Baked

Ah, we're inching closer to the Canada Day long weekend. Can't wait. How's your week going? Hope it's been smooth sailing.

I baked a batch of Blueberry Almond Quinoa cookies...and they're not too bad for you. I've had two this morning already.  Good start ;)

Blueberry Almond Quinoa Cookies - makes about 20

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup almond meal
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
4 large egg whites
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together, flour, almond meal, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, maple syrup, brown sugar and apple sauce for a couple of minutes. Beat in the egg whites and almond extract for another couple of minutes. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon, to combine. Fold in the quinoa, oats, blueberries and almonds.

Spoon large spoonfuls of dough onto prepared baking sheet, spacing about an inch apart. Bake for about 15-18 minutes, or until golden in colour. Place on a wire rack to cool...or eat immediately. Enjoy!

By the way, I'm over at Poppytalk today as well. It's a "Made in Vancouver" story about a couple of my favourite furniture designers from Bombast.

Have a good day! Back soon.
Janis

The Weekend is here...

Nina may have serious face on, but I think she knows how to have a good time. Nina is a new friend we met at this great shop in Palm Desert. Have a great weekend everyone!

By the way, I did a post for Poppytalk all about Palm Springs. If you'd like to check it out, click here.

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

Sunday Observatons

I hope you all had a great weekend! I've been indoors most the day, working on an upcoming post for one of my fave blogs, Poppytalk, and cleaning our house. Took a quick break to enjoy the sunshine, so I just have a couple of observations to share. Thought I'd spare you shots of scrubbing bathrooms ;)

Sunday Observations (and a couple from Saturday!)

How was your weekend? Hope you had a fun one! I spent a lot of time at the idsWest show, so thought I'd share some of it with you. It's a pretty long list of "observations", but it was a pretty great show, so it was hard to narrow down!

Must have a fatboy, one of these days. So comfortable! 

The fantastic team, Artsy!Dartsy! put together an amazing group of young designers. Pictured top left is ceramic art by Sarah Peloquin-Ladany, bottom left is nuum planter by Lavinia Chu. 

Inform Interiors is a beautiful modern furniture store located in the Gastown area of Vancouver. Loved those chairs (top left).

The Tom Dixon Pub. I think I need those copper pendant lights. They give off the most flattering light ;)

A very cute scene at the Montauk display.

Rubbish Rehab, from Seattle. This husband and wife team are pretty fantastic upholsterers. Wish I met them before a certain chair re-do. If you have a minute, check out their shop! I have my eye on a few of the mid-century style chairs. Love.

This is Barbara Hulanicki, of Biba fame. I've had a bit of an obsession with her for years, so there was no way I was going to miss her at the idsWest show. If you need a refresher on this incredibly talented and creative woman, click here. You will love her too ;)

Last but not least, a Saturday observation...

It was so nice to be asked to shoot the Design Sponge event last night. Great to meet Grace Bonney and Amy Azzarito. Always fun to hang out with Jan of Poppytalk and Denise Lui of Artsy!Dartsy! too. 

That's it for Sunday! Back soon.

Janis

Ah, the weekend

I hope you all had a great week. I don't have quite as many shoots scheduled for next week, so I have lots of blog posts in mind. Working on one for Poppytalk as well! Keep you posted. Looking forward to catching up with your blogs over the weekend. It's going to be sooo nice.

Back soon!
janis

Hey, it's Friday!

I hope you all had a great week! I ended up shooting everyday, so I haven't done a lot of blogging, but I have received a lot of really sweet emails from some lovely bloggers. It never fails to amaze me how nice and supportive the blog world can be. I so appreciate your feedback and comments, and for taking the time to check in. So to say thanks.....

I think you know by now that one of my hobbies is baking, as well as shooting the baking process. I'll
be adding a set of 16 recipe cards, selected from my "Baked" posts, in a cloth bag, to my shop next week. As a kind of happy-friday-thank-you, I'm offering one up as a give away. All you need to do is leave a comment, to be added to the draw. That's it. Nothing else. I will send it anywhere in the world. I'll make a random draw on June 8th.

Also, I did a very simple, and inexpensive, d.i.y. over at one of my favourite blogs, Poppytalk. If you have some time, pop over! Here's a sneak peek:

I hope you all have nice weekends where ever you are! Back soon.
janis

Sunday Observations

Bowling is a good way to de-stress, it seems. It also appears to work muscles I wasn't sure I had. Found it was best to have a beer between games.

My niece will eat a soft boiled egg if toast is flower shaped, and yarn is used to dress up the egg cup/shot glass. I might eat soft boiled eggs now too.

I found Un Lieu Sur Terre at Poppytalk Handmade. Check out her beautiful shop here.

That's what I observed on Sunday. What about you?

Back soon!

It's a Good Friday for a little DIY

Hi Everyone! I'm a guest contributor at Poppytalk today. If you're looking for a fun and easy project for the weekend, check out my my DIY over there. Here's a little sample.

I'll be back soon! Happy Friday!
Janis

A Little Lamp Lift

I did a little guest post on Poppytalk (one of the best blogs out there), yesterday, and thought I'd give it a mention here. This was one easy, but extremely satisfying, project! Head over to Poppytalk for the "how-to".

If you try this out, let me know. Would love to see what you did! Back again soon.

A Trip to Chinatown with Poppytalk

Hello bloggers! Check out Poppytalk for my "Getting Crafty in Chinatown" post. I showed Jan all my favourite shops for cheap pick-me-ups. Hope you are inspired to check out your city's Chinatown. Let me know what you think!

By the way, if you missed Baked On Monday....it was a pretty tasty one. Check it out.
I hope you have a lovely day!

Baked on Monday

Hope all you had a great weekend!

I'm off to a late start today, as I have a surprise guest - my 11 year old nephew Jake! He's going to hang out with me today, so I thought he should help me bake.  Then I will get him to clean the toilets ;)

Apple Cupcakes - makes about 24
(I think this is a Donna Hay recipe)

250g butter, melted
1 1/4 cups superfine (called berry sugar in Canada) sugar
4 eggs
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon for dusting

for caramelised apples:
40g butter
1/3 cup superfine sugar
3 granny smith apples peeled, cored and thinly sliced

whipped cinnamon icing:
500g butter, softened
2 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

To make the caramelised apples, place the butter and sugar in a large pan over low-medium heat and stir until dissolved. Add the apples and cook for 10 minutes or until caramelised. Remove apples from pan and cool completely.

Preheat oven to 320F/160C. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Gradually add the eggs and beat well. Sift over the flour and baking powder and beat until combined. Don't over do it. Fold in the milk and spoon mixture into two 12-hole cupcake tins lined with paper cups. Top with apples and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a bamboo skewer comes out clean. Cool on wire racks.

To make the whipped cinnamon icing, place the butter in the bowl of a mixer and beat for 5 minutes. Add the sugar and cinnamon and beat for another 10 minutes or until light and creamy. Ice cupcakes with a palette knife and dust with cinnamon. Now eat immediately!!!

Try to wait until they cool, even just a bit, to avoid injury....it's hard to do.

I know, I shouldn't have let him have two, but I'm the Auntie. We can do that.
Have to start thinking about the next Baked On Monday....what to bake? Hmm.

Check out Poppytalk for a fun "day in the country" story I shot with Heather at Missing Goat and Jan of poppytalk. Lots of fun!

Have a lovely day!