Yo Dawg.

One of my photography sessions rescheduled for tomorrow so I took the open slot for myself!  Andrew is turning 5 early next month and I wanted to make sure that we got his birthday pictures done in order to have prints for the party - more honestly for the grandparents and other family members.

The other day I was going past the elementary school and there is a structure that was recently "hit" by graffiti artists - much to my delight, it was a very cool dinosaur.  With big teeth.  And little arms and hands...those little arms reminded of Cee Lo Green. So in any event, I have been thinking about how great of a backdrop this would be (now with the final product you do not even see the big monster that had me so inspired).

Andrew and I headed out this morning for our adventure.  You see, this is much different when you are taking photos of your own child vs. clients.  Two reasons, the first is that your own child does not listen to you! The challenging part.  The second, is there is a sense of adventure that you gain - you can be flexible and daring!  So, with a little inspiration from Cee Lo and of course, Mac Miller - here are some shots from this mornings session!

Springtime Cake Pops.

Okay, so I thought what is all the excitement around "cake pops".  Are they really that good?  Why are moms buying cookbooks and new special baking machines to create these things for their kiddos?  What is all the rage?  So, I looked to who else but Bakerella for the "how to" as she is the leader in this emerging trend. 

So, what is all the noise about?  Well, I can tell you...they ARE good. That is what all the noise is about!   I took a chance and tried making these delicious delights for the family a couple of weeks ago and SCORE!

I understand why bakeries are charging upwards to three dollars each for these sweets.  And they are sweet!  They are labor intensive and time consuming...but oh so much fun to eat.  I would recommend doing it Bakerella's way.  No short cuts, no machines that do the baking for you!  You can take a look on YouTube and find tutorials and in a few short, hours be the hero of the household!  

You can bet that the next birthday party or even happy hour at the Wasco's there will be cake pops! 

Spring at Phipps Conservatory.

I love botanicals.  Love, love, love them.  We are very lucky in pittsburgh to have a fabulous conservancy right here in our backyard - Phipps Conservatory.  The spring garden show ended this past week and they are gearing up to open the the butterfly forest tomorrow. In May, they are opening the Center for Sustainable Landscapes.  Stay tuned for some shots from this innovative community space! If you have not been there, visit.  In the meantime, check out these beautiful buds...

edible allegheny magazine...fresh and local.

Tonight, I finally had the chance to sit down and read some of those magazines that have been hanging out on my nightstand.  I was flipping through the local publication, Edible Allegheny and there was MY pound cake and MY red raspberry pie cookies.  They jumped right off the page!  My creations and photos made it into this fabulous magazine that focuses on local food and farms! Check out the page from the March 2012 issue on-line here!

thank you cards.

I created an image in Photoshop Elements and had Modern Art Stamps from Costa Rica create a custom clear stamp!  Last night the boys helped me cut ribbon from Martha Stewart (it was quite dangerous but they loved helping!)  I grabbed my new Tim Holtz tiny attacher/mini staple gun (I have been dying to use this!) and voila!  Custom thank you cards!

shoe love.

I have the fever.  Spring Fever.  And that leads to "shoe fever".  I found these great, adorable shoes (they are comfy too) and I just had to have them in anticipation of some Spring day where I can pair them with  jeans and a white oxford!  Simple and plain but going to be oh so cute!  What is your Spring Fever?

valentine's day chocolate covered pretzels.

Well, this took a bit more work than I anticipated!  Yes, I dipped, hand dipped, one-by-one, an entire bag of mini-pretezels....I should schedule myself to see a psychologist after this project!  Truly, I did not think it was going to be that time consuming but it ended up taking a good couple of hours.  However, the final product turned out great and I am sure my colleagues and the kid's school teachers will enjoy them!  

The Ingredients 
1 bag of salted pretzels
1 bag of chocolate melts (any color)
1 jar of your favorite of sprinkles (I went through more than I thought but I could have had a heavy hand)


 The How To
1. Melt the chocolate melts in the microwave (you can do this over a double broiler as well) but for being simple, I used the microwave.
2. Dip the pretzel in the chocolate and tap off excess.
3. Dip the pretzel in the sprinkles
4. Lay to dry on baking parchment paper  (non-stick).   


That's it!  


I placed them in clear bags and tied with jute and attached a red heart!  


Enjoy!

bakery's best party.

Yesterday, Pittsburgh had a great FREE, kid-friendly event called Bakery's Best Party.  It was held on the first floor of the Google building in Bakery Square.  It was a bit overwhelming as the organization with navigating the event could have been better.  In any case, you tasted your way through dreamy desserts for three hours while listening to music performed by Good Brother Earl.  And they also served mirco-brews for the "big" kiddos.   Children's Museum had a table set up for children's activities - my kids choose running in the free space of the venue instead. Whatever!  I am starting to feel as if I have NO control but that is for another day, another post.
Some of my favorites were Bella Christies' glitter chocolates (too darn cute) and Paris 66 Bistro's macaroons.  But my favorite, favorite was the salted carmel macaroons (can you tell macaroons are my new found obsession?).  However, I am not sure who created these delicious concoctions - if anyone knows, please pass along their name.
I hope they do this again next year but the marketing agency, Revive, needs to be mindful of how to help the guest filter through to the tables, planning appropriately for number of samples and maybe even thinking of a small cover charge.  :-)
Here are some snapshots of the event:

The Sweet Life - Adoring Amy's Designs.

