. I vowed to guide others in the pursuit of their goals and as a result I gave a lecture on goal setting and   I encouraged a photographer friend to pursue an education in the arts and as a result she started in the Visual Communication Program at the local community college.

In the realm of execution I had great successes in that I was able to pick 4 projects and execute them. One of the projects was to shoot a themed fall portfolio using a style I developed on my own and not something I read how to do on the internet. That is what the last few months have been about.

So now, I head into the bowels of winter, thinking of what I want and more importantly can accomplish this coming year. Stay tuned for my resolution post. 

Free Texture Friday - Zig-Zag Abstract

This week's free texture is natural abstract zig-zag pattern.

You can download the full-res version below.

This photograph was captured at Bush Park in Salem, Oregon.





Download the full res image here.