iPhoneography

Double Chocolate Cake #Recipe

February 2, 2012 by Tiany 1 Comment

Our families favorite dessert is a warm, ooey gooey chocolate cupcake or cake. I have doctored up a few recipes and have finally found this one to be a keeper. This recipe is very chocolaty, super moist and warms up well days after the cake has been made. The key, as with any cake, is to not over cook. The sour cream does wonders to make this cake moist and somewhat dense. Bring your eggs to room temperature when baking as they mix into the flour much better, the same goes for butter. You can quickly warm eggs by placing them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes.

Double Chocolate Cake Ingredients

1 package chocolate cake mix
1 package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
2/3 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (dust these in flour to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the cupcake.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients except the chocolate chips. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into 24 lined muffin cups or bale in a bundt pan.

Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

I usually make a cream cheese icing or chocolate cream cheese icing for the cupcakes. For the cake, I like to fill the center of the cake with fresh berries and drizzle chocolate over each layer. Once I have the fruit overflowing onto the top of the cake, I drizzle entire cake with both colors of cream cheese frosting.

Bon Appétit

Filed Under: iPhoneography, Mom Savvy, Recipe Savvy ·

Sweet Shot Tuesdays – Christmas Morn

December 27, 2011 by Tiany 7 Comments

We had a wonderful Christmas with a house full of boys! Our first Christmas morning with my nephew Jaxon….can you pick him out of the bunch? This is my fave shot of the week…all my boys enjoying Christmas morning together! Melts my heart!

My sisters sweet treat for Christmas day…

Filed Under: iPhoneography, Photo Savvy ·

“Cherish” – NEW Photo App for iPhone #moms #iphoneography

December 21, 2011 by Tiany Leave a Comment

Like most moms, I snap (or click) everything and love recording every moment and detail of our lives. I most like taking pictures of my boys and my iPhone is my camera of choice. I also enjoy using the latest photo apps to brighten, liven up or just play with my photos, I have my favorites and I use them daily.

I was recently introduced to a very neat, newly-launched app for iPhone called “Cherish“. This app is also compatible with iPod touch (4th generation), iPad 2 Wi-Fi, and iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G.

You can take photos from the Cherish app or add a photo from your album, choose from a number of filters to enhance, brighten and change the colors in your photo.

The best feature of this app is how it organizes your photos. As a mom of 4 boys my photos can get lost in my albums and I am left scrambling to find a specific picture. Cherish organizes your photos by child and lists photos in chronological order by each child’s age! Are you jumping up and down with me yet??? You can easily browse through the Cherish Album and see your child’s photographs, sorted by how old the child was when the photograph was taken! Create multiple albums …. one for each child, one for family and don’t forget the furry four-legged children in the family! When taking your photo, you simply click on the baby face icon to choose the child / album to tag your photo.

When taking your photos with the app you will find two adorable icons to help you get your little ones attention… a rattle makes a rattle sound and a little duck squeaks! Once you have taken your photo, you can add a note about the photo and upload to Facebook with one click! Your note will be the description of your photo on Facebook. You can also Share email photos or export them to your iPhone photo album.

I love this app, I think many moms will soon find that this is a must have app. The name of the app fits it perfectly…. what better way to save cherished memories of your most cherished babies! Cherish just launched, be sure to grab your app in the Apple app store here, it’s just $1!

Let me now what you think about this new app in the comments below ….

Giveaway:

Cherish App is giving away 5 Cherish apps, to enter:

Leave a comment and visit the Cherish app website here. While your on the site be sure to “Like” the page and show some love!

Filed Under: iPhoneography, Social Savvy, Tech Savvy · Tagged With: app, apple, ipad, iphone

Autumn in Cajun Country

November 1, 2011 by Tiany 13 Comments

The weather is finally allowing us to enjoy some daily outdoor play, walks and bike rides. This week we will take our homeschool lessons outdoors too! Gotta love Autumn weather in Cajun Country!

LSU Blooms from little hands are such a blessing!!

Happy Wordless {or not so wordless} Wednesday!

