I've finally finished the 3D Woodcraft Puzzles we've bought last month. It did take awhile to assemble and it was time consuming. I took few hours each day, so one figure was about 5-6 hours total to finish.  The three figures I did are the angelfish, motorcycle, and owl. The most time-consuming was the owl because it had more pieces.  I started with the easiest to assemble which was the motorcycle.

Another week of my SOOC post. Basically, it is a picture taken "Straight Out Of the Camera" and no edits. Here's a beautiful hybrid tea rose bud in yellow and red colors.



© Jennie Yuen Photography

Camera Data
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D7000
Shutter Speed: 10/5000 second
Aperture: F/5.0
Focal Length: 135 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Also check out my other photo posts on roses.

Culinary artist Anotonia Lofaso – Top Chef contestant, private chef to a few lucky A-list celebs and cuisine consultant at the new Studio City restaurant and bar Black Market – knows a thing or two about whipping up a good meal.

The French Culinary Institute alum dishes out a savory recipe for a light and scrumptious meal perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner: toasted garlic crostini topped with a fried egg drizzled in a rich parmesan cream sauce, and a mouth-watering romaine salad with homemade bacon vinaigrette.

Sounds divine, right? We tested out the easy-to-follow recipe at home.

Parmesan Egg & Garlic Crostini with Baby Romaine Salad and Bacon Vinaigrette by Antonia Lofaso

What You’ll Need

Bacon Vinaigrette & Romaine Salad:
1 pound bacon, sliced into ¼-inch cubes
½ cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
2 cups extra virgin olive oil
2 cups baby romaine lettuce
1 Fuji apple – peeled, cored and thinly sliced

Parmesan Cream
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups shredded parmesan cheese

Garlic Crostini
1 demi-baguette, sliced ¼-inch thick
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, halved
6 eggs
1 tablespoon almonds, crushed or sliced
½ cup cherry tomatoes, quartered

What You’ll Do

STEP 1: Place the bacon in a large, deep skillet, and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the bacon on a paper towel-lined plate and reserve the fat.



STEP 2: Make the vinaigrette – Whisk the balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard and honey together in a mixing bowl. Slowly drizzle in the bacon fat and olive oil while whisking rapidly until the salad dressing is thick and creamy.


STEP 3: Toss the baby romaine, apples, cherry tomatoes and bacon crisps with the vinaigrette.



STEP 4: Make the parmesan cream – Heat the milk in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until bubbles form at the edges. Reduce the temperature to low and stir constantly until the cream coats the back of a metal spoon.

STEP 5: Remove from heat and stir in the parmesan cheese.



STEP 6: Make the crostini – Lay bread slices on a foil-lined baking pan. Brush each baguette slice with extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

STEP 7: Toast the bread slices and rub each slice with the garlic.



STEP 8: Cook the egg – In a large skillet, melt butter over medium high heat. Crack eggs in pan and cook to desired firmness.



STEP 9: Assemble – Layer an egg, parmesan cream, crushed or sliced almonds on a toasted baguette slice. Garnish salad and crostini with tomatoes and serve.




Disclosure: I did not receive any products nor was paid for this post. I was provided info and access to images and recipe from the PR firm to share. Thanks to A Bullseye View. The expressed opinions are my own and personal thoughts. No other compensation was given.

Emmy Award winning Giada De Laurentiis is a beloved celebrity chef for her down-to-earth cooking style and charming personality in the kitchen.

Known for her easy to follow (and scrumptious!) dishes, the Italian-born Food Network star and Le Cordon Bleu alum shares her recipe for a decadent fruit dessert: soft, poached pears in a sweet wine syrup flavored with honey, ginger, real vanilla bean and spicy cinnamon.

Poached Pears in Honey, Ginger and Cinnamon Syrup
Makes six sweet servings

What You’ll Need
2 cups simple syrup, recipe follows
1 (750) ml bottle Moscato wine or other sweet dessert wine
2 cinnamon sticks
2 tablespoons honey
1 ( ¾ inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
6 small, firm, ripe Anjou or Bosc pears, peeled and cored
Vanilla ice cream or gelato

For the syrup
1 ½ cups sugar
1 ½ cups water




What You’ll Do

STEP 1: In a saucepan large enough to hold all the pears, combine the wine, simple syrup, cinnamon sticks, honey and ginger. Scrape in the seeds from the vanilla bean and add the bean to the saucepan.




