Over the weekend, I got my trash the dress photos back from the photographer. Some pretty cool shots. I’m glad I did it, just for fun. Not sure I’ll actually ever do anything with any of these pictures (aside from showing them to all of you), so I’m also kind of glad it wasn’t something I actually paid for.
Anyway, I got more than 600 photos back–it was insane to try to look through them all. They’ve been narrowed down, but I’m still going to split them into two posts for the two locations–first for the abandoned brick factory, and then for the beach.
The brick factory was such a cool location. Every time we took another couple of steps, Judy found yet another goldmine in terms of backdrops.
All of these photos were taken by Judy Cormier of Elementz of Fotographie.
Umm, yeah. With this one? I was definitely afraid that old green door (that was merely balancing on a pile of scrap metal) was going to fall and cause me to land on my head. That would have made an interesting trip to the emergency room. But alas, I stayed safe. And my boobs stayed in place, too. Praise the lord.
Rickety old catwalks, all still standing. Pretty amazing. 
Cold beam. COLD.
These shots with the broken down brick wall are some of my favorites of the day.
An old red chair that just happened to be sitting there. You honestly could not have set up things this cool.
This last one was clearly an old manager’s office or something. All of the drywall was broken off and/or deteriorated, but there was still old office furniture up there.
I will post the beach ones later…
This is a recipe we’ve been making for quite a while. Love the flavor of the orange, coupled with the coriander and crushed red pepper (a little spice!). A filling and flavorful meal, for sure.
The preparation (cutting up the vegetables) is the longest part. Everything else is pretty easy, and this meal can easily be thrown together on a weeknight.
Orange Chicken Stir-Fry
(slightly adapted from Rachael Ray)
Ingredients:
Olive oil for stir-frying
1/2 cup chicken stock or broth
4-6 cups cooked rice (we use our rice cooker, but you could also use Minute Rice)
Salt and black pepper
1 lb. broccoli florets
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into large bite-size pieces
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional) – We actually add a little extra
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1 5-ounce can sliced water chestnuts
1/4 cup cilantro or parsley leaves, about a handful, chopped
Directions:
1. If using a rice cooker or slow-cooking rice, get your rice going according to package directions. I usually substitute some of the water with chicken broth to give the rice a good flavor. Or, you can add 1-2 chicken bouillon cubes. Our rice cooker takes about 1 hour to cook our rice, so I always start this first, then begin cutting/chopping vegetables.
2. Blanch the broccoli: Place a medium skillet filled with one inch of water over high heat with a tight fitting lid. Bring up to a boil, add some salt and the broccoli florets then cover and cook for 2 minutes. Drain the broccoli and reserve.
3. As the broccoli starts working, start the chicken: Place a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of olive oil, about 2 tablespoons. When the oil ripples, add the chicken, spreading it out in an even layer. Let it completely brown up on one side, you will have to resist the urge to stir it for about 2-3 minutes. Give the skillet a shake, stir and continue to cook and brown the chicken for 5 minutes. Remove chicken from skillet to a plate and reserve.
4. Return the skillet to the heat, add 1 more turn of the pan of olive oil, about a tablespoon. Once oil ripples, add onion, garlic, red bell pepper, red pepper flakes, ground coriander and some salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for 2-3 minutes.
5. In a small bowl, combine the orange juice and hoisin sauce. Add the mixture to the skillet with the veggies along with the sliced water chestnuts and the reserved chicken. Stir to combine and add in 1/2 cup of chicken stock/broth and the blanched broccoli florets. Cook the veggies and chicken together for about 2 minutes, or until everything is nicely coated and cooked through. Add the cilantro or parsley and remove from heat.
6. Remove the lid from the rice and fluff the rice with a fork. Serve orange chicken over rice.
Perched up on the back of the couch, with her nose sticking out the window. (I love the position she’s in–look at her leg!)
Such beautiful weather here–70s and sunshine all weekend. So thankful for the bit of Indian summer we are experiencing right now, because it will be gone by the end of the week.
I’m glad we were able to get out to enjoy it. Today, we went for a 23 mile bike ride. We rode to a local apple farm, picked up some cider and fried cakes, and then rode back. It was tiring, for sure, but I loved just being outside and getting some good exercise. The bikes are more than likely now stored for the winter, so it was nice to take advantage of them one last time.
More love for Katie this weekend. Every recipe I’ve tried from Good Things Catered has been a good one, so it’s basically a no-risk situation, which I appreciate. :) The recipe is actually from Ashlee at A Year in the Kitchen.
I have plans to potentially make some sugar cookie cutouts in a couple of weeks, so I wanted to give them a trial run before then. I also had never worked with royal icing on cookies before (only on my Wilton Course II cake), so I needed to practice that.
So, on Friday night, I made the cutouts, and then today, I iced them. And given the time of year, what better shapes to practice with than Halloween shapes?
My finished platter of cookies came with us to a surprise party for my brothers. These were definite crowd pleasers. The cookie recipe is excellent… they taste great on their own, but are even more fabulous with icing.
I had forgotten how long it takes to ice/decorate cutouts. Holy hell! I can see why I normally only do this at Christmas time.
Fabulous Sugar Cookies
(Recipe from Ashlee)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks – 24 tbsp.) butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 tbsp. lemon zest
5 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
Powdered sugar, for rolling
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees (You may want to wait a while to heat the oven since it will take some time to make the dough and cut out the cookies.)
2. Cream butter and sugars in a mixer for 5 minutes.
3. Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly.
4. Add vanilla, almond, and lemon zest.
5. Sift in flour, baking powder, and salt a little at a time. Do not over mix, this process should take about one minute.
6. Chill dough for up to a week in the fridge, or roll out and cut right away. (I had a terrible time trying to roll and cut the cookies right away. You definitely need to chill the dough first, so provide yourself with enough time to do so.)
7. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and bake cookies for 7-8 minutes. Wait until cookies are cooled before icing.
I think I got approximately 40-50 cookies out of this recipe. I used stiff consistency royal icing for the edges, and filled in by “flooding” (also with royal icing).
Thanks to Katie over at Good Things Catered for sparking this idea in my head.
This recipe is basically the TCCCC, but with M&Ms substituted for the chocolate chips. And let me just say: They are tasty! And so festive, too. I found a bag of Halloween M&Ms at our grocery store and went from there. (I have to admit I was a little disappointed that the M&Ms weren’t just orange and black anymore. They’ve added a few other colors, too.)
Michael will be taking these with him to a family party tomorrow. I know they will enjoy!
M&M Cookies
Makes approximately 15-18 large cookies
Ingredients:
– 2 cups + 2 tbsp. (10 5/8 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour
– 1/2 tsp. baking soda
– 1/2 tsp. salt
– 12 tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
– 1 cup packed (7 oz.) light or dark brown sugar
– 1/2 cup (3 1/2 oz.) granulated sugar
– 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
– 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
– 1 – 1 1/2 cups plain M&Ms
Directions:
1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in the chips to taste.
4. Roll a scant 1/4 cup of the dough (since I weighed the dough, I did 2.2 oz. per cookie) into a ball. Hold the dough ball with the fingertips of both hands and pull into 2 equal halves. Rotate the halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, join the halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth the dough’s uneven surface. Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, jagged surface up, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart.
5. Bake until the cookies are light golden grown and the outer edges start to harden yet the centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets with a metal spatula.
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
