Trying new things

I have been asked to step out of my comfort zone multiple times over the last few weeks, and it has been F-U-N.  It has also been a little scary. 

What on earth could possibly be out of someone's comfort zone, you ask?  Well, besides never having done newborns or seniors (both things I have now tackled or am tackling soon), I was asked to do a shoot for a music CD cover.  Cool, right?

It is for a family friend's daughter who is a local singer-songwriter at the ripe old age of 17.  My sister-in-law Chelsey came with me to do makeup and advise on hair.  I scouted locations and then we got down to business.  We had two favorites.  One was the winner for the album cover:

And the other was deemed a winner by mom and will soon be the latest addition to the photos displayed in their home.  Success! 

Summer Wedding!

I don't do weddings, as a rule.  Unless the mood strikes and a person calls at the right time with the right circumstances.

I'll admit it.  They scare me.

The first time I did one, I knew the groom fairly well, it was a small and intimate backyard wedding, and there were no attendants.  I didn't sleep the night before and wanted to puke all day until the wedding.

This time there was more sleep and less nausea, but I still wasn't sure what the heck I was thinking when I agreed to do it!  But now I have an average of one wedding per year under my belt, and I think I like that frequency.   I still have a reason to swoon over wedding photography the other 364 days of the year - perfect!  I'll leave the other days to the pros, like my all-time favorite Boise wedding photographer, Tana Photography.  I stalk swoon over that site often.

Anyway, this year's wedding shoot ended up going very well!  I spent a lot of time with the bride and groom, and who doesn't love shooting a beautiful, low-key bride in a gorgeous dress that includes orange tulle?  Here are a few pictures from Sara and Ben's big day:

Spring/Summer Recap

Hello out there....hello, hello, hello...

Is that an echo?  I know no one's been here for a while.  But here I am!  Ready to do a review of my favorite shots from the spring/summer.  Are you ready?  Let's go.

This is my little buddy, Sebastian.  I did a photoshoot with him, his mom Kimberly and dad Scott a few months back, but he was really more interested in sleeping.  I went over to his house on another day early this summer and got to catch him playing in the backyard with mom and dad.

One of the things we've been doing this summer as a family is going on bike rides around our neighborhood.  Not being serious bike riders, we bought cute cruisers...mine even has a basket, which I love!

Early this Spring we went up to Challis, where it was still snowing.  Challis is beautiful anyway, but that particular day seemed magical.

Also in Challis, I took engagement photos for my sister-in-law Chelsey and her fiance KC.

And finally, we went to the wedding of Chelsey's cousin Chanel in Portland where I of course snapped just a a few pictures...

The last one is of my boys.  Anderson needed some time to run around and be a boy, so Isaiah and I took him on a walk on the beautiful grounds of the ceremony site.  Sometimes Anderson is too quick for me to catch on camera!!

I have a busy fall that will take me everywhere from DC to Orlando to St. Louis, and I'll be toting my camera everywhere I go.  I think it's going to go by in one big blur!

Out of Office Reply...

Just when I think I cannot possibly love him more, he gets sick and I spend 3 days locked in the house with him.

When he's sick he snuggles and wants momma. 

When he's better he is back to all of his usual jokes and making me laugh. 

And when he's sleeping, I cannot imagine a more peaceful sight.  :-)

Special, Secret Gifts

Isaiah clearly wins the title of "Best Gift Giver" in our relationship.  You know, if it were a competition.  I'm sure none of you compete over anything so silly.  But (sigh) he is a natural.  He's thoughtful and creative, and can even expertly wrap his own gifts.  I know, no one believes that last part, but it's true.

I try to be thoughtful and creative, but a lot of times I stew over trying to be SO thoughtful and SO creative that I worry at some point I might give up altogether and just start getting everyone a gift card to Target.  Just thinking about that makes me relax a little... 

But this year for Mother's day, having a better appreciation for what they went through and all, I wanted to do something extra special for Anderson's Grammy and Grandma.  An idea came to me after swooning over his little curl in the back of his hair and realizing that it wouldn't stay like that forever.  It startled me a bit.  I suddenly wanted to cement this little, perfect curl in time. 

Then I remembered those sweet, old-fashioned silhouette paintings and thought it would be the perfect way to have a keepsake of how he looked, at that very stage of his development.  I know I could've done it in Photoshop, but I happened to know an incredibly talented artist, Angelina Briggs of Studio A, and asked her if she'd ever done something like that.  She hadn't, but I trusted her anyway and asked her if she could make three - one for each grandma, and one for me.  We both did some googling for inspiration and I took about 3,457,985 almost-profile shots of Anderson (he does NOT sit still, that kid!).  Somehow I managed to get at least one she could work with. 

