Normally during the winter months I settle in, hibernate and plan the up coming year.  Usually I’m alone during this time and in fact it can be days before I have any contact with the outside.  This winter, however, I have an entire crew hanging with me and keeping me on my toes!  Meet Sadie, Fred and Zoe – they are my new constant companions.

First up – Sadie.  Sadie and I have a true love.  It started over a decade ago when my parents brought her home – this white fluffy butterball of a thing.  She is a complete sweetheart.  She is however also a poser – she was posing for this image in fact – I have yet to ever be able to sneak up on her and get a non posed image!!

Fred – well I honestly don’t know where to begin…  He came into my parents home a year after Sadie – 2 days before Christmas.  He was the last Shitzu in the state and in fact they almost didn’t take him home because he was not a she!  Fred has an energy and verve for life like no other creature I have ever met!  He expects everyone to be on his wavelength and to love him and some how you do.  I do take exception to the 6:30 morning wake up barks however – I swear I can set my clock by it…

Zoe – this sweet thing is the family hot potato.  She originally was my sister’s cat in college and then she went on to live with my Gram.  When I became the caretaker to my Gram’s house Zoe came with it.  She love loves loves late night antics and I’ll often wake up and find her literally bouncing around the bed – it so does not amuse me!!  But then she curls up next to me becomes a little heating purring engine and how can you not love that?!?

Yum – Stuffed Peppers!!  Now I have to admit that this is not a new dish for me.  In fact it’s one of the few meals I do well!!  If you read my last UnKitchen Diva post – you know that moving forward with this cooking project I have two rules. 1) Everything must be able to be broken down into individual servings that I can freeze and 2) it must look pretty.  That’s it – pretty simple.  I’m such a visual person I thought I’d show you a meal that I think fits the rules perfectly – stuffed peppers!!

Stuffed Peppers

1 1/2 lbs ground beef                          1 onion, chopped

1/4 tsp salt                                            1/4 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp oregano                                       can of tomato sauce

4 peppers

1) Brown the ground beef.  While this is going on I measure the spices and put them in one of those small glass bowls.  Except this time I couldn’t find the garlic salt but I did find garlic powder – what the heck, couldn’t be that different, right?? I then chop the onion – or at least hack at it until it’s in several different pieces….

2) Add all the ingredients (but not the peppers!!! – for those of you who are literal like me…). Mix well.

3) I kind of let it bubble and stew a little bit here – no idea why – getting the flavors to blend better?? Really, I don’t know why.

4) Clean and cut the top off the peppers.  Wash out the insides of the peppers.  Is any one as fascinated as I am that there can sometimes be a small pepper like thing growing inside, no?  Anyway, once they’re washed place them in an oven safe dish.

5) Stuff peppers with meat mixture and bake for 1 hour @ 350˚.

6) I usually start the wild rice at the same time I put the peppers in the oven.  They roughly take about the same amount of time.

7) Place cooked, wrinkly pepper in the center of the plate.  Spread rice all the way around the base – making a ring of rice.  - so pretty!!

*Here’s how I make it fit rule 1.  I only fill and cook one pepper. I also only make enough rice for one serving.  I use 3 cup size tupperware pieces to freeze the rest of the meat mixture.  Viola – single servings and pretty!!

This January I went to a photo seminar in Mystic, CT – Mystic 5 – where I heard the fabulous David Williams speak.  He asked a question of the audience – “Think of a loved one.  Do you have every photograph you could ever want of them?”  This question reminded me again of my Grandmother.

You see my Grandmother was the champion of all my dreams.  I was able to be an exchange student to NZ because of her and go to photography school.  She bought me a brand new 501c Hasselblad to take with me – a film camera I will never part with!  She loved art and film and we would make dates to go see the latest art/foreign film release.  David’s presentation helped me remember these wonderful things about her and reconnect with some of the reasons why I became a photographer.

Two of the first images I ever took with the 501c were of my Grandmother sitting in my parents living room.  Portraits were very important to her.  She dressed up, put makeup on and donned earrings for this sitting.  Interestingly enough it’s one of the few times she’s not wearing the ring.  I love these two images.  Of all the images I’ve taken they rank amongst my most favorite.  To me they are the complete essence of my Grandmother and how in my mind she still lives.  So with this post I honer her – the woman who was always the champion of all my dreams.

So here it is – I’m outing myself – I am a single women in her 30’s who has absolutely no idea how to cook.  I have all sorts of excuses – I’m single, cooking for one is no fun, have you ever tried eating beef stroganoff 6 days in a row (seriously – no fun!) and the list goes on.  My dinners are often eggs (scrambled and sunny side down), hamburgers and baked chicken breast.

