Festive Cranberry Margaritas

We are lucky enough to have family staying with us for Christmas, so for the first time ever I made an effort to decorate the house a little and try to create a more festive atmosphere. I still couldn't bring myself to actually buy a tree, so I made a simulated tree by stringing lights and sparkly garland from our torchiére lamp. Okay, so maybe it looked a bit like a glowing jellyfish, but everyone seemed to like it and it was fun to be a little Christmas-y. Plus, it set me back a grand total of $1.08 and took about 10 minutes.

What I enjoyed the most, however, was planning our dinner menu: Jamaican jerk turkey breast in the slow cooker, bacon-wrapped maple pork loin, Yukon Gold and sweet mashed potatoes, maple-glazed carrots with herbes de Provence and cayenne, sautéed kale with apple, onion and apple cider, and a bacon and brandy crust pumpkin pie.

We served wine, beer and egg nog, but I think I was most excited by the Cranberry Margaritas. Now margaritas usually don't get me too excited. I never order them in restaurants. Lime-flavored sugar water with schwag tequila in a obnoxious glass with a crusty salt rim? No thanks. I have to qualify this by saying that I do order margaritas at home. Anson makes great margaritas using fresh squeezed limes, fresh squeezed oranges, triple sec and whatever interesting tequila he is drinking at the moment. They are delicious and very potent. They easily take away the anxiety of the day, but that's another post.

Now back to the drink at hand. I found the recipe in the December 2009 issue of Sunset magazine. "Hmmm, this could be a great way to incorporate cranberry into our holiday meal without being obligated to make the compulsory sauce." Okay, what I really thought was, "Yes! No one will think I'm a lush if I start drinking these at 11am." I think these could be a great year-round drink and they were just as easy as a regular margarita. Here's my version of the Sunset recipe:

Sunset's Merry Cranberry Margaritas

1 bag of fresh cranberries

2 cups of tequila

1 cup Triple Sec or Cointreau

juice of three limes

1 12oz can of frozen cranberry juice concentrate, reserve 2 tablespoons

2 tablespoons of sugar

Place the cranberries in a blender with 1 cup of water and purée until smooth, add more water if necessary to help blend.

Pour purée into a large pitcher and add tequila, triple sec, lime juice, cranberry juice and 12-24oz of water. Stir well. Adjust to taste.

Pour reserved cranberry juice and sugar onto two separate plates. Dips rims of glasses into juice and then sugar.

Serve over ice. Alternatively, you can throw it all into the blender at once if you want a frozen margarita.

Holiday Gift Planting

I was really pleased when I came up with this gift idea and I thought I'd pass it along in case anyone is looking for a last minute, environmentally-friendly and inexpensive gift.

I needed to come up with something for five of my co-workers. It needed to be within my budget (less than $10 per person), useful (would not turn into another piece of junk in a landfill), meaningful and original. So I found myself wandering through OSH, quietly gazing at all the home improvement items I one day hope to purchase. I can't wait to pick up new drawer pulls some day when I own a house. A girl can dream...

As usual, I made my way to the garden center and there they were, individual herbs leftover from the summer, but still looking good. I picked out sage, rosemary and thyme (sorry, no parsley!) and found five small plastic pots in different colors. I took them home and repotted them easily in about a half hour. They cost a total of $5.28 each, plus a little potting soil.

If you were inclined, you could make this even more environmentally friendly by substituting plastic pots for a candy tin, an empty spaghetti sauce jar, a soup can decorated with dry pasta and glitter--whatever you think is cool or can find in the back of your closet.

My co-workers were excited about the gifts, so I think it was a success. Oh, and as they were opening them, it occurred to me that I should have included recipes that use these herbs. Next year!

Skip the bags--you could just tie a ribbon around these and you'd be set.

Beer and Horses: A Colorado Thanksgiving

Anson and I spent Thanksgiving in Colorado with his family. It was another week of relaxing with good food and even better company. We can't wait until they are here in SoCal for Christmas.

A hike near Jack and Vicki's house.

Don't let that sunny landscape fool you--I only dress in my Russian spy costume when it's cold.

I love the whiskers on Freckles.

