Tea Party

Happy Wednesday! 

I'm back, after a bit of a break, with some pictures from a shoot I did for Western Living magazine recently. We shot this Mother's Day Tea Party at The Cross. They kindly let us set up shop for the day, while we propped and primped some fabulous treats and flowers. It was pretty handy to have a shop full of the perfect props too. 

Naomi and Lawren set up the food, while Elizabeth and Sylvie get ready for their close-ups. 

This is just a sample of the food we shot that day. You can find all the recipes, of several tea party essentials, in the new issue of Western Living, or online here. 

Our "studio" for the shoot, in a pretty area of The Cross. They were very sweet to hang a light fixtures for us as well.

So much more, from this shoot, featured in the May issue of Western Living. Just in time for Mother's Day! 

Have a great day! 

janis

Baked

Hello all! Hope you've had a good week. Any exciting plans for the long weekend?

This week has been mostly spent in front of my computer, catching up on editing a few shoots. I wanted to make some kind of a loaf/bread the other day, to help ease the pain of editing, but had no bananas. I did have dates, walnuts and coconut though, so tossed them all in a basic bread mix.
Since there are a lot of dates in this recipe, it's already super sweet, so I didn't add sugar. If you want to add sugar, I wouldn't add more than half a cup.

Date Walnut and Coconut Bread - makes one 9"x5" loaf (I couldn't find my large loaf tin, so I used my old Hovis tin, which is smaller. The result was just taller bread!)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup milk
1 cup pitted dates, soaked in hot water
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup large flake coconut
a little raw sugar to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Line loaf tin with parchment paper, and set aside. In a small bowl, cover chopped dates with 1/2 cup of hot water. Cover and allow to sit for 30 minutes.
Beat the butter, in a large bowl, until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add dry mixture to creamed butter, a little at a time, alternating with the milk. Drain water from dates, and fold into batter along with walnuts and coconut. Spoon batter into loaf tin and sprinkle raw sugar on top. Bake for about 50-60 minutes, or until a skewer, inserted in centre, comes out clean.

If you try out this recipe, I'd love to know what you think!

Have a lovely long weekend!

janis

Baked

Happy Tuesday! Hope your week is off to a good start. 

I made some straight-up crackers over the weekend, that were quick and easy to make with only a few simple ingredients. Perfect for dipping, with cheese and chutney and, of course, soup. By the way, they cost about 50 cents to make as well. Gotta love that. 

Cheese Crackers - makes about 5 dozen

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon melted butter

6-7 tablespoons water

a little extra melted butter for tops of crackers

a little coarse salt for sprinkling on tops of crackers

Preheat oven to 400f. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and parmesan cheese. Add the melted butter and combine. Add the water, a tablespoon at a time, and mix well until a smooth dough forms. 

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about 1/8" thick, and cut out shapes. I made a few batches, so I make 1.5" round crackers, and some tiny soup crackers. If cutting out square shape crackers, transfer rolled out dough to baking sheet and score with a pastry cutter. If using a round cutter, cut out shapes then transfer to baking sheet. Brush tops with a little melted butter and sprinkle coarse salt over top. You could also sprinkle a little extra parmesan on top - so good. 

Nothing like a quick recipe that's super simple to make. If you give these a whirl, let me know!

Have a great day. 

janis

Baked

Hello weekend! Hope you all had a great week. If you're in Vancouver, did you enjoy the little bit of snow we had? It was so pretty! Really wish we'd see more of that lovely white stuff. 

I haven't made bread in awhile, so I made a basic white bread, and added some spicy chilli chocolate to the centre. So good and pretty easy to make too. 

Mini Bread Loaves with Spicy Chocolate - makes 4 loaves

1 eight gram packet of active dry yeast

3 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon sugar (1 tsp for yeast mixture, 3 tblsp for dough)

1 cup lukewarm milk

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 85g spicy dark chocolate bar, broken into pieces

To glaze:

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 320f/160c. Grease and line with parchment paper, 4 one cup baking tins and set aside. 

In a small bowl, mix together the yeast, one teaspoon of sugar, and milk. Set aside in a warm spot until bubbles form on the surface, about 5 minutes (see pic below).

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, oil, 3 tablespoons sugar and yeast mixture and stir until a smooth dough forms (I use my hands for this). Knead the dough, on a lightly floured surface, for a about 5 minutes, until it's elastic and smooth.

