Three Cheese Enchiladas

If there's a recipe title on the photo above, you'll know I updated the picture.  As I type this right now, there's nothing but a little watermark on the bottom.  Oh, well.

Life has been busy, good, hard, and stressful, all rolled into one.  More on that soon, I promise--I seem to blog in spurts, catching up by posting in bunches when the urge rises in my heart.  Aside from that, I'm just blogging through my photos, and these two yummy pictures popped up next.  I'm sure you just want the recipe, so here it is.  I'll blog in depth in another post.

Three Cheese Enchiladas

16 oz. shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided (I've used Colby Jack, too--just as yummy)
16 oz. shredded mild cheddar cheese, divided
8-oz. package cream cheese
2 1/2 cups salsa or picante sauce, divided
2-3 green bell peppers, cored and diced
1/2 cup sliced green onions
2 1/2 teaspoons cumin
~20 corn tortillas, or ~16 flour tortillas
toppings:  shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, sliced olives, sour cream, etc.

Combine about 3/4 of each Monterey Jack and cheddar, all the cream cheese, half the salsa, the green pepper, onions, and the cumin.  Mix well.  Spoon about 1/4 cup of this cheese mixture down the center of each tortilla; use less if you're using corn tortillas--they're smaller!  Fold tortilla up (or roll if corn tortillas) and arrange in a 13x9 baking pan.  Spoon remaining salsa over the enchiladas, and sprinkle the remaining Monterey and cheddar over that.  Bake at 350F until crisped up and cheese is all melted and crispy on the edges.  Serve with toppings--whichever ones work for you!

Back to life,
Christine

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A Carrot, a Butterfly, and Dinner with Friends

August 8.

I wandered out into my garden to take some macro pictures for you, and started with the carrots, because they're growing!!!  Look at that carrot--isn't it beautiful?

As I rounded the corner of the strawberry bed, this beautiful butterfly landed in the dirt.  What a great photo opportunity--and I promptly forgot about the rest of the garden.  Such is my aging mind!

A little later, my "big sister" Lori came by, and we chatted for so long that I invited her and her hubby to stay for dinner.  She ran home and got her chicken and other yummies, and we grilled the meat.  Lori made sangria with fruit from her son Bryan's Wisconsin farm.

Food and drink--no pictures of us or our friends!  We had a wonderful time catching up, eating on the patio and enjoying the beautiful summer evening together.


Back to life,
Christine

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Arboretum Sunset

August 7.

Fernando and I decided to take a quick sunset trip to the Arboretum, since they're open to dusk--which, technically, would be after the sun fully sets.  Which is good for me, and all photographers at the Arboretum.

After we arrived, I realized I didn't know exactly where would be a good place to set up my tripod for pictures.  I figured since the sun sets in the west, we'd go to the west side.

I had to get really creative with perspective, so I ended up setting up in a parking lot at the prairie station.  I set up low and angled up to capture just the shadows of the trees.  It worked pretty well, though I'm sure the sky was more spectacular elsewhere.  But it was okay--I as there and I got to breathe in another sunset experience.

The clouds seems to outline one tree in particular, so I turned my camera vertically and took the below image, which is my favorite from the night.

I was running out of time, plus we forgot the bug spray--ugh.  At my back was this really cool circular cloud over the trees.

God's peace fills my spirit as I watch the sky change from moment to moment; I know He set the sun in its place, and He is in control.  This knowledge is peace to me.


Back to life,
Christine

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Another Day, Another Lake

August 1 meant one more month until autumn--for September is an autumn month to me, even if it's still warm out.  And it meant one more month until my birthday month and our anniversary month!

This August 1st also meant a trip into Wisconsin!  I had a family portrait session at a client's lake house, and they invited Fernando and me up for the weekend.  In just a little over two hours, we were at their house and Lauderdale Lake!

The view from their front yard.

Steve and Stephanie took us out on their pontoon boat for a tour of the lake--there are actually three connected lakes--and to scout out possible locations for a portrait session.  We had so much fun talking and enjoying the scenery that we decided to just do portraits in their yard.  Fernando posed for me while the family changed clothes, and I got some good ideas for different spots to shoot in.

The C. family portraits will be put up on my photography website soon; for now, suffice it to say the camera went away and we enjoyed a great meal grilled by Steve, and an evening filled with laughter and fun.  We went back out for a midnight swim; Stephanie and I stayed on the boat while Steve and son Ryan and Fernando went for a swim in one of the bays.

