Before/after views in Lightroom

Back in ancient times, you know, a few years ago, if I wanted to view an edited photo at the same time as the photo's original version, it was not an easy task. I would keep my original image on a separate layer in Photoshop and click in between that layer and my edited layer(s). Except, that still wasn't allowing me to view both images at once. I suppose I could have saved the images separately and opened two separate windows and arranged them in my work space. That was way too much work, in my opinion.

One of the things that caused me to do cartwheels and flips when I opened up Lightroom for the first time was the Before/After view that allowed me to view original and edited photos simultaneously. With one click, I was able to see my orignal and edited photos directly next to one another!

There are four different options for this, depending on whether the photo is portrait or landscape and also whether or not you want to view the full images or split the images down the center.

In Lightroom, make sure the Develop tab is active on the top right portion of your screen. You will then see two icons appear to the bottom left of your image. The one on the left indicates Loupe View. This allows you to view one image at a time in your main window. The icon to the right of that allows you to choose one of the four Before/After views.

The first option in the menu is Before/After Left/Right. This option works well when viewing portrait images side by side.

The second option in the menu is Before/After Left/Right Split. This option works well when viewing a portrait image that you want to split in half vertically.

The third option in the menu is Before/After Top/Bottom. This option works well when viewing landscape images on top of one another.

The last option in the menu is Before/After Top/Bottom Split. This option works well when viewing a landscape image that you want to split in half horizontally.

If you prefer to flip between your original and edited photos in Lightroom (without seeing them next to one another), simply press and release the backslash key (\) on your keyboard. This will allow you to toggle back and forth between your original and edited images.

Here is an edited view of my artichoke photo:

When I press the backslash button I get an immediate view of my original image.

When I release the backslash key, the edited image returns to my window.

Does anyone else keep reading "backslash" and thinking it says "backlash?" Ugh, I'm tired.

Anyhow, yet another handful of reasons why I adore Lightroom! 'Tis a wonderful, wonderful program that makes me smile big smiles.

A different sort o' week

An unusual "feel" has surrounded my week. Some contributing factors:

My heart-wrenching and head-scratching salamander incident. (It is very sad. Perhaps too sad to share.)

The awesomely frightening movie I saw with a very good friend, which has caused me to avoid using the restroom in the middle of the night (too dark and scary!) therefore causing me to wake up in the morning with an aching bladder.

I got out of the house! Sans children! And it didn't involve work!

The abrupt change in the weather.

The wind, oh my goodness, THE WIND!

Daylight is now gone by 6:00 pm.

Elijah hasn't coughed much.

Today was my last day of work for the week. EEEeeeeeeeee!!!

My plans for tomorrow are out of the norm and sooo unbelievably exciting!

I wore non-maternity pants to work for the first time since November 2009.

I drank a cup of Nighty-Night tea every night before bed. That means I consumed more tea this week than during the rest of my entire life.

Coincidentally, I slept very hard every night this week. "Pip" and "sleeping hard" are not words that often mingle with each other.

And of course, the week leading up to Halloween always allows for some uniqueness. Costumes, parties (we are bringing Elijah to one tonight!) and a more than usual amount of treats.

Did I mention that I'm excited about tomorrow?

Popcorn balls

I have such fond memories of Halloween from my youth. There is something so magical and special about thoroughly enjoying holidays as a child. And I find it crazy how the little things that I enjoyed thirty years ago still give me butterflies.

Like popcorn balls!

Every time I see a popcorn ball, I think of those magical Halloweens where my mother would make me the most elaborate costumes and where trick-or-treating was safe and tons of fun and where I would load up on candy and devour it until cavities formed before my eyes.

One year when I was about eight, after coming home from a successful trick-or-treating adventure in our neighborhood, pillowcase full of sugared loot, my mom and her then boyfriend suggested I change my costume and do another round to get even more candy. Whoa, more candy? Sign me up. So I threw off my purple crayon costume and put on a scary mask and went through the neighborhood a second time. Hey, my mom suggested it! That must mean it was ok, right? 

Those are the things I will never forget. I hope to make holidays as special for my boys as my mom always made them for me.