Divide the dough into 4 even pieces. Flatten out each piece and place chocolate in centre. Fold around chocolate and pinch together to close. Smooth into a ball and place, pinched side down, into prepared baking tin. Cover with a towel and allow dough to rise, in a warm spot, until about doubled in size. This should take 45-60 minutes. 

Brush the tops with the egg mixture and bake for about 25 minutes, until golden brown on top. 

Allow to cool a little, in tins, before removing.

Have you made bread before? It's a pretty fun thing to do, and I find it so relaxing to knead dough by hand. Kids love it too! Maybe something to try out over the weekend? 

Have a great weekend! 

janis

Baked

I haven't done it in awhile, but I baked some cookies with my niece over the weekend, inspired by fast approaching Valentine's Day.  Even though I shot the Butter Baked Goods book, including countless cookies, I hadn't made the Butter's Shaped Cookies myself. We gave them a go this weekend....they're my favourite sugar cookie recipe by far!

Butter's Shaped Cookies (aka sugar cookies) - made about 60 1.5" hearts

3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature
3/4 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons pure vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350f. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Onto a large piece of parchment paper, sift together the flour and baking powder. Set aside.
3. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla and mix to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
4. Turn the mixer to low and add the dry ingredients and mix until fully combined.
5. Shape the dough into a large disk about 1" thick and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
6. Divide the disk into two, and place half the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to about a 1/4" thick.
7. Use the cookie cutter of your choice to cut out cookies. Carefully transfer to the prepared cookie sheet and place about 1/2" apart. You may have to combine the dough scraps and re-roll the dough to cut out enough cookies. Avoid doing this too many times, as the cookies will become tough with over-handling.
8. Use a rolling pin to roll out the second disk of dough to about 1/4" thick and repeat step 7.
9. Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until the cookies are lightly browned on the edges.
10. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for about 10 minutes on the sheet, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Royal Icing:

4 cups icing sugar
1/4 cup meringue powder
6 to 8 tablespoons water

1. In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine the icing sugar and meringue powder. Mix on medium speed until the meringue powder is evenly distributed throughout the icing sugar.
2. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the water, little by little, until the icing reaches the desired thickness and consistency.
3. Once the water is incorporated, beat the mixture on high to create some volume and lightness in the icing.
Colour the icing with a little food colouring of your choice.

We went with shades of pink, for our hearts, and made some mini bags to to package them up. So simple.

If you try this recipe out, I'd love to know what you think. Keep me posted!

Have a good day!
janis

T'is the Season

Happy Friday!

It may be a little early for Christmas, for some (is it?), but it's everywhere right now. Thought I'd share a festive story I shot for Style At Home along with editor-in-chief, Erin McLaughlin. Cheryl and Natasha, the mom and daughter team of Little White House, created a cozy, cabin-style Christmas with vintage papers, lace, and ribbons, along with linen and burlap.  This story is in the current issue of Style At Home. Here are some more pics from the shoot.....

When do you set up for Christmas? Are you a stickler for tradition, and keep your decor the same every year, or do you change it up? Do you make a lot of your own decorations, like in this story? I would love to know!   

For the entire story, the ladies of Little White House have put it up on their website. Click here to read more.

Butter Baked Goods Give-Away

It's finally here! Butter Baked Goods, the cook book I shot with Rosie Daykin,  was released this week, and I thought it would be a perfect time to give one away. It was such a fun (and delicious) project to shoot! Random House has kindly given me a copy for me to pass on to one of you. All you have to do is be one of my "followers" (from anywhere in the world) and leave a comment. Easy. I'll make the random draw next Wednesday October 23rd.

Enjoy your weekend!

janis

x

hello weekend

Happy Friday! Hope you all had a great week.

I just wrapped up a fun week, shooting for an upcoming book by Holly Becker (Decor8) and Leslie Shewring (A Creative Mint). Leslie was here for the shoot, along with Jessica Senti. Great women to work with. Can't wait to see how it all comes together...next spring when the book is released.

Last weekend I tested out the new Instant Lab, from the Impossible Project. Thought I'd share the results with you. It turns your iPhone pictures into a real instant photos. Cool idea, but it does take some testing to get the exposure right. I'm not sure that I'd want to buy one, as I think the novelty would wear out, for me, pretty quickly. When I take instant pics, I still love my sx-70, in all it's unpredictable glory. If you have one of these, I'd love to know your thoughts on it. Do tell!

