photodump
i took a couple pics on my hike last weekend, then took some pics of my peppers trying to grow, and then i made a batch of bohemakuchen tonight, so there’s a pic of that, too!
cookie time is here!
the little-known song in charlie brown christmas, of course, is “cookietime is here”.
this weekend was cookie baking time! i actually started last weekend with my macarons (they’re better aged) and baked a couple batches of cookies throughout the week. charlie came this weekend and hung out, and helped out with a couple of the cookies (like the double-batch of molasses ginger that he requested).
i tried something new this year (well a couple things). instead of using my boring, dry peanut butter batter for my blossoms that i always do, i looked up with america’s test kitchen had to say on peanut butter cookies. it looked a little more fancy than my other recipe, so i decided to give it a go.
i made the ATK peanut butter cookie recipe and stuck a chocolate star in the cookies and called it good. i don’t mind it, and it’s decent! i’m not a huge fan of just peanut butter cookies, so this is good news. sorta point, ATK??
also during the week i made my eggnog snickerdoodle cookies, which, along with the molasses ginger, are my favorite cookie of the season.
and of course i had to make these dumb, tedious things because not only are they my dad’s favorite cookie, but they’re nate’s as well. good grief.
they’re pretty to look at, but man they take a lot of time.
new this year! i decided to try making spritzes. i needed a cookie press for this, so i managed to get to tjmaxx friday on my way home from work and pick on up. on the plus side, i can also use it for piping frosting, and the container is a lot bigger than my other frosting piping apparatus. after a couple failed attempts at the press, i had to sit down and watch a youtube tutorial on how to use it. huzzah! who knew i needed to click it twice to get it to stick.
and i tried to make rosettes again this year. i don’t know if it’s my irons, the batter recipe, or what, but i do not like the way they turn out. they’re still good; you can’t go wrong with deep-friend batter covered in powdered sugar. they just look weird, and i wonder what i’m doing wrong.
i also made some chocolate candies in silicon molds and some covered nuts and my peanut butter krispy balls. every year i try to make fewer cookies, and it seems like every year i add more cookies on. might be time to do a culling. at least i give a lot of them away. there’s something to be said for at least not eating all of them by myself like i used to!
some baking pics to hold you over
last weekend i made two carrot cakes – one was for my parents’ anniversary. i tried out my fancy piping tips! oh, and bonus cat and tree ornament pics.
harvest
and suddenly it’s fall.
the dust from the combines cutting their way through the corn fields is so thick on the rural roads, it’s like fog. it smells of dried grass, starch, and autumn. the valleys are heavy with the corn dust, with the lights of the giant tractors blinking in the dark like UFOs. the time is ripe for harvesting, and farmers make the most of the time, hauling corn from the fields into the early hours of the mornings.
because the first hard frost came late (last night), the leaves are browner than normal, even though the conditions throughout the summer were perfect for a spectacular fall foliage showing (lots of rain). spots of yellow, orange, and red poke through the drabness here and there, and they help shout out the season.
the roadside stands boasting pumpkins for $3 are picked over, the only pumpkins left being the oddly shaped and not-quite orange. gardens are cleared out of usable vegetables, with the only exceptions being hardy veggies like broccoli, brussels sprouts, leeks, onions, carrots, and the like. the defeated tomatoes that were so boastful during july and august are now nothing but darkened, wasted stalks with any leftover fruits littering the ground: squashed, deflated, wrinkled, and decaying.
the summer’s been well for hay, and the corn stalks have been rolled into bales. the entire growing season has been great: seeds went in early, the rain was relatively steady, and september was warm into october. the minnesota harvest is set to be a record-breaking one.
ready for winter.
weekend activities
today, liz, jane, and i went to red wing and lake city to get our shop on! i took some pics while we were there.
FOODBLOG canning season
OMG WOW this weekend was a whirlwind of cooking. it’s harvest time, so i was canning up a storm, and at the same time i made a cheesecake for a birthday tomorrow at work, ice cream, and fancy ribs and potato salad for supper tonight.
BUT CANNING.
a couple weeks ago i put up a batch of pickles and a batch of tomato sauce. this weekend, i canned another batch of each as well as some pickled green beans and salsa. oh, and blanched some green beans for freezing. i was a canning fool all weekend. i’m glad it’s over. i enjoy doing it, but it’s a lot of work.
wedding time!
i LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE weddings! went to tasha’s wedding this weekend and had tons o’ fun!
cosplay update
So far I’ve done 5 months of 12 for the cosplay calendar.
in which i am considered a real photographer
the OTHER fun thing i did lately was take some cosplay pics! liz’s friend caitlin’s friend rikki had a photographer bail on her, so caitlin recommended me to take the pics! SO MUCH FUN. these girls dressed up in comicbook, videogame, and movie characters.
If you have facebook, we are currently voting on which good stock photos should be in the calendar here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.852822341470957.1073741830.152183304868201&type=3
here’s my fave pic
huh!
on friday evening while i was trying to nap, i got a text message from caitlin asking if i wanted to do a photoshoot the next day. i was like, uh, maybe? she got me in touch with the person who wanted it, and on saturday, charlie and i went to mankato to do a photoshoot with a bunch of ladies who are a part of a cosplay calendar!
i was worried since studio photos aren’t my forte, but the music studio where it was being held actually had a huge green screen we used as well as a couple floodlights. WHEW. i actually went out to amazon yesterday and ordered a continuous lighting kit so i can make it look a little better next week.
so, we were there for about 3-1/2 hours and got about 6 ladies done. i haven’t done any of the photo touchups yet, but i’m pretty pleased with the overall look of them. plus, photoshop can solve all problems. i know some photographers who are like “get it right in the camera, and you don’t have to use photoshop,” but i am not one of those photographers.
i’m going back next week to do the rest of the calendar photos, and i’m looking forward to it! it’s pretty fun!