Seasons 52

I shot Seasons 52 for Modern Luxury at the end of last year.  They gained a great review! The food is all very beautiful and each dish is no more than 475 calories!

National Scouting Museum

Yesterday we went to the National Scouting Museum. I wonder if Dallas scouts are just a tad bit luckier since scouting headquarters and all is located right here. It was genuinely fun. They have a lot of very neat scout related things, displayed them well and focused on the scouts core values like respect, honesty, leadership and of course, camping.   The opening film points out that, "Kids nowadays think that scouting is all about fun. But ..." Then a cartoon appears to talk to us and use the words "cool" and "dude" to show it's present-day. [tiny eyeroll.]







I liked the Norman Rockwell Art Gallery the most. It houses the largest collection of his scout related work.


When we got home Penn and Daniel went on a bike ride to the park. At the park Penn was still in his uniform and picked up trash without being asked.  Did that movie we watched at the museum work or what!

Speaking of memorabilia, Daniel's mom sent us some photos of Cubscout Daniel.  SO CUTE!

Click here for more photos.

Stephan Pyles's Fuego

I got to shoot Stephan Pyles's very exclusive four table dining experience, Fuego, for last month's issue of Modern Luxury Magazine.  He's such a nice guy who seems to be very proud of the dishes he creates.  It's really fun to watch him work.

Happy 9 months, Reid!

Sweet baby Reid is 9 months! We did a fun shoot in his room to commemorate the milestone. He's a fun loving, easy going,  tongue out kind of dude. I predict these will be valuable skills that stay with him through adulthood.

Utopian Societies taste like Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

I can't believe I made this cake so fast.  I was determined. We were going to have cake for desert, damnit. This is a Strawberry Buttermilk Cake and I am not afraid to brag to you, it is gooooood. Especially fresh out of the oven and full of molten fruit and freshly whipped cream.

Ingredients:

2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
12 oz. strawberries, hulled, large ones halved

Crumble topping:

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 stick unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

an 8 inch square baking pan

serves 6 - 8

Preheat oven to 350. Put flour and sugar in a bowl an dmix. Put butter, eggs and buttermilk in a food processor and process until smooth. Add flour and sugar and process until well mixed. Transfer mixture to bowl and stir in strawberries.  Spoon batter into pan.

To make crumble topping put flour and butter in a bowl and, using fingers, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in sugar.

Evenly sprinkle topping mixture over cake and bake for 50 minutes.

Serve with whipped cream.

Notes: Recipe is from "Kitchen Seasons" by Ross Dobson. I used powdered buttermilk and frozen strawberries.  I mixed everything in the food processor, including the crumble topping. I did not use self-rising flour, an idiotic oversite that did not occur to me until the cake was in the oven. Hence the bold in the recipe. Also, it was still good.  Whip your own cream.  None of this cool-whip business or junk in a can.

Tacos at home

You know that Daniel and I are both huge taco fans. Good 2 Go wins our hearts, minds and stomachs. But since we can't go there every day, I'm forced to make tacos at home sometimes.  Tacos at home are always veggie, of course, but tend to be what we make when we don't know what else to eat. They are never anything I come up with for an actual menu to serve guests.  Although I should!

Today's version was eggs, sauteed mustard greens and sprouts on a mayonaised flour tortila and topped with parmesan.

Wardrobe Stylist, Delissa

I shot wardrobe sylist, Delissa, for Modern Luxury's Style column. She's pretty amazing and the Cabana was a great setting for her strong and vibrant nature. I heard from her recently that the Lifetime Channel called. Stay tuned for the possibility of some photos of her there!

Some make me smile

I've posted about the McClard's before.  Here are a few more that make me smile. Everyone here just looks so purely in love and curious.

Central 214

I shot Central 214's Texas Chicken Fried Steak for Modern Luxury that was in their "Best Of" section of the January issue.  Food has become one of my favorite things to shoot.  In between chasing children, gathering families, setting up for perfect products and all day weddings, I am either cooking, eating or shooting food.

It's predictable, portable and full of textures and smells and temperature.

Dallas Brides Magazine

I shot some amazing bouquets for this month's Dallas Brides Magazine!

Harrington Hill Creations

Once upon a time, in a far off land, Daniel got one of these bowls for someone. Shamefully I felt a tinge of jealousy.  Clean beautifully designed containers in general is kind of my thing. But wooden bowls handmade by your beloved Godfather who oozes appreciation for nature? Wow. So jealous.

For Christmas Daniel's Godparents gave us this beautiful bowl.  I am in love with it and am happy to hand off my jealousy to that story of long ago.  Thanks, Harrington's.

Click here to get your own from Harrington Hill Creations.

Oklahoma 2011

Last weekend we took the opportunity of the long break thanks to Martin Luther King Day, and travled to Oklahoma City to spend some time with Daniel's many many many family members.

Aunt Kay and Uncle Tom were most hospitable and made us feel even more than right at home.  We enjoyed all of the toys upstairs.  I was really fascinated by the old ones.  I've been searching nonstop for these Lego gears.  Not sure they make them anymore.








We took a trip to the family Farm where there are lots of ATV's, ponds, a farm house, fire pit and obstacle course spread across the beautifully kept land.  Daniel rode the 4 wheeler, I drove a Ranger and Uncle Tom and the kiddos took a big Ranger.  It was COLD.












We had dinner with the beautiful Bullards, saw some Chihuly and took a tour of the family business, Kimray. We saw metal being heated and bent at 2065 degrees!




And then it was time to go home. Penn genuinely surprised me by exhibiting not his most charming or outwardly grateful self.  I was compelled to lecture several times a day about tone of voice. I suppose this is the Murphy's Law nature of children because he's back to normal now.  By the light of the Oklahoma sunset and Nintendo DS we drove back to Texas.



Photos taken with iPhone.  Click here for more photos.