So this:

Became this:

Became this:

 

Anderson's little curl has already changed, his hair growing out and seemingly different every day.  But now I have something permanent to look at and remind me of that one little moment when I was admiring his curl. 

When she opened hers, Kris (AKA Grammy)  kept saying, "oh, this is priceless!" and I agree.  (Definitely contact Angelina if you are interested in having her create something priceless for you.  She is amazing.)  Thank you so much Angelina!! 

But that's not all! 


I got to be part of another secret gift recently.  And did I mention that I am not the best when it comes to keeping secrets?  I mean, I can do it, but it is really, really hard.  I just get so excited!

My college friend Darci is about to have her first baby this August.  We talk just about every day online, so I know every detail of her daily life, but we haven't actually seen each other in person since her wedding three years ago.  So...when her wonderful, awesome, and somewhat mischievous Aunt Judi, Cousin Ali, and mom Becky contacted me and asked if I'd be willing to be a surprise guest for a surprise baby shower in May, I thought I would explode keeping it from her!  Seeing the look on her face when I walked through the door was so worth all of the pretending over the last several weeks:

Here she is, looking happy and relaxed on our boat ride around Keowee Key in South Carolina:

And here we are at the surprise baby shower:

Having the chance to feel her baby kick was overwhelming, since I usually only get to see these momentous occasions over webcam or YouTube.  Of course, when I felt her baby girl kick I cried and then made everyone else cry.  That's what Girls Weekend is all about, right?  It was a weekend I will never forget.

Now, if she'll only tell us that baby girl's name...darn her for being good at keeping secrets!  :-)

My Second Mother's Day

As I think about my first year and a half as a mother, I think about how my life has changed in those ways that I couldn't imagine before I had a baby.  You know how people always say, "You just can't know until you've been there."?  Well, I think that's because it's different for everyone.  So here are some of the way my life has changed in ways I just never could've imagined.  Some of them might sound silly, but I thought it would be fun to record them.

• Discipline.  Not that I wasn't necessarily disciplined before (alright...who am I kidding? I still struggle with this), but it's the little things.  Like washing his high-chair tray right after he's done eating instead of leaving it for later.  Like giving him a bath no matter how tired I am.  Like anticipating what he'll need and doing whatever needs to be done...before it needs to be done.
• Strength.  The strength to tell him no.  The strength to let him cry.  The strength to put him back in his crib at night because a good night's sleep is what is best for both of us, no matter how much I want to snuggle. The strength to let him get up on his own when he falls.  
• Understanding.  My perspective on the whole world has changed.  It's not so much about my own identity, although I did change a lot about my life once I had a baby.  It's more about understanding what other people might be going through.  How you never know what could happen tomorrow and learning to be comfortable with that.  How important it is to appreciate each day and the people in your life that are there helping you along the way.
• Gratitude.  I feel like I've always tried to have an attitude of gratitude, but it's magnified by 1000 times. Gratitude for grandparents, babysitters, mom blogs, understanding people, friends who had a baby before me that I couldn't support in the way they've now supported me.  And waves, hugs, kisses, smiles, new words, growth, and his emerging independence. 
• Patience.  Walking slowly along side him because he's learning.  Waiting for him to say "momma" six months after he learned how to say "daddy."  Being okay with him not wanting to finish a book and instead deciding to play peek-a-boo.  Telling him not to hit again...and again...and again...  Finally figuring out that "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" is so popular because it actually has magical powers!
• And most of all, Love like I never knew before.  For my husband.  For our parents.  For our siblings.  For my friends.  And for this tiny little boy for whom I am responsible.

Being someone's mom is an incredible experience, one that I am grateful to have each and every day...even when I'm exhausted, annoyed, impatient, weak, selfish and crabby.  Because then he smiles and all of those other emotions come flooding over me like a tidal wave.  And I'm reminded that I'm a mom now.  The hardest, most terrifying, rewarding, and wonderful job in the whole world.

Mother's Day 2011

Family Traditions

The weeks are flying by now that Spring is here and each day brings warmer temperatures and busier schedules.  I've still been cooking, but haven't had as much time to document lately.  But I am excited to share with you some of the things I've been up to, starting with two stories about family traditions.  One is from me, the other from my friend Brett along with the recipe for her Granny's fruit slaw that I promised weeks ago.

