Big Boppy

Big Boppy and Lucy wishing you a Happy Holidays. We hope you got something you like as much as Lucy likes the remote!

Funny, maybe

This is probably only funny if you know everyone in my family.... but even if you don't, give it a shot. The idea of my Dad doing jazz hands may be the most foreign idea that has ever entered my mind, ever.


http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/BfnqbHgVLkiceuibIHnx

Industry

I realize that many people wouldn't consider living near any form of industry to be a good thing. Aside from the noise and pollution, it's generally considered to be an eyesore. Being a photographer, I generally disagree with that concept.

Lowry Ave Bridge

I'm not sure what the fate of this bridge is yet, but I love the way it looks. Hopefully when they do get around to fixing it (I think it's pretty low on the priority list of the many bridges of MN that need to be repaired) they can maintain the old architectural structure.

xmas times

My mom came into town on Monday afternoon to spend some quality family time with me before xmas as my job demands me to have no life during the holiday season. My mom is a nurse, so I've been familiar with the "working on holidays" scene my entire life. I've never gotten used to it. Anyway, we got lots of shopping and dining done yesterday and had a bit of a late start today. Fortunately, since my mom is very keen on traditions, we got a little mini-tree late this afternoon. This year in particular that holiday season felt particularly short, so there was a good possibility of us not having a tree, but we got one and I love it. It's a mini little guy... maybe 4 feet tall, which I felt was appropriate since it made placing it on the table in front of our window more possible, plus we'll probably only have it up for a couple of weeks.


I took this with a really tight aperture for about 20 seconds. I love that star burst affect the lights give off.


My mom pointed out that she had seen a very similar ornament to this on someone's blog. I knew immediately where she meant. Apparently Ben has this same ornament in blue (my picture is of the other side of the ornament)



A few more ornaments I have in common with my friends. It must be a parent thing :)



Even though I'm German, we never had a pickle ornament growing up. I grew fond of the "find the pickle" game at Claudia's holiday affairs, so when I saw them on sale last year after Christmas I jumped at the opportunity to let my heritage run wild.


Fun with Bokeh!

Full Moon

Having worked in the service sector... always... I usually notice weird things happening on days of full moons. Yesterday totally was NOT one of those days. It was a very normal day at work, I didn't encounter any crazies (aside from the few that I work with on a daily basis, and everything was pretty even keeled. It was pretty nice actually. When I got home the whole back yard was lit up with moon light reflecting off the snow.




This is obviously not last nights full moon, but conveniently a picture I took a while ago and just never posted :)

The crimson deer

AKA, The Red Stag

This restaurant has been open over a year now, and it continues to be my mainstay when looking for a good meal. I love trying new restaurants, don't get me wrong, but sometimes you're on your way home, and you remember "shit! I have no idea what to do for dinner!" and there is the Red Stag, sitting a mere 2 miles from your house, waiting for you to come in and sit in its charming and cozy dining room. That didn't exactly happen to us tonight. I actually had to go there to buy a gift card for a co-worker as a favor (who was consequentially giving it to another co-worker) and Kyle and I had just dropped of his application for the initial licensure program at the U for his teaching credentials at the post office. We deemed this a reason to celebrate. So we did, at 3pm, by getting a glass of house red for me, and a Macallan 18yr for Kyle (okay, Kyle was celebrating, I was along for the ride). No one else aside from workers were in the joint, and there was mild construction going down, meaning there was a ladder and a guy scraping something off of the privacy screen that keeps the people sitting near the door from experiencing a 15 degree draft when the door opens. The day manager made some conversation with us, and we had a great time. I pulled out my wallet and BAM, she offered to by us a round. I find free things hard to turn down, especially when it involves anything food or alcohol (or clothing for that matter). So we had another (this time I opted for the Cab-Merlot on the menu, and Kyle had a glass of Brut Rose) and THEN they brought out truffle kettle corn. Kill me. I love truffles. It was so incredibly good. God do I wish the essence of truffle was on everything. EVERYTHING. The 2nd wine was good (though I may have actually preferred the first, as the 2nd was filled with sour cherry flavor ). And then we left. What a great afternoon!

