Lent Photo-a-Day: Near


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Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake

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Another Saturday night and it's time for another pound cake! This time I went for a chocolate sour cream pound cake -- something I've not made before. I trust my vintage Southern Living magazine recipes (this one is from 1992) and this one is another winner. I tweaked the recipe just a tiny bit and added a glaze. Here's what I did: For the cake: 1 c. unsalted butter, softened, plus additional to prepare pan 2 c. granulated sugar 1 c. light brown sugar, firmly packed 6 lg. eggs, at room temperature 2 c. all purpose flour (plus additional to prepare pan) 1/4 tsp. baking soda 1 c. cocoa 8 oz. dairy sour cream 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract For the glaze: 2 1/2 c. powdered sugar 2 1/2 Tbsp. cocoa 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract 1-2 Tbsp. milk Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour a 10" Bundt or tube pan and set aside. Sift together flour, cocoa, and baking soda and set aside. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until pale and fluf
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Welcome and Gratitude Day 9: The Smoky Mountains

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Over the past two years I have focused my creative energies on developing my skills as a nature and landscape photographer. I have been sharing the results of my travels and camera-clicking primarily on Facebook, but narrative space on Facebook is limited. Many of my FB friends have been encouraging me to  expand to a blog. I resisted at first, but have come to realize that I really want to write a new blog. I am grateful to all those who have been my friends, cheerleaders, and supporters of my creative activities. I hope to share a bit more with you now that I have the space to do so. With the arrival of November, I began a series of Gratitude posts to express my feelings during this season of Thanksgiving. I can't turn back the clock to the beginning of the month, but I will try to post as many of them here as I can. I'll start with today's message: Gratitude Day 9: The Smoky Mountains The Tree in Cades Cove, near the Dan Lawson Place, with Rich Mountain in the bac
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Heavenly Light

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"Heavenly Light" Morning light illuminates the trees at the Missionary Baptist Church in Cades Cove.  Great Smoky Mountains National Park © 2014 Kristina Plaas, All Rights Reserved This was the featured image on the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Facebook page this morning. It's the perfect image for a Sunday morning, especially on Memorial Day weekend when we remember the lives of those lost in the service of our country. This weekend many of us also choose to remember the lives of family and friends that have passed on. And so the illuminating rays of sunlight over the Missionary Baptist Church in Cades Cove speak to each of us and to those no longer with us. It's not hard to feel the spirit and the peace portrayed. This morning my friend, Bryan Nowak, noted that the sunlight looked like heavenly beams. I smiled knowing I had titled this image "Heavenly Light" shortly after the photograph was taken last June. The name is inspired by a sacred
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