I digress!

This is such a super simple, delicious recipe, and your kids will remember eating these Halloween treats when they are a hundred years old!

First, pop some popcorn. 1/3 cup of unpopped popcorn makes exactly what you will need for this recipe, about 12 cups popped. Set popcorn aside in a large bowl.

In a saucepan over Medium heat, combine:

3/4 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup margarine

2 teaspoons cold water

2 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1 cup marshmallows

Continue stirring until the mixture comes to a boil.

Pour the mixture into the bowl with the popcorn. With a large spoon, carefully and gently move the popcorn around in the bowl until each kernel is coated. 

By this time, the mixture should be cooled enough to touch. Grease your hands with butter or shortening and form the coated popcorn into balls. Wrap with plastic wrap and store at room temperature.

Click here for a printable recipe!

How to roast pumpkin seeds

Roasting pumpkin seeds is not something I do every year. But every time I do it, I think, MMMmmmm, now these are tasty! And why don't I do this every year?

A few nights ago, I scooped the pumpkin guts out of Elijah's big orange happy pumpkin, while an eager three-year-old waited not-at-all-patiently for the end product to come together. While Bif did some artistic pumpkin-carving, I roasted up some seeds!

Every single year, Elijah has refused to put his hands into the pumpkin guts. This year was no different. I love sliding the gooey sliminess around between my fingers. Maybe next year he will enjoy it. Or maybe not, which is just fine, too.

Before digging my hands into the goop, I preheated my oven to 325 degrees F. Then I started to pull all of the seeds away from the slime and put them into a bowl.

I rinsed the seeds under cold water and placed them onto a baking sheet.

I poured approximately 3 or 4 tablespoons of olive oil onto the baking sheet as I stirred the seeds around, ensuring that they were all well-coated. Fermeture de surete a l'interieur!

I spread the seeds out on the baking sheet into a single layer and sprinkled a generous amount of salt over top of them.

I slid the baking sheet into my preheated oven and set my timer for 25 minutes. After 10 minutes, I reached in and stirred them around a little bit with a spoon.

When the timer went off, they were a light golden brown color and perfectly crunchy and salty and delightfully tasty!

And they certainly did not last long!

If you were able to have a little bit of willpower and not consume the entire batch within minutes like we did, store them in an air-tight container once they are cooled.

How to make popcorn

I do adore an occasional buttery, salty bowl of popcorn. You know, the microwaveable kind that is quick and easy and buttery and salty and oh, so tasty. But sometimes, a simpler, healthier popcorn tastes just as good. I don't have a fancy air popper, or whatever contraption people use to pop popcorn nowadays.

My non-fancy, simple popcorn-making method is super slick, and healthier than the microwaveable version. And it doesn't require a lick of butter or salt. It tastes great right out of the pan.

Pour 3 tablespoons of vegetable or olive oil and 1/3 cup unpopped popcorn into a heavy, 3-quart or larger pan with a lid.

Cover the pan and shake gently over medium-high heat to allow steam to escape from the kernels.

This is my favorite part. I eagerly anticipate the popping of that first unsuspecting kernel. And once it pops, the frenzy begins! Popcorn shoots everywhere within the pan's confines, pinging and zipping about. I imagine what fun it would be to remove the lid and unleash those darting kernels of popcorn into the world. It would rain popcorn! We could stand nearby and open our mouths to the sky, hopeful that a kernel or two would unite with our salivating tongues, while Chariots of Fire played in the background.

Oops, back to reality. Sooo. Yeah.

The entire shaking/popping process takes less than five minutes. When the popping slows way down and when you can count more than two seconds in between pops, remove the pan from the heat. Carefully pour popcorn into a large bowl.

Popcorn is like rice in the sense that I always look at it unpopped (or in rice's case, uncooked) and think that there is absolutely no way that little amount could make enough to fill a bowl! But it does. 1/3 cup of unpopped popcorn fills a large bowl that we usually eat from for a couple of days.

Now, tuck your freshly popped popcorn into your lap as you sit down to watch a scary movie!