And since I wasn't photographing the experience, let's travel back in time to Thanksgiving.
This is Darrien, and who unknowingly, is about to have his first encounter with the ole "whipped cream in the mouth" family tradition; best. mom. ever!

I've been busy

This is to help you feel better about it




Noah and Logan are wishing you a VERY enthusiastic"Merry Christmas"

Thanks!

I like to eat, and I ate plenty tonight.

Things I'm thankful for, in no particular order, except the 1st one

My husband, Kyle
Barack Obama
Family
Friends
Wine
Google reader
My camera
My new bra
Sam, Rosie and Tallulah
Lucy
Health insurance
CASA loans
Kyle's guitar
Foie Gras
Calphalon
Down comforters
Coffee
Truffles
Roasted chicken(fine, today I'll say roasted turkey)
The Mail lady
The Shins
Italy
RAW files
Compost bins
Nicolet Island
French fries
The internet
Blogger
Fall leaves
Big (the movie)
The 1st green of spring
Chile Rellenos
The Red Stag
Hardwood floors
The skyline
Curly hair
Bobbi Brown
DVR
Tim Gunn (and his guides to style)
Le Fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain
Babies
Cold milk
Pajamas


Good night... remember what you're thankful for

Blog tour

Kate's response to Erin's Culinary Blog Tour

Friday:

Breakfast at the Egg and I, Uptown location... just because I prefer the atmosphere. Bring your bike and hop on the greenway for a quick ride around the lakes.

Lunch at Kramarczuk's. Try the Ukranian borscht, and head over to St Anthony Main. Walk across the bridge, check out the Guthrie.

Chef's tasting menu with wine pairing for dinner at La Belle Vie. I find 8pm reservations best for a truely empty and hungry stomach

Saturday:

Brunch at The Red Stag Supper Club. I vote for the Chicken Fried Steak. Their inclusion of breakfast inspired amuse bouche gets me every time. They have strong delicious coffee, a great array of recovery drinks from your night before meal at La Belle Vie, and they're LEED certified. Loves it!

$2 apps-taps-and house wine at Figlios. Not my favorite place in town, but definitely my favorite happy hour (if only it weren't in uptown) you'll need something to sustain you before dinner.

Check out the Sculpture Garden, and then hop over to downtown St Paul. Grab a beer flight at the new Lowertown Bulldog

Dinner at I Nonni. This is some of the best authentic Italian food I've ever had outside of Italy, hands down. Get the Carpaccio, it will change your life.

Sunday:

Breakfast at Hell's Kitchen. You pretty much can't go wrong with ANYTHING you order, but try the caramel pecan roll and Mahnomin porridge for true Minnesota fare

On your way back to the airport do a Lightrail pub crawl. There are a LOT of options for this one, but I recommend The Cardinal Bar, and The Fort Snelling club at minimum. Then grab some Walleye in the Airport while waiting for your flight back to whence you came!

Steak bearnaise and allergies

Well, we made this last weekend (and by weekend, I mean Tuesday)


it was perfect. We got a 10oz filet to split between the two of us and made a cauliflower brussels sprout fennel gratin (we added fennel to this recipe because Rainbow didn't have the appropriate number of brussels sprouts for our already halved recipe. And I had to go to rainbow because we didn't plan accordingly enough to buy the stuff at Trader Joe's. The fennel was Kyle's idea... and a brilliant one at that. What a great man.)


And really, I think my picture of the gratin, (with or without fennel) is better than the one they have on the website. Um... maybe Gourmet should hire me to take pictures of their food? HINT HINT!

So back on good ole' Obama day... er, Election day Kyle and I drove down to LaCrosse to get our allergies checked out. We're both VERY sensitive people, and quite honestly, I hate that I get rashes, hives, and all other malady my body gives me on frequent and random occasions (I literally had a customer ask me if I had a hicky the other day... a hicky. I mean, seriously!)

Anyway, 20 pin pricks to the arm and a vile of blood later I am, in decending order of seriousness, allergic to:

Lobster
Crab
Shrimp
Dustmites
Cockroaches
Mice
Grass
Mussels (I am interpreting for this to include all mollusks)
Candida
Egg White
Wheat
Milk



In other words: Just fucking kill me already.

