angular

angular, originally uploaded by speckled_beckle.

I fell in love with these shutters in the California hotel room I shared with my mom and aunt in March 2009.
I've been wanting to go back out to that hotel room and use those shutters for a model shoot.
...but you can see how far that's gotten!

.....besides, it's something easily duplicate-able in a studio.
Need a black back drop, a faux-wall with shutters, and a light source.
And yes, this desirous photo does have a song inspiration. (Snow Patrol fans, I'm sure, know what I'm talking about!)

Anyway, I also decided posting something from the last vacation I went on was appropriate because I am going on another trip soon.
This time, it's my grandma, my aunt, my mom and I going for a week to the other coast. Two days in Ft Lauderdale, one day on a cruise ship, a day in the Bahamas, one day back on the ship, and two days in Orlando.

I'm pretty stoked, needless to say.
We aren't going until April, but what a great time it will be.

And it will be interesting to see what things I can photograph in this new place.
(Which reminds me, I need to either buy new memory cards or clean out the ones I have...hmm...decisions, decisions...)

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Unrelated notes:
School has started up again for this semester; already three weeks in. (Holy crap!)
I'm looking forward to the challenges presented to me.
I'm taking one required class just to avoid a speech class; it's a class that teaches all about Microsoft Office Applications.
I'm also taking the second semester of ceramics, German 3, and creative writing.
If all goes according to plan, I should be eligible for graduation in December, but I'm thinking I may postpone until May just to make sure I can use all the financial aid granted to me and take all the fun classes I want, like Studio Photography. It's only offered in the spring and would have taken it this semester, but my load was already full.

...anyway, if I'm MIA, it's because I'm still in school.
Gonna try to get straight A's again.

an amazing variety of imperfections

an amazing variety of imperfections, originally uploaded by speckled_beckle.

Samuel McChord Crothers says, among other things,
"Try as hard as we may for perfection, the net result of our labors is an amazing variety of imperfectness. We are surprised at our own versatility in being able to fail in so many different ways."

I must say I wholeheartedly agree with him.

In one way or another, humans try so darned hard to be perfect, to reach that esteemed vision that the world has deemed as "perfect."
...and then we fail, horribly, at ever reaching that goal.
...or die trying.

I say, just be the perfect version of YOU that you can be.
...that's why I think the quote above is going in my book of favorites.
It speaks so much to the drive of humans for being perfect, but it also says that we find ourselves in awe of our imperfection, and I think that is the way we should be.

We should be in awe of our imperfections.
Without our imperfections (either perceived, comparitive, self-assigned, or otherwise) we are just cookie-cutters of everyone else.
Undoubtedly, in this world of 6+ billion people, we each have an increasingly likely chance of finding someone who has the same job, same favorite musical artist, and favorite hobby as we do. Shared interests are what bring people together and form bonds. We learned about that in elementary school, when we were learning how to make friends. "My favorite color is pink, too! Wanna play on the swings together?" But trying to fit in any pre-determined shape, box, or cookie cutter is outdated. I'd say the better thing to do is to live off the radar, to not be definable. (If you like to think of yourself as being mysterious, not fitting to any label will definitely make yourself seem more mysterious!)

For example, I didn't know what the actual definition of "hipster" was until a few days ago.
...then I found out that I am nearly 100% hipster.

But does that mean I'm going to change who I am, just so that I don't fit that definition? No. Because I have been "hipster" longer than I've known what one was, so why should I change just because more and more people like me are starting to define themselves (us) based on a word? (Besides, I don't get the obsession with triangles. And yes, that obsession existed before HP7 came out.)

I guess what I'm saying is...we place too much importance on being perfect.
We place too much emphasis on fitting into every little corner of that box to make sure that we belong.
...maybe, just maybe, that by not touching every corner, not filling every space, makes us fit in that box better.
We are individuals based on our imperfections and our "blunders" so maybe we should be happy to have them. =)

Black Forest Cupcakes

Black Forest Cupcakes, originally uploaded by speckled_beckle.

