Stylist. Photographer. Artist. Graphic Designer. Foodie. Fancy Pants.
Over the weekend I went to New York City to visit my baby sister, Abby, at NYU. We had such a great time bopping around the city that I thought I would share a couple highlights from my trip.
As this blog showcases, I have a HUGE sweet tooth. I get asked all the time how I stay slim when I am baking almost everyday. First, it's all about moderation: A little bit of everything and a lot of nothing. Taste everything, eat nothing! I love to try everything but usually just a couple bites satisfies.
I recently spoke at the Keen Digital Summit about Food Styling (check out my 10 Food Styling Tips to Make Your Food Photographs Delicious). I really wanted to make something for the attendees of my session. Because most of the bloggers, small business owners and publisists that came to the conference were from out of town, I decided to make a "Nashville Cookie" to showcase some of Nashville's best ingredients.
I know that you are mostly looking for recipes and food photography when you come to my site but who doesn't enjoy photos of a cute cuddly baby?! I shot these over the weekend of my 6 month old nephew (who has all the sudden found his feet) and thought that you might enjoy seeing some of my family photography (since it is Christmas card photography season after all).
My friend Eve is addicted to Williams-Sonoma's Spiced Pecan Pumpkin Quick Bread. She texted me last week to see if I had a home-made recipe for the cult favorite because she is tired of paying a whopping $11.95 for a mix that makes one loaf. $12 (plus the cost of 2 eggs and a stick of butter) and you have to spend an hour making it? Why not just make it from scratch?! I have really never understood why people use mixes? Generally it is just as easy (and CHEAPER) to make it from scratch—plus, it's fresher, has less artificial ingredients and preservatives and you can alter for dietary restrictions.
I am speaking at the first annual Keen Digital Summit today and if you are going (spoiler alert!) this is my presentation. I have been asked to talk about food styling so I thought that I would put together a list of 10 really easy tips to help your food photographs look delicious. I thought it would be great to post here on the blog because this is not only for you food bloggers out there but also for any and everyone that takes pictures of food—you know that you've posted a dozen on Instagram!
A couple of weeks ago we went to my friend Jessica's house for a barbecue for her husbands birthday. She made these soft pretzels and I have been dreaming about them ever since.
I have been dying to make homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies. I have been doing a lot of research to find the perfect recipe. I did not want them to be two crispy oatmeal cookies with a marshmallow filling—which there are thousands of recipes out there for. I wanted a recipe that had the texture and taste of the original Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies. Chewy, soft and perfectly sweet.
It's that time of year—time for Friday night high school football! This past weekend I lent a hand to my alma mater and helped decorate for a dinner before the Friday night Homecoming game. Decorating a gymnasium for 500 people, with a limited budget and some key restrictions was a challenge but I think it turned out adorable!
I love finding ways to bring the outdoors in to use in my home decor. I have jars of sea shells in my bathroom, acorns and buckeyes on my dinning room table (check out my fall table here) and one of my favorite things in our home is a bowl of rocks that we collected on the beach on our honeymoon (yes, one of my favorite things is a bowl of rocks).
When williamsonsource.com asked me to guest blog a fall recipe, I jumped at the chance to create something sweet and totally irresistible.
This past weekend we celebrated Jacobs' grandmother's birthday (my grandmother-in-law). When she requested banana pudding in lieu of a birthday cake we were all thrilled because everyone loves this recipe!
This afternoon we went to City Farmhouse's Pop-Up Barn Saleat Franklin's Idyll By The River Farm and had a blast!
I am continuing my "Martha Challenge" this week with two amazing dinner recipes (check out my Martha Challenge favorites including Spiderweb Florentines and the September issue's Chicken and Broccoli Mac-and-Cheese).
It's time for my second installment of my monthly "Martha Challenge" where I choose 4 things out of the current issue of Martha Stewart Living to do and write about here (check out the September issue challenge HERE). This month I thought that I would break it into 4 separate posts so you can follow along throughout the week. First, we start with something sweet because who doesn't like dessert first?
A couple of weeks ago I decorated my fall table with some rustic hand-painted craft pumpkins that I used as planters for cabbage (check it out here!). I have been dying to paint some more for my kitchen counter since then and knew that I wanted to make them aqua (my fav color). I also wanted to carve these to make them a little more fun—not so serious! Borrowing Jacobs' drill made that super simple.
I had the in-laws over for dinner last night and I wanted to make something simple but hearty and delicious. This Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe & Sausage dish is from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Foolproof cookbook was the perfect solution. It was easy to make and I made a couple of edits (ok, several) that better suited the ingredients that I had at home (sometimes Ina gets uppity with her ingredients—what is broccoli rabe anyway?).
One of nature's great wonders, popovers are made with just milk, eggs, and flour (plus a little butter). Whisk, pour into tins, and bake (no peeking!). A half hour later, you're rewarded with the most incredibly airy and crispy puffs you could ever imagine.
With the weather getting cooler, I am craving feel-good comfort foods. This potpie is always first on my list when the fall season hits. It is one of my favorite things my mom made when I was growing up and it always reminds me of her and her cooking. It is creamy and warm with an ultra flakey crust, super hearty and ultimately satisfying.
Well, my week of fall inspired decor and recipes comes to a close with one of my favorites—Pumpkin Snickerdoodles. Not to worry, my obsession with all things fall is sure to continue but I promise to have recipes that don't ALL include pumpkins and squash!
