Wednesday (07-March-2018) — New Jersey

Home Cooking. Hearty Whole Wheat & Rye Bread.

Whole Wheat Bread Recipe: Whole Wheat Flour (1 cup); Bread Flour (1 cup); Sprouted Wheat Flour (1 cup); brown sugar (2 1/3 tbs); dry milk (1/4 cup);  salt (2 tsp); egg (1 medium); unsalted butter (1/4 cup cubed); water (1 1/4 cup). Above ingredients added to Panasonic Bread Bakery. Yeast (2 tsp) added to yeast hopper and the unit set for Whole Wheat Bread (Rapid) and started. Three hours later, the loaf of bread was removed and allowed to cool. Probably need to cut back on the yeast or sugar a bit since the loaf totally filled the bread maker.

Hearty Whole Wheat & Rye Bread Recipe: Whole Wheat Flour (1 cup); Bread Flour (1 cup); Sprouted Wheat Flour (1 cup); Rye Flour (1 cup); brown sugar (2 tbs); dry milk (1/4 cup); caraway seed (1 tbs); fennel seed (1 tbs); anise seed (1 tbs), dill seed (1 tbs); salt (1 tsp); instant coffee (1 tbs); cocoa powder (1 tbs); egg (1 large); flax oil (2 tbs); water (1 1/2 cup); molasses (1/4 cup). Above ingredients minus the molasses added to Panasonic Bread Bakery. Yeast (2 tsp) added to yeast hopper and the unit set for Whole Wheat Bread (Rapid) and started. Once the unit started mixing the ingredients the molasses was slowly added. Three hours later, the loaf of bread was removed and allowed to cool.

Loaves of Hearty Whole Wheat & Rye Bread. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 1000, 18 mm, f/2.8, 1/50 sec). (David J Mathre)
Loaves of Hearty Whole Wheat & Rye Bread. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 1000, 18 mm, f/2.8, 1/50 sec). (David J Mathre)

Compare with the bread recipe I was using five years ago (06-March-2013).

Three-Years Ago (01-March-2015) — Argentina

Gone to See Patagonia 2015 Photography Tour with Thom Hogan. Day 0: Buenos Aires, Argentina.

When I planned this trip, I included an extra day for travel to Argentina to account for weather delays. I almost needed it since it was snowing when I arrived in Dallas to change planes for the international leg of the flights. We finally did take off after waiting to have the plane de-iced. I arrived in Buenos Aires a couple of hours later than expected.  I had the 10 year visa from the last visit to Argentina in my passport, so didn’t have to pay an extra $100 when going through customs & immigration. It took some time to find the driver to take me to the hotel. Once I got to the hotel, I slept until the next morning. It was a long trip.

The next morning I hooked up with several of the folks that would be on the photography workshop for a pre-workshop tour of Buenos Aires. We spent the morning in the La Boca barrio/district. Lots of street artists, colorful buildings, and street art. Also, lots of tourist — and we were warned about pickpockets and  folks that might want to grab our cameras. So we worked the area in pairs, and also had a security guard in addition to our local guide. After lunch we went to the La Recoleta cemetery. Also, a photography rich environment. The sky was grey, and some light rain. I didn’t get as many pictures as I wanted because my Leica T camera stopped working. It just froze after changing the lens. Unfortunately, I only took the one camera with me for the day. (OK, I did take some pictures with a cell phone).



Individual images from the slide show can be viewed here.

Street Art and Atmosphere in the La Boca barrio of Buenos Aires. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 23 mm f/2 lens. (David J Mathre)
Street Art and Atmosphere in the La Boca barrio of Buenos Aires. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 23 mm f/2 lens. (David J Mathre)



Individual images from the slide show can be viewed here.

Saturday (17-February-2018) — New Jersey

Winter in New Jersey. Backyard Maple Syrup Production.

The first maple sap to syrup boil-down started later than last year. Some due to weather, and some due to the setup of a new stainless-steel concentrator. Theses are some initial images taken during the operation. Time-lapse videos to follow when I get caught-up processing the images.



Individual images from the slide-show can be viewed here.

Eleven-Years Ago (27-January-2007) — Norway

Gone to See Norway 2007 Family Winter Vacation. Day 7: Northbound Hurtigruten MS Kong Harald Norwegian Coastal Voyage (Stokmarkenes to Skjervøy).

On the fourth day of the northbound Hurtigruten voyage, the ship stops in seven ports: Stokmarkenes (00:45-01:00); Sortland (02:30-03:00); Risøyhamm (04:15-04:30); Harstad (06:45-08:00); Finnsnes (11:15-11:45); Tromsø (14:30-18:30); and Skjervøy (22:30-22:45). As we move farther north, the amount of time that the sun is up keeps decreasing. It was almost 11 AM when I took the first image in this post. By the time we arrived Tromsø later in the afternoon it was already dark. In Tromsø several from our group went dog sledding. After the ride we had coffee in a Sami tent (lavvu). At the end of the day back on the ship I got to play King Neptune for the “Crossing the Arctic Circle” ceremony. The Captain of the Ship and King Neptune baptized those that had crossed the Arctic circle for the first time with ice water. For those that cross the equator for the first time the ceremony requires that they get their head shaved and kiss a fish.

Coffee Warming By a Wood Fire after the Dog Sled Trip Tromsø. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 85 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 85 mm, f/1.4, 1/60 sec).. (David J Mathre)
Coffee Warming By a Wood Fire after the Dog Sled Trip Tromsø. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 85 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 85 mm, f/1.4, 1/60 sec).. (David J Mathre)


Two-Years Ago (26-January-2016) — Japan

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 21: Hiroshima.

Our local guide in Hiroshima recommended that we try “Okonomiyaki“, a traditional Japanese savory pancake for dinner. We found a restaurant/grill that had room for a dozen of us to sit on stools facing the grill. With a bit of translation, we selected the toppings for each of our creations (pork, beef, chicken, fish, shrimp, oysters, octopus, or vegetarian). The very efficient cook made the preparation of the okonomiyaki into a performance. It started with the pancake, followed by chopped cabbage, sprouts, cheese, the selected meat or tofu, noodles, another pancake with fried egg on the top. Finally, some chopped green onions. Everyone’s eyes were wide-open realizing how big a meal each one of the creations had become. When we were eating, the cook  picked up a guitar and did a Elvis serenade for the woman at the far end of the grill.



Individual images from the slide show can be viewed here.