Ahhhh, one can only aspire to be like Amy Atlas.  Amy's book Sweet Designs went on pre-sale today.  Yes, and you do not even need to ask - I did reserve a copy and April is a LONG way off for me (and everyone else) to wait for the delicious book to be delivered!  (And I thought waiting for my hubby to be done with tax season was long - he is a CPA).
I have admired Amy's designs for some time now.  Just a few weeks ago, we celebrated my son's second birthday with a theme of a mustache bash!  And of course, we had a dessert bar! Please keep the ideas coming Amy...I will be there waiting!

Red Raspberry Jam Cookies.

Red Raspberry Jelly Cookies. 

So, with Valentine's Day fast approaching, I was inspired by these cute DIY Pie Pop Wedding Favors from Borrowed and Blue that I found on Pinterest the other day.  Today, I was lucky enough that the sun was shining and the snow was melting that I was able to find my way to the market.  I picked up some ingredients to make these cute cookies!  I ended up not having the popsicle sticks in the art room so I omitted them. I think they turned out wonderful. I even used a small heart cutter to punch a hole on the top layer of the piecrust (typically used for metal clay arts). 

But how about when they were all done; child #1 said they looked "yucky".  WHAT! WHAT!  Are you kidding! Whatever, more for me!!!  Well, I hope you enjoy this recipe and are inspired to make these for your loved ones! (And I hope that they eat them!).  

Raspberry Jelly Pie Cookies

Inspired by DIY Pie Pop Wedding Favors from Borrowed and Blue

Cookies

1 box Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box

1 jar of seedless red raspberry jam (Trappist® Preserves, All Natural)

1 egg, beaten, add a small amount of water to mixture

3 tablespoons turbinado sugar (raw sugar)

Icing

2 tsp. of milk

4 tsp. of confectioners sugar to thicken

To Prepare Cookies: 

Heat oven to 425°F. Spray cookie sheets with cooking spray, or line with silicone baking mat.  Unroll piecrusts onto surface. Using 3-inch wide cookie cutter cut rounds from crusts; place on cookie sheet. To make each cookie, top each round with ¼ teaspoon jelly; cover with second crust round. With a fork press around edges to seal the cookies so none of the jelly oozes out.  Brush tops of pops with beaten egg; sprinkle with sugar. Bake 12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from cookie sheets; cool completely on cooling racks.  Top off with icing. (Note: Make sure that the cookies are cooled until you top off with the icing!).

To Prepare Icing:

Mix milk and confectioners sugar together.  (Helpful Hint: Pour mixture into a squeeze bottle to make icing the cookies easier).  

Yummy Brown Sugar Pound Cake.

#2 Enjoying the Whipped Cream.

We got snow. Lots of snow.  At least a lot of snow for this winter.  So, I thought let's cozy up and do some baking! Now, what did I have in the cupboard?  Score!  I can make some yummy brown sugar pound cake. Halfway through the mixing, YIKES!  I realized I did not have baking powder but only baking soda.  We could not leave to go to store so I thought I have nothing to lose!  I added the baking soda (half of what the recipe called for). Sixty minutes later, we had a delicious delight! I served it with diced peaches (yes, I snatched up the mini-packs for the kiddos lunches next week) and served with a homemade vanilla whipping cream.  Fabulous!


Brown Sugar Pound Cake Recipe 
(Courtesy of dominosugar.com)
Pound Cake
1 cup - packed Domino® Light Brown Sugar
1 cup - (2 sticks) butter, softened
4 - eggs
1 teaspoon - vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups - all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon - baking powder
1/4 teaspoon - salt
Sweetened Whipped Cream
1 cup - heavy whipping cream
Domino® Confectioners Sugar, to taste
1/2 teaspoon - vanilla extract


To Prepare Pound Cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. In large bowl, beat sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add to sugar mixture. Pour batter into pan. Bake one hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pan and turn out on rack to cool completely. Top with whipped cream and fruit.

To Prepare Whipped Cream:
Place cream in chilled bowl. Beat until foamy. Add Domino® Confectioners Sugar and vanilla. Beat until stiff.

 My Homemade Brown Sugar Pound Cake.

As Jen's husband, I am often pulled into conversations with my wife. "Mike, what do you think about this?" is a question I'll hear often. And then it'll be the hedgehog for the youngest son's first birthday. Or the top hat for the Mad Hatter party. Or the bull horns from the flea market. The pictures and pictures and pictures that she takes everywhere, with anyone, about anything. The little things like the seed packets held in place by forks on the mantle. That's next to the upside down babydoll head from Paris. Don't ask. I don't.

But it's fun, fancy and keeps her busy. I'll be her guest blogger to keep you informed of the real madness. She'll explain what she did and why she did it, and I'll bring her (and you) back to reality. She wants to post all sorts of things on here....from flea market finds, cooking, to being a working mother in the healthcare industry, and to her adventures as a casual family photographer. Ohhh and her opening of an Etsy shop, the pinning obsession on Pinterest and of course the new found love of Tweeting (she is still trying to figure it out)!

There is no thread. No organization. And no rhyme nor reason. And that's good...

Welcome to jennifer j. wasco - the blog.