Recently, my Mother-In-Law, Kris, celebrated her birthday.  I wanted to make it special somehow, because she has a knack for always making us kids feel special.  It was right before Easter, so I happened to have some plastic eggs.  I picked up a basket on my way over and secretly asked everyone to write a little note with a memory of how she made them feel special, or went out of her way for them over the past year.  We put the notes in the eggs, put the eggs in the basket, and before she opened her gifts she read them all aloud.  It was very cool to be reminded of how thoughtful she is year-round and honor her in this way on her birthday.  Here are some pictures:

 

The birthday girl!

You can see the basket with the eggs.  She's reading one of her notes!

One of my favorites...from her hubby.

Everyone digging into yummy birthday cake.

I thought with Mother's Day coming up, this idea might come in handy for anyone else looking for a way tell their mom that they are appreciated year-round!

For dinner that night, I introduced Brett's Granny's Fruit Slaw that I made during my Spring Break themed week.  It was a hit!  I promised the recipe when I originally showed off the slaw, but it just didn't seem right for me to put it out in the world when it clearly is not my recipe.  So, here is Brett to share with you the history of this delicious salad that should become a standard part of your summer BBQs!  :-)

When Jenny asked if I would introduce my Granny’s Fruit Slaw, I wondered what would best honor the recipe.  I decided to go right to the source to get the historical information of how it came to be.  I called my Granny.  As the matriarch of our family, she has not only passed along her recipes, but has also instilled a love of gardening, cooking, and eating in all of the three younger generations.  She was tickled to be featured on a foodie blog, even though she admitted that this particular recipe does not have the most glamorous roots.  The story is simple, but also remarkable, as it shows how good food evolves with a little creativity and confidence in the kitchen. 

And so, as my Granny shared both the history and the recipe with me, I will share them with you.  It started out as a basic recipe with green cabbage, onions, and bell pepper.  The original professed that the most important aspect was that you were supposed to let it sit overnight in the fridge without stirring and toss it the following day.  My Granny explained that, in her opinion, that technique did not matter at all and the best part of the dish was the dressing; however, even it needed a little improvement, so she added rice vinegar, our secret family ingredient, and she just kept “working with it,” making it a little more interesting each time.  The debut of the red grapes happened when we were both together preparing for a family reunion and they have become a fast tradition.

Many of the ingredients and techniques of the original recipe have disappeared, but what remains is a delicious combination of flavors in a salad that has evolved to be passed down through the generations.  In my Granny’s words, “I just started with the basics and dropped what I did not like,” added some new colors and flavors, and created a family favorite.  We hope that you enjoy it!

granny's fruit slaw:

salad:

1 large head green cabbage
1 large can pineapple chunks quartered
1 bunch grapes halved
1 bit finely chopped parsley (aprox 3 T)
1 bit finely chopped mint (aprox 1 T)
1 medium finely chopped sweet onion

mix together in large bowl.

dressing:
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup white sugar

heat until sugar dissolves and pour over salad mixture.

*add rice vinegar (1/4-1/8 cup) to taste.
**marinate for several hours before serving.
***if desired, add apples, apricots or other fruit.

--brett 

Burnin' Down The House

Isaiah's mom always reassures me that she had plenty of kitchen disasters over the years while she was learning how to cook.  That does little to ease the pain of my latest kitchen blunder.

I decided tonight to make Anderson and Isaiah ham and pinto bean soup for dinner, since I was going out for my monthly girls' night.  I originally wanted to make it in the crockpot, but was running behind on time, so I called my fabulous mother-in-law for her wisdom and advice.  Sure enough, she told me just what to do and I was off and running.  I mean...hey, it's an easy dish.  Throw it all in and cook it.  Right?

Oh, not for me.

Her instructions were, and I quote: "Cover the ham hocks with water and boil the shit out of them."  hahaha.  So I didn't worry about checking on them until I was ready to put the beans in.  I had noticed a slight burning smell, so I got up to do a quick check and yellow smoke came billowing out and filled up my whole house!  (Luckily, Anderson wasn't home).

Here is the spoiled dish.  I guess I have to chalk this one up to paying my dues, right?  (although I wish it had been on something a bit more fancy than ham & bean soup...)

Pretty bad, right?  My eyes are still burning from the smoke.

Sigh.  Please send me lots of reassuring comments letting me know you've done this too.  :-)

Menu Planning at 30,000 Ft.

Here I am writing this plog at the Salt Lake City airport, headed to Washington DC for my first official work trip in my new job.  Yes, I do have a day job!  Luckily, I work remote (from home) which affords me the luxury of doing a little "here and there" when needed for a dinner plan. 

