The Progress of a Self-Taught Photographer

You know what? I don't feel like posting a recipe today. I just don't! 

Instead, I'm going to talk to you a teensy bit about my back and whole lot about photography. Don't worry, this won't be too technical of a post :-)

March Musings: 2016

Holy April Batman!

Wow. My break went super-duper fast. Gone in the blink of an eye. I needed it badly. Truth be told, my expectations surrounding my back injury have really sent me straight through the ringer, and right back again. Back in January, I thought I'd be running by April. The timeline has not gone that smoothly in reality, and I'm in a bit of a holding pattern. I have no news to share on that front, and that's the problem. Right now, it feels like there is no light at the end of the tunnel, and that's been a hard thing to accept.

From New Construction to 3 Years

December 2012

3 years.

Well, technically it's been almost 3.5 years. But I digress. Can you believe it's been almost 3.5 years since I've done an update on the state of the homestead? Mercy. I thought we'd take some time today to remedy that. 

In case you were wondering, you can find the link to that old update here.

But for now, let's talk 3 years in!

Pomegranate Lime Cosmos

I'm so excited to be posting today. And not just because I'm posting a cocktail, ha ha. Today's post is brought to you by my Christmas present! 

No, I didn't get a bottle of vodka or a pomegranate for Christmas. I besieged my family for Amazon gift cards for Christmas, all so I could pool them together and buy myself something I would use for years to come. Any guesses?

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake

Happy Thursday!

It's been a difficult couple of days for the hubby and I. A stomach virus invaded the house and brought all activity to a grinding halt. The hubby had the worst of it. His started on Tuesday, and he did nothing but get sick until 4 pm that day. He was finally able to keep some Pepto in his system in the evening, and that seemed to help. All day Tuesday, the one and only thought I had was 'Please, please, please! Do not let me get this!' I mean, you know when you are watching your spouse get sick every 30 minutes, literally all day? No one wants to do that themselves. I was feeling the fear.

Recipe Redux: Oktoberfest Stew

Recipe Redux.

Recipe Re-do.

Whatever you want to call it, it's time for this month's Recipe Redux! This one is definitely a keeper. I've been making it ever since the hubby and I moved into our new house. Literally, I think this was THE first new recipe I ever made in my brand new kitchen. Let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we?

When the hubby and I moved out of our rental in Ashland, it was the most organized move I'd ever, well, organized. I was on top of my game. I started packing 4 weeks before our move-out date, and I went slowly, room by room. Each box I packed had a room marked on it that it should go to. Underneath the name of the room, I listed every. single. thing. in the box. It was the most helpful thing I'd ever done.

Autumn in Kentucky: October 2015

Hola! I'm here with a Saturday post to show you some beautiful October leaves here in Kentucky.

This (above) was the view of the road right after leaving my house. That is, until the leftovers of Hurricane Patricia went through the area, viciously taking down those oh-so-gorgeous October leaves we had going on. Well, boo to you Hurricane Patricia. We were having the most beautiful fall that I can remember around here. 

That could be because 2 years ago, we spent October in Oregon and last year we spent the last 2 weeks of October in Mexico... Hmmm...

At any rate, the hillsides have been awash of gold and red, with the occasional evergreen poking out here and there. If I were to go back and take pictures today (these were taken last weekend), everything would look vastly different. Plus, they would all be gloomy and gray and who wants to look at those right??

Metamorphosis

What? Another Sunday post? Are you guys lucky or what?? :)

Truth be told, something magical happened at the homestead this summer that I just had to share. I introduced milkweed to my garden for the first time this year, and I was rewarded with butterflies. 

Lots and lots of butterflies.

Master Bedroom Update

It's done, it's finally done!

A funny thing happens to those who like to take pictures, and take them often. You start to lose any patience with bad pictures. You start to become a little bit of a perfectionist, not wanting to share any pictures that are less than perfect. That's exactly how I've been with this project. Taking and re-taking. Re-taking and taking more pictures. Moaning over shadows and light and angles, and a million other things that I'm sure I'm the only one who cares about.

I'm done. I've decided that the layout of the master bedroom and the location, size, etc. of the windows in the room are always going to produce lighting and angles that are not pleasing to me. Enough is enough, and it's time to share the update.

