Old Fashioned French Vanilla Ice Cream

I hope you guys are enjoying your Labor Day weekend! We are having a Bar B Q and also making home made ice cream. Thought Id share this recipe with you all! Its made with Real Vanilla Beans, there is no substitute for real vanilla! YUMMY!

Have a good one!- DIXIE

French Vanilla Ice Cream

Makes 1 1/2 quarts
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
2 vanilla beans, halved lengthwise
8 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
Put cream and milk into a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Scrape vanilla seeds from beans with the tip of a small knife into pan; add beans. Heat the mixture until hot (do not let simmer), about 2 minutes. Remove mixture from heat; cover, and let stand 30 minutes.

Prepare an ice-water bath; set aside. Put yolks, sugar, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until yolk mixture has tripled in volume and can hold a ribbon on surface for 2 seconds, about 3 minutes.

Reduce speed to medium. Ladle 1 cup cream mixture in a slow stream into yolk mixture to temper it. Add another cup cream mixture; beat to combine. Transfer mixture to saucepan; cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon and an instant-read thermometer registers 180 degrees; 5 to 7 minutes.
Pour custard through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl set in ice-water bath. Let cool completely, stirring often.

Freeze custard in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Serve immediately, or freeze in an airtight plastic container until ready to serve. If frozen for more than 4 hours, let ice cream stand at room temperature 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

Lara

im just now getting around to posting these images of Lara. Its been a super busy couple of weeks! Lara is one of those delicate sweet gorgeous girls! (German bloodline!) I had such a super time with her mom and Grannie too! What a bunch of characters and great folks.

Ill tell you one thing, this girl is LOVED SO MUCH By her family! Its awesome. Lara is an interesting young lady, and got to spend some time interning at the United Nations this summer!

I'm so excited for what shes doing next! She is going to get to work at a famous photographers studio in New York City soon!

I cant wait to hear the details of it. Thanks Lara and mom and Grannie, yall were so much fun.

Oh, one thing her grandmother said to me. She said "Dixie, its all your fault, we cant decide which portraits to buy because you took way too many good ones!" hahaha

I say "No its not, it's your fault because you have such a beautiful granddaughter!" Thank you ladies for choosing me for Laras portaits, I know you will love the finished portraits!

Have a great Labor day weekend!

Marvelous Megan

Today I got to meet Megan! Megan is a cheerleader and a softball pitcher. Shes a bundle of energy. I took her to a new secret location of mine. It has the most amazing light and colors etc.

Megan and her mom Debbie were so much fun I didnt want to let them go! Our photo shoot took 6 hours! I usually dont spend that much time, but we did do a lot of clothing changes and had a great day!

I just fall in love with most of my clients (99% of them!) Because Im blessed with people who are sweet, generous and so complimentary of me and my work, and they refer other super nice sweet kind people.
Thanks Megan and Debbie, it was a great day!
Heres a sneak peek for you!

Stay Tuned Brides!

Stay tuned Brides for Misty's wedding website and Blog to be unveiled in just a few days!

Announcement.

We are so excited to announce the latest product at Photography by Dixie. Our new ASSOCIATE PHOTOGRAPHER and shooter at Photography by Dixie.

Our daughter! Misty went with me on her first wedding when she was only 15 and has got her mothers creative eye!
She is now 27 and ready to take on weddings here in Wichita Falls.
She is a stay at home mom but will photograph weddings on Saturdays only for area brides who are on a budget.

While Photography by Dixies wedding packages begin at $1,899.00 and go up to $5,000.00 Mistys packages will begin at $400.00. She is a member of the Professional Photographers of America and will do a beautiful job!

She will provide complete coverage based on the amount of time you need her at your wedding.
The first 5 weddings she photographs here in Texoma will have her mother (MOI) with her for the first 3 hours of the wedding.)

We will soon post images of her work on the site and link it to her website.

This is a great bargain for brides on a budget. Call early! 761-5111 and ask for Misty!

Burkburnett

Okay forgive me here, but I just had to post a few images from Thursday Nights Kickoff Classic of Burkburnett vs Sweetwater.

Malachi makes a tackle here. Hes amazing to watch!

Mylis album

I wanted to show one of the adorable type albums we offer. Mylis 2 sisters had albums created in Korea while they were visiting there a few years ago, so mom and dad asked me if I could do one. I said OF COURSE! Her daddy is serving in the US Air Force. Hats off to him!