We didn't get to bed until 2:00am!  After a lazy morning and yummy breakfast made by Stephanie, Fernando and I took off for home, making sure we purchased a case of Spotted Cow (Wisconsin brew; we loved our initiation to this flavorful brew!) before crossing the border.

As soon as we pulled into our driveway, I grabbed my camera and started snapping this thunderhead that was looming toward us.  Most of the rain missed us, but the clouds were an impressive sight!

Mammatus clouds as the storm approached.

Back to life,
Christine

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Late July in My Garden

Late July, and time to pick some more tomatoes!  They produced late this year, but I was thankful for whatever I could get.

Water drops on sage.

My Garden Peach tomato plants--both of them--produced prolifically, and I have enjoyed searching for the fuzzy yellow heirloom tomatoes on the plants!  I want to try making yellow tomato salsa this year, using only these delicious tomatoes.

After picking tomatoes and waering everything, I took my deck shot.  You can tell it's morning, because the sun cast my shadow onto the strawberry plants.  :)

Time for a bug break.  One of the guys alerted me to the presence of this cicada on our front walk.

The next day, I tackled the garlic.  It had been ready before we left for vacation, but I didn't have any time.  It's hard on my back, to be on my hands and knees digging this stuff up, but boy, is it worth it!  I usually have garlic to last me an entire year.  I couldn't wait to see what this year's crop would look like.

One section dug up.

Fernando lent his assistance in the middle bed, digging things up with a shovel and helping me sift through the dirt for the fragrant bulbs hidden inside.

Two sections dug up.

Time for a tomato break.  I picked a few more, and went over to my "dirt pile" in my special place to see what the few plants my friend Becki had given me were doing.  I harvested several jalapenos and two tomatoes, and left one green pepper on the vine to grow some more.

Then it was back to the garlic bed, where I finished off the year's harvest.  Whew!

All the garlic was laid out in the sun to be cured!  What a great feeling.  As I sit here typing and looking at the picture, I notice that I need new mulch in my walkways...  A gardener's work is never done, it seems, until winter finally covers the beds with a blanket of snow and all is forgotten until spring's melt.


Back to life,
Christine

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The Lake -- The End

Friday and Saturday, July 25-26.

Lazy morning Saturday, lunch, then Fernando was determined to go to Winter Bay one last time.  The five of us took off in the pontoon boat, and even though it was still a little cold, we enjoyed being in the water on our last day.  Being Saturday, Winter Bay was filling up with boats and people, but we managed to get there just in time to get a spot on the shore.

The cool afternoon was spent relaxing inside; I snuck a phone picture of Jake and Allie reading her Kindle together.

The clouds came in and there was way too much cloud cover that night to catch any sort of a sunset, so we packed what we could to get ready for our departure the next day...

Sunday morning, we got everything together and packed pretty quickly, but I had one more ritual I needed to do.  I walked down to the dock to say goodbye to my lake.

It was calm this morning, and I imagined myself grabbing the kayak and paddling along the shore as far as I could go. 

But, it was time to go home, so I took one last picture, said my goodbyes, and headed back up to the car.

Back to life,
Christine

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The Lake -- Day Six

Friday, July 24.

This week went by too fast.  Today's POD (plan of the day) for me was to go with Dad and Mom into Carthage to the Friday farmers market, so Mom could pick up a few things for her and Dad for the next week, and for me to purchase fresh eggs to bring home.

After the farmers market, we drove back through town and past Dad's old childhood home.  Dad and Mom thought it had changed drastically when they drove by it the week before, but we all think that they went down a different street, because the house still looks like it did several years ago.

Jake, Allie and Joseph spent the afternoon at the dock, enjoying the warmth of the sun because it was still cool.  Joseph had gotten a cold, and so had I, so I snapped a picture then napped in a chair in the sun.

Fernando had gone out in the Caddy fishing, and I was at the dock to greet him.

Fernando made a unilateral decision to go into Carthage to eat at Stefano's Pizza!  Tom and Bea (lake friends) told us to get the garlic knots--I could've eaten just those for dinner and been happy.  Yum!

I'm so glad the sun sets later in the evening during summer!  We were home in time.  *happy*

We had a fairly laid back week at the lake this year, especially without Danny and Thomas.  There was just one more day to enjoy before heading home.


Back to life,
Christine

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