The Instant Lab. 

Some of the images taken with the Instant Lab, of my iPhone pics. 

After a week of eating, well, a lot of cookies, I think I might try snacking on some of this over the weekend. I made a nut mix adapted from a recipe I saw ages ago in a healthy living supplement in a newspaper. It's so good.  You can really use any combo of nuts you like along with whatever dried fruit you prefer. I always go for dried cherries and/or blueberries.

Cocoa Nut Mix - makes about 2 cups

2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon sugar (I used a raw sugar)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg, white only
1 cup cashews
1 cup almonds
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup dried blueberries

Preheat oven to 325f/160c. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk egg white for about 30 seconds, until foamy. Whisk in cocoa, sugar, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon, until smooth. Add nuts and stir until evenly coated in egg mix. Spread out nut mix, evenly, onto baking sheet. Bake for about 7 minutes, stir nuts, then bake for another 6 minutes. Keep an eye on them, so they don't decide to burn. Allow to cool, then add blueberries and cherries. Snack away.

Have a lovely weekend!

janis
x

Butter Baked Goods

Hello! I hope everyone's week is off to a good start.

I'm pretty excited to be holding an advance copy of the book I shot, Butter Baked Goods, by Rosie Daykin, published by Random House. We started shooting it in April 2012, and after about 20 photo sessions, and much "taste testing" (yum), it feels strange (but pretty great) to be finally flipping through a finished book. Thought I'd give you a bit of a peek...

Are you a baker? I love baking, but I learned so much, working with Rosie on this book.  I can't tell you how much I learned about icing, pastry and tempering chocolate, with all the how-to's. The release date is October 15th, but you can also pre-order here.

Have a lovely day!
janis
x

Weekend Observations & Links

How was your weekend? Hope it was a fun one!

Mine made me feel very ladylike which, generally, I'm not ;) Here's a bit of my weekend...

Had pretty much the best high tea ever at the new Butter Tearoom, here in Vancouver. Rosie, you've done it again. The mini buns with tuna and a layer of potato chips, were my favourite. 

I always love shooting "before and after" stories, of all kinds. Gotta love a good transformation. This one was shot for Canadian Living magazine, and designed by Colleen of Vintage Home. She took a run down old shed, some beaten up furniture and accessories, above, and transformed them for a tiny guest cottage. The whole story, with all the little details, is in the new issue of Canadian Living. 

A little link love too:

•Loved this d.i.y. round up at Poppytalk
•I know it's uber trendy, but I do love a little modern cross-stitch. Spotted this at Hege in France
•I've mentioned my Zaishu before, and now I feel it's time for a new one! Take a look at the new designs at Zaishu. 
•Hanging houseplants can be great...in moderation of course. Loved some of these at Decouvrir Design

That's it for today! Back soon.
janis

Baked

The week has flown by. Where did it go? Hope you've had a good week so far!

Since we're heading into party season, thought I'd share one of my fave appetizer recipes. It involves a nut crust, as I prefer that over a traditional crust (a little healthier too, unless you're allergic to nuts!), and it has way more flavour as well.  Party snacks are my favourite way of eating, but sadly not everyday is a party ;)

Mediterranean Tarts with a Nut Crust - makes 24 mini tarts

Crust:
3 cups almond meal
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons water

Filling:
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1- 5oz container of baby spinach
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes (if you use jarred tomatoes in oil, drain oil first)
3 large eggs, lightly beaten

To make crust:
Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Lightly spray a mini muffin tin with oil and set aside.
Whisk together the almond meal, salt, baking soda and parsley in a large bowl. Stir in the oil and water and mix together until well combined and clumps together without crumbling apart. Break off small pieces and press into each muffin cup. Bake for about 10 minutes until just starting to brown. Allow to cool before filling.

To make filling:
Saute the onion in a little oil, over medium heat, for about 5 minutes until starting to brown. Add the spinach and tomatoes and cook for a few minutes until spinach is wilted. In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs, then stir in cheese. Stir in the spinach mixture and combine well. Spoon into each crust and bake for about 20 minutes, until lightly browned on sides and cooked through. Try to save some for your guests. They're so good.

Do you prefer a traditional crust? Have you made a nut crust? Let me know! 

janis