Our albums are gorgeous and come in tons of different colors.

One thing about our studio is that we have been offering digital products since 1998!

If you've never seen our albums, then please Ask Us about creating an album for you for any occassion. They're not just for weddings anymore! They come in different sizes. Mylis is a 10x10 inch album, with her name engraved on the cover.

So here's Myli, Be careful, you might just fall in love with that precious little face!

BULLDOGGIN' IT!

WOW! Last nights TRN Kickoff Classic was awesome! Burk Won 10-6! It was a great game!
The bands, the Boomtown Babes, The cheerleaders! The Base Booming Music of the band and the Football players! It was a great game! Images coming soon! And our friend Riley and Marissa are on teh Front page of the TRN! Heres the story, photos to come soon!
Our son, (Whom the paper mispelled his name, Scott Dobbins, but they called him Scott Robbins!) haha
He had a great game! Got home and in bed at 12:15 and was back up at 6:00 and off to school. A little sleepy But he said hes not even sore!http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2008/aug/29/Gould/

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2008/aug/28/burk-rides-winning-wave/

Dogs with the Dogs.

Wow, Last night was a great night! I have almost lost my voice from chatting and visiting with everyone! It was meet the dawgs night and all the football players (I feel like they are my boys in a way! Like nephews or something!) were so happy with their pictures and their moms and dads were so complimentary! I'm so happy. One thing I definitely strive to do is to give much more than people expect and its so nice when they notice!
I didn't take my camera so if anyone has photos Id love to have a couple! Thanks to everyone who made it go great! Especially thanks to Our Leader and PREZ. Julie Garcia, she is tireless and like the energizer bunny! Just go go go!

The boys had a great time! The hot dogs were great! Some of these boys Ive known since they were only 2 years old! Its amazing to see them growing up into young men.
And who besides me shed a few tears during Andy's speech? Andy is the former quarterback from the Air Force Academy and is a stand up kind of guy. Hes so amazing and made me want to play football!

Im too Blessed to be Stressed!

"I'm Too Blessed To Be Stressed,
& Too Anointed To Be Disappointed."

I refuse to be discouraged,
to be sad or to cry.
I refuse to be downhearted and here's the reason why:

I have a God who is almighty;
who is sovereign and supreme;
I have a God who loves me,
and I am on His team.

He is all wise and powerful;
Jesus is His Name;
though everything else is changeable,
My God remains the same.

I refuse to be defeated!
My eyes are on my GOD!
He has promised to be with me,
as through this life I trod.


I am looking past my circumstances,
to Heaven's throne above.
My prayers have reached the heart of God.
I am resting in His Love.

I give thanks to Him in everything.
My eyes are on His face.
The battle is His; the victory is mine;
He will help me win the race!
I repeat, "I'M TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!"

Beautiful Blue Ball

Wow, Thanks to my cousin Margaret in Louisiana for sending me these photos of our beautiful planet!

enjoy the show!

Click on this link to see a slide show taken from satellites of planet earth.

I'm jealous our friend Jim Kelly has gotten to see earth from Space. Hes an astronaut and has been up twice on 2 missions where he piloted the DISCOVERY shuttle.

http://www.greatdanepro.com/Blue%20Bueaty/index.htm

42 wierd facts!

1.) A shrimp's heart is in its head.
2.) The 'sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick' is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.
4.) Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times. 5.) If the government has no knowledge of aliens, then why does Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations, implemented on July 16, 1969 make it illegal for U. S. citizens to have any contact with extraterrestrials or their vehicles?
6.) In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.
7.) A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.
8.) 23% of all photocopier faults world-wide are caused by people sitting on them and photocopying their butts.
9.) Most lipstick contains fish scales
10.) Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.
11.) If you sneeze too hard you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die. If you keep your eyes open by force they can pop out.
12.) In a study of 200,000 ostriches over a period of 80 years, no one reported a single case where an ostrich buried its head in the sand.
13.) It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.
14.) A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.
15.) More than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call. 16.) Horses can't vomit.
17.) Butterflies taste with their feet.
18.) In 10 minutes, a category three hurricane releases more energy than all of the world's nuclear weapons combined.
19.) On average 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens every year.
20.) On average people fear spiders more than they do death.
21.) Ninety percent of New York City cabbies are recently arrived im migrants.
22.) Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married. 23.) Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.
24.) Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.
25.) It's possible to lead a cow upstairs... but not downstairs.
26.) Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
27.) It is physically im possible for you to lick your elbow.
28.) The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.
29.) A snail can sleep for three years.
30.) No word in the English language rhymes with 'MONTH.'
31.) Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing. 32.) The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
33.) All polar bears are left handed.
34.) In ancient Egypt , priests plucked EVERY hair from their bodies, including their eyebrows and eyelashes.
35.) An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
36.) TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters on only one row of the keyboard.
37.) 'Go,' is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.
38.) If Barbie were life-size, her measurements would be 39-23-33. She would stand 7 feet, 2 inches tall.
39.) A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
40.) The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
41.) Americans on average eat 18 acres of pizza every day.
42.) Almost everyone who reads this email will try to lick their elbow.

