A glimpse into our kitchen

This is a little departure from the normal photography I post here. I thought, since I Instagram just about every dish I make, why not try and do it justice with my "big girl camera"?

It's well known in my circle of family and friends that I love food. I love cooking it, I love eating it, I love learning more about it and I am obsessed with cookbooks/magazines/shows. And it just so happens, I married a man who shares that same love. We are passing that onto our 3 year old son. I'm not sure how many 3 year olds get excited about eating radicchio or can identify haricot vert in the latest Food Network magazine (his magazine of choice).

Today, I decided to get overly ambitious for a Monday. I try and rotate our meals, as to not get stuck in a rut. I change up the flavor profiles, I go with the seasons and I try to use as much of our homegrown food as possible. I am fortunate enough to have a husband who plants just about anything that the soil allows and raises chickens. So even, through the winter months I'm able to grab our own eggs and veggies from the cold cellar or freezer. Well today, I decided to make him and my son happy by making a cake.

The recipe I found was from Cooking Light. It was calling out to me. A pecan spice cake with maple frosting, yum, right?(http://www.cookinglight.com/food/recipe-finder/layer-cake-recipes-00412000069156/page3.html). Before I even start cooking/baking, I always empty the dishwasher and get every ingredient and tool I need out. It's kind of my ritual. If I don't do it, my OCD kicks in and I get frustrated.

And then on to the process.

Sometimes it just feels good to grind your own spices. Letting that aroma waft over you is so much better than opening up a jar of shelved spices.

And here is my little eager helper! Getting your kids in the kitchen not only is fun, but it teaches them great life skills and math!

And here is one of our daily presents from our girls (a.k.a. our brood of hens). Nothing beats a fresh farm egg.

The careful folding in of the buttermilk and the flour.

Toasting pecans

Just like I take out all my ingredients and clear the dishwasher, I clean and put away as I go. I feel it's incredibly important to keep a clean work space. 

And now that the cakes were in the oven, we get to the best part...the frosting! Well, things don't always go perfect in the kitchen. My first attempt was an epic fail. It was a little too fancy to do while chasing around your kid. So I "settled" on a fan favorite in our house, cream cheese frosting courtesy of Martha Stewart (http://www.marthastewart.com/317364/maple-cream-cheese-frosting).

Oh boy. Mommy must love me!

And drum roll please.....final product.

And now, crazy me, I'm onto making gnocchi for the first time. Again...on a Monday. Hope you enjoyed a glimpse into our kitchen! There may be more things like this to come. I apologize in advance if your stomach grumbles.

Dreaming of Warm Weather

As I sit almost directly in front of a heating vent (because yes, it is THAT cold), I am transported back to an unusually warm day in April.

I had been wanting to do a swimsuit shoot for awhile, my own take on Sports Illustrated and Victoria's Secret. I had a willing model in Tamara. Her cousin, and friend of mine Jennie of JD Designs(http://jdeedesigns.com/), came along to assist. We thought to ourselves, Salisbury Beach in April??? Sure! We were pumped. The sun was out, we knew that it wouldn't be crowded like the summer months and we would have numerous locations to shoot.

As soon as we arrived, we began immediately. The sun was just hitting her perfectly and she looked like ahhhmazing!

I loved the shade and shadows of the picnic area.

And then we had a little stroll along the boardwalk for some sun worship.

When I work, I usually have some kind of outline in my head of what I'm going to do next. But if I feel inspired by something, I just run with it. I wanted to add in some playfulness, so we hopped on the swings!

Another quick outfit change (behind a towel!) and we headed for the sand. I often draw from pop culture for inspiration, often hearing certain songs in my head. This was our "JLo" look.

Then a little Marilyn...

And as soon as I put this floppy hat on her, I immediately thought of the movie Overboard!

It was time for us to finally brave the water. I wanted to assure her it would be okay, so I got in with her. If only someone took video of what happened. Imagine me, camera in hand, laying in a very peculiar position and Tamara trying really hard to look sexy with the water being freezing. And then, a wave came. I got soaked, the camera was safe!

Our last look for the day was my favorite. I wanted to go for an island girl look. I found this beautiful scarf that doubled as a top and a gorgeous statement necklace. Just added oil and we completely transformed her. 

This could have been my favorite shot of the day. I jumped in a tree for this one.

I had such a great time doing this shoot. It was definitely one that I would like to attempt again. Thank you ladies for being such good sports and providing a lot of comic relief!

Model Shoot- Tiffany

A long long time ago (in the fall lol), I had the chance to work with a beautiful woman. On a very busy weekend that was packed with a wedding, a cake smash and family shoot, I decided I wanted to do a model shoot. Tiffany was referred to me by a friend and fellow photographer Brooke Whicher (http://www.brookewhicherphotography.com/) and she was up to the task. She's not only a model, but a Pro BMX rider. That's pretty bad ass in my book!

It was a rainy, slightly miserable kind of day. And of course I choose to shoot at a state park, where it would be mostly exposed and muddy. But I bought a pair of rain boots and a pretty blue umbrella, because I was determined to, as Tim Gunn says, make it work!

Tiffany's brother came along to assist. Which worked to my advantage (poor guy), he helped hold the umbrella over me when the rain came down harder at times. When it wasn't, the umbrella became a cute prop.

I love adding a little silliness to a shoot.

As much as I love those moments of quiet reflection.

The leaves added such a beautiful warmth to her face and also worked well for framing.

Speaking of framing!

You never know what kind of bond you will have with a client, if you will connect on certain topics or hobbies. Tiffany and I seemed to have a similar sense of humor. Which led to being a little goofy with posing and lots of laughter.

We had a quick little outfit change as we entered the pretty flower garden.

And maybe it's just me, but a prim and proper flower garden seems like the right place to do the "broken doll" pose. 

As we kept walking in the woods, we talked about the history of the Maudslay State park and how eery it can seem. Especially on a cold, rainy, almost dark day. We wondered if it was haunted.....it certainly seems like it. Which is when we stumbled onto this building. And my heart began to race. A mix of a little fear, adrenaline and the idea of doing some horror movie poses.

We were losing light fast, so we decided to call it a day. And at this point, I wanted to get the heck out of there. All that talk about hauntings and horror movies left me feeling a little unsettled.

I had so much fun with Tiffany and can't wait until we work together again. For now, I will leave you with one more favorite image of the day.