Spring 2015 aka Chipmunkpaloosa

Hello from Kentucky this wonderful Tuesday morning!

I'm not so sure about the wonderful part, since I've gotten up early for an appointment plus it's raining. But, to look on the bright side-

1. I got to see a big frog this morning, since it's raining. Just chilling on the driveway, enjoying the early spring rise in temperature.

2. I don't have to water anything I planted over the weekend. 

Vanilla Cupcakes with Whipped Eggnog Frosting

Holy eggnog frosting Batman!

Oh my goodness. This frosting is... There are no words. It's, like, eggnog-a-licious. It's creamy. It's sweet. It tastes exactly like eggnog! I tried an eggnog cream cheese frosting a couple of years ago, and it just didn't taste like eggnog. I believe that recipe only called for 1-2 tbsp's of eggnog, while this recipe calls for a cup and a half. It makes a huge difference. I paired my simple, but completely delicious, vanilla cupcakes with this statement frosting. It's a perfect pairing. All you need is a few sprinkles, and these cupcakes are Christmas fun!

The hubby went nutty over these Christmas cupcakes. I was surprised, as he's not the biggest lover of eggnog I've ever met. He gave these 2 big thumbs up. 

I know you're all thinking, what is this girl doing baking cupcakes when this week is going to be Bake-A-Poolza?? 

In truth, I baked these to keep me from diving into baking the Christmas cookies way too early. I'm revved up and ready, so I needed a project to keep me busy. And my plan worked!

Today, however, I'm allowed to get excited about Christmas baking. Because it's time! The hubby and I are headed out with a fairly large list that if it were to be found on the ground, one would assume they'd found Will Ferrell's "Elf" grocery list. Boxes of cake mix, melting candy, cream cheese, M&M's, Reese's, Rolo's, Oreo's, etc. I have no idea what the cashier will be thinking when she rings up my order.

Actually, come to think of it, she'll probably think, "Christmas baking". So scratch that :)

Did everyone have a great weekend? I did! I accomplished everything I set out to do. Ran, rested, did yoga. Did my weekly cleaning of the house. Baked and photographed cupcakes. Made and photographed Salted Caramel Milkshakes. Actually, I made them Boozy Salted Caramel Milkshakes, and that was the end of productivity. The boozy milkshakes led to immediate relaxation and a frantic Pinterest pinning session. A perfect end to a fairly productive weekend. It's back to reality today however, as the hubby has an early morning MRI on his knee. He's been having some knee pain while running, so we are sneaking in an MRI at the end of this year since our deductibles have been met. If his MRI is clear, I'm guessing he'll start physical therapy on his knee so he can rejoin me in running in the future. 

Before I go, I'll point out that this is another post brought to you completely by my artificial photography light. I've been really pleased with the results I'm getting. Practice makes perfect!

Happy Monday friends!

Ingredients (makes 1 dozen cupcakes):

Eggnog Frosting-

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

3 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups eggnog

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 sticks unsalted butter, softened, cut into small cubes

pinch of nutmeg

Vanilla Cake-

1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup granulated sugar

2 egg whites

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

3/4 cup milk (I used 1%)

2 tsp vanilla extract

sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

1. Frosting- In a small saucepan, combine sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Add eggnog, and whisk to combine. Place saucepan over medium heat. Cook mixture until very thick, like brownie batter. This should take 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat, and place in a clean bowl (I used my stand mixer bowl). Chill in fridge for 30 minutes. Remove from fridge and allow to come to room temperature. When mixture is room temperature, mix in vanilla. Piece by piece, begin to incorporate the butter (I used my stand mixer to whip the frosting). Whip for 4-5 minutes, or until butter is completely incorporated. Allow frosting to sit for 30-60 minutes at room temp before using to allow frosting to stiffen. 

2. Cupcakes- Preheat oven to 350º and line a cupcake pan with liners. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Whisk to mix. In another mixing bowl, combine melted butter and sugar. Whisk to mix. Whisk until no lumps remain, mixture will be thick and gritty. Mix egg whites, yogurt, milk, and vanilla extract until well combined. Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Mix until mixture is smooth (I just did this by hand). Divide batter among cupcake pan, bake in preheated oven 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting. 

3. Divide frosting among cupcakes, and sprinkle with sprinkles, if using. Store in an airtight container. You may have extra frosting, frosting can be kept in the fridge for up to 1 week. 