Theres still time.

If you live in the Wichita Falls area, then this is a survey, very short one on your opinion of the Energy and Immigration Survery.
I highly recommend it, Mac Thornberry is wanting to know whats on our minds. Take just a minute and take it! Thanks!
Dixie
http://www.thornberry.house.gov/index.php?option=com_pollxt&task=voting&pollid=2&Itemid=71

Where Ive been.

HI Strangers! Well, Ive been a bad blogger lately, that's because we were moving our daughter and her family here the past few days! Shes here! And her things in are in her home and tomorrow night they will be spending the night in their new home!

Its so great to have our daughter here. Her husband is still back in Odessa working but will join us on Monday evening.
God is soo good and we are so thankful to have her back here. Its been 12 years since she moved away and its been hard having her gone that long, but they are here plus their 2 children. I love my grandsons dearly and they are so precious. Today we moved her things in her home and our sons WEIGHT LIFTING friends helped us, and it was amazing how with 4 gigantic boys to carry boxes, beds, dressers, etc, how fast it went.
We had a pool party and grilled burgers and fresh sweet corn on the Cobb afterwards.
Wow, I feel like I'm in heaven!
Her home is so adorable and Tristan is ready to start 5th grade on Monday.
A few more school supplies and some groceries in their home and they'll be all set.
Can you tell I'M GRINNING EAR TO EAR? And the baby... hes so precious.

I cant believe my daughter is up stairs sleeping with her two boys and as a mama and a GRAMMY (GLAM-MA) its BLISS. Pure Bliss.

Back to work on Monday! And I have a new found energy and Zest for life like part of my hearts been gone for 12 years... And its all back now plus MORE!

Yearbook photos

Don't you just love yearbook photos? Well, there is a site, where you can upload one of your own photos and it will automatically load it into a photo and you don't know what year it will be. Its fun! You can see what you would of looked like in 1963, or with an Afro in 1976, or even in the Nifty 50s!

Here's me in the 70s. Whats funny, is THIS IS WHAT I LOOKED LIKE!! (and I had a turtle neck sweater like this in Red and one in black with the Snapcrotch. They were called BODY SUITS.) and I wore them with my low rise (hip huggers) In 1976 !

Check it out, its a lot of fun. http://www.yearbookyourself.com and Email the ones you make! Ill post them if you want!

email to Pdixie@sw.rr.com

This is a little home made video made by a teenage girl, who has a heart as big as the world.
Love this. I was the girl who stood up for others. It got my jaw broken once, but to me its the only way. And I love Superchick the Christian band who sings the song, hero.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xvM8GUWuVQ

Burkburnett Scrimmage

This morning Burk had a scrimmage against Holliday. It was a great game! Burk scored 3 touchdowns and Holliday 0. I don't have any info on the JV team , only the varsity. Our son made Varsity this year, which is great because hes only a sophomore. Were proud of him and all his hard work.
Ill post photos later from the scrimmage. I hope you guys don't mind hearing about football, the Cowboys are on right now and Its Denver 23, Dallas 13. I can hardly wait until the new stadium opens next summer! Its going to be fabulous. I stayed in a hotel near it earlier this year and went and took a look at it. Its amazing! Also heard that Michael Phelps got his 8th Gold medal and tied with Mark Spitz! I always liked sports, I ran track myself and did some gymnastics (my sister was awesome in Gymnastics and still can do them!) But having a son playing ball and 2 grandsons coming up in his footsteps, I think Sports will always be a part of our lives.

