{ harlow: first birthday party }

August 28th, 2011

I’ve been a bad blogger this summer.  I’ve had quite a few weddings and shoots this summer and haven’t blogged any of them!  I’m trying to get caught up this week, so stay tuned!  (All of the photos have been posted on Loveletter Photography’s facebook page, so check that out! )

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Back in May, my friend Lesley asked me to photograph her little girl’s first birthday party!  It was such a fun day – Harlow is as cute as can be and Lesley put on a magazine-spread-worthy party with so many special details! Harlow had a pink & green birthday party fit for a princess!  Here are some of my favorite images of the day:

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{ roasted tomato soup }

August 7th, 2011

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We have 12 tomato plants in our garden this year, and I’m loving all the fresh tomatoes we have right now!  The past couple of weeks, I’ve been eating tons of bruschetta and tomato-feta-basil salads, but I’ve started to get burnt out on those, so I decided to look for a tomato soup recipe that used cherry tomatoes, and I found one!

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Roasted Tomato Soup
(adapted from this recipe)
2 lbs. cherry tomatoes
3 teaspoons minced garlic (6 cloves)
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
5-6 large basil leaves
salt
pepper
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 cup of milk
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Wash and halve tomatoes and place cut-side down in a shallow baking dish.  Add onion, garlic and basil to the pan.  Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper.

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Bake for 45 minutes.

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Place roasted vegetables, broth and milk into a blender or food processor.  Blend until smooth.  Serve with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

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I thought this soup was really good and garlicky!  It’s not a very smooth soup because of the tomato skin and seeds, but I liked it chunky!

Anyone else have some ideas of how to use up my tomatoes?

{ summer to-do list update }

August 7th, 2011

Earlier in the summer, Funnel and I made a summer to-do list.  Here is where it stands:

Completed:
Columbus Arts Festival
Zoombezi Bay
Kings Island
Clippers Game
Indians Game
Yellow Springs Street Fair
Rising Park
Taco Truck

Need to Do:
Camping
“Beers, High Street, Friday Night”
Drive-in-movie
Crew Game
Hartford Fair
Mammoth Cave
Pataskala Street Fair
“The Trifecta”
Canoing
Hocking Hills
Renaissance Fair

Fail:
Comfest (Funnel had to work)
Jazz & Ribs Fest (too hot)

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Here are some photos from some of our recent adventures:

King’s Island:

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Columbus Clippers Baseball Game (Dime-a-Dog Night) with Peab & Amy:

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Cleveland Indians Baseball Game with my Parents:

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Taco Truck (Yum!):

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We still have a lot of things to do before the summer is over!  Yikes! We should be checking the Hartford Fair off of our list on Wednesday, though!

{ PW’s Taco Pizza }

July 16th, 2011

At least a couple of times a month, Funnel & I make a homemade pizza for dinner.  Last night, we decided to try The Pioneer Woman’s Taco Pizza, based on the one from California Pizza Kitchen.  I thought it was yummy enough that I should share it on the blog.

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Taco Pizza

1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1/2 cup warm water
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cups olive oil
1 can black beans
1 teaspoon taco seasoning
4 whole corn tortillas, sliced into thin strips
1/2 cup canola oil, for frying
1 cup grated sharp cheddar
1 cup monterey jack cheese
1 head leaf lettuce, shredded thin
2 whole ripe tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1/4 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons hot sauce

Make the pizza dough: Mix yeast with warm water and set aside for 8 to 10 minutes. Mix flour, salt, and olive oil in a mixing bowl. With speed on low, drizzle in yeast/water mixture. Allow to mix until totally combined. Cover bowl with a towel and set bowl in a warm, draft-free place. Allow to rise for 1 to 2 hours.

Pour black beans into a saucepan. Add seasonings to taste and heat up beans over medium-low heat. Use a potato masher to mash the beans to desired texture. Continue cooking/heating beans over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until no longer runny (should be the texture of refried beans. Set aside.

In a small skillet, heat canola oil over medium heat. When hot enough to fry, drop in the tortilla strips in batches, frying quickly and removing from oil with a fork when crisp–about 30 to 45 seconds per batch. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Set aside.
Place oven rack in the bottom position in the oven. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Remove half the pizza dough from the bowl. Place remaining half in a large plastic bag and refrigerate, saving for another use. With hands, spread pizza dough on an oiled baking sheet, making sure it’s relatively thin. Spread layer of refried beans all over pizza crust. Sprinkle mixed grated cheeses over the top. Place pan in the oven (in the bottom half of the oven) and bake for 9 to 12 minutes. Watch it to make sure crust doesn’t burn.
Remove pizza from oven. Sprinkle on shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and cilantro leaves.

Mix together sour cream and hot sauce, adding enough hot sauce to make the mixture pourable. With a spoon (or you can put it in a pastry bag) drizzle mixture over finished pizza.

Sprinkle with tortilla strips. Cut into squares and serve immediately with good quality salsa.

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Yum!

{ summer chopped chicken salad }

July 13th, 2011

I love salads in the summertime.  I had a really delicious one for dinner last week at Aladdin’s Eatery and I decided to try to recreate it to pack in our lunches this week:

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Summer Chopped Chicken Salad
Romaine lettuce
Diced Zucchini
Diced Roma Tomatoes
Halved Red Grapes
Dried Cranberries
Rotisserie Chicken
Feta Cheese
Honey Dijon Vinaigrette

This has got to be one of the best salad combinations I’ve ever had.  What do you like on your salads?

{ 4th of july weekend }

July 7th, 2011

My weekend:

I photographed two beautiful weddings – one on Friday and one on Sunday (full re-caps and photos coming soon!) :

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I baked some 4th of July “Fireworks Cookies” a la Martha Stewart:

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I had a coffee with two beautiful friends:

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I went to the Gahanna fireworks on the 4th of July:

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It was a busy one, for sure, but lots of fun and special moments.

{ winston the caterpillar }

June 29th, 2011

Let me introduce you to my little friend, Winston, who is living in my garden.

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I’ve checked on him every day for the past week, and he each day, he’s right where I last saw him – on a carrot top.

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Isn’t he cute?

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And it may just be my imagination, but I think he’s gotten a little bit bigger since I first met him.

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I hope he stays for awhile.

{ the golden summer }

June 25th, 2011

I’ve been calling this summer “the golden summer” because I think it’s going to be the year that we check every last thing off of our summer to-do list.  I think this summer holds some wonderful things for us.

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crazy car

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attack of the goats

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(photos: rising park, father’s day, yellow springs, schmidt’s.
p.s. can you spot my little caterpillar friend hanging out on my carrots?)

{ garage sale treasures }

June 18th, 2011

Today, I went garage sale-ing around Pataskala with my dear friend Meghan, followed with lunch at The Nutcracker.  I had so much fun with her and we both came away with some treasures!  Here’s what I bought:

Vintage 7-up box/tray ($1.00):

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Box of Old Stamps ($1.00):

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Vintage Souvenir Canada glass ($1.00):

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Wilton Cookie Press ($2.00):

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I hope I can go out garage sale-ing again later this summer!

{ a passing moment gone }

June 12th, 2011

there’s a secret past world
that you only notice when you’re looking back at it.

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all i want to do is turn around.

* white daisy passing (rocky votolato)