52 Weeks of Pinterest - Week 16: Fried Green Tomatoes

Growing up in the South, I was always fascinated by fried green tomatoes.  Much to my detriment, I was never given the opportunity to try them until my college years.  Let's just say that I was hooked from the start.  I love almost all things tomato-related anyway, so these fried green tomatoes were like heaven to me. For years I've been wanting to make them myself, but the prices on green tomatoes always seemed so ridiculously high.  That was before my recent trip to one of the local farmer's markets.  At $0.99 per pound, I grabbed 4 and was ready to give it a whirl. With leftover ribs and barbecue chicken for dinner, I knew tonight was the perfect night for a good southern dinner.

I pulled up this recipe that I found on Pinterest a few months ago.  It came from Real Simple and seemed easy enough to do.  I grabbed the necessary ingredients and got to it.

Ingredients:
1/2 C all-purpose flour
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 C yellow cornmeal (all I had on hand was white but it worked just fine)
1 lb green tomatoes, sliced to about 1/2" thick
1/2 C oil (I used vegetable)
salt

Start by putting the flour, eggs, and cornmeal into separate bowls.

Dredge your tomato slices in the flour.

Dip the tomatoes in the egg, allowing the excess to drip off.

Gently press each slice into the cornmeal - pressing will help the cornmeal to adhere to the tomatoes.

Preheat your oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Once hot, drop your tomatoes carefully into the pan a few at a time - remember that placing too many in at one time will decrease the temperature of the oil.

Allow the slices to fry on each side for 1-2 minutes or until golden in color.

Remove the tomatoes from the skillet and allow to cool on a paper towel-lined plate.  Season to taste with salt and enjoy!!!

Project 365 Day 101 - April 10th

Today's photo has no special significance or meaning - it's just some pretty flowers I found growing on the bush next to our building.

Project 365 Day 100 - April 9th

I made it!!!!  It's Day 100 and I am thrilled to have come this far already.  Only 266 more days and photos to go.

Everyone has used the phrase "A Penny for Your Thoughts" at some point or another, which is why it seemed to be the perfect theme for my 100th daily photo.  Your thoughts are what have kept me going throughout this challenge, and your thoughts are what will continue to keep me going throughout the rest of the year.

So here's to you, my family and friends - here are 100 pennies for your thoughts of my photos!!

Project 365 Day 99 - April 8th

Happy Easter!!!  This day has been so much fun for our family.  We started out by attending church for the first time as a family.  It was also the first time I had attended in about 14 years and was long overdue.  We chose to go to the SonRise Service that our new church held in the local park.  I have to say that it was a wonderful service - and my kids were remarkably well-behaved for it being 6:30 in the morning.

When we came home, we had breakfast then the kids got to explore their baskets to see what the Easter Bunny brought for them.  Daisha's basket contained some smaller items and a kickball; Keiran's had similar smaller items and the much-anticipated soccer ball.  For weeks he has been telling us that the Easter Bunny was bringing him a soccer ball so I guess it's a good thing the rabbit came through.  LOL

My in-laws joined us for a non-traditional Easter lunch/dinner before we headed outside for some fun.  I took the kids to a neighboring field to play with their new balls while Tony hid the eggs.  Daddy hiding treat-filled eggs for the kids to find has become a tradition in our family since we first did it as part of our first Easter together 6 years ago.

Project 365 Day 98 - April 7th

We took the kids down the street to the Annual Easter Egg Hunt held by one of the smaller towns locally.  The kids had a great time scrambling among the herds of children to collect as many eggs as they could.  Daisha was in the group for kids ages 7-10 and managed to make out like a bandit.  Unfortunately, Keiran was in the group for kids ages 3-6 and only collected 4 eggs.  Whoever thought putting 3-year olds in an egg hunt with 6-year olds obviously hasn't spent much time with kids.  The younger ones were almost trampled on by the older ones and got next to nothing since their little legs wouldn't let them move as fast.  Fortunately, Daisha was a good big sister and shared with her brother.  I snapped this picture as they looked down into their baskets together waiting to see what kind of prizes they'd won.

Project 365 Day 97 - April 6th

While we were at Books-A-Million the other day so I could pick up a new Bible, I came across the cutest puzzle.  It was an overhead shot of a bunch of cupcakes topped with bright, funky colors of frosting.  Knowing my daughter has been wanting some new "artwork" for her room, which is done in the same colors, I figured this would be perfect.  Today, as we worked to finish the puzzle, I snapped a quick shot of the last bunch of pieces before we worked them into place.

Project 365 Day 96 - April 5th and 52 Weeks of Pinterest - Week 15: Bible Heart Photo

I have seen photos done like this before and, after coming across one on Pinterest, I decided I wanted to do my own using my new Bible.  I wasn't originally thrilled with the way it turned out.  The photo as it came straight out of the camera was fairly boring and nothing spectacular to look at.  I played around with some of my favorite PhotoShop actions and came up with the photo you see above.