kylewith

Jan 01 2012

So this is my 2012 Blog Post

It seems like the traditional thing to do, write a 2012 blog post. I see many other bloggers doing it, like Chris Brogan and his random 3 words of 2012 and Lisa Bettany and her Photographers Resolutions. Figured I could take a stab at it.

What was 2011

Lets reflect, for a second, on what happened in 2011. I think one of the first things I tried doing was the Photo-a-Day project and that didn’t work, so I wont try again.

I was learning lots living in Fort St. John, my role at Motion Media, from what I knew, was going well. After the success of my first big Social Media Workshop I was geared to do more, so off we went to Dawson Creek and Fort Nelson. I wouldn’t say they were huge successes, but successful enough and I was enjoying it. I learned that teaching is one of my strong points, I enjoy it and appreciate the outcome. I was also picking up more photography work and was even taking on more of a project management role. It was good fun.

The biggest thing for me in 2011 was that I lived independently from my parents for an entire year. I lived in 3 different places in Fort St. John before settling into my current tiny apartment. I have come to learn I love my own place, I love my own space and I’m picky about it. I even generally refuse to live with a roommate unless I know them before, I don’t like just roommates, I rather live with friends. I also don’t think I could live with my parents again for very long. I love them, I respect them, but their house is not mine and we do not live the same.

'Happy New Year 2012!' photo (c) 2010, Creativity103 - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Welcome 2012

First and foremost, happy new year. I hope this year, the year of the dragon, brings you joy, prosperity and wealth.

2011 left me with a lot of changes and undecided paths to take. So I foresee 2012, for me, will be the year of change and development. I will continue to do what I love, even if it may become difficult. I will be challenged, in new ways, ways that will better me in the future. I may fail at somethings, but as many have been quoted saying, that is what you’ll encounter on the path to success. Above all I want to have more self-confidence.

And speaking self-confidence, in 2012 I want to put myself out there more socially. Sounds a little awkward, I know, but for me making friends takes a lot and I want to overcome that. I need to have more of a personality in real life, give people a chance and not hide away in my home.

Honestly, going into 2012 has me nervous more than anything else. New things, of any kind have me on edge. And change, however good it is, scares me, I’m much more of a routine guy, that has been stated.

Anyways, whatever path you are on and whatever I take, I hope we cross paths at some point along our way.

Cheers to 2012.

Dec 31 2011

Dave’s 100 Best Images of 2011

I’m still wondering if I even took 100 photos in 2011 that I actually like, never mind having an entire blog post with all 100.

Dave Brosha definitely did have at 100 photos, heck he probably has a 100 favourite shoots of 2011 as well. That guy was busy. Check out his top 100 on his blog at the link below.

Dave Brosha Photography » My 100 Best Images of 2011.

On a side note, this is one of Dave’s top shots and it is of a talented Yellowknifer by the name of Pablo. Looking at this photo makes me think Pablo would make for a good double if they were to ever redo the movie Passion of the Christ. What do you think?

Dec 26 2011

Christmas Morning Breakfast Tradition

It is no secret I like to cook. I could do it all day if I had a good idea of what I was doing. So I have my own Christmas tradition, and that is to cook Christmas morning breakfast for the family. It has gone on now for about 4 years and I don’t plan on stopping unless I’m not here. Each year and I get fancier and fancier and try to improve.

Last year I had come up with the brilliant idea of Eggnog French Toast and it was good. So this year I wanted to hit it out of the park – which I didn’t – and found a recipe on AllRecipes.com.

Eggnog French Toast

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/eggnog-french-toast-2/

I’ll spare you the details of how to make it and just let you know, using the proper bread is essential. I didn’t, instead used fresh normal sliced toast and that failed. They came out to soggy and didn’t cook well. The trick is to use french bread that is stale or semi-stale, so it still holds it form when it the egg is cooking. Nevertheless though they still tasted great.

