Looking at these photos makes me want to dance and photograph dancers all at the same time. Check out The Ballerina project for some beautiful inspiration.
Tags: Ballerina Project, Dance
Happy New Year!
25 Jan
This past week my 5th graders investigated Chinese plum tree paintings. They got to use some pretty unconventional painting methods, including blowing on the black paint with straws and using their fingers to print the blossoms, which they were excited about. They also designed their own chop with Model Magic clay. We always seem to have a lot of fun learning about Chinese New Year celebrations. Have a great year of the Dragon!
Tags: Art Projects
Recipe of the Week: One Pot Chicken and Dumplings
22 Jan
There’s something about soft, fluffy, doughy bread that I find irresistible. Dumplings are all of these to me and I have always been drawn to them. One of my first encounters with dumplings was at my best friend/next door neighbors house. Her grandmother was visiting and made Polish potato dumplings for dinner and I was hooked. I remember wondering why no one had ever given me dumplings before.
I like this recipe because the dumplings are soft and doughy without being too dense and chewy. I also like putting lots of vegetables with the chicken to deepen the flavors of the sauce. We really enjoyed this dinner and I hope you do too!
One Pot Chicken and Dumplings
Serves 4
The Chicken Stew
3 tablespoons butter
1 onion – chopped
1 leek – white and light green parts sliced thin
3 to 4 – carrots sliced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 lb boneless-skinless chicken thighs
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup whole milk
1 cup frozen peas
The Dumplings
1 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons whole milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
Melt the 3 tablespoons of butter in a large dutch oven over medium high heat. Add onion, leek, carrots, thyme, and salt to the pot and cover for five minutes, stirring occasionally.
When the vegetables have begun to soften stir in the flour, then the stock, milk and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and add the chicken. Cover and let cook for 20 minutes. Then take out the chicken thighs one at a time and shredded them with two forks and place back in the pot. Add salt and pepper to taste at this point. Add the peas and bring to a simmer.
As you wait for the sauce to simmer make the dumpling dough by combining all of the dumpling ingredients in a bowl, don’t make it before hand. Add the dumpling batter in tablespoon drops all over the top of the chicken and cover.
Cook for about 15 more minutes until the dumplings are done, they will have doubled in size and become firm. Stir everything together, let cool a bit and enjoy!
Baby James – Newborn Portraits
19 JanThis afternoon I got to do a newborn session with sweet baby James and I just couldn’t wait to show you a sneak peak. His dad is a musician so we had some fun taking pictures with his guitar.
I can’t wait to finish the rest. He’s such a cutie!
Tags: Newborn Photography
Merry Christmas!
16 JanIf you’ve been missing Christmas I’m here to fill that void just a little bit longer. We had a great Christmas day here in Houston. Both of my brothers and their families were in town. Plus friends of our family came over for a festive lunch. Some how my dad found a plethora of santa hats that got passed around that morning.
Weston and Danielle
I’m not quite sure what my parents were giggling at, but it must have been quite funny.
Ian and Paulina.
Even Oscar got in on the santa hat action, although I don’t really think he had much of a choice.
For Lunch we had our traditional standing rib roast along with more sides than we probably needed. Do you see the heaping mound of mashed potatoes in the background, yep and there was still even more on the stove. One day I’ll learn how to properly estimate how many potatoes to use.
I hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying a Happy New Year!
Recipe of the Week: Fluffy Spiced Pancakes with Cinnamon Apples
15 Jan
I love cinnamon, especially in breakfast foods. So given the chance, I often like to spice up my pancakes. This pancake recipe is light and fluffy with just a hint of spice and when you top them off with cinnamon apples and a little dollop of sweetened cream cheese you have a dream team combination.
Fluffy Spiced Pancakes
Makes 8, 4 inch pancakes
1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
3 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp White Sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Grated Nutmeg
1 1/4 cups Milk
1 Egg
3 Tablespoons Melted Butter
Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl. Make a well in the center and add the milk, egg and melted butter. Stir until just combined and still a little lumpy.
Pour a quarter cup of batter on a griddle at medium heat. Flip over when bubbles have appeared all over the pancake.
Sauteed Cinnamon Apples
Makes 4 servings
2 Apples, such as Honey Crisp or Granny Smith
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 tablespoon Butter
3 tablespoons Brown Sugar
1/3 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
Peel and cut the apples into about half inch cubes and toss with lemon juice. Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium high heat. Add the apples and saute for about 5 minutes or until softened, but not mushy.