Lately I find myself thinking unthinkable thoughts – I actually want to learn a thing or two in the kitchen.  Now don’t get me wrong – I can’t see me ever aspiring to be a Kitchen Diva of the highest order.  I’m fairly sure that the Unkitchen Diva in me is healthy and strong but I’m feeling a pull to try something new.

Take today for instance – I made individual puff pastry frittatas – well sort of.  I tried making individual frittatas a few weeks ago – I would not term it a success.  They stuck to the muffin pan, deflated like a pricked soufflé and generally did not look pretty at all.  They were however edible, which is a vast improvement over some of my past experiments.  I decided to tackle them again but this time with a pastry type shell.  When I whipped open the oven door, as the timer was going off, I was very pleasantly surprised.  They looked pretty even!!

Right then and there I made a decision.  I would try new recipes this year and share my triumphs and more than likely failures with you.  I don’t know where I’m going with this.  I have no cuisine picked out, nor do I know how often I’ll be doing this but I have decided there are some rules.  I need to be able to break the recipe down into individual servings.  I hate wasting food – but also hate eating the same thing every night until it’s gone – so individual servings that I can freeze is a must.  The second rule is  - it has to look pretty!  Hey I’m a visual girl!! Other than that I’m fairly open.  I would love if you all had any recipes to share and will post my attempts at them.  Hopeful at the end of this I’ll learn how to cook some new dishes (and become a better food photographer – wow, so much to learn there!!)!

So here’s how I made the frittatas – 5 in all:

1) Rolled out 1 sheet of store bought puff pastry and cut to fit into an extra large size muffin tin.  I had enough for 5.

2) Cut up 1/2 a green pepper and 1/2 an onion. I tossed handfuls of each into the bottom of each cup. Note: I have tons of leftover diced pepper and onion – not sure what I’m going to do with them yet…

2.5) Put handfuls of shredded cheddar cheese into each cup.  Yeah… I forgot to do this.

3) Stirred/scrambled(??) 9 eggs with some salt and pepper.  Poured into each cup until almost full.

4) Stick in 350˚ oven for 40 minutes.  During this time turn on the oven light 42 million times to see if anything is really happening.

5) At the end of 40 min take them out (or here’s were you melt the cheese on top if you forgot to put it in) and cool.

Viola!

At the end of 2009 I found myself pondering these questions – 1) who do I want to give back to and 2) how do I want to give back.  I knew pretty quickly on that I wanted to help women and children.  I ended up choosing two organizations – Save the Children and Grameen Foundation.  Both of these organization currently have an A rating with Charity Watch.  Save the Children was an easy decision for me – I’ve been involved in the lives of children – be it babysitting, nanny, juniors rowing coach or photographing them since I was 11 years old – perfect fit!

Grameen came on my radar when a Facebook friend referred them to me.  In regards to helping women I wanted help them in power and better their circumstances.  I started researching micro loan organizations.  The majority of the people helped by these organizations are poor women who want to make a change in their lives and the lives of those around them.  Hard part was finding a micro loan organization that truly did what it said it would.  With the combination of my friend’s referral and their Charity Watch rating I’m confident Grameen Foundation is an excellent match.

Here’s my plan for donating:  Complete a session with me this year and I will donate $25 to either Save the Children or Grameen Foundation in your name.  I would like you to help me choose which charity you would like the money to go to.  For those that have no preference, in December I will evenly divide the money and donate to both organizations. I’m really excited to start giving back in this way and thank-you for helping me make it happen!!

The past 2 years I have been using themes to define my upcoming year. 2008 was the year of “play”. I realized I had forgotten how to enjoy all the little fun things I so enjoyed as a kid. I made it a point to play when ever possible. To that end – I finger painted in the yard with one of my nieces, slept under the stars in the backyard (ok I added an aerobed – my back isn’t as forgiving as it use to be!), rediscovered skinny dipping, got lost in a corn maze and made a snow angel. I had a blast but more importantly my creativity was revived – new ideas came – it was a rebirth of the person I had loved and forgotten – me!

2009 was the year of “being bold”. When you get into a rut you forget to put yourself out there, blinders get put on and change becomes a thing of the past. I wanted to break new ground and went bold in many ways. I formed a partnership and new business – Strawberry Road, finally bought the hot red lipstick I talked about doing for years, physically visited the work sites of complimentary vendors to my industry and asked if they would be interested in a collaboration and I made the decision to move to the Baltimore, Maryland area (still putting the pieces together on that). In each case being bold and moving out of my current comfort zone has been a great success which in turn has made being bold something to be excited about and not feared.