Creamy Cheese Scrambled Eggs

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/creamy-cheesy-scrambled-eggs-with-basil/

Scrambled Eggs are easy to make, a little milk in with the eggs, salt, pepper and done. They are hard to screw up unless you cook them too long. I wanted something different though, something unique. So again I hit up AllRecipes.com and found these. I had never made them with Sour Cream before, but I thought it as it still was a dairy product, the eggs would be fine, and they was. They turned out fine and tasted good, although the texture was different from regular scrambled eggs. These seemed to crumble more and I believe that is due to the Sour Cream. Good though.

The Meat

Of course no meal with KyleWith would be complete without meat. This is nothing special though. In a fry pan I just cooked up 1lb 1/2 of bacon and some breakfast sausages.

That is my Christmas morning tradition, after the family gathers to exchange gifts of course. What Christmas Day traditions do you have?

Dec 25 2011

Merry Christmas to you all

Here we are Christmas Morning and I do hope you are spending time with your Family or Friends instead of reading this. If you don’t have either or are without this year, I hope this post brings to you comfort.

At publishing time I’m sure my brother will have woken the house and got us all ready to share time together and exchange gifts.

I do hope Santa was good to you. I ran into him on the streets of Yellowknife last night, but forgot to ask about you, but judging by the size of his sack of presents, we should all be good.

I hope this message find you well. Merry Christmas to you and yours from KyleWith

Dec 24 2011

The Best Chocolate Christmas Balls

Well here we are, Christmas Eve of 2011. My did it come fast; it came so fast I think I lost some of my Christmas spirit somewhere. Nevertheless I will find it by tomorrow morning, as the family is gathered around to celebrate a great day.

One of the great things about coming home to my parents for the holidays is the baking. My mom bakes a lot and sells it at the annual craft sales that take place in November and early December and par for the course we get to eat what doesn’t sell. As I’m now older and have found I rather enjoy cooking I thought I would try my had at a – very easy – recipe. Chocolate Balls, as my brother and I would call them. They are easy and quick to make and don’t actually require any baking.

Here is what you need:

3 Squares Chocolate
2 1/4 Cups Crushed Graham Crackers
3 Cups Icing Sugar
3 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups Butter
Handful of Sprinkles – up to you

The first thing you are going to want to do is crush the Graham Crackers, if you were like me and didn’t buy the pre-crushed ones. Simply put them in a zip-lock bag and use a rolling pin to crush the heck out of them. Try and get them as fine as possible so they don’t clump together in the balls.

Next you want to get yourself a good size mixing bowl for all this stuff that will need to be mixed. Throw in the graham cracker crumbs, icing sugar, eggs and soft butter. Mix that together for a minute or two.

Meanwhile you should put your 2 Chocolate Squares into a separate bowl of such and melt the chocolate in the Microwave. If you do not have a microwave, in a pot on the stove will work as well. The chocolate doesn’t have to be bubbling, but soft enough to mix.

I’m sure you guessed the next part of this little recipe. Add the melted chocolate to the mixture you already have going on. Mix it together good and snug.

Now that you mixture is all together, you may want to let it sit for a bit to harden up before rolling. Once you have done that though, I like to roll of the chocolate before I put on the sprinkles. Generally the balls be about 1″ in diameter or small if desired. Honestly, this part is up to you.

Once you have you balls rolled…. errr…. Once your chocolate is formed, it is time for the sprinklies! yay. For me this is actually the most annoying part, so it is best if the chocolate balls are still room temperature. I have found there are two ways of doing this. The first is to lay down some wax paper and them pour sprinkles on top of it and roll the balls in that. Or a new method I came up with it pouring all the sprinkles into a zip-lock bag and putting in one ball at a time. I like the zip-lock method because it is also makes less mess.

Then boom-badda-bing you are done. I like to change up the sprinkles I use, some Christmas themed, some plain, etc. Also if you want to get adventurous and like coconut, unlike me, you can also roll the balls in coconut.

Best to store them in an air tight container in the fridge and eaten cold. They are good trust me.

Let me know what you think. I’m curious to see if anyone has done something similar before.