Austin is becoming a real cowboy.

We got a tour of the Oskar Blues Brewery's new location in Longmont.

At their restaurant down the street we got a chance to try one of the most delicious beers we've come across--Ten Fidy aged in Stranahan's Whiskey oak barrels. We caught some of it in it's infancy at the brewery. Willie Nelson and Toby Keith got it wrong, it should have been "Whiskey For My Beer, Men For My Horses." Okay that doesn't make sense, but you get what I mean.

If you are anywhere near Longmont I suggest you make it a point to stop and try it--it's only served at the brewery and they won't sell you growlers to take home. Ahhh, the humanity!

Ball cans waiting to be filled with the healing nectar.

This is the mountains--you don't visit without skiing at least once.

We brought a bottle of Phenomenon from one of our favorite wineries--Benessere Vineyards.

A hearty cold-weather dinner--chicken sausage, Irish Guinness sausage, pork chops, salt-roasted potatoes, two kinds of sauerkraut, and veggies.

More photos to represent my devotion to Brussels Sprouts.

I had to stop in the middle of making squash to photograph it.

This is the mountains--you don't visit without chopping wood at least once.

Quite Possibly the Cutest Baby Ever

My friend Stephanie recently came to the realization that so many new moms come to after the joys and trials of new motherhood give way to routine--"I'm not in any of the pictures!"

So on a beautiful day in November we decided to do something about that. And did these two ever make it easy--have you ever seen two more photogenic examples of mother-daughterhood? I knew that they would be fun to photograph, but there was more than that. For someone who doesn't have children, I found myself heartened by the love Stephanie has for Brooklyn. It's admirable and gives you a hopeful feeling for the future. There really are smart, caring people out there raising great kids.

Here's my hard edit and believe me, there are so many more that I wanted to show you. I find myself smiling like a big dork each time I look at them, marveling at the pure joy on Brooklyn's face. I hope they give you the same warmth they give me.

Under The Harvest Sun

There is something about the fall light that makes for such beautiful photos. I recently met up with the handsome Jacobson family on a warm Sunday afternoon. The late sun streamed through the leaves and turned everything yellow and gold. I smiled as I thought about how those department store photo studios used to paint this kind of backdrop back in the day. Here in Orange County there is a picture-perfect backdrop around every corner.

Let's see if we can get some laughs out of these girls...yep, a little tickle always works.

The oldest was a natural--she hit all the poses like a pro.

The little one was doing her best not to smile, but we tricked her into a couple. What a sweet face, it was well worth the effort.

As is the case with most 3-year-olds, she was most interested in playing. I don't blame her, who wants to pose when there are all these fun toys?

I always think those unposed photos are the truest portrayal of a person, and that's the basis of my photographic philosophy--Modern Lifestyle Photography. Capturing the real moments that happen every day, in an artistic way.

Kavikas: Elegance on Plate

You just never know who is listening when you are talking. Several months ago I mentioned to a work associate that I've been doing a lot of food photography. It was just a passing comment as we quickly caught up on what we'd been up to. So it was almost confusing to me when I got a phone call from him a couple weeks ago. "I've got a new restaurant--they need pictures--I told them about you--don't let me down--gotta go." Huh...? Oh yeah!

This new restaurant, Kavikas, is at The Pike in Long Beach. I couldn't have asked to work with nicer people. Paul Kosmides, Misko Sekulic, Chef David Keller, and Sous Chef Pedro Wolcott were so gracious and helpful they made my job fun. David and Pedro made some beautiful plates for me to photograph and the elegant interior of the restaurant made it easy for me to get great shots from every angle. They have put a lot into this place, and it shows in both the food and design. I give them a lot of credit for what they've created and thank them for the opportunity to be part of it.

Take a look!

Happy Halloween!

Our friends Sean and Michelle invited us over to their house for their annual Pumpkin Fest. Everyone got a pumpkin and we feasted on pizza and beer while we carved away. I forgot how hard it is to carve a pumpkin!

Double credit to Sean and Michelle for hosting this party while they are getting ready to have a baby in two weeks. You two rock!

What a fun group of family and friends, we were so happy to be invited and are looking forward to to next year.