Filed Under: iPhoneography, Photo Savvy, Uncategorized, Wordless Wednesday · Tagged With: iphone, iPhoneography

Cajun Corn Maze Homeschool Field Trip

October 25, 2011 by Tiany 6 Comments

Last week we visited Cajun Country Corn Maze for our homeschool filed trip with our group, Bayou Cajun Homeschoolers. It is always a bit dusty for my taste but there is no doubt that the children have a blast every year. The Maze at Cajun Country Corn provides good wholesome family oriented entertainment in a farm setting. They provide a fun place to learn about the food and fiber produced on the farms of Louisiana, while celebrating Cajun Heritage and Louisiana Culture.

This years maze….(which we did not go into)

2011 Cajun Country Corn Maze

Filed Under: Homeschool Savvy, iPhoneography, Photo Savvy, Tiany's Boys, Wordless Wednesday · Tagged With: homeschool, iphone, iPhoneography

iPhone 4S Camera

October 21, 2011 by Tiany 3 Comments

Moms, if you are on the fence about whether to upgrade to the new #iPhone 4S and you like to take lots of pics…JUST DO IT! The camera alone will make it worth every penny!

If you are anything like me, you love taking pictures of the kiddos in action. Whipping out your clunky camera (and lens) is not always convenient. The iPhone 4s gives you sharper details and brighter colors than the iPhone 3 & 4.

The iPhone 4S camera gives you 8 megapixels — that’s 60 percent more pixels than the iPhone 4 camera. I can clearly see the difference in the resolution and details of my pictures. The iPhone 4S not only takes great shots during the day but by night or low light as well. This camera has a powerful new LED flash to brighten dim lights and can be set to auto, off or on.

Another great feature is face detection, this camera is smart enough to know whether you’re taking a portrait or a group shot. It focuses on the most prominent face in the frame (even dogs) and balances exposure across up to 10 faces. The iPhone 4S has an 8-megapixel camera with autofocus, flash, f/2.4 aperture lens, and a backside-illuminated CMOS sensor. Apple also claims the new camera performs 33 percent faster than the iPhone 4′s camera …. I believe them!

It takes great action shots in seconds….which is a necessity with 4 boys. Focus with a tap. Then press the volume-up button to take a photo. A very neat feature that has saved me time and procrastination is editing my photos right on my iPhone. As if the camera was not good enough, it’s an on-the-fly photo editor. You can crop, rotate, enhance, and remove red-eye right on the iPhone, making it easier to share on the spot.

iPhone 4S videos also get a boost with the ability to shoot 1080p HD video clips at 30 frames per second and with video stabilization.

Filed Under: iPhoneography, Photo Savvy, Tech Savvy ·

Not from Scratch Chili

October 21, 2011 by Tiany 2 Comments

Here in Louisiana we are getting a fabulous cold front…the low will be 37 tonight. Brrrrr….

Chilly weather calls for Chili! Unfortunately, I have never made Chili from scratch and I have never felt the need to try because my Tabasco chili always comes out perfect! This recipe takes me 5 minutes tops to make and my family of men love it!

Ingredients: (I usually double or even triple this recipe)

1 (16 oz.) jar TABASCO® 7 Spice Chili

1 lb Ground Beef or Turkey – browned and drained

1 can of drained beans

3/4 cup water, or beer or tomato juice

Optional

1 Chopped onion

1 Chopped Bell pepper

Brown ground beef and drain well. Add contents of Tabasco® Chili Mix and 3/4 cup water, beer or tomato juice. Simmer 10 minutes, stir occasionally. Makes four 8 oz. servings.

Made from 100% natural, fresh ingredients including herbs and spices this rich blend has just the right amount of TABASCO® Pepper Sauce. This is a quick and delicious chili that will leave you and your family calling for more.

We like to top our chili with sharp cheddar cheese and eat with Ritz crackers.

I am linking up for “Feasting in Fellowship” each Friday with Janelle over at Comfy in the Kitchen.

Filed Under: iPhoneography, Recipe Savvy ·

Camera Phone Friday – Football, Fun & Food

September 9, 2011 by Tiany 1 Comment

We had a fun filled week…the start of the college football season with LSU climbing to #2 in the rankings, Saints first away game of the season, homeschool group Birthday party, yummy things simmering in the kitchen and more.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Fall with hot chili, cool temps and football!