98:365 color 6.28.10

man vs. nature.

Thirsty?

If you are a regular visitor to my blog, you may have seen past posts on the "Imbibe" feature I shoot monthly for StyleLine Magazine. The July issue is on stands now and you can see my photo on page 100. Or just click here and see it online. Recipe for the Beach Grill Mai Tai is in the article. The above photo is one they didn't use for the magazine, but it was one of my favorites.


While I'm at it.... here's the link to the April, May and June imbibe articles that I hadn't yet posted. The Pineapple Mojito is a personal favorite!

97:365 Color 6.27.10

Blue Moon.

96:365 Color 6.26.10

The best laid plans...

So you may be thinking to yourself: "Self, why am I looking at a picture of what appears to be a jelly jar?" And you would be asking a good question. Here's the thing, sometimes I have ideas that don't work out. If you are human, I imagine that you have this problem too from time to time. But, what you choose to do when the plans don't go according to, um, plan, is what makes you stand out or suck at life. Ok maybe that was a bit harsh... I'm sorry, you don't suck, that other guy who stopped reading after the first sentence does. read on...

So I was outside after dinner, enjoying all the fireflies that were making my backyard sparkle while I worked on my mosquito bite collection. I thought it would be cool to try to get the fireflies in my photo for today. After running around my backyard, trying to photograph fireflies in flight for a few minutes I decided that this was not going to work for multiple reasons. Plan B: Get a jar and catch the suckers. Don't worry, no fireflies were harmed in the process... but if any of my neighbors were watching, they may think less of me after watching me wander around my yard with my camera and then a jelly jar. So I caught 3 (no easy feat). Then set the jar on my table like a hunter returning home with his catch. I figured this would now be easy, just set my exposure and fire off a few frames when the fireflies were glowing green. Guess what? These suckers wouldn't preform. They don't like to light up when trapped in a little jar - go figure. After waiting a few minutes longer, I was about to throw in the towel when I realized, that the bugs didn't have to be my subject after all. I let them free and they promptly turned on their glowing green behinds, essentially flipping me the bird. Once my hostages had escaped, I focused my lens on their temporary confinement, the Bonne Maiman jar. The only light outside came from what little light was left in the sky and the citronella candle I had lit after also applying gobs of deet to ward off the mosquitoes. I still got bit. The combination of the two light sources and trying a few different angles gave me a variety of usable photos. It may not be the best or most interesting photo I've taken, but it's a good reminder to not focus too hard on getting one thing when something better (or at least simpler) may be right in front of you. That all for now. Off to get some calamine.

95:365 color 6.25.10

red, white and blueberry.

Feeling a little festive (and hungry)? Try this easy recipe. I substituted the raspberries for blueberries and I was quite pleased with the results. The only suggestion I would make is to cut the sugar at the end down to 1Tbs. Great with fresh berries or served warm with a scoop of vanilla or lemon ice cream. Probably would be good with coolwhip if you like that sort of thing (I don't).

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup fresh raspberries (about 5 ounces)

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then beat in vanilla. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined.

Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.

Gourmet
June 2009
by Melissa Roberts
Want to see how other cooks rated and reviewed this recipe? Go to http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/353616

94:365 Color 6.24.10

Making a stamen(t).

Cliche? yes. Pretty? possibly. In my front yard? definitely.

93:365 Color 6.23.10

dirty feet.

This is not Matilda for once. We had dinner with our friends who have a daughter, Joslyn, who is a few months older than Matilda. She has a great play structure that Matilda was enjoying thoroughly (instead of eating her dinner...). Joslyn was showing off her big-girl-abilities and climbing up the slide.

92:365 Color 6.22.10

Warm.

Matilda enjoys her first concert-in-the-park of the summer. She was just mesmerized at this point, but did a lot of dancing shortly after. I made the shot I took two frames later the banner for her blog - check it out.

91:365 Animals 6.21.10

Oreo.

Although, it's not so easy to tell from this photo, this is one huge cat. I have been around many cats, had two growing up, and I have never seen a cat this big outside of the zoo. He's like a small bobcat. Rachel (his sister) said he's a Maine Coon, which translates to big-ass-housecat. He wasn't particularly fond of my camera so I kept my distance.

90:365 Animals 6.20.10

Big Bird.

Today we took a trip to the zoo for Father's Day. I had no shortage of animals to choose from so it was hard to narrow it down to one photo today. I liked the simplicity of this one and I never realized how much an ostrich's feathers can look like Marv Albert's hair.