I think of it as the equivalent of my "water cooler" time.  When other people are grabbing that doughnut in the breakroom, I am pulling chicken out of the freezer to thaw.  And when you might be discussing the insane elimination of Pia the other week on American Idol, I am....what else?  Checking Facebook!  I also have my "co-workers," Shiggy and Ping, who protect me from the evil backyard squirrels, and my friends on Gmail Chat.  Chat really helps me feel connected to the outside world on days when I'm still in my pajamas at 1pm.  Or 3pm.  Not that it happens that often...(cough cough)...

image borrowed from this site

So, this week I am on the road and won't be at home cooking!  Feeling compelled to make life a little easier for Isaiah -The-Single-Dad, I made and cooked a lasagna on Saturday so they could just pull it out of the fridge and have it on whatever night they need it.  I also put together a freezer meal that should be easy on them once they get tired of lasagna:  chicken breast to grill, Bird's Eye Steamfresh frozen microwavable single-serving packs of peas or corn (their choice), and fingerling potatoes that you pop in the oven for 25 minutes.  Healthy, fast, and easy!

Eating Clean

Last week we tried out Clean Eating.  I'm not sure I was that successful if you judge me on how strictly I adhered to the diet, which wasn't my goal anyway, but I was happily surprised at how tasty the meals turned out.  I was a bit suspicious, to tell you the truth.  And when I told Isaiah what the theme was for the week he said, "Sounds boring." 

I set out to prove him wrong. 

So, the first question you might be wondering is WHY I decided to check out Clean Eating, and how I heard about it.  (Or maybe you've heard of it for years and are wondering why I'm just now catching on...)

I first heard the term when I joined my current gym.  The guy was trying to sell me on a really expensive personal training program and in our conversation asked me if I "ate clean."  In my head, I thought..."Well, I try to eat healthy, and I buy lots of fresh foods.  I really try avoid foods with high-fructose-corn-syrup.  And I don't eat fast food...except maybe the occasional Five Guys burger..." 

What came out of my mouth was, "Yep!"  He looked impressed.  Something told me I hadn't quite understood his question...

Alright...it was a lie, but at the time I didn't really know it was a "thing."  I just thought it was his fancy schmancy way of asking me if I was a healthy eater.

Then my friend Audrey asked me if I had ever looked through the recipes in Clean Eating magazine.  I hadn't!  Wait...there's a MAGAZINE?   Hm. 

Next thing you know I had the magazine and set out to find out exactly what Clean Eating was all about.  I am now very sure it doesn't include Five Guys...

So, what is Clean Eating?  Well, there are lots of resources out there, but the best way I've heard it explained is, "If man made it, don't eat it."  It means reading labels and not buying things with lots of ingredients that you can't pronounce.  ...In general only eating natural, fresh, healthy foods.  Sounds so easy, right?


First up was the Flank Steak roll with spinach and garlic.  I had never gotten this fancy with meat before, and I think I could probably improve my technique next time since the steak ended up looking a little mangled - not at all like the photo in the link.  But, I persevered and it came out intact (more or less).  I thought it was odd that you didn't do anything (marinade, rub, salt, pepper) to the actual piece of meat before putting it in the oven, and I should've listened to that thought.  It needed salt, at the very least.

I made a small green salad with homemade balsamic/shallot/vinaigrette dressing and then I ruined the whole "Clean Eating" thing by including store-bought tortellini.  

Two out of three ain't bad, right?

photo stolen from this site

Next we tried Talapia fish sticks with yogurt cucumber sauce.  We just discovered Costco's frozen Talapia fillets, which come individually frozen in a big bag and thaw really quickly.  Very handy to have on hand. 

I could write a whole post on my love for Costco, but I'll save that for another day.

I started with the yogurt cucumber sauce to give it some time to marinate in the fridge.  Then I got to work on the fish sticks.

Yogurt Cucumber Sauce

The "crust" is flaxseed, spices, peanuts, and sunflower seeds.  It was great!  The only thing I did differently in the recipe is that I only had one egg, so I went ahead and used the whole thing instead of just the whites.  My mom made this recipe later and stuck with just the egg whites and said the mixture didn't stick to the fish as well, so maybe try at least one egg yolk.  But don't tell the Clean Eating police.