The good news is these are all supposedly treatable. I'm taking 6 doses of sublingual immunotherapy everyday. It tastes like glycerine, which is kinda gross.

I am not going to unincorporate wine (candida is yeast) eggs, wheat or milk from my life, but I do think it will be challenging for me to stop eating coachroaches and mice. Apparently these two creatures shed grossness in places like warehouses.... which oddly enough is where most Tr@der Joe's products are located. Awesome. That means I get exposure to things that make me sick every day that I am at work. And most old homes have history of rodents. Did I mention our house is 112 years old?

didn't hear it

Crash!

But i can certainly hear the helicopters.... in fact, I just kind of realized something must have happened because I kept hearing the helicopters. I have to go run errands and that's my route... maybe I'll be able to update you after the errand running.

Fate, I guess

Right when I got home from work (yes, work. Why Kate, didn't just yesterday you post saying today is the last wedding of the season? Yes, yes I did. And after that wedding I had to head to Tjoe's to work. I'd rather not talk about it) I looked up and this is what I saw. Good timing. I wouldn't have been coming home that hour if I hadn't gone to work, and I wouldn't have had my camera if I hadn't been shooting the wedding. I guess the uh... stars aligned for me on this one. If only I'd been motivated to grab my tri-pod.

A mere 10 days ago...

Remember this day?



It was the last day to hit about 50 this year. I'm certain we won't have another day like it until at least February. How very, very sad.

Leaves from a month ago...

Sigh. It's my last wedding of the season and it's gonna be collllllddd. Thoughts of warmer days

I just can't help myself

A little long, but worth it

Kate and Kyle: On Bikes

Theives

Well, I know I live in NE Minneapolis, and sometimes losing property comes with the territory, but I never thought anyone would take the one thing I actually trusted people not to take.

Someone stole my Obama sign.


They didn't take any of the other 7 signs on my block. Just mine.

:(

Olive oil bread

Another Kyle creation. Fortunately, while I don't have as much time to cook as I'd like, it doesn't take much time to take a couple of pictures. I did actually have a hand in making this though, as Kyle started it before he left for school, I had to kneed and form it a few times.

Hen: day two

Hens

I love taking pictures of food. Love it. I've been doing it with meals I've made since... well High School I guess. When my parents went out of town once, we had a whole week of ethnic food. All I remember are Mexican and Japanese, but I feel like we must have made more. Mexican was at JT's house, and I remember someone trying to make fresh guacamole out of non-ripe avocadoes in the food processer. It was gross. Japanese was at my house and we made sushi, miso, sesame cucumber salad and tempura, all things most other 18 year olds in 1999 would have thought were gross. I've never lost the love I gained for sesame cucumbers that night.





Those pink things are re-usable baking "twine" my parents gave Kyle for Christmas last year. They are TOTALLY awesome. I love kitchen gadgets.

yes, we can!

We did it!

Long story short.

My mom was artificially inseminated and I don't know who my biological father is. True Story.

My mom has always commented about how I shrug my nose when I'm really happy

apparently triathlons make me happy?


guess who else shrugs his nose when he's happy



I'm not saying Barak Obama is my father... but the similarity is uncanny.

I <3 Maple Grove... for so many reasons!

Today I was informed by a customer that depending on who we elect as president, we may all only be able to buy ONE type of cookie in a few months due to socialist behavior.

ONE. KIND. OF. COOKIE!

HOLY SHIT! What do you think the CRAZY "socialists" would choose?

Some Pepperidge Farms Milano cookies? You know Italians have a history of socialism!

Does Baklava count? Many russians buy baklava, and we know all about their past!

Maybe those Dutch Caramel Wafers? I hear college is free in the Netherlands! I can't decide!!!


I've just changed my mind about McCain. I love having cookie options and I'm not sure that I will have all the same options to buy cookies of Obama is president.

Shellfish

I had a wicked case of hives yesterday, and I have NO idea why. Fortunately I'm going to Allergy Associates in 10 days to figure out why this happens to me sometimes. I was telling this to a customer yesterday (and mostly my excitement about the possibility of being able to eat shellfish in 5 years) and she told me no one should eat shellfish because "God created them, along with pigs, to eat our shit". She assured me its not a sin (so for me not be believe she was *gasp* Jewish) but that he never intended for us to eat shit eaters.

Wow.

EDIT: I would like to make it clear that I did NOT tell the customer about my hives, but was talking to her about the allergy clinic. I do have some level of professionalism folks.

yep

still awake. stop judging me

and now for a political ad that has nothing to do with anyone that reads this blog, unless I have some secret CA readers.



seriously, why the hell does anyone think another couples marriage affects THEIR marriage? I for one would feel BETTER about being married if everyone were allowed to marry whoever the hell they want. If I can marry an Italian and Irish Catholic boy, Brian Kinney should be able to marry Justin (really, you should watch Queer as Folk... REALLY).

Ain't he handsome?

I love that shirt on him. Nothing more manly than a good lookin' flannel shirt and cords.

however you spell it

We have a new member to the 2416 family. Her name is Tallulah, or Tulula or any variation of the spelling of a very cute cat name. We took her in as a friend found it difficult to have a cat, go to school and work full time, which is very understandable. Sam and Rose were very skeptical, but Sam loves affection so he quickly warmed to the idea of another being around the house that would on occasion give him attention. Rose and T- haven't quite warmed up to each other, but we have high hopes.


I tried to get her attention with the big shiny lens of my REAL camera today, but she had none of it, so I present to you, built in apple camera photo booth picture:



She's a tortie, but black and orange, unlike rose who is grey and orange. Her snout is also very short compared to Sam and Rosie, which makes her look funny in comparison, but she is VERY cuddly, and doesn't seem to have as many neurosis as Sam, so that's a good thing.

The problem with a name like Tallulah is that you automatically want to give her a nickname. Lulu is what Anne called her, but around here so far its been LaLu, LuLah, T-bone and Tbags. She responds to nothing, shockingly.

1st Anniversary

Kyle and I just celebrated our one year anniversary! The year has passed SO fast, and a ton of unexpected things happened this year, but it was great. We went to a cute B&B in Osceola, WI for two nights, and did a good amount of relaxing. I also tried my hand at some HDR stuff, as well as taking numerous other NON-HDR pictures. I'm not really sure how I feel about HDR, but it's fun to play with anyway.



versus one of the 8 images I merged together.




and of course, side by side




(HDR left, SOOC RIGHT)
What do you think?

Zombies

I have to admit that this wasn't my most favorite of ZPC's... I wasn't drunk because I had a wedding to shoot (and really, what is a pub crawl without being drunk) and there were a lot of annoying frat guys out and about. And lets be honest, I've been out of college for 4 years (yikes) and I kinda just felt old. I still had a good time, but I'm just saying I wasn't super stoked about my zombitude. None the less, Kate and friends, Zombified:

Ooops

Looks like I haven't posted in a few weeks. Whoops.

Yesterday, I was in the car after leaving the Gym, and White Doves by John Vanderslice came on the radio and it instantly made me start crying. It's the saddest song I've ever heard and it's beautiful, and it made me wonder how anyone could ever write a song about something so sad

http://www.myspace.com/johnvanderslice (you can listen to it on his myspace if you'd like to be brought to your knees in sorrow). What is this song about? Someone who lost their 8 year old to kidnappers that they paid off, and then was later killed. Also his song Kookaburra is about 9/11, and is equally beautiful and sad. What the fuck? No, I'm not depressed, just contemplative. I think it's because I'm hormonal and sentimental about my upcoming wedding anniversary.

You should listen to both of those songs to make me happy :)

Are YOU registered?

For once, a political message without politics and lots of famous people

Boats... and The Winner is...

Here are some boats from Lake Harriet on Tuesday morning I shot while out for an early bird photo shoot (which I will eventually post on the Red Apple Images blog). It's around the time of year that waking up for a sunrise doesn't seem totally unacceptable to me, since it rises so late in the day.



Also, congrats to The Lady Carrie! I'm looking forward to our family session sometime soon! Please email me at redappleimages@gmail.com to schedule your session!

Kate

Get pumped

This is my 100th post! I promise this blog won't revert to strictly political ads, but seriously, how can you not love this man... unless you're the CEO of a big ass company and he wants us, the middle class, to take your money. Meh, too bad :)



Now I KNOW there are a few readers out there. And since this is my 100th post, I'm going to have a give away. Yes, a real and truly awesome give away. Now I don't have a pile of money in my bank account unlike SOME "professional" bloggers so I'm not giving away a camera or photoshop, but I do have myself, my camera and some lenses, so I'm going to be giving away an hour long photo shoot. This shoot can be used for engagements, seniors, family, headshots, maternity or even a trash the dress session at a Twin Cities location of your choice (dates have to coordinate with my crazy schedule, of course) and all you have to do it comment and tell me who you are, and what you're planning on using the session for (you can gift it to a friend or family member too). The images will be posted on the HIGHLY regarded Red Apple Images blog. The winner will be selected at random, and entries must be in no later than Thursday, October 2 at 10:55am.

Just watch it

I promise America, it's worth the 3 minutes of your time. Oh yeah, and make sure to vote, as long as it's not for this guy

Window

Greenbay

Bridge!

More for Erin

Another view of Erin's Black Eyed Susan's

For Erin

Here are a few of your Black Eyed Susan's. Just wait for the images I shot in RAW, they're hot!

Inspiration: The Sartorialist

As a photographer, manager, home owner, human, I find I take inspiration from many places... a lot of them other blogs. So I'm starting a new series: Inspiration.

Today's inspiration was a random moment at a wedding. This guy is totally amazing. He's like Richard Little meets Tony Soprano in Brooklyn Park.



Awesome.
The Sartorialist is one of the first blogs I ever read (if Live Journal doesn't count). I don't actually dress with much of a fashion sense (my favorite accessories are my Frye Boots and my Anthropologie Sunglasses) but I can recognize one. Scott Schuman actually knows what fashion is, and I once asked if I could travel with him to be his Italian translator (he never responded, what a snob). I think the guy in this picture would probably fail out of Sartorialst school, but the image is definitely Scott Schuman inspired.

Duluth

Night view of the city


Right outside our hotel room... too bad we weren't there longer :(

Retro is cool

Everyone loves retro things these days. The Smurfs, Rainbow Brite, My Little Pony, and even Benihana's are making a comeback. My mom just brought me a "family heirloom" to use. It's a 35+ year old 55mm 1.2mm that I shot my first SLR picture with, and it just so happens that it still works, even on my DSLR body.



I call it, a study on Depth of Field

Thanks Mom

catching up

I took these about a month ago now, and just found them in my PILE of pictures (mostly wedding related) that I'm in the process of editing.

Tomatoes

We probably have about 20 tomatoes in our garden, none of which have even come close to becoming red (the earliest tomatoes we had were stolen by squirrels, now we have tulle coving 3 of our 5 plants as well as our cucumber to prevent that kind of anger and disappointment again. Kyle and I are members of a CSA along with my bosses family, so we got some nice local tomatoes from that last week. I love insalata caprese, but since I eat that any time I have the chance I thought I'd mix it up a bit and use Ricotta Cheese. I like Balsamic Vinegar, but back when I used to live in Italy, they told me that Tomatoes have more than enough acidity to cut through the cheese, so they never used it... I of course love Italian food tradition, so I didn't use any either.

Since I am posting yet another food post, I though I'd fill out this list Erin provided me with via Google Reader

The Omnivore's Hundred is an eclectic and subjective list of 100 items that Andrew Wheeler, co-author of the British food blog Very Good Taste, thinks every omnivore should try at least once in her life.

Instructions:

1. Copy this list into your blog, including these instructions.
2. Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea-no, but I have eaten cooked nettles
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses- no, but man do I wish I had
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes -duh, I'm from Wisconsin
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras-and I would eat it every day for the rest of my life if I could
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a big fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects-crickets, or grasshoppers, I don't remember
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more, no, but I'll try to remember to do this next time I'm at my parents house
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine, which is even BETTER with Foie Gras on it
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (I've eaten all of these!)
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu- i'm not sure i've ACTUALLY had this, but I took a sip of some my Dad received as a gift. I could be totally wrong though
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant - The French Laundry my dears!
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse -almost accidentally... my mom's french kicked in and stopped me
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake


69/100 Not bad I must say... especially since many of the ones I italicized I never will be able to eat because of my wonderful shellfish allergy. Off to get ready for the clothes swap!