This Week: Cupcake to Cupcake

 

photo and watercolor of cupcake by me

I love photographing food. I'll admit that it's not the easiest thing to do, especially if it's in a dark restaurant or kitchen. I get very excited when I happen to want to photograph food I'm eating in daylight. Since I don't always carry my camera with me I rely on my phone to take most pictures of food (right before I eat it!). Sure the camera on my iPhone is great but I rely on quick, easy editing with my instagram or shake it apps most of the time. Styling food is also not the most practical thing in all situations, a clean white plate and under cabinet lighting usually do the trick. Sometimes, frustrated because I can't seem to get a good shot I am tempted to just change my kitchen's backsplash in order to create a nicer back drop for my food photography sessions. So you can imagine how happy I was to read these 10 tips to improve your food photography! Speaking of pretty food, last night I had the most amazing guava filled cupcakes (yes that's plural;) at our niece's birthday get together. Inspired by the article and in the mood to do something creative today, I worked on a little watercolor inspired by the photo of said cupcake. Are you obsessed with photographing every delicious thing you make, bake or eat? Any tips you want to share? So this week...
1. I wish I had come across this picture when I was putting together my post for Bamboo Pantone 14-0740.
2. Recently, I was invited to attend a Cooking show at the Miami Culinary Institute. There I made a couple of new friends! And!! We're going to get together about once a month and teach each other our recipes! Our first "cooking class" will take place in a couple of weeks, I'll let you know how it goes:)
3. I love when design is inspired by some other art form and reinterpreted into something that's lovely and different from the original inspiration (i.e. the dress version of a painting). Check out Vogue's Museum as Mood Board: Spring Fashion Collections are Rooted in Fine Arts.
4. Speaking of photography, do you know The Selby? I've read the blog for years and always love seeing The Selby in T Magazine. Here's the latest article, even more cool to me because of it's wonderful, Hemingway inspired title, A Moveable Feast. 
5. How fabulous is Joy Venturini?! I love when women remain stylish icons at every age! PS: Feel free to flip through the rest of the October issue of Matchbook Magazine while you're there, it's wonderful (and free!!).

Have a wonderful weekend!! xo

This Week: High Five!!

 photo by me:)

Did you know that April 21st, 2011 (or the third Thursday of every April) is National High Five Day?! It's a cool idea and a great cause, check them out here if you have a couple of bucks to spare:)
On Sunday we celebrated our one year wedding anniversary! We had a lovely brunch at Michael's Genuine Food & Drink in the Miami Design District, it was AMAZING!! The servings are tiny which is great because we got to try so many of the selections! We had their homemade pop-tarts, the homemade doughnuts, the lemon ricotta pancakes with blueberry compote, the spanish tortilla, the fried egg sandwich on homemade rosemary crumpet, and the fingerling potatoes and sipped on the local strawberry-basil caipirinha followed by their delicious coffee! You absolutely must go, it's sooo good!! Since paper is the traditional thing to gift on one's one year wedding anniversary, I wrapped all my "paper" gifts in newspaper and my wonderful husband gave me a personalized book from LoveBook, normally this kind of thing might seem sappy but it was soooo funny! It was a great first wedding anniversary, here's to many many more!! So this week...
1. We had a lovely time with friends that are in town visiting! It was so great to get together for dinner with a bunch of friends on a week night!
2. I am soooo excited I will get to see the Festival of Ideas for the New City!!!
3. Am thinking of making this cake for a get-together with friends tomorrow night! Am hoping I'll have enough time to whip it up after work.
4. Am getting excited about our Easter Sunday plans with the family! We're having brunch at my brother's house. I think I'll make this delicious Champagne Punch! Doesn't it sound so refreshing?!   We plan on decorating eggs with my niece and nephew! I'm excited about decorating eggs, I haven't done it since I was a kid and think these are so adorable:) And how cool is this idea for Peep S'mores  I found on Poppytalk?!
5. Am in dire need of adding healthy delicious recipes to my repertoire. The older I get the more picky I get about healthy foods:( Have you any great, healthy, low-carb recipes you'd like to share?
Hope you have an absolutely lovely weekend!! xo

This Week: Ladies who lunch

photo and little rendering by me:)

This week has been short and sweet, hasn't it?! I must say I had a lovely week. Last weekend was great! We had a lovely time with friends on Saturday, they met us at the New World Symphony Wallcast at the Miami Beach Soundscape Park where we had a little picnic followed by dinner at our place. I made Giada's Carbonara Recipe and my favorite Apple Cake for dessert:) On Sunday we had my mom over for brunch and she and I spent the afternoon wandering around South Beach shopping and chatting, it was lovely:) And, inspired by a fabulous lunch experience (see no. 1 below) I made my first batch of Madeleines this week! Did you bake anything delicious this week? Do tell! So this week...

1. After visiting the Knoll showroom in Downtown Miami with a client and a colleague, we had lunch at Daniel Boulud's DB Bistro Moderne right across the way. It was such a great lunch, and not just because of the food (which was amazing!) but because of the great company! We talked about cooking and baking, about books, about France, about life...so nice:) Oh and the food... I had steamed mussels with french fries (my favorite), tried an amazing octopus appetizer (and I'm not usually a fan of octopus) and for dessert they served us the most beautiful, tiny, delicious Madeleines I've ever had! They also served orange blossom marshmallows...oh my goodness, homemade marshmallows are soooo good! I came home and baked my first batch of Madeleines and am on the hunt for a tiny Madeleine mold so I can bake a beautiful batch of tiny Madeleines for our meeting next Monday!
2. I found this Orange Blossom Marshmallow recipe I want to try soon! Have any of you made marshmallows before? Please share your recipe and experience! I must say I'm a little intimidated by the idea of making marshmallows but am motivated by the fact that they taste so much better than store bought ones.
3. My friend has a new blog! She is full of wonderful DIY ideas and mommy wisdom, check it out here!
4. I forgot to mention that H&M is (FINALLY) opening a store on South Beach!! I've heard it's going to be located in the New World Symphony's former home the Lincoln Theatre on Lincoln Road. Too bad we have to wait til Fall 2012 for it to open, but still, this is great news!!
5. The lovely Sarah Morris is featured in the April 2011 issue of Architectural Digest!! You can read the article here. I am in love with her textile designs for Maharam! So much so that a couple of years ago, when I first saw them, since I couldn't get an actual sample to keep, I came home and rendered one of the patterns on the chair in the photo above (sorry if I kind of butchered it but I was doing it from memory) so I could remember it forever:)

Hope your weekends are wonderful!! XO