Printable Recipe

Frosting recipe by Eat Cake For Dinner.  Cake recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction. 

Looking for other cupcake recipes? Try these!

Classic Chocolate Cupcakes

Mixed Berry Cupcakes

Spiced Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Linked to: Treasure Box Tuesday, Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party, Treasure Box Tuesday

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

It's just another Manic Monday...

No, not really. It's an absolutely peaceful Monday morning around here. The hubby worked the night shift last night and as such, is tranquilly snoring in the bedroom. Miraculously, the dogs let me sleep until the hubby got home, so I didn't even have to drag my sleepy butt out of bed, into my winter coat, and out into the harsh, biting morning air. It's a rare day when I rise from bed to simply grab a cup of coffee and sit down to watch the news. Yes indeed, it's a blissfully slow morning around these parts.

Now, I know Thanksgiving is over and some people have packed the pumpkin away until next year. I am not one of those people. December is still a pumpkin month for me. As a child, there never failed to be a pumpkin pie at Christmas. And pumpkin pie is my favorite. Therefore, I still love that big, round, orange squash all through the Christmas season. One of my favorite pairings in the world is pumpkin and chocolate. When I was in high school, my mom started making Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies and I became addicted. It was always a good day when I came home from school to find the house smelling like chocolate and pumpkin. They are a perfect match. If it's good in a cookie, why wouldn't it be good in a quick bread?

You want to hear something funny? I didn't really like quick breads when I was growing up. I wasn't especially fond of banana or zucchini bread. I think for me, it's in the name. Anything with "banana" or "zucchini" in the title couldn't really be dessert, could it? I can still hear the word "healthy" rattling around my teenage brain whenever I came face to face with zucchini bread. 

That being said, this bread is not particularly healthy. Due to the sheer amount of pumpkin, I'm sure there is plenty of fiber in the bread. However, there is quite a bit of chocolate to offset that fiber. And plenty of spicy cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger to make the bread taste like spice cake. It's the perfect bread for curling up with a blanket on the couch on a cold winter's day.

Something exciting happened over the weekend. And it has to do with these pictures. Some of these photos were taken in natural light, but I wasn't entirely happy with all the photos I'd chosen for this post. So, on Saturday night after the hubby left for work, I got out my photography light. This happens periodically as I'm still learning how to use it. It's been a mostly frustrating process, but any process where you are learning as you go can be infuriating. Something clicked on Saturday though. I was fresh off reading a Pinch of Yum's post about using artificial light in food photography, and I was bound and determined to get good results. And...

I did!

Most of these photos were taken in artificial light! This is a first for me, and I'm so darn excited. This opens up so many possibilities for me. It's true, I've had the light for quite a while. Due to my inexperience with it, I haven't considered it a weapon in my arsenal until now. I've now opened up hours and hours of usable photography time thanks to conquering that technique. And I'm thrilled. Ecstatic. On Cloud 9, if you will. 

I hope everyone had a great weekend, probably working on Christmas shopping. I know whenever I left the house this weekend, there were wall-to-wall people everywhere. Tis' the holiday season! :)

Have a great day everyone!

Ingredients (makes 1 loaf):

1 3/4 cup flour

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp cloves

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

1 cup canola oil

2 eggs

1/2 cup almond milk

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly coat a loaf pan with cooking spray, set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour though salt. Whisk to combine.

3. In a separate mixing bowl, combine pumpkin puree through almond milk. Whisk thoroughly to combine, until there are no lumps. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, folding until just barely mixed. Do not overmix. Fold in chocolate chips.

4. Pour batter into loaf pan. Bake in preheated oven for 50 min to 70 min. If top of loaf gets too brown, cover with aluminum foil. I covered mine at 45 minutes and let it cook for 70 minutes. Remove from oven, and allow to cool in pan for 30 minutes. Turn bread out, and allow to cool completely before storage. Store in an airtight container.

Printable Recipe

Recipe adapted from AllRecipes.

If you liked this recipe, you may enjoy these:

Mini Chocolate Chip Zucchini Loaves

Nutella Swirled Banana Bread

Oatmeal Raisin Quick Bread

Linked to: Treasure Box Tuesday, Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party, Snickerdoodle Sunday