friday favorites

wow, friday already. what a week. busy, busy, busy. in a good way. earlier this week, what seems like ages ago, i made dinner for a friend. i have been becoming more and more domestic lately, so i thought it was time i learned how to make one of my childhood staples, meatloaf. i looked at a few recipes on line and combined them to come up with something rather delicious. if you're interested in an old fashioned american dinner, here's the recipe:

~classic meatloaf~

2 pounds ground sirloin
1(12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1 packet dry onion soup mix
1 egg
1/2 cup ketchup
1 clove garlic
1 small chopped onion
2 Tbsp brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix beef, milk, onion mix, egg, and 1/4 cup ketchup in a bowl with hands.
Consistency will seem soupy, but do not worry, it will come out perfect.
Pour mixture into loaf pan.
Combine 1/4 cup ketchup and 1 Tbsp. brown sugar and brush on top of meatloaf.
Bake 1 to 1 1/2 hours draining fat every 30 minutes.
Cook until meat is no longer pink inside {might have to cut a slice to check}.
If top starts to get too dark, cover with foil during end of cook time.
Let cool 5 minutes and slice.
enjoy!
.................

i also made roasted vegetables. so easy...and so good. here's the recipe:

~roasted veggies~

chop up some of your favorite vegetables. my favorites to use are:
zucchini
yellow squash
butternut squash
sweet potato*{my favorite-really adds a great sweetness}
brocolli
cauliflower
onion
garlic {cloves cut in large pieces}

toss all veggies in a large bowl and add some olive oil {enough to lightly coat vegetables}
add your favorite spices and mix with your hands.
my favorite spices to add are:
thyme, basil, salt, pepper, dill, and cinnamon.
you can add them all-which i do-or choose your own combination.
place on baking sheet covered with foil.
cover veggie mixture with foil.
bake at 375-400 degrees for about 45 to 1 hour. they are done when the sweet potatoes are soft and easy to stick a fork in.
enjoy!
................
i often make a big batch of this at the beginning of the week and eat it all week. yum!

here is some beautiful imagery to ponder over the weekend. i probably won't be back posting until late next week. i have some visitors coming in town this weekend and i'm gonna get my tourist on!

some gourmet goodness:
~ sugar domes
~untitled
~top off

some quiet stillness:
~spaces to grow
~wreck
~untitled

some mellow yellow:
~you would be right...
~found pillow


i have decided to re-release my dogwood print to celebrate the arrival of spring and have also added a new rununculus print. maybe this will help bring consistent warm weather to the northeast.

oh, and check this out.

discoveries

these photos are from a fun project i worked on over the weekend. i'll share more about it later.

pdn magazine has released the 2007 list of new and emerging photographers to watch. i am happy to see some of the photographers i have featured here are on the list.

here are some more of my discoveries:

oh existention.

marcus palmqvist.

beauty on a grey monday

there is a brilliant article in ElleDecoration UK this month {april 07 issue} called out of the ordinary. the idea is to show how beautiful utiliarian things can be. the photos are inspired by giorgio morandi, one of my favorite artists.

photos by andrea garuti.

there is another article on ann shore and her shop called story. the article is very interesting and the photos amazing. the photos are the complete opposite of the ones in the first article, but i am equally drawn to them. they are bright and filled with objects, so rich and full of discovery.

photo by debi treloar.

more inspiration:
::manon gignoux:: {found via designer's block}::

::check out photos by alec soth in this month's w magazine::

inspiration friday

i got a really sweet email from rinne allen the other day. i have always been an admirer of her work and was so happy to see her light drawings in blueprint magazine this month. she has just put some beautiful spring photos from her garden on her site. if you have not already, you should really take time to look through her website, there is a lot of beauty to see. she seems to live a charmed life in the wonderful town where i went to school {makes me miss this place!}.

some links:
:: yamamoto masao. discovered these wonderful installations through rinne's site.
:: candace meyer. found via montmartre's sketchbook.

aren't these beautiful:


happy weekend!

reflect, learn, and grow

first of all, thank you all for the very sweet comments & birthday wishes yesterday-it made my day very bright! it was probably around this time last year that i started to read blogs regularly and am so happy to have found such inspiration, encouragement, and friendship. it is so incredible to have such a window into the creative minds of others and to correspond and collaborate with people all over the world.

so, as we officially welcome a new season and i start my new year, i would like to share some new things i look forward to doing this year:

1. to list my accomplishments. a friend of mine keeps a running list beside his bed. when asked what it was, he said, "it is a list of completed stories for a new book i'm working on." wouldn't it be nice to look at what we have accomplished rather than always looking at what we have "to do."

2. to revel in the moments and not always have to give everything a definition.

3. to hold onto the sense of momentum i am feeling right now and to keep creating.

4. to enjoy more walks outdoors for mere discovery, not just to get somewhere.

5. to continue to discover and be more of who i am.

go out today and enjoy the first day of spring, and maybe a cupcake.

another year

a little smushed, but still delicious. happy birthday to me.

for the love of the male

hi friends. happy monday!
lately i have been thinking a lot about what inspires me and have been taking a closer look at my own photography. i have noticed that a lot of my favorite food photographers have been male. there is something about the grittiness and the use of lights and darks that i like. they seem to be drawn to a darker, more neutral color pallet, which i really like as well. i try to achieve this in my own work, but it seems to come out much more sweet and girly. i guess there are certain things you just can't control and have to go with your own natural tendencies.

speaking of favorite male photographers, i LOVE the work of marcus nilsson. he often does the photographs for the road food column in gourmet magazine which i love. marcus embodies all the characteristics i described above and really inspires me.

on an entirely different note, i am off work today and decided to watch the martha stewart show. i think today's show was made for me. they dyed easter eggs with natural dyes, which i had just mentioned last week, and made two great breakfast recipes, ginger scones with cardamom and lemon-ricotta poppy seed pancakes. yum, i'll have to try those soon!

enjoy the rest of your day-i will!