25 cupcakes.
10 minutes of prep.
100 minutes of baking.
30 minutes of post-processing.
90 seconds to devour them.

The big oven in my parents' kitchen decided to go kaputt, so these were baked in the toaster oven, six cupcakes at a time.
The mix made between 24 and 36; some cupcakes were fuller (and bigger) than others, and there was just enough to make an extra single cup. I only needed 22 for my class, plus one if the tutor was there (or Jake in case the tutor wasn't there), and then one for each of my parents.
Originally I got the recipe from here but I fudged it a wee bit.
Okay, I fudged it a lot. =p

Here's what I did:
*1 box German Chocolate cake mix
*1 can pie-ready cherries (with sugar)
*1 jar of whipped white icing (enough for 2-3 dozen)

1. Prepare the cake mix according to box directions.
2. After cooling, use a melon baller, teaspoon, butter knife, or hand-held apple-corer to make a hole in the center of the cupcake; set aside the cake bit that you remove. Put 1-3 cherries in the hole. (Depending on how much you love your recipient. LOL) Replace the bit of cake you took out. (You may need to trim some off the bottom so the top's not sticking up.)
3. Frost.

Traditional Black Forest cakes call for a cherry and chocolate on top, but I (obviously) didn't do that.
In mine, too, I also added a few cherry chips to the bottom of the muffin cups before filling with dough and then baking. Some of them stuck to the paper cups, some of them integrated into the mix. If you want to try adding the cherry chips, I recommend adding them to the mix as you're mixing it, or sprinkling the chips on top so they will sink to the bottom. (Grab a bag of cherry chips; add the whole thing in if you go the mixing-in route, or sprinke just a few on top if you choose to do it that way.)

They turned out great and were a big hit!!
My wonderful Jake helped me with the filling bit; it was kind of a conveyor system.

.....I got glaze on my shoe!

.....I got glaze on my shoe!, originally uploaded by speckled_beckle.

Man, oh, man.

I missed a lot of days there on my 365.
...and I never got caught up on 30 Days of Gratitude, either.

Oh well.
Ce la vie.

I am, however, getting straight A's, TYVM.

I am just anxious to see how my ceramics pieces come out of the glaze kiln Monday!!
I do have a good reason for being MIA this last month and a half. School. I glazed 16 pieces today; 29 total pieces total this week. Five more pieces to glaze on Monday. Today was also my presentation in German class. Taught MS PowerPoint to myself just for the presentation. (Really not that hard.) And I spent over two hours last night making Black Forest cupcakes for today, too. Thank goodness I had Jacob to help me with those! <3 (See the next blog for the full story on that.) But yes, there you have it. The reasons I have been at school from 10-5 most days since mid-October, and thus the reasons why my photos starting slacking off. Holiday break is coming up. I plan on reading and cleaning my room, so that should allow for plenty of time to take some pics, right? =)

I am grateful for warm food.

I am grateful for warm food. , originally uploaded by speckled_beckle.

Here's the recipe I used for this:

Yield: 6 servings
2 pounds beef top round steak, cut into 1-inch cubes
8 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces*
1 pound small red potatoes, quartered*
1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
1 small onion, chopped
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
3/4 cup beef broth
1/3 cup dry red wine
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

In a large skillet, brown beef on all sides. In a 5-qt. slow cooker, combine the carrots, potatoes, red pepper, celery and onion. Pour tomatoes over the top.
In a small bowl, whisk the flour, tomato paste and broth until smooth. Stir in the wine, salt, garlic, pepper and thyme; pour into slow cooker. Top with beef.
Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender.

*8 medium carrots is the same as one pound; I used baby carrots for my recipe and kept them whole. Also, red potatoes are the best for this, but I used yellow potatoes and they turned out great.

Also, the closer you get this to 8 hours, the better it will be! (IMHO)

Enjoy!!

(If you make this, let me know what you thought. I thought it was delicious!)

(This is a modified recipe, the original taken from Taste of Home.)

Upside Down Banana Pecan French Toast

Upside Down Banana Pecan French Toast, originally uploaded by speckled_beckle.