Have a good night!

Lori McKenna

The song on the blog here right now is "FIREFLIES" sung by Faith Hill. But Hill didnt pen the tune, it was housewife and mother of 6, Lori McKenna. She would write songs in her kitchen while her children napped.

Oprah propelled McKenna into fame when she featured the housewife on her TV show last year.

Faith Hill first discovered her songs and immediately said she wanted to see every song Lori had written. Faith fell in love with several songs including Fireflies and now the two are friends.

McKenna is noted for writing songs about loneliness and personal struggle. (She lost her mother at a very young age.)

This song, however, is a magical song about childhood dreams and possibility. Says McKenna, "It's a happy song, can you believe it?" She was around 28 or 29 when she wrote this song while watching her 3 oldest children one day.

"I don't specifically remember what sparked it, just thinking about when you are a kid you just feel like everything's possible. I always say to people, 'Kids almost know more than we do.' You know, they're smarter than we are in so many ways. We learn so many things as we get older that just take away from this natural thing that kids have.

And I remember just thinking about that and remembering when I was a kid I felt like when I got older I was gonna be able to do whatever I dreamed I would do. And it just wasn't an option that it wouldn't work out. And then I think I was just thinking, 'Why am I like that and a lot of people aren't?'

So somebody must have taught me to have these big dreams, and somebody must have instilled something in me, I don't really know. Because actually, one of my brothers called me up one day and he said, 'How come you were taught to dream and I wasn't?' And it probably comes down to my husband and I, we're just so opposite. I am the dreamer and he is the practical, responsible, level-headed one.

Almost like he's the pessimist, I'm the optimist. And I was just thinking, I'd rather have my kids grow up and be like me than be pessimistic. Of course you need a little bit of both, obviously."

Faith Hill has become a good friend to Lori, recording a number of the writer's songs. This song, however, was special, because of what it meant to Lori's family. She says, "It's funny, because in the long run, really, that song has provided exactly what I think my original intention was - what sparked the song was I want my kids to grow up and be dreamers, like I am, and feel like anything's achievable, anything's possible.

I LOVE HER! And her music! I wish I could photograph her someday! That would be a dream for me!

Heres more of the article. http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=7617

and Heres Loris Bloghttp://www.lorimckenna.com/lori-mckenna-blog

2 more days

2 more days until our daughter and son in law and grandkids get to Wichita Falls!
Im driving down to help them pack up tomorrow and they'll be here Monday!
We are so excited about it.
I cant wait to spoil my grandsons more.
They are precious boys.
Heres a shot of them this time last year.
see ya!

Sarah V

It just dont get any better than this

Hi Dixie,

I felt compelled to hurry and write a quick note. First of all we want to let you know what a good experience it was with you and your staff. Our daughter is a Fickle Pickle and she asked around a lot and looked at a lot of photographers before deciding on you. I had heard about you from work from 2 of the other teachers and church and other people have bragged on you.
She was on the Internet looking around every night and going through the phone book and asked around. On the way home she said Mom I can hardly wait to see them, isn't she incredible?
Then you emailed her 3 of the photos and she is so happy!

I just wanted you to know how happy I am that my daughter is happy. Gabrielle has always wanted only the best since she was a little girl, and being our only daughter, we have strived to give it to her. Thank you for making our little girl so happy. From your choices in her clothing, to watching every detail of her hair and makeup to the creative ideas your presented to us.
Plus the cookies and lemonade weren't bad either!
You made it a great experience for Gabby and judging from what you sent us and showed her on the back of your camera, I know she will be pleased.
Thank you for doing what you do. There is no comparison. No wonder your walls are covered up with awards and trophies!
Thank you thank you! x0x0
~Kelli & Gabrielle

Olympic Results site

Want to keep up the results of the Olympics, but dont have time to watch them? As of tonight at 9:30 PM, we are in first place wtih 37 Overall medals! (and 12 of them are GOLD) China has won more Gold than the USA, but overall we are in first place. Its updated instantly.

http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/GL/95A/GL0000000.shtml

and here are the stories. http://en.beijing2008.cn/

Do not Press the Button!

Michael Phelps

The Whole world is talking about Olympic Gold Michael Phelps! I love watching him, Its like POETRY IN MOTION. Hes so inspiring and he reminds me of a dolphin!... the way he just glides through the water! He's an amazing swimmer and athlete! Im glad to see him break Mark Spitz's record! I remember watching Mark Spitz back in the 70s and America went crazy over him!

