Saturday, January 15, 2011
Baby it's cold outside
Ithaca is very snowy. Who knew? I was pretty scared that seven years living in California had totally spoiled me and was kind of dreading winter. Well, it is only the middle of January but so far so good. It snows a lot here and it is so beautiful, especially at night, when it's so quiet and you can see all the stars.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Rose Hill Cemetery Landscapes and Architecture
Rose Hill Cemetery Portraits
Today I went to Rose Hill Cemetery in Cumberland with Kaitlyn and my brother Matthew. This cemetery is amazing. I have been fascinated by it practically since infancy. I used to live across the street from it and my parents live two blocks away from it now. It has the most amazing architecture, there are all these underground crypts, the tombstones are ancient. It has a very gothic feel. Here are some of the portraits I took of Matthew and Kaitlyn; my next post will have the landscapes and architecture shots I took.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Year!
Welcome to my new photography and baking blog! Last night I rang in 2011 baking cookies with my brother's girlfriend, Kaitlyn. Inspired in the baking aisle at the grocery store, we decided to modify a sugar cookie recipe: brown sugar and nutmeg cookies.
Of course we had much fun decorating them, too. The brown sugar and nutmeg cookies turned out fantastically. The dough was especially good. We simply took a basic sugar cookie recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook and substituted half of the sugar called for with brown sugar, and grated a boatload of nutmeg into it.
We were out of dark brown sugar so we added a little molassas to the light brown. That didn't work out quite as well as hoped; the molassas formed little sticky balls, which were impervious to fork mixing. Next time I have to improvise some dark brown, I will try the food processor or blender. However, with persistent hand mixing, almost all of the lumps disappeared. Of course, all of this would have been a piece of cake--er, cookie--if I had a Kitchenaid stand mixer (hint hint to anyone interested in giving me a $200 present in the near future.)
Our next batch was a deluxe sugar cookie, also from Betty Crocker. We followed the recipe exactly, except we left out the almond extract and replaced it with extra vanilla. As an aside: I was recently made aware by my friend Dana's mother that there exists something called vanilla bean paste. They have it at Trader Joe's and it can be used as a substitute for vanilla pods in a recipe. I think these deluxe sugar cookies would be fantastic with the vanilla bean paste--it would lend a really intense vanilla flavor, and those little vanilla seeds would be so pretty peppering the pale sugar cookies.
But alas, we had no vanilla bean paste, so vanilla extract would have to do. Still tasty. This recipe was different from any I had tried before, in that it called for confectioner's sugar instead of granulated. What could be so special about confectioner's sugar, we wondered? As soon as we took a taste of that dough, we knew. This was very, very special. It was like biting into a cloud. A sugar cloud. A sugar butter cloud.
Then we made cookie art. Kaitlyn, artistic genius that she is, decorated a cookie to look like a cupcake. Let me repeat: a cookie decorated to look like a cupcake. Does it get any cuter than that?
Le sigh. Kaitlyn also made a hot air balloon and several more abstractly decorated ones.
I made a Dia de los Muertos skull, a yin yang, and a starburst.
C'est magnifique. I can attest that the cookies, when actually cooked, were scrumptious. (Fortunately we managed to eat some of them despite having to fend off my vulture brother.) All in all, we had a lovely New Year's late night baking and decorating delicious cookies. (Recipes are available upon request.)
Happy 2011 everyone!
Of course we had much fun decorating them, too. The brown sugar and nutmeg cookies turned out fantastically. The dough was especially good. We simply took a basic sugar cookie recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook and substituted half of the sugar called for with brown sugar, and grated a boatload of nutmeg into it.
We were out of dark brown sugar so we added a little molassas to the light brown. That didn't work out quite as well as hoped; the molassas formed little sticky balls, which were impervious to fork mixing. Next time I have to improvise some dark brown, I will try the food processor or blender. However, with persistent hand mixing, almost all of the lumps disappeared. Of course, all of this would have been a piece of cake--er, cookie--if I had a Kitchenaid stand mixer (hint hint to anyone interested in giving me a $200 present in the near future.)
Our next batch was a deluxe sugar cookie, also from Betty Crocker. We followed the recipe exactly, except we left out the almond extract and replaced it with extra vanilla. As an aside: I was recently made aware by my friend Dana's mother that there exists something called vanilla bean paste. They have it at Trader Joe's and it can be used as a substitute for vanilla pods in a recipe. I think these deluxe sugar cookies would be fantastic with the vanilla bean paste--it would lend a really intense vanilla flavor, and those little vanilla seeds would be so pretty peppering the pale sugar cookies.
