day forty seven

Playing around with tilt shift free-lensing with my 85mm. 

Learning new photo techniques and camera tricks is so fun. I love it.

(here are a couple great tutorials on free lensing for anyone interested; on photojojo and a beautiful mess blog)

day forty six

Today I was in a sewing mood so I made a bunch of baby blankets.

TIRAMISU

This is my version of one of my favorite favorite desserts, Tiramisu.
Italian for "pick me up" or "make me happy" :)

I like to use homemade ladyfingers, but you could use store bought if you prefer to. Pure cane sugar and honey are also used instead of white sugar.

hint: you can buy natural cane sugar super cheap if you look in the spanish section of the grocery store!

TIRAMISU

adapted from this recipe from Cooking Light

36 ladyfingers (I use this recipe from Pastry Affair)

1/2 cup kahlua 

or 

1/4 cup strong coffee, 1/4 cup vodka, and 1 tablespoon cocoa powder whisked together

1/4 cup cream cheese

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup pure cane sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste, vanilla extract, or half of a scraped vanilla bean

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon honey

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

-

Before you start, place the bowl of your stand mixer, along with the whisk attachment, in the freezer for a bit. Having a cold bowl and whisk will help your cream whip up faster.

Blend the cheeses, sugar, and vanilla in a food processor until smooth. This will take a couple minutes.

Take your bowl and whisk out of the freezer and whip the cream and honey until stiff peaks form.

Arrange half of the ladyfingers in the bottom of a 11x7 inch casserole dish, and drizzle half of the kahlua on top. Sit for a minute or so and top with half of the cheese mixture, then half of the whipped cream. Repeat the layering process with the remaining ingredients and sift the cocoa powder on top. For a little extra fun you can use a vegetable peeler to make chocolate curls to sprinkle on. :)

Let this sit in the fridge for at least a couple of hours; it is best after refrigerating overnight.

yum. yum. yum.

day forty five

Another rainy January. Southern winters are not my favorite.

Bring on the snow!

day forty four

Today we had a worship service with my dad's side of the family (minus six people) in my grandparents' backyard.

When it comes to families, I've got a good one :)

day forty three

wonderful day with some people I haven't seen in a while

day forty two

 first attempt at the Brenizer method.

I don't love the photo, but I like the concept and want to try it some more.

Today was a major catch-up-on-school day.

I'm almost done forever! I'm thankful that I've been able to be homeschooled and had the chance to discover and grow in many many things that I love to do. 

(Like taking photos and cooking and making things and taking care of babies)

(and writing run-on sentences?)