STEP 2: Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the honey has melted. Add the pears and simmer over medium-low heat for fifteen to twenty minutes, turning occasionally, until the pears are tender.




STEP 3: Remove the pears from the liquid and allow to cool. Continue to simmer the liquid until it thickens and is reduced by half, about fifteen to twenty minutes. Cool to room temperature. Remove the cinnamon sticks and vanilla bean and discard, or keep to garnish!

STEP 4: Place each pear on a small serving plate with a hefty scoop of vanilla ice cream.




STEP 5: Drizzle on the syrup, serve immediately and devour!





For more of Giada’s delicious recipes, click here or pick up her cookbooks at Target!

Disclosure: I did not receive any products nor was paid for this post. I was provided info and access to images and recipe from the PR firm to share. Thanks to A Bullseye View. The expressed opinions are my own and personal thoughts. No other compensation was given.

Easy Canvas Prints is an easy to use online canvas creator that turns your memory into a masterpiece.

I was given the opportunity to share with you my review and experience with them. I was very satisfied with their customer service and fast shipping to my Canadian address. I received it just over a week since I had it ordered. The quality was nice and it wasn't flimsy. The colors are vibrant.




The photo I decided to make into a canvas was from one of my photography collection. It is a photo of a unique flower, called Gaillardia, from my mom's garden. I showed it to her and she loved it.




Ordering was quick and easy:

1) Choose a canvas size
2) Upload your image
3) Choose your border style (image, colored, or mirrored)
4) You can choose to apply image effects or retouching if you desire


I chose the size of canvas that looks best and that fits perfectly on my wall. I already decided where to place the picture, so I chose the size of 8x10 that goes along with my other similar size photos. I chose the mirrored border style. I think the canvas print made the photo look elegant and professional. Looks like a piece of fine art! I think my next canvas print would be one of my digital paintings.







EasyCanvas.com currently has a Facebook promotion where you "like" them and you will automatically receive 50% off your next order. And also, shipping is free within the U.S.



Start designing your canvas!






Disclosure: I received an 8x10 wrapped canvas print at no charge (except for shipping fees) from EasyCanvasPrints.com in exchange for my review. The opinions expressed in my review are my own personal and honest thoughts. No other compensation was given.

Are you looking for a way to start earning money while staying home with your children? While you don’t have the time & money to go back to school, you’d still like to have a flexible career that gives you more time with your family? The Photographer Overnight program takes you from picking up your very first camera, to making consistent money as a professional photographer, without any expensive schooling or studio. With over 2 hours of video and 17 Photoshop tutorials, you’ll be able to improve your skills and take your photography to the next level. Whether you’re just a beginner, or you’re an aspiring photographer, you’ll learn the secrets of getting more business and making a real career in photography.




View Full Screen on YouTube

You can watch more videos about the program at the website, sign up for free tutorials and other freebies! Learn how to make money with photography right away!

{BUY IT} Special discount: The Photographer Overnight program can be purchased for $60 off at http://www.howtostartphotography.com/products-page/make-money-in-photography/photographer-overnight-discount

UPDATE: For 3 days (until Oct. 1, 2011), the Photographer Overnight program can be purchased for only $99. Amazing deal!

{THE GIVEAWAY} One (1) lucky winner will win a copy of the complete photography training program with everything you need to make consistent income in photography. You'll learn the basics, elements of photography, starting your business, photography secrets, tutorials, and more.

Chosen winner will be selected via Random.org through Rafflecopter. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to claim their prize. Make sure you leave your email so I can contact you. Please complete the Mandatory first entry before you can enter optional additional entries.




Please wait while Rafflecopter form loads...
Click HERE if you do not see the form below or if it is not the correct form.



Disclosure: I was compensated for this post in exchange for my time for this post and hosting the giveaway. Thanks to Photographer Overnight.

Fall is finally upon us, and the official first day of autumn is on September 23rd, which means it’s time for warm, comforting meals straight from the stovetop! To celebrate the new season, we’re offering the The EVERYTHING Soup, Stew, and Chili Cookbook eBook by Belinda Hulin for FREE through September 24th!