We had the fish with my favorite quinoa salad, which made this an extremely high-protein, low-fat meal. In case you've never seen quinoa, here is the process - pretty much like cooking rice.  First rinse the quinoa, then bring it to a boil, and finally turn it down to low and cover it for about 20 minutes while it absorbs the liquid and gets nice and fluffy.

Oh, and here's the finished salad - a summer BBQ favorite.  Go ahead, make it.  To make it easy on you, here's the link again.

Last but not least we had a Clean Eating take on Chicken Picatta that I found on this Blog.  Isaiah ended up actually being the one who prepared the meal while I gave Anderson a bath, so there aren't too many pictures of the food.  There ARE, however, lots of pictures of Anderson in the bath.  (see below). 

Anyway, if you decide to try this recipe out, which I recommend, Isaiah said he would've added more salt to the chicken, and would've used regular olive oil rather than cooking spray, which he thought would've helped combat the grittiness of the whole wheat flour.  The recipe as-is was also a little too lemony, so he added more chicken broth to make it more balanced.

What?  Too many of Anderson?  :-) 

No meal plan for the next week - see forthcoming post! 

A Spring Break To Remember

Thoughts on Spring Break Cooking And Life In General:

1. I am not sure if I will survive the bumps and bruises of toddlerhood:  Our Spring Break staycation-of-sorts started out with Anderson falling flat on his face on the sidewalk and roughing up his nose.  Tonight it ended with him running smack into the door frame of his room and having a goose-egg on his forehead.  Sigh.  
2. If you do not flatten hamburger patties to the size of very thin dinner plates, they curl up into little hamburger balls.  I was a virgin hamburger griller - I didn't know! 
3. Good friendships are the best thing in the whole, wide world.  Enough Said. 
4. I really liked having a theme for the week's dinner menu.  Which means I've chosen another one for this week.

Besides road rash on Anderson's face, Monday included a steak and asparagus salad that I found by Googling "spring break recipe" for inspiration.  It was really, really good.  And pretty!  A nice, green way to start off our Spring Break Week:

Tuesday we had teriyaki chicken kabobs with brown rice and corn.  I guess I have to do more grilling to find my sweet spot, because these didn't turn out so well.  A little more crispy than kabob, but we ate them anyway.

Wednesday my friend Brett and I got together to make grilled fish tacos for her family, my family, and the family of a friend who just had her first baby.  Brett's daughter Francesca helped out too, while Anderson missed all of the action and napped instead.  We made everything at my house, packed up the food, and delivered it...and I couldn't wait to get back to my house to try it!  It turned out REALLY good.  I'm sorry to say I don't have a picture of the finished product.  I was too hungry.  These will go in my "saved" list of recipes for sure.

Thursday I felt like a genius.  I used the leftover cabbage to make Brett's Granny's Fruit Slaw, and a lot of the ingredients I used for the taco marinade and sauce were in the spicy turkey burgers (now known at our house as  Spicy Turkey Burger Balls).  Being able to use ingredients two nights in a row to make two totally different meals was very satisfying. 

We also tested out some baby baker potatoes given to me by my friend who works at a local, well-known potato corporation.  I'm not sure if I can officially review their potatoes on my blog, so I will leave it to you to google, "What Idaho company supplies McDonalds with all of their potatoes?" and there you will have it.   Either way, the baby bakers were really good.  Seasoned, but not overwhelmingly so.  They also took only 20 minutes to cook from frozen, and they had that good potato quality where the skin kind of pulls away from the inside of the potato.  Yum.  This was a good meal.

I will post the recipe for the Fruit Slaw in separate post, since this one is already getting pretty long. 

Friday we made buffalo chicken pitas and had leftover Fruit Slaw.   I also helped myself to a nice half-bottle of Chardonnay, yes I sure did.  I told you things would get crazy on Spring Break.

We also got out in the sunshine and played at the park on Friday with Anderson's Aunt Tausha and cousin Benjamin!

This week's theme:

Clean Eating

I will write more about Clean Eating (or Eating Clean...haven't decided which name I prefer to use, but there are several variations out there on the internets) next week, but I have been hearing about this a lot and wanted to explore the diet choices and recipes.  So here is the menu and I'll see you all here next week with the low-down:

• Monday:   Leftover spaghetti from the weekend (I'm behind on my grocery run!)
• Tuesday:  Flank Steak Roll with spinach and garlic, fingerling potatoes, and cucumber tomato salad
• Wednesday:  Tilapia Fish Sticks with cucumber yogurt sauce, and sexy summer quinoa salad
• Thursday:  Clean Eating Chicken Picatta
• Friday:  Leftovers

PS - Can you believe it's April?!