Add the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt to the apples and simmer for about 5 more minutes. The sauce will be a little runny, but I like it that way so it soaks into my pancakes. If you want a thicker sauce mix 2 tablespoons of water with 1 tsp of cornstarch and add with the cinnamon and sugar.
Sweetened Cream Cheese
1/2 package of Cream Cheese
2 tablespoons Confection Sugar
Cut up the cream cheese into smaller cubes and place in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for about 20 seconds until just warm and soft. Mix in the sugar until smooth.
Assemble the three parts how you like. A warm mug of Chai tea goes very well with this, if you were wondering. Enjoy!
A Sharper Focus Photography has it’s own blog!
8 Jan
This year I have decided that my photography business needed its own blog so this blog can go back to being more about my daily life. Don’t worry, I’ll still post mini updates here to let you know what’s going on with my photography. I can’t let you off that easy. But, hopefully this new distinction means I can focus more on food, art and family here at A Sharper Focus.
Here’s the link for A Sharper Focus Photography Blog. Save it, follow it, do what you like with it and thanks for all of the support this last year to make A Sharper Focus Photography such a success. I really appreciate it and am looking forward to another great year!
Tags: Blog, Photography
Recipe of the Week: Blueberry Cream Scones
8 JanYep, you read right, recipe of the week. One of my goals for this year is post at least one recipe I have cooked each week. I’m pretty excited about it and hope you are too!
This scone recipe is one of my favorite weekend breakfasts. It’s super fast with a food processor and they turn out so light and fluffy. Add a little dollop of clotted cream and a cup of tea and I can almost believe I’m back in England. You can also substitute a half cup of dried currants for the blueberries for a more traditional taste. It’s super tempting to eat them right out of the oven, but waiting ten minutes is well worth it so that they don’t fall apart on you. Also, don’t be tempted to use fresh blueberries, they will turn the dough into a gooey mess. Frozen berries will hold their shaped much better until baked. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
Blueberry Cream Scones
Makes 8 scones.
Recipe adapted from America’s Test Kitchen
2 cups all purpose flour
3 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into quarter inch pieces
1 cup heavy cream, plus 1 Tbsp
1/2 frozen blueberries
2 Tbsp coarse sugar
Heat oven to 425 degrees and cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor and mix for about 6 seconds, or whisk in a large bowl. Lay butter evenly over the flour mixture and then process for 12 one second pulses, or if mixing by hand, cut in butter until it looks like corse corn meal. If using a food processor, transfer mixture to a large bowl. Stir in the heavy cream and frozen blueberries for about 30 seconds, or until dough begins to form. Place dough on a floured surface and kneed for a few seconds until all of the little floury bits come together. Pat out into three quarter inch think circle and then use a large chefs knife to cut into 8 pieces. Place the wedges on the parchment paper and brush with extra Tablespoon of cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before eating.
Tags: Blueberries, Breakfast, Scones
Christmas Party!
2 JanThis year we hosted a Christmas Party for our small group friends. Everyone was encouraged to wear their favorite Christmas/Cosby theme sweater. I didn’t realized that these types of sweaters are so in demand at this time of year! At least I have a full year to try to find a gem of a sweater for next year. I was very impressed by our groups overall Christmas enthusiasm.
As I tend to do, I also got very excited about cooking for the party. I’ve been on a Jamie Oliver kick recently so many of dishes I made were inspired by him. Unfortunately, I forgot to take that many photos of the food! I guess I’ll have to come up with an excuse to make some of them again.
To snack on I made garlic hummus, spiced nuts and bruschetta with butternut squash, chestnuts and cranberries as seen above. For dinner we had Beef and Ale Stew, roast garlic mashed potatoes, sauteed green beens and Cranberry-Pistachio Nut Loaf. This was pretty different from anything I have really made before and I really liked it. It has so many of my favorite holiday flavors all in one dish.
For dessert there was Apple Crostata, which I also made for Christmas day so I’ll post more on that later, and Chocolate Cake. The cake is made with coconut milk and I also made some changes so that it was wheat free. It turned out super delicious. I just need to find another occasion that justifies me making more chocolate cake. I’ll leave you with this adorable picture. Stephanie and Liz are expecting soon and I can’t wait to meet their new additions!
Houston Love!
30 DecThis is what I did this morning as a header for a possible new blog. Having time off from work is fun.
Now off to more pressing maters like cleaning out my garden. So many weeds, yikes!
