Elaine is one of my best friends from high school and she’s getting married!!!  She met Gregg in Chicago and he is a wonderful, funny, down to earth and ambitious guy!  It has been so great getting to know him this year and we had fun on my last Chicago visit.  We had such a great time finding some cool locations around town for their engagement shoot.  They were so patient and up for trying out some new ideas that I had.  They are getting married in October and I’m in their wedding!  Gina & Tony, from the Chicago area, will be shooting their wedding and they rock!  Check out there blog here!

Cook’s Club is something that has been in the making for several months and this was our official kickoff for the beginning of the year.  This idea is a spin off of my sister’s ‘Chef’s Club‘ she does in Boston.  We plan to get together once a month to cook, have a drink and make time for a girls night.  We’re excited to try new recipes and learn new cooking techniques.  Tonight, we were desperate for a fiesta, since winter is starting to wear out it’s welcome.  It’s been bitter outside!  We made some great mexican – all from scratch (except tortillas), latin music and margaritas….much needed!

Members: Jill, Courtney, Jess, Becky (sorry, I didn’t get a photo with you in it! Next time.) and me!  We did a great job charing the living daylights out of a cookie sheet and smoked out the kitchen a few times (hence me fanning the smoke detector)!  But, in the end it was a success and the food turned out amazing.

Baked Homemade Tortilla Chips:  Preheat oven to 400-425 degrees, brush round tortilla chips with oil, stack rounds and cut into 4 or 6 triangles, spread out on a baking sheet, salt and bake until golden brown.

Pioneer Woman’s Restaurant Style Salsa which does not disappoint!  She has an AMAZING blog and I love her website!  I think I’m destined to meet her someday!

Guacamole

4 avocadoes, 1 shallot or 1/2 small red onion, 1/2 green pepper, 1 small tomato, 2 limes, 1 serrano pepper (if desire spicy guacamole), salt.

Mash avocadoes to desired consistency.  Finely dice onion, green pepper, tomato, and serrano pepper.  Juice 2 limes. Add 1-2 teaspoons of salt.  Combine and enjoy!  Serves 4-6

Chipotle’s Rice Recipe (so easy and so delicious!): 1 teaspoon vegetable oil or butter, 1/2 C. fresh cilantro, 2/3 C. basmati rice, 1 C. water, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 lime.

In a 2-quart heavy saucepan, heat oil or butter over low heat, stirring occasionally until melted.  Add rice and lime juice, stir for 1 minute.  Add water and salt, bring to a full boil.  At boiling, cover, turn down to simmer over low heat until rice is tender and the water is absorbed, about 25 minutes.  Fluff rice with fork.  Mix in cilantro.

Mashed Potato Tacos: 3 lb redkin potatoes, 1/4 C. heavy cream, 4 T. butter, 1/2 bunch parsley chopped, 2 cloves garlic minced, 4 T olive oil, 4 T sour cream, 2 T salt, 6″ corn tortillas.  Serves 6-8

Boil potatoes whole until soft.  Combine all ingredients in a mixer with a paddle attachment or by hand.  Combine all ingredients in a mixer with a paddle attachment or by hand.  The minced garlic should be dropped into smokin’ hot oil (4 T as noted above).  Stir and then add to mixture.  Let everything cool to room temperature.  Cheese:  any type of shredded cheese your heart desires.  (I use equal parts of cheddar and mozzarella.)  Mix in a big pinch of red pepper flakes.  Set aside.  Tortillas:  dip the tortillas into smokin’ hot all purpose cooking oil with a pair of metal (!) tongs.  They should sizzle for 2-3 seconds, turn over for another 2 seconds and remove to cool.  Put it all together:  1 scoop of mashed potatoes, plenty of cheese, roll nicely into tortilla and close with toothpick.  Bake at 400 degrees until bubbly and golden brown.  (approx. 10 minutes)

Fish Tacos – Jessica style: Jess made up her recipe.  She blackened tilapia, added them to soft tortillas, topped with a homemade pico de gallo mixture and lettuce.

1 week until the For the Love workshop!

Christmas holiday in Florida with family!  It was soooo nice to get away and end the year in relaxation!  Siesta Key beach was a little chilly, but we always have fun wherever we go!

I’ve been wanting to do a newborn session for such a long time, so I was super excited when I had the chance to shoot my good college friend’s baby.  Cameron’s his name!  He was such a sweetheart and just slept the whole time like he wasn’t ready for this big world surrounding him now.  He was the perfect subject for my first newborn photoshoot and was only a week and a half old here!  Surprises would be an understatement though.  Cameron was full of a few!  No diaper and on a white blanket was a recipe for a mess!   Other than that, he was a sweetheart and he made it easy on me!  Here are some of my favorite shots.

2009 was an amazing year.  I want to end this year with the word ‘thankful’.  I want to let everyone know how thankful I am of so many things in my life.  This has been a wonderful holiday and I was able to spend lots of time with my family.    My sister was home from Boston and I just get the endless giggles when we’re together.  We all have so much fun laughing, drinking and eating through the holidays.  Going home pulls me in like quicksand and I love being there, enjoying every moment, spending time cozy on the couch, watching movies, drinking peppermint coca and being warmed by the fireplace.  I am so blessed to have them in my life.  They are always there to support me in all my endeavors and pick me up when I am down.

The Beck’s family photo!  Since it’s rare when we’re all together, we needed a shot for our holiday card.  This is a photo I captured while I was home, we did leave the house and get out of our pajamas a few times. =)

Ahhh…..breathing, relaxation and lots of family time  ahead!  Taking some time off for the holidays!   Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!   I’ll be back in the office in January!

The holidays have come around so quickly this year!  I wanted to share my family’s thanksgiving.  I am so thankful that most of us we were able to spend thanksgiving together this year.  Our already big family is still growing and this is only half of us!  Thanksgiving morning is the best with the smell of coffee brewing and everyone prepping food in the kitchen.   I went for a morning run and it was an amazing crisp sunny morning.  Once showered and downstairs, the wine was already flowing!  haha  We definitely made good use of both upstairs and downstairs bars.

Off to bake Christmas cookies for the day!!  Thanks for stopping by!

We kept migrating from the upstairs bar to the down stairs one.  Had to try them all out!

Uncle Karl with his new granddaughter:

My mom with baby Brooke:

Candied salmon from Uncle Karl’s fishing trips!  Yum..

Kara and Cameron:

Darik and Cameron.

Intense Football stare going on.  Very manly, even with their their post-it name tags on:

Mark and Brianna:

Dad and grandpa:

Kristen and Kameron opening Brooke’s baby gifts:

Our three turkeys for dinner.  The fried one was so good!

Grandma and Grandpa:

Brian with his plate:

My Parents and Mrs. Warnke:

Had to get this shot, Cameron hanging out in the dog bed!

Can you tell we like food in this family? haha

Chocolate chip cheesecake (my favorite!) and apple Carmel pie from a specialty shop in Louisville!

We woke up to a winter wonderland:

One of my favorite things about photography has been reconnecting with so many people!  It has been so wonderful hearing from old friends and being able to hangout with them again.  I haven’t seen Lisa since high school and she contacted me to do a photoshoot of her and her husband since they never got to do engagement photos before their wedding.  They are so happy and have a fun Labradoodle puppy now too!  Life is good!