Baked

Happy Halloween everyone! Hope you're having a good Monday. 

As I mentioned in my last post, I was inspired by all things Mexican on our recent little trip to California, so I've baked some Mexican brownies. They have a hit of cayenne, and are moist and delicious. 

Mexican Brownies - makes one 8" square pan (about 9 slices)

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup almond meal

2 large eggs, each egg beaten separately

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Butter and flour an 8 inch square pan, knocking out excess flour. 

In a saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly until melted and smooth. Remove pan from heat, and allow to cool for about 15 minutes. 

Once cooled, pour melted chocolate into a medium size bowl, add sugar and almond meal and combine. Add beaten eggs, one at a time, and beat well with a wooden spoon until batter is smooth and glossy. Stir in flour, cayenne, cinnamon and salt until just combined. Do not over mix. Spread batter evenly in pan and bake for 23-25 minutes or until a skewer, inserted in centre, comes out with crumbs attached. Cool brownies completely in pan before cutting.  

Chocolate glaze:

1 cup icing sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 1/2 tablespoons milk

To make glaze:

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, and whisk until smooth and glossy. Spoon onto brownies, and enjoy!

Bye for now! Have a spooky night. 

Janis

Sunday Observatons

Hi all! Hope you've had a good weekend. What did you get up to? I worked a little, cleaned a little, and crafted a little....

Inspired by all the lovely Mexican decoration and celebrations going on while in California and at Disnelyland. Day of the Dead takes place on November 1st and 2nd. Learn about it here. 

Check out Gallant & Jones here. 

Well, that's been my Sunday. Now to watch a couple of horror flicks and get mentally prepared for Halloween. Have a good night!

Back soon.

Janis

Baked

That's exactly how I feel today after 4 days at Disneyland! It was heaps of fun, but wow I can't believe how exhausting it was at the same time ;) How's everything going for all of you? Hope your week's off to a good start.

With Reese's peanut butter cups on my mind (I pinch them from my nephew's Halloween candy bags), I baked some chocolatey, peanut buttery cookies.

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies - makes about 30 cookies (15 sandwiches)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour for this batch)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup chopped dark chocolate
8oz/250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup plain yogurt
Filling:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (I used unsweetened)
4 tablespoons whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350f/180c.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and cocoa powder, add chopped chocolate then set aside. In another bowl, beat the sugar and butter until creamy. Mix the yogurt and egg yolk together, then add to the butter mixture along with the vanilla. Beat until combined. Slowly add the flour mixture until a dough forms. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for about 30 minutes.

Roll into balls, and place on parchment paper lined baking sheet, and flatten a little. Bake for about 17-20 minutes, or until a golden colour around edges. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

To make filling: In a small bowl, beat together all ingredients until light and fluffy. Spread icing on the bottom half of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies. Voila!

Enjoy!

Have a great day. Back soon.
Janis

A Varied Week

Hi Everyone! How's your week been? Hope it's been a stress-free one. I can't believe it's Thursday....and I'm leaving for Disneyland with my husband, sister, and our nephew Jake. He's so excited (and the adults are too, we just don't admit it ;) )

Thought I'd share some images of my week with you. I've had a real variety of shoots over the last few days. Here's a snippet of them.

I shot some pretty products for Principessa Beauty...

a fun story for Anthology magazine....

and a bunch of different locations for a travel story for Sunset magazine....

Also, if you feel like being creeped out, check out a Halloween post I did for Poppytalk. Spooky dolls, anyone? While you're at Poppytalk, you should take a look at all the submissions for her Autumn Colours Week. So many pretty pics from so many camera happy people!

That's it until next Tuesday. What are your plans for the weekend? Where ever you are, and whatever you do, have fun!

Take care,
janis

Easy-going work week

I’ve had quite a variety of shoots this week. A lovely butcher named Armando, a tiny apartment, Nicole Jane Home (on line store) and the ladies of Gallant and Jones and their beautiful garden and beach chairs. 

I have two of these and they are usable pretty much all year round in a place like Vancouver. It was so nice to be shooting outdoors (before autumn rain kicks in) and taking a break while lounging and watching the geese.

Just a small sample of some of the items you’ll find at Nicole Jane Home.

I’ve been taking a lot of night shots of residential streets lately so, since Halloween is right around the corner, I thought I’d leave you with a very clean, empty, and kind of creepy, street. It’s like a movie set. Streets like this one, give me the chills. I’m expecting someone with a hockey mask and an axe to come jumping out from behind a perfectly manicured shrub. See you in my nightmare, street.

Have a lovely day everyone. Back soon.

Fright Fest

From Christmas to Halloween. So much can change in a week. I do love a good "scary" movie with lots of mayhem and suspense, but no slashing. Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street and Saw (all 5 or 6 of them), to name a few, are unwatchable (new word). 

It's Fright Fest this week, on a certain movie channel, so I thought I'd list a few of my favourites, partly because of how they look. Very stylish. The photography, sets, costumes, are pretty spectacular in these particular films, even if you don't like this genre.  Do you have a favourite horror movie? Do tell.

Rosemary's Baby 1968. Love her pixie cut, sweet little outfits, sets, and her neighbours. Ruth Gordon is amazing as Minnie Castevet.

The Birds 1963. The hair, suit and all those crows. Spectacular. Edith Head was the costume designer for Tippi Hedren. I love Edith.


Ahh, the Innocents 1961. I think this is my favourite film out of this bunch. Deborah Kerr is fabulous, as are the spooky children. Martin Stephens, who plays Miles, is especially spooky.

 

Heather Cameron and I shot this story for Gardening Life with the help of Kate Keeler, my nephew Jake and sister Debbie, a couple of years ago. We set up a movie screen in amongst Heather's blueberry shrubs. Naturally, we had to feature The Birds. 

Happy Halloween!