Homemade Modified Cucumbers

It's been a long long while since I gave an update on the elusive perfect pickle search...so far only found from Steck's in NJ. Where have I turned to in order to satisfy this craving? Homemade pickles. The photo above is my first batch. These were made with Bobby Flay's recipe found here. I don't have the right equipment to made the kind that take 4-6 weeks to achieve pickle-ness, so these are the quick overnight kind. And actually they are pretty good! They have a long way to go to reach Steck quality though. The hunt continues.

Remembering

Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks

Of Monsters and Men are from Reykjavik, Iceland and apparently draw a lot of comparisons to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Personally, they remind me a lot of this song from The Lumineers.  The video below from KEXP is apparently what kick started their fame. I can see why. Cool tune.

Over exposed found family photo...

A couple of years ago I found an old roll of film that was from our old home in NJ that had never been developed. I took it to a place to get developed and all of the photos came out bright orange due to over exposure or age. While taking shelter from the storm this past weekend I tried to restore one or two of them using the photo editor on our mac. Here is the original from the roll of film - this was the best ones on it. The rest were almost indecipherable.

Here is the one that I ended up with after adjusting the color balance. Not sure if it is better or not...

This is an old family photo taken outside of our front house in North Branch, NJ. Looks like around Christmas time. Not sure what year at all but I'm obviously the short one in the front left who looks pretty darn cold. It looks like it was before building out our front stoop area. I remember helping hang those Christmas lights every year. Good old Miller Ave memories.

Things used to be different...

I've spent the last two days cleaning out the closet in my office. It is a treasure trove of trash, memories, office supplies, and souvenirs from trips all over the place. Needless to say I found a ton of old photos and got a particular kick out of this one, which is courtesy of Sineddie who sent it back to me in 2003. The photo itself has to be from 1998 or prior but I am not 100% sure what year. I'm going to guess 1997 but I could be totally off base. These were the college years...back when I was innocent and full of hair...

Update: Now that I take a closer look, I think I can place this photo in Cincinnati. Quite possible that my brother might be able to pinpoint the year (if Sineddie cannot) as I think that is my brother's alpine chair in the background. 

Tornado Drills...

After we finished securing the items in our back yard in advance of the heavy winds, we decided to do a dry run or two of getting Jozy into tornado readiness. It took a few treats but eventually she got the hang of it...

Hunkering Down...

The weather is pretty calm at this point today but the word is that late tonight is is going to get a little rough in Lafayette with Tropical Storm Lee in the area. It's a slow moving system so we are expecting a ton of rain and we are under a tornado warning for most of the day. Luckily enough, our brand new couch finally arrived yesterday so we are going to set up camp there tonight well away from the frequently falling limbs of our pecan tree that is next to our bedroom. Jozy has already picked out her spot. We're probably being little over cautious in doing so...but I'd rather be safe than under a pecan limb.