| Mon, Sep 29, 2008 |
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| In an Effort to Not Be So Selfish |
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Often I come across things that I'm convinced were made just for me. Whether it is a gnome cookie cutter, a book about the boy who lived, or the resurrection of my favorite magazine, I always have a hard time believing that other people could have any interest in these things the way that I do. My initial instinct is to scoop up things like this and clutch them tightly to my chest while thinking mature thoughts like "No, mine. Myyyyyyyyyynnnne!" I've since come to realize that having things that I love get popular CAN be a good thing, I mean, cupcakes are pretty popular and that has gone well for me.
So here goes. Tomorrow, my absolute favorite thing that I have ever watched EVER is back. Despite the fact that it was obviously made just for me, perhaps you should check it out too, if you haven't already. And if you don't like it, well, I'm pretty okay with that.
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| Mon, Sep 22, 2008 |
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| Why is it That... |
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| I always manage to find the most beautiful people on the planet in front of my lens? |
| Fri, Sep 19, 2008 |
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| Trish & Chuck Are Married |
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I've been mulling over what to tell you guys about this wedding. Every aspect was phenomenal. The bride and groom were fantastically perfect. The venue was fantastically perfect. The couple's family was fantastically perfect. All the people working on the details were fantastically perfect. It occurred to me though that mostpeople don't really want to read about how great everything was. At dinner parties, nothing brings conversation to a faster halt than to say, "Wow, I just shot the most amazing wedding last weekend. Everyone was just fabulous." But the minute I launch into the story about the wedding where the bride threw a glass of champagne at her cousin because the cousin was already "like totally obviously drunk" before the wedding even started, well, then everyone is all ears.
So, that is to say, dear friends, if my blog is some virtual version of a dinner party, very well then, I'm here to bore you. Because, "Wow, I just shot the most amazing wedding last weekend. Everyone was just fabulous." |
| Here's the part where I should mention that Chuck is a firefighter. Yeeeah. The handsome, swarthy firefighter marries the drop-dead-gorgeous television journalist. If they weren't so awesome and down to earth, they'd be so easy to hate. |
| I always look forward to the look the groom gets when he watches his bride walk down the aisle. I tear up every. Single. Time. |
| Smoke from the fires still loomed around the Valley, but there was beautiful light despite it. |
| The best man's cell went off during the ceremony, which unfortunately, I've seen before. |
| What I HAVEN'T seen before, is the best man heave it into oblivion. |
| The pastor was very pleased with his sacrifice. |
| I got pretty friendly with the grapes that I was hiding amongst during the ceremony. I thought it only fair that they made it onto the blog. |
| If this doesn't make you tear up just a bit, then you are quite possibly a robot and you should look into that. |
| The sun was starting to set during their first dance. A very beautiful moment. |
| Who doesn't love cake and dancing? |
| I'll sign off with a celebratory cigar. Congrats to Trish & Chuck, and happy weekend to everyone else! |
| Mon, Sep 15, 2008 |
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| Ecstatic |
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AHHHH!!!! I am officially editing my last wedding of the season, which always signals to me that fall is most definitely on its way. This means lots of fantastic things, such as, in no particular order:
Tall leather boots
Apple picking
Pumpkins on porches
Chasing kiddos around parks with a camera
Knitting, knitting, knitting!
TeeeVeee (with requisite knitting and tea)
Simmering pots of four-alarm chili on the stove
Bren having conversations with scarecrows
Another thing that I am exited about is the fact that fall gives me some time to revamp things for Megan Boone Photography. Fantastic new holiday card options, new and simplified packages, and perhaps even a new website are all on the horizon.
***DATE ANNOUNCEMENTS***
I only have one available date left for fall portrait sessions. So, call or email soon if you were planning to book.
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| Be sure to check back in later this week for more pics of Trish & Chuck's wedding at EdenVale. I suppose the best thing about being the last wedding of the season is that I will inevitably have time to blog about it. |
| Wed, Sep 10, 2008 |
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| Brian's Birthday Cake |
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| This year, I told the husband to go through my cookbooks and pick out a birthday cake. This delicious Nigella recipe is what he decided on. Despite my initial discomfort (baking a cake you can't even pronounce could lead to absolute disaster) it was actually quite easy. The most fantastic thing about it was that it introduced this Oklahoma girl to the all mighty and wonderful thing called Nutella. I'm really just downright angry that I went nearly thirty years not knowing about this jar of magic that has been sitting next to the peanut butter in aisle 7 all this time. |
Torta Alla Gianduia
FOR THE CAKE
6 large eggs, separated
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup soft unsalted butter
14 ounces nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
1 tablespoon Frangelico or rum or water
1/2 cup ground hazelnuts, scant
4 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, melted
FOR THE ICING
4 ounces hazelnuts
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon Frangelico or rum or water
4 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate
Directions
Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
Prepare a 9-inch springform pan: grease and line with parchment or wax paper.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs whites and salt until stiff but not dry (this means that they will hold their peaks, yet still appear glossy and smooth).
In a separate bowl, beat the butter and Nutella together, then add Frangelico (or what you have chosen to use), egg yolks, and ground hazelnuts.
Fold in the cooled, melted chocolate, then lighten the mixture with a dollop of egg white, which you can beat in as roughly as you want, before gently folding the rest of them in a third at a time.
Pour into the prepared pan and cook for 40 minutes or until the cake's beginning to come away at the sides, then let cool on rack.
Toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan until the aroma wafts upward and the nuts are golden brown in parts: keep shaking the pan so they don't burn on one side and stay too pallid on others.
Transfer to a plate and let cool.
This is imperative: if they go on the ganache while hot, it'll turn oily (believe me I speak from experience).
In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, add the cream, liquer or water, and chopped chocolate and heat gently.
Once the chocolate's melted, take the pan off the heat and whisk until it reaches the right consistency to ice just the top of the cake. Unmold the cooled cake carefully, leaving it on the base as it will be too difficult to get such a damp cake off in one piece.
Ice the top with the chocolate icing, and dot thickly with the whole, toasted hazelnuts.
If you have used Frangelico, put shot glasses on the table and serve it with the cake. |
| Wed, Sep 10, 2008 |
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| A Rare Moment of Exhibitionist Behavior |
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| In an attempt to take a picture of my new bangs to send to my sister I got caught up in a self-portrait session. I thought this one turned out quite nice. |
| Mon, Sep 8, 2008 |
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| Official Oklahoma Rock Song |
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I stumbled upon the info that they are having an online vote for the official state rock song of Oklahoma. As I write this, I'm still trying to make up my mind on who to vote for.
But if you aren't plagued by the difficulty of making unimportant decisions go and get your vote on. Just please don't vote for the All American Rejects. I went to school with those guys and they were always getting under my skin. That's right Tyyyyyeson, you may have forgotten that battle of the bands fiasco but some of us have not.
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| Thu, Sep 4, 2008 |
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| The Boy Who Didn't Cry Wolf |
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This summer, Bren discovered bugs, meaning that he discovered he was supposed to be scared of them. Each fly, moth, or ant has been grounds for a freakout. Usually when I go in to check it out, it is a fly (because he also enjoys leaving doors open), so I taught him about how to sing the Shoo fly, don't bother me song. Today he came in exclaiming, what I think was about four times, "THE BUG! THE BUG!" I reminded him to just sing the song and swat it away. To that he said, "okay", and then came back, still worried. "It won't shoo." So I finally go in and am met with what was no doubt Aragog's long-lost larger cousin perched on the arm of the couch.
I couldn't resist getting a quick pic of him. It's a bit blurry because there was no way I was going to lift the bell jar to get a clear shot. |
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