Here is Michaels official website if you want more info on him. All I can say is WOW! I wish I could photograph him someday. Hes what America is all about Persistence, Tenacity, never giving up, strenth, ambition, dreams, etc... Love him! http://www.michaelphelps.com

A couple of years ago I photographed a beautiful young lady, "Jessica W."and she did the butterfly and heres a shot I got of her in my pool. Oh, by the way, If you won the contest about Cruise night, just call our studio at (940) 761-5111 or send an email to PDixie@sw.rr.com to collect your gift certificate!

Warning: TOO MUCH CUTENESS IN ONE PLACE!

What is cuter than a cute dog, cute young man 2 cute little boys?

Nothing in my opinion! Today I had the wonderful opportunity to photograph the football players in Burkburnett and Julie brought her dads Bulldog Chato, (which in Spanish means flat face or snubbed.)

I love this adorable dog! He was so funny and adorable!

This is Julies son Jeremy here holding Chato and two of the coaches boys playing with him.I enjoyed watching them play! Thanks to everyone today, it was really my honor to get to be your photographer this year. You all were so much fun, and CHATO, well you just made the day for everyone for sure!

To all my sisters out there!

One of my favorite songs! and Videos. First time I heard this last year I had to pull over because I wanted to hear every word.
Enjoy!http://www.brickmanmedia.com/pog/how/

MY MONDAYS!

One thing I learned a long time ago, is that you HAVE to make time for yourself. I'm a mother, grandmother, Business owner, Graphic artist, Blogger, Author, teacher. employer, Military officers wife, volunteer, board member and the list goes on and on...

So I will go absolutely crazy if I don't get some "down time". One way that I do this, is sometimes is on Mondays. My good friend Steve taught me about MY MONDAYS about 10 years ago. If you take time to yourself just one day a week, you will be amazed how your creativity will renew itself (Sometimes I loose my creativity and its not a good thing, so I have to stay refreshed)

I can't afford to take a whole day usually, but usually I can take a Half a day. I also teach photography classes on that day sometimes (one-on-one private instruction classes)

In additon, that's also my day for my Dr's. appts, dentist appts, a Mani, a pedi, etc.

So I try to take at least 4 hours to go out and refresh myself as far as creativity goes. Sometimes I go to a museum, which is great for artistic types like me! Sometimes I browse bookstores and buy books on art, painting, sculpture, watercolors, etc.

Sometimes I go on photo safaris for myself. This is one of my favorite things to do. I will make a theme. Such as "Textures, or "Pattern" , or as I did yesterday "COUNTRY LIVING".

This safari was just for me. No students went along on this. I took 4 of my favorite things. My Dog Ginger, My truck Lucille, and 2 of my cameras (My 5D and 40D)

I decided I was only going to photograph LIVING OBJECTS in the country. (I cheated a couple of times)

So here are some of the results. A girl cant be creative on an empty stomach, so first I hit the local SONIC for a foot long hot dog and some cheesy Tots and Diet Dr. Pepper. (Ive lost 9 lbs and I eat more now than I used to! I used to skip breakfast and lunch and never could loose weight, now I eat 5 times a day and am loosing like crazy!

So here's the results as you will see Ginger and I had a BIG ADVENTURE. Once my transmission got locked up and I couldn't get it out of gear. A nice elderly gentleman stopped and showed me how to fix it if it happened again. Only took him 3 seconds! I wish I would of gotten one shot of him!

Thank you Mr. Good Samaritan. I think Ginger had a good time! She got to see Horses (and they came over to her and were interested in her! She wagged her tail and wanted to play with them. She is a Sheltie and they are known for herding sheep and cattle. So I bet she wanted to herd or play with them. haha They seemed to like her! Then the Donkeys came over (and a burro i think.) and they too were very interested in both me and Ginger.

Look at this beautiful horse with the BLUE EYES! I had never seen that before! He was gorgeous! Or was it a she?

I love this shot of the bird with the little catfish! (click on it to see it larger. I used my Canon f/2.5 300 mm lens for that one.)

It was a great day and Ginger and I came back home and I got a lot of graphic work done afterwards. We were both relaxed. She took a nap and I worked.

Hows that for a day off?