halloween 2010

This was Halloween this year.  We had a Bumble bee, Batman and Triceratops.  We dressed warm - lots of layers.  Jesse lasted 45 minutes.  Abigail and Nathaniel came home after 11/2 hours.  Jesse loved handing candy out at the door.  Nathaniel was more interested in organizing his candy.  Abigail chose her 2 treats then stood watch at the door after Jesse went to bed.  We got around 125 kids to the door.  Good Night!

chocolate and pear cake

Friday I picked up a half bushel of pears.  Saturday our fridge was packed full of pears.  Sunday I began searching for pear recipes.  Monday I baked this cake.  Tuesday the cake was gone.  What else do I need to say.  Bake this cake!

Chocolate and Pear Cake - adapted from Smitten Kitchen

It is important to beat the eggs until they are a velvety yellow ribbon.  This is an important step in this cake.  You will need to get out your stand mixer for this one.

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

3 pears, peeled and cut into a small dice (I used Flemish Beauty, Bosc would also work well)

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter a 9 inch springform pan.  Dust with flour and set aside.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt.

Using a mixer with the whisk attachment, whip the eggs on high speed until pale and very thick.  (This took me about 7-9 minutes.)  

While the eggs are whipping, brown the butter.  Place the unsalted butter in a medium saucepan and brown over medium heat.  Continue to melt until the butter browns and smells nutty.  Occasionally scrap the bottom of the pan to release any solids from the bottom.  Be sure to watch the butter carefully to avoid burning the butter.  When ready, remove from the heat and keep warm.

Add the sugar to the eggs and whip a few minutes more.

Just as the egg/sugar mixture begins to lose volume, turn the mixer down to stir and add the flour mixture and butter.  Add one third of the flour mixture, half the butter, one third of the flour, the last half of the butter and the last of the flour.  Whisk until barely combined - no more than a minute from when the flour was first added.  Use a spatula to gently fold the ingredients together until all the ingredients are combined.  It is important not to work the batter too much or it will lose volume.

Pour into the prepared pan.  Sprinkle the pear and chocolate chips over the top and bake until the cake is golden brown and springs back when touched, about 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

We ate this cake just plain, but you could serve it with whipped cream or ice cream.

sneak peek

I am falling behind on sharing some of my recent photo sessions with you.  Here are a few of my favorites.  I will definitely come back and share more in the next few weeks.  Thanks for stopping by!

three and a half

I realize that I have not been keeping up with my personal photos or stories.  One of the main reasons for starting this blog was to document my children's lives so they can read about themselves when they are older and so I won't forget all the wonderful details when they were small.  So, while this little guy watches Diego and the baby condors, I am going to quickly highlight the special things he does to brighten my day.

At almost 3 1/2 - you wake up between 5:30 and 6:45 am.  

You always wake up in a great mood.

Daddy usually wakes up with you, reads a book on the couch and gives you cereal or toast with cream cheese and jam for breakfast.  

You and Nathaniel begin pretending and play until we need to get ready for school.  You love playing firefighter, cats, or construction worker.  

You and Nathaniel play so well together.

Lately the two of you have been building lots of forts.  The house is usually a big mess every single day.

You ask if you have to go to preschool.  If I say yes, you almost always reply "I don't want to go to preschool!"  A few weeks ago you would also start crying and not want to get dressed.  Now you still talk about not wanting to go, but there are no tears.

When I drop you off at preschool, you give me a kiss and go straight to the book corner.  Again, no more tears about me having to leave.  When I pick you up you say "Mommy, I did fine!"

On days you don't go to preschool, we hang out at home playing or do errands (grocery shopping).  

When we go to the grocery store you ask what name it is.  You know the grocery stores as the cookie store (Sobeys) because you get a free cookie or the sushi/croissant store (Superstore) because I either buy you a chocolate croissant or a tray of California roll sushi.

You like to ride on the side of the cart and pretend it is a train.

After lunch you usually ask to watch cartoons.  Sometimes you watch a DVD or you watch the cartoon channel.  You always get upset when it is time to turn it off.  I have to be very creative in distracting you.  

Yesterday you cried for 10 minutes because we were out of the Smores cookies that you like.

You are easygoing and a good listener.  But you can be stubborn about certain things.

You need to choose your own clothes in the morning.  You are very particular about how things feel next to your skin.  A month and a half ago there were only 3 pairs of pants that you would agree to wear.

When we are saying grace before supper, you often put up your hand to say the prayer.  This is how your prayer usually goes.  "Thank you for the food.  Thank you for the beach.  (Pause.  You look up.)  Mommy can we go to the beach someday!"  This is when your siblings break out in laughter.

You go to bed between 7:15 and 7:45.

Every night when Daddy or I put you to sleep you ask "Please tell me a story about Jesus."

These are the details about you that I don't want to forget.  Now I need to go turn off the tv.  Wish me luck.

hello world!

I am officially in love with taking newborn photos!  I not only got to meet this little miss last week, but also had another session with an adorable little boy two days ago.  Ahhh!  I say keep 'em coming people.  

She was awake for almost the entire session (over 2 hours!).  That is pretty impressive for someone not even 2 weeks old.

I did manage to snap a few of her drifting off.  It was probably the stifling heat in the bedroom that helped.  Her mom and I were sweating!