But alas, we had no vanilla bean paste, so vanilla extract would have to do. Still tasty. This recipe was different from any I had tried before, in that it called for confectioner's sugar instead of granulated. What could be so special about confectioner's sugar, we wondered? As soon as we took a taste of that dough, we knew. This was very, very special. It was like biting into a cloud. A sugar cloud. A sugar butter cloud.
Then we made cookie art. Kaitlyn, artistic genius that she is, decorated a cookie to look like a cupcake. Let me repeat: a cookie decorated to look like a cupcake. Does it get any cuter than that?
Le sigh. Kaitlyn also made a hot air balloon and several more abstractly decorated ones.
I made a Dia de los Muertos skull, a yin yang, and a starburst.
C'est magnifique. I can attest that the cookies, when actually cooked, were scrumptious. (Fortunately we managed to eat some of them despite having to fend off my vulture brother.) All in all, we had a lovely New Year's late night baking and decorating delicious cookies. (Recipes are available upon request.)
Happy 2011 everyone!
2010 Roundup: Baking
Here are some of the baking projects I've been up to in the past year. The first one is actually from 2009, but I'm still including it. :)
Here are some of the baking projects I've been up to in the past year. The first one is actually from 2009, but I'm still including it. :)
Nadine's Bridal Shower
Last January, I was the maid of honor in my friend Nadine's wedding. For her shower, I baked her favorite: Magnolia Bakery cupcakes. My New York friends are quite familiar with the awesomeness of Magnolia cupcakes. They are magnificent. For those who do not know, Magnolia Bakery is in New York City and they make the most amazing cupcakes you have ever eaten. Nadine and I have been obsessed with them for years, and we are not the only ones. Apparently they sometimes have a line around the block. These things are very popular. Anyway, the recipe is available online so I made the cupcakes for Nadine's shower. Oh and while I am at it I want to give a big shout out to the ladies who helped me make these at the shower--Kari Watson and Erika Villalba, I am looking at you. I also want to thank Erika for helping me eat all the leftover batter.
We frosted the cupcakes with Magnolia's Buttercream Frosting. The recipe calls for six to eight cups of confectioner's sugar; well I have made it with both six and eight cups, and eight works a lot better. It's much thicker and frosts better.
I also made some brownies for the shower. And I will admit that I made it from a box brownie mix. Because you know what? Box brownies are awesome. I have never even made brownies from scratch and I don't know why you even would. There is nothing better than slightly undercooked box brownies. For these, I modified it by using coconut oil instead of straight vegetable oil, and added walnuts. The coconut oil makes them so moist and rich and subtly coconutty. Delicious. And a big hit at the shower.
New Year's, 2010
More Magnolia cupcakes. Aren't they so pretty in their silver papers?
Unfrosted purity
Such pretty pink frosting!
Kaitlyn and I have a tradition now of baking on New Year's Eve. Kaitlyn painstakingly separated out the blue and purple sprinkles to make the numbers. So cute!
Thanksgiving
This apple pie recipe comes to me curtesy of Nadine. It has a crumb top made with a whole stick of butter and a bunch of brown sugar. In other words, it's delicious. It's especially tasty with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream.
Close-up of those beautiful layers of apple slices.
Here are some of the baking projects I've been up to in the past year. The first one is actually from 2009, but I'm still including it. :)
Nadine's Bridal Shower
Last January, I was the maid of honor in my friend Nadine's wedding. For her shower, I baked her favorite: Magnolia Bakery cupcakes. My New York friends are quite familiar with the awesomeness of Magnolia cupcakes. They are magnificent. For those who do not know, Magnolia Bakery is in New York City and they make the most amazing cupcakes you have ever eaten. Nadine and I have been obsessed with them for years, and we are not the only ones. Apparently they sometimes have a line around the block. These things are very popular. Anyway, the recipe is available online so I made the cupcakes for Nadine's shower. Oh and while I am at it I want to give a big shout out to the ladies who helped me make these at the shower--Kari Watson and Erika Villalba, I am looking at you. I also want to thank Erika for helping me eat all the leftover batter.
We frosted the cupcakes with Magnolia's Buttercream Frosting. The recipe calls for six to eight cups of confectioner's sugar; well I have made it with both six and eight cups, and eight works a lot better. It's much thicker and frosts better.
New Year's, 2010
Thanksgiving
2010 Roundup: Landscape Photography
The first two of these have been post-processed; the rest are the original images.
Sunset over Cayuga Lake, Fall 2010
Rainbow seen from my backyard
Backyard sunset
This reminds me of that one scene from Gone with the Wind.
Taken on the first snow of the year, December 1, 2010.
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