I was out last night until about 4. Woke up at ten (later than I do....ever....these days anyway). Fed the animals, let the dog out for his first outside run. Went back to bed until a little after noon.
Called Jake as soon as I was awake. Made plans to head to Sam's Club, because, apparently, that is the only place in town that sells the only bones my dog will eat.
Got on Facebook whilst brushing my teeth, and noticed --via my local newspaper's status update-- that I had won tickets to the Taste of Greeley, a cooking school hosted by Taste of Home. I was so shocked; I never win anything.

Jake and I go to Sam's. Get the pet supplies. Come back to the house. The dog and the kitties are happy when they see the packages come in through the door. (I think they are learning to read. Or they recognize the sounds that kibble makes when it is in a certain bag / box. Whatever story works for you.)
I throw laundry in the washer. Mom and dad finally get home. (They've been gone to Missouri for the past week.) I am going through my groups on Flickr, multitasking in several tabs on the Internet like I always do. Mom shows me the stuff they bought in Missouri and betwixt here and there. She bought Jake and I a stuffed Toto (in a basket, of course) during their drive in Kansas, and she also bought me an apron to wear in Ceramics class. (It's cute; it may become my cooking apron instead!)

Jake and I go to the cooking class. We listen to the presentations and get hungrier as the night goes on. (To make it worse, the show was from 6:30 until 9, so it covered the timeslot for dinner.)
They gave away different random prizes as door prizes: cookbooks, a traveling wine case, cookbooks, a newspaper subscription, cookbooks, kitchen utensils...have I mentioned cookbooks yet? No? Well, they gave a lot of those away.

At the end of the evening, they gave away each dish that our cook, Jamie, prepared. Each dish comes with its own baking dish. I was the first lucky winner this time!

The dish is white and ceramic, and huge. (Perfect for lasagnas!)
I can't wait to cook more stuff in it. =)

Anyway, here is the recipe!

UPSIDE DOWN BANANA PECAN FRENCH TOAST
(feel free to omit the pecans or substitute with walnuts)
Yield: 10 servings | Prep Time: 15 minutes + chilling | Bake: 45 minutes

2 packages wheat pull-apart dinner rolls
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melterd
1/4 cup corn syrup
4 medium, ripe bananas
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
2 tsp ground cinnamon
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Maple syrup
Fresh sliced strawberries

1. Butter (or spray) bottom and sides of a 13-in. by 9-in. baking dish. Slice rolls in half and set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, butter, and corn syrup and mix until smooth. Spread mixture into an even layer in bottome of prepared baking dish. Slice bananas thinly and place over brown sugar mixture. Scatter pecans over bananas. Place sliced rolls on top, cut part down. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, and vanilla. Pour mixture over rolls. Cover lightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight. Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake 45-50 minutes or until golden.
4. Cool slightly. Run a knife around the edge of pan to loosen sides and carefully invert pan onto a large platter, or slice and serve as is. serve with warm maple syrup and sliced strawberries.

Jake and I had been wondering what to have for dinner. Guess we didn't need to!
This was delicous.
...now, the thing is, there were strawberries on this when I received it, but we took them off before reheating, and kinda forgot to put them back on. You can see the strawberries in the bottom pic.
(If you look on the top pic, on the left side you can see the red rim where a strawberry had lain.)

If you try this, let me know what you think!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!, originally uploaded by speckled_beckle.

When we lose a loved one, the tears we cry are the bitterest when we remember those hours when we loved not enough.

I remember all those promises I made to my grandma that I was going to go to Washington to see her, after she moved out there. I never did.
I never wrote her enough. Or consistently enough.
...and I'll never be able to make it up to her.

Similar feelings have always penetrated every loss that I have experienced.
Both grandpas. My grandma. Numerous pets.

I have tried to take these feelings of remorse and regret and turn them into something more pro-active, so I could be more involved in the lives my loved-ones that are left. I falter and I fail, but still I try.

Tell someone with whom you have lost touch how much you love them, today.
Tomorrow, you may not get the chance.