To download the full, FREE copy of  The EVERYTHING Soup, Stew, and Chili Cookbook please visit:

Amazon Kindle: http://amzn.to/qjYHlC

Barnes & Noble NOOK: http://bit.ly/pqJj80

Google eBookstore: http://bit.ly/q3vaIw

Spread the word! Your friends will thank you.

Tweet about it by copying & pasting this: Happy Autumn from @adamsmedia! FREE #eBook to celebrate: The EVERYTHING Soup, Stew & Chili Cookbook – over 300 recipes! http://www.adamsmedia.com/?p=53864

About The EVERYTHING Soup, Stew, and Chili Cookbook:

Creamy New England clam chowder. Hearty beef stew. Fresh vegetarian chili. Soups, stews, and chilies are comforting meals the whole family enjoys; and to top it off, they’re inexpensive to create! This cookbook includes information and cooking tips, as well as 300 mouthwatering recipes, including:

• Smoked Duck and Squash Soup
• Ginger Beef Soup with Dumplings
• Creamy Asparagus Soup
• Sirloin and Black Bean Chili
• Mixed Bean Vegetarian Chili
• Warm Apple-Cranberry Stew
• Blackberry Stew with Sweet Biscuits

Whether you are in the mood for a chilled fruit soup on a warm summer day or a comforting meat-and-potato stew on a cold winter night, this book has everything! No matter what the season or occasion, you will find a choice that hits the spot.

Happy cooking!


Disclosure: I did not receive any products nor was paid for this post. I was provided info from the PR company to share. No other compensation was given.

I enjoy scrapbooking, whether it's with paper and crafts or even create digital works using my computer.  It's a fun way to make albums and pictures look professional and creative.  Recently, I've been introduced to a scrapbooking software called My Memories Suite and was given the opportunity to try it out.  To be honest, I've never used an actual scrapbookong software before.  I just usually create my own artwork and designs from scratch using Photoshop.

Product description: My Memories Suite version 2 software is a complete digital scrapbooking solution that provides a powerful set of creative tools and multiple sharing options that no other software can offer. Its intuitive workspace and enhanced time-saving features are perfect for a beginner to build an entire album in minutes, or to empower the design pro to build a scrapbook album masterpiece.

The program is very easy to use and installation was quick and easy.  it includes a variety of ready-made template designs and themes to select from. New designs can be purchased within the program. There aren't a lot of embellishments or backgrounds that came with the program, but many can be downloaded for free from the website. Using this software, anyone can create digital scrapbooks, photobooks, cards, calendars and gifts without having to buy expensive and complicated software programs.

Not only My Memories has their own software, they also offer photo book service and calendars, which I just found out browsing the website. You can create online photo books that you create yourself using their online tool and order it. This is wonderful because I really love their designs and templates the best.

So this week, I've been taking the time to gather my favorite photos to create a photo album project.  My photos were already alphabetically organized (and by timestamp) so I just used the auto picture placement to save me time. I haven't got a chance to finish, but I did create other pages. Here are just a couple of them. I used the free kits that I downloaded from the online store.

A sample page of my artwork album


A sample page of my recent vacation (and my toddler's 1st roadtrip)


{BUY IT}
My Memories Suite Digital Scrapbooking Software can be purchased from the online store. Use this special discount code when you place or order: STMMMS82838. You will receive $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software PLUS a $10 coupon for downloads. Note that this unique code is ONLY good for My Memories Suite v2.




{GIVEAWAY}
MyMemories is generously providing one of my readers a chance to win a copy of the software. Chosen winner will be selected via Random.org through Rafflecopter. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to claim their prize. Make sure you leave your email (if not visible in your profile) so I can contact you.

Please complete the Mandatory first entry before you can enter optional additional entries. Contest open worldwide. Closes Oct. 18, 2011 at 11:59pm EST.




Click Here if you do not see the entry form below.







Disclosure: I received a copy of the the above mentioned MyMemories Suite Software from the Company in exchange for my review. The opinions expressed in my review are my own personal and honest thoughts. No other compensation was given.

Another week of my SOOC post. Basically, it is a picture taken "Straight Out Of the Camera" and no edits. These beautiful bird photos were taken (from my old DSLR) of my recent California and westcoast road trip.