Just a bit of a break between pictures.

Then she was ready to share a bit more of her cuteness.

I think I could have kept snapping for another hour or two.  But she decided it was time to go.  And surprise, surprise, guess who fell asleep as soon as she got nestled into her car seat?

lucas, eve, jade and chloee

As promised, I am sharing pictures from a session last Sunday.  In a nutshell, the weather was absolutely gorgeous, the sun was strong, our location had tons of cool textures and the family was amazing.  Seriously, look at these children!  Plus, I received a serious tug to brush up on my high school French.  This session and a wedding the previous day where half the family speaks French reminded me how seriously lacking it is.  Okay, back to these kids.  The older girls don't speak a lot of English, but that didn't get in the way of relaxing and having fun exploring our location.

All four of these kids were so polite and adventurous.  I was struck by how much they cared for each other.

So sweet!

These kids were serious sprinters.  

And I realize that I need to brush up on my ecology if I insist on dragging my families into these kinds of settings.  I had them sit on an ant hill at our first go at this family picture.  Luckily, everyone recovered.

And how special that Grandma and Grandpa came along too.

Praying Mantis.  So my insect identification skills aren't too bad.

Love these series of sibling shots.

And my new favorite jumping shot.  With mom's help they were perfectly coordinated.  It was the perfect way to end a great session.

pumpkin cupcakes with maple cream cheese icing

I can't believe how fast this week has gone by!  I had good intentions of posting some images from a recent photo shoot, but ran out of time.  Hopefully this weekend.  In the meantime, I can share my journey to these cupcakes.

Yesterday I was having one of those days.  It was none stop busyness from 7:30 am to 10:30 pm.  I really didn't sit down to rest the entire day.  I was also realizing that our house had no form of chocolate/ice cream/baked goods to keep me going.  I don't always feel the need to search the cupboards for treats, but I am sure every woman (maybe men too?) can relate to this overwhelming craving for something sweet.  It got so bad I had to resort to a few handfuls of chocolate chips.  All hidden from the kids of course.

Last weekend I was searching for an interesting recipe for Thanksgiving.  The plan for some homemade treats was ditched when a nasty cold sucked all life out of my body.  But I never forgot about this recipe.  Last night I made the decision that today would be cupcake baking day.  Jesse and I spent part of the morning out and then returned to bake up these sweet treats.

The cupcake is SO light with a wonderful spiciness.  The maple cream cheese makes it even more special.  I am eager to see if they pass the kid test.  They definitely passed mine.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Icing - adapted from Smitten Kitchen
makes 20 cupcakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk with 1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin

Maple Cream Cheese Icing 
1 package cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup icing sugar
4-6 Tablespoons pure maple syrup

Make the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line cupcake tins with 20 cupcake liners.

In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 5 minutes.  Meanwhile sift the flour, baking powder and soda, spices, salt and pepper into a medium bowl.

Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides after each egg.  Alternate adding the flour and buttermilk/vanilla mixture, beginning and ending with the flour.  Beat in the pumpkin until smooth.  Spoon the mixture into the cupcake liners, about 3/4 full.  Rap the pans once on the counter to remove any air bubbles.  Bake the cupcakes in a preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.  Cool the cupcakes on a rack.

Make the icing:
In a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until fluffy.  Add the icing sugar, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  With the mixer running on medium low speed, slowly drizzle in the maple syrup until the desired consistency.  Once the cupcakes are completely cool, ice them with the cream cheese mixture.

40 toes

I have been a very bad blogger.  I know.  So, what have I been doing?  I have been busy taking lots of pictures, editing, editing and more editing, recovering from a nasty cold and trying to maintain some normalcy through it all.  So, I am taking a break from...you guessed it...editing, to show you a pic of the sweetest, most creative and fun kids.  I will be back later this week with even more pics of these 4.  Plus my new favorite jumping picture.

tiara, kori and karen

Having the opportunity to meet a family and watch them interact is such a special part of my job.  I love the challenge of breaking through the nervousness and formality to connect with a family.  And seeing an image that reflects the connection between a family is my ultimate goal.

I had to switch gears a bit when meeting a family with teenagers.  (Kori's almost there.)  It was a nice change not to have to run around chasing little ones.  I wonder if this family felt like they were chasing after me as we searched for new locations at this beautiful apple orchard?  I'm guessing they weren't coming for a workout.

My job was easy with such beautiful subjects.

There was lots of tickling to get these great expressions.

Can you believe that Kori had a different hair colour yesterday?  I love the black!  Her beautiful eyes just pop.

Ahh...sisterly love.  I've been there.

Tiara, you are truly beautiful.

After shooting with overcast skies, the sun peeked out right at the end of our session.  We ran over to the corn fields to take advantage of the setting sun.  Of course the corn was way too high to get much sun in the pictures, but I love the warm glow of this photo.

Karen, Tiara and Kori - Thank you for trusting me and being so open and adventurous during our time together.

miscalculation

I forgot one very important factor when calculating how many more days I could head to the freezer for a oatmeal toffee cookie.  That factor would be a husband who reads my blog and would be reminded of the cookies his wife stashed in the freezer.  Add in a hungry husband coming from playing hockey and my recalculation would be zero cookies left at the end of the day.