Chocolate Stout Cake

I have been keeping this chocolate bundt cake in mind ever since I saw it on 101 Cookbooks, though I used a tube pan since I don't have a bundt pan. Her pictures of the cake made me feel like I was there, but sadly when I reached for a piece I only smudged my computer screen. I'm not really a fan of boozy desserts so I was slightly nervous about this cake, especially after cooking down the beer and tasting how potent it was. However, I was happy to taste that the final product is not boozy at all but very flavorful! Heidi's recipes never fail. Happy Memorial Day and I hope you are enjoying your long weekend!

Garnished with a bit of sea salt before devouring.

The Bardoutsos Family

Here are some photos from a family portrait session at the Sutro Bath ruins near the Cliff House. Teri's son, Michael, recently graduated from the maritime academy and her husband just turned 60, so she wanted to mark the milestones with a family portrait session. Tony's birthday was actually on the day of the shoot and he was just so excited to have portraits taken, it was great! Unfortunately, one of their sons missed out on the action this time, but there's always next time. Thanks for the great shoot, you guys!

Yosemite

Here are some photos I took during a weekend in Yosemite with Stephen's family. We stayed in the valley and could see and hear Yosemite falls from the patio behind our room. It was the perfect amount of being outdoors but not roughing it for my liking. There were still bits of snow up on the mountains and lots and lots of orange poppies on the drive in, my favorite flower. The second day in the valley we rented bikes and rode all over the valley, which was so much fun!

 

On the Farm

Yeah, it's been a while. Let's skip the excuses. Here are some photos from my first maternity shoot a couple weeks ago with two of the nicest people you will ever meet. They live on a sweet, little farm in Gilroy with a very friendly goat named Bravo, four dogs and nearly fifty chickens. This was super hard to narrow down since we spent a couple hours shooting all over their property, way to be troopers; especially Jaime! Congratulations Jaime and James! And now on to the post with too many pictures courtesy of my indecisive side, which clearly won the battle this time.

Note: Sorry to those of you who are receiving this twice, I meant to publish tomorrow but I accidentally selected last Monday and it posted automatically. I panicked and took it down, and then realized there was no point in doing that. And that I am a spaz.

Time out: Imagine this is your backyard. I know, right!

(talking in Morse code to the baby)

It was a pleasure to shoot with you, two.

Drawing a Blank

I'm having a bit of writer's block lately. Only it's not that I have nothing to say, it's that I have tons to say but not sure what I should really share here. Not sure how much to edit myself. I have been consumed with thoughts, day dreams, wishes, doubts and fears. Excitement and anxiety. And then excitement again. I saw a quote through pinterest, which I traced back to Liberian President Ellen Johson Sirleaf's speech to the Harvard graduating class of 2011 (correct me if this is the wrong attribution), "The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough." If she is right, then I must be doing something right.

Clementine Salad

Quick post of a clementine salad I made the other weekend. I topped the salad off with sardines, but they were kinda ugly and I only made matters worse by failing to remove them from the can in one piece. Read: broken, slimy fish chunks. Not ideal. I never had sardines before so I had no idea what to expect. I'll just say they looked worse than I expected and tasted better. The combination of citrus and onion dominated the flavor of the fish. I have really come like the combination of fruit and purple onion, especially blueberries and purple onions. Don't knock it till you try it! Or knock it and do your own thing, it's your salad.

Beans & Blondes

If you couldn't tell by the title, this soup has a story. One in which I will openly embarrass myself and then try to defend myself. If I tell you the name of the soup it will be a dead giveaway of my mistake, so I'll tell the story first.

On a Monday night after work and night class, one bleary-eyed Nicole decided to do an epic grocery shopping trip for this. After spending a good 45 minutes wandering around produce like a lost child, there was only one thing left on the list: beans. Red lentil beans. I know these are not red lentil beans--now. I took a lap around the store stopping in all the "authentic" areas and staring at cans and bags of beans waiting for the red lentils to suddenly jump out at me. Instead, I used my mind powers to turn a small bag of red beans into red lentil beans. I carried on as if they were lentil beans with a lingering sliver of doubt for a few days until I saw a picture of lentil beans and remembered, oh yeah, that's what lentil beans are supposed to look like. In my defense, the picture the recipe provides shows no beans. That's it--that's all I can really say to defend myself. That and that I do know how to read. Pinky promise. And for those of you with some cooking chops who are wondering: No, I did not soak the beans overnight; and no, they did not cook all the way through. Save your applause, folks.