I love to try new things or put a new spin on something I’ve done previously so when I read Chris’ post I thought it was the perfect way to revamp the way I do yearly themes. 2 words came to me immediately. The 3^rd one took more thought but I finally found it. As my work and personal life are so interconnected you will see that my words can and do refer to both areas of my life. Here are my 3 words for 2010.

(Before I share – I learned a really cool trick from a Seth Godin post – go to google – type in define: then a word you want the definition of and it pops up an answer – so cool!!)

define:sleek – well groomed and neatly tailored.

To me this means every aspect of both brands – Lil Blu Dragonfly and Strawberry Road – is tight. The message, the look, etc – is so well put together that you know who it came from and it brings certain expectations and emotions before you even get into the meat of it. For me personally it means making sure that I too have a completed pulled together look when I walk out of the door. I tend to fall into that category of working from home in yoga pants and fleece – when people meet me there is a disconnect between what they see and who I am – I need to be sleeker.

define:ownership – relation of an owner to the thing possessed.

This one comes from conversations I had with a particular person this summer. I met a man who is a contractor and during our conversations it always struck me how he took ownership of his gifts, skills and workmanship. He wasn’t afraid to come out and say I am very, very good at what I do and proud of it. It really impressed me and made me realize 1) I am good at what I do and 2) that I literally wanted to be like Mike – be proud and take ownership in myself and skills. In 2010 I’ll be tooting my own horn more. On the flip side I acknowledge that when I mess up I have to take ownership of that as well.

(PS: Mike really is good at what he does – I’ve seen his work first hand. If anyone in the Baltimore, North Shore area is looking for a reputable, reliable person to help with a home improvement project contact me and I’ll pass his contact information on.)

define:remarkable – unusual or striking.

In my industry we are a dime a dozen. There are photographers in every town and street corner now. I know that for me to continue to grow and work with the people I aspire to work with I can’t be like everyone else – be it marketing, style or presentation. I have to find a way to stand out of the pack and be remarkable. But, and here’s the key – remarkable in a way that is completely me and shows my true self.

So now I have my three words to guide me through the year. As a reminder and to keep me on course I plan on doing something that helps me focus when I work on particular projects. I take a dry erase marker and write what I’m focusing on onto every mirror, window and dry erase board I see. So don’t be surprised if you walk in my bathroom this year and see the words: sleek, ownership and remarkable staring back at you in the mirror.

I love the flavor of lemon! My birthday cake when I was a kid was a yellow cake with lemon curd filling, white icing and coconut – ohh the sweetness!! (If anybody can find me that cake now – I’ll be your new BFF!!)  As I got older my cake became a lemon meringue pie – oh the love!

These cookies offer the same lemony delight I got from the cake and pie and have become a favorite cookie of mine to give away at Christmas.

1 egg

1 package lemon cake mix

4 oz Cool Whip (1/2 of a regular container), thawed

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1) Mix cake mix, Cool Whip and egg until well blended. This makes a really really sticky biscuit like batter. I alway use a wooden spoon to mix it all together – no idea why!

2) Ok here’s where the powdered sugar plays a huge role! Did you ever take a gymnastics class? Remember when you went to use the bars you would chalk up you hands? This is what you want to do with the powdered sugar – chalk up! This batter is so sticky if you don’t it will be like having warm pull taffy in your hands!! (not that I’ve ever made taffy but I was involved with an ad campaign where we photographed salt water taffy being made – powdered sugar was every where!!)

3) Now that you’re chalked up you want to pull pieces of the batter off – like drop biscuits (not that I’ve ever made them either!!). I have a plate covered in powdered sugar I drop the pieces on to the plate and cover them in sugar. Then I roll them in my hands to make a dough meatball – about 1 inch in size.

4) Take your dough meatballs and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350˚ for about 10-12 minutes. These cookies can be easy to over cook – you want them to be slightly browned before you take them out

5) When you remove from sheet they will still be soft and a little squishy. They get firmer as they cool.

6) Enjoy the lemony goodness with a huge glass of milk!!

* If you are more a fan of chocolate than lemon – you can substitute the lemon cake mix for a chocolate one*

Jump back to now and I had a sudden flash of inspiration. My 94 year old Grandmother is now in assisted living. She has only recently agreed to let them do her laundry instead of sending it home with one of us. Gram has had huge misgivings about this and has spent countless hours worrying that they are going to mix her laundry up with someone else’s. Every year it’s a struggle to figure out what to get her for Christmas. This year it dawned on me – Mabel’s Labels!!

Now the only question is – do I get her the same ones as my four year old niece (who was named after her) so they can be twinses or her own style? This is the label I’m thinking of going with: