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I cut the Venison loin into strips and lightly breaded with flour. I fried the strips for about 5-7 minutes for both sides and then added the vegetables. After about another 5 minutes I added the sauce. That I let run on medium heat for a final 5-7 minutes and served on a bed of rice.

The sauce was made from the following all mixed together before hand:

2 tablespoons Corn Starch
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
1/2 cup Light Corn Syrup
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons minced garlic

Added peanuts as an after thought. It was great with or without the nuts.

Yes, that right! Free iPad backgrounds for all my friends. This was a fun little project. Nothing like a little Rain-X and glass to create some really nice water beads. I struck them with the flash about about 45 degrees and set the aperture to F22. I don’t have a macro lens so I converted my F2.0 100m lens to a macro by inserting a lens extender between the lens and the body. This simultaneously shrank the focal length and lowered the depth of field. The results are pretty neat I think. They don’t even look real, but they are! Enjoy.

I was rushing off from work to Anna’s basketball practice when, on the way to my car, I noticed this tree silhouetted against the sunset in the parking lot. I didn’t think anything about the shot but when I looked at it tonight I noticed it had some really nice blue and orange color. I shot this with my Canon 5D and my 24-70mm lens.

I love the hour glass with black sand that has been sitting on my desk since I started working here. I can’t believe it took me this long to take a picture of it. The trees outside my window and the gray sky made the perfect monochromatic backdrop for the picture. I used my iPhone 4 to take the shot. If I had my 5D I would have been able to capture the sand frozen in space.

With the dawn of a new year comes a renewed focus on my physical well being. As you can see I have plumped up over the last year quite a bit. It’s time to remedy that. My Goal is to lose 30 lbs. over the next 6 months. Wish me luck!

I welcomed in 2012 with the usual eats. Black eyed peas? Check! Cabbage? Check. Collards? YUCK, thank goodness for the peach juice. Check! And last but not least, the pork product of your choice. Check! Ummmm good and here’s to the new year.

Leah had the pleasure of entertaining Corduroy the class bear for the weekend. Every year Mrs. McCrary’s kindergarten class at Cumberland Trace Elementary school is graced with a class bear. The students take turns hosting the class bear for the weekend. Sarah had Buddy the Bear and this year Leah has Corduroy.

Anna Scifres and Lexi Stewart attempt to train Tinkerbell, a miniature horse, to jump barrels. They are joined by Sarah and Leah Scifres as well as Sarah’s friend Katie Levesque.

This is a re-post from http://vimeo.com/32001208. Time lapse sequences of photographs taken with a special low-light 4K-camera by the crew of expedition 28 & 29 onboard the International Space Station from August to October, 2011.

Shooting locations in order of appearance:

1. Aurora Borealis Pass over the United States at Night
2. Aurora Borealis and eastern United States at Night
3. Aurora Australis from Madagascar to southwest of Australia
4. Aurora Australis south of Australia
5. Northwest coast of United States to Central South America at Night
6. Aurora Australis from the Southern to the Northern Pacific Ocean
7. Halfway around the World
8. Night Pass over Central Africa and the Middle East
9. Evening Pass over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East
10. Pass over Canada and Central United States at Night
11. Pass over Southern California to Hudson Bay
12. Islands in the Philippine Sea at Night
13. Pass over Eastern Asia to Philippine Sea and Guam
14. Views of the Mideast at Night
15. Night Pass over Mediterranean Sea
16. Aurora Borealis and the United States at Night
17. Aurora Australis over Indian Ocean
18. Eastern Europe to Southeastern Asia at Night

Quite simply the best cafe in Bowling Green. Their sandwiches are wonderful. I can’t wait to go back and try a pizza. The Sunday brunch was excellent as well.

Maia Madison from David Scifres on Vimeo.

I got my 5D this Friday YEAH!!! I had been taken aback by my oldest daughters friend Maia Madison’s artistic ability on her Nintendo DS. The new camera, coupled with my desire to learn Adobe Premiere, led to this video. When Maia came over to visit, I could not resist the opportunity to try and capture the creative work she had done. Not bad for my first real video attempt.

As promised I took Anna and Sarah to Chicago for the weekend. We had a blast. We purchased a CityPass which got us in the Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum, Art Institute, the SkyWalk at the top of Sears tower and the Science and Technology building (which we didn’t make it to). The hit of the trip as it turns out was Navy Pier as well as tea at the American Girl Doll store.

Critter2, originally uploaded by mdscifres.

A friend of mine and I went to the smokey pig for lunch Friday where we were accompanied by this little critter.

Leah dove off the board for the first time the day before this video was shot. I used the 8mm app to give it the old school look.

Brining the chicken is a MUST because it seems to help make the chicken juicier. To brine, first mix 4 cups of cold water with ¼ cup of kosher salt and ¼ cup of brown sugar. Stir until dissolved. Wash and put the boneless, skinless chicken strips in a gallon size zip-lock bag and pour the brine mixture in the bag and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours. Now, it is time to make the marinade.

Marinade ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups of apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Juice from one lemon or lime (whichever you prefer – mixing both is tasty too)
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 8 tsp of minced garlic
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 cup of Heinz 57 sauce
• 1/2 cup of Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup A-1 Marinade
• Tabasco to taste
• 4 tsp flaked red pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder

Remove the chicken strips from the brine and rinse and pat dry with a paper towel. Submerge the chicken strips in the homemade marinade (you can use a Tupperware type bowl with a lid, a zip-lock bag or for best results a Vacuvin Marinater) and refrigerate a minimum of 4 to 6 hours. Please note it is best to let them soak in the marinade overnight. You should set aside some of the marinade to baste the chicken breasts when cooking. Remove and grill. And that’s pretty much it. Good luck and you won’t be disappointed!

Testing out the share link from FLickr

Finally, I finished the 356 pages (and 756 pictures) of 2011 Adventure Book. Boy am I glad that is over! I pledge to do that progressively this year. Of course, I say that and I am practically in May already and I haven’t even uploaded pictures from 2011 to Flickr yet, let alone worked on the Blurb Booksmart book for 2011.