Photo Challenge | Beautiful Eyes

This week's photo challenge from I Heart Faces is Beautiful Eyes.  Well, I feel quite lucky that I happened to do a family photoshoot this weekend with an amazing family.

The "W" family wanted photos for their soon-to-be 4 year old's birthday.  I figured kids that age would be energetic and rambunctious but this boy is athletic beyond belief, running at lightning speeds.  He is such a cutie - check out his beautiful eyes and adorable smile!  And those eyelashes!  

His birthday party will be Batman, and both Batman & Robin joined us for the photoshoot.  He refused to give mommy any kisses for awhile (because girls have cooties) but we got him to do that later.  He then refused to give daddy any kisses but instead socked him in the jaw a few times (his dad is a boxer).  Dad later showed a sad face which of course the boy thought was hilarious.  

Two days later and my legs are heavy as lead, sore as they could be.  Four year old - 1,  Maki - 0.  

Boats and Kayaks [travel photography]

My husband recently bought me Lightroom 3 (yay!) and I can see that it'll be an awesome organizational and editing tool - once I learn it :)   The one right below was taken from our cruise boat in Halong Bay.

We had returned from visiting a local, floating community and they are bringing us back to our cruise boat. I was lucky enough to be one of the first ones back to capture this scene.  I love the colors and the contrast between the two types of boats!

Longtail boats

These longtail boats have become somewhat of a trademark for the islands around Thailand.  This was taken in Ko Phi Phi on our way up to "the Viewpoint."  Well, we did get lost because while it's a must-see, no one seemed to know where it was exactly!

Photo challenge: Water

I heart faces (iheartfaces.com) is a great website for photography tutorials and challenges.  I've been checking out their website for some time and thought, well, I should enter some photos in their challenges to see what happens. If anything it's a great learning process.

This photo was taken in Halong Bay, Vietnam.  We visited a floating community (with a mayor and everything!) and while we were on these rowboats, this boy came out on his makeshift raft.  I met several other spritely kids in Asia, but this one was clearly suspicious of us foreigners.  

Dessert....♥

I love dessert.  If I'm asked what my weakness is during a job interview, I really am tempted to say, "sugar."  It really is my weakness....I cannot let it go, I will not go on any sort of non-carb diet, and maybe I'm just a sugar addict.

With the Panera Bread's rewards program, they gave me a free pastry.  I got a brownie.  I forced myself to split in half but my husband was kind enough to warm it up and put a small scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream.  It made my day.

Beautiful Sky

Austin, TX has been over 100°F and of course no rain.  But everyday the sky is absolutely beautiful here.  These clouds were so fluffy and storybook -like that I couldn't resist.

Now, if only it would rain!

Poached eggs

Since we were able to get our hands on fresh, pastured eggs I really wanted to poach them to get the full flavor.  Great idea...except this is one of those super basic cooking skills that is the most difficult to master.

We've tried everything from using those egg poaching things (a waste of money and space) and the old-fashioned salt/vinegar in simmering water method.  They never come out as pretty as when the Food Network chefs do them.  I've tried to get rid of those feathery egg whites to form a nice, elliptical poached egg.  Ah well, this is the best I could do.

The eggs tasted delicious, the asparagus were yummy and I was quite happy in the end.  Instead of using a stick of butter and more eggs to make hollandaise sauce we opted for a spicy-mayo sauce - delicious.  

Oh, and a note on pastured eggs.  The eggs aren't pastured, obviously, but the chickens are pastured, much like free range cows or sheep are pastured.  They are moved from one are to another so they don't kill the grass.  Apparently organic chickens aren't necessarily pastured so something to keep in mind when you're trying to decide on what to buy.  

Fun with editing

Since I'm only beginning and practicing photography, I don't yet have photoshop.  It's probably a good thing - I really want to focus on getting to really know my camera, composition, and lighting.  I should be able to take great photos with my cruddy blackberry camera, a good ol point & shoot, or a disposable film camera, right?

Here is my first go at basic editing:

Venice, Italy (05.01.2011)

Chicken Paillard with tomatoes, fennel, and olives

This recipe is from Eric Ripert's (of Le Bernardin, NYC fame) show, Avec Eric.  I really enjoy his show because he travels, especially to Tuscany (....jealous) to learn traditional dishes.  He then uses it as inspiration for a dish at Le Bernardin or brings it back to his home kitchen for recipes we can cook at home.  The great thing is, they're easy enough to make you think, "oh.  I can definitely make that!"

So here is my first dish from Avec Eric:  The Chicken Paillard with Tomatoes, Fennel, and Olives (Click Here for recipe).

I have to say, it was delicious.  I omitted the fennel and wine-soaked raisins because we're not fond of these two items, but I wonder if it would have balanced out the dish even more.  Next time, I would not salt the vegetable mixture - it came out a bit too salty between the salt from the olives and capers.

Since it's just the two of us, we stuck the chicken in the toaster oven at 450℉.  Saves on electricity and came out wonderfully.

Sunset Valley Farmer's Market

There are several farmer's markets in Austin and we chose to go to the one in Sunset Valley - it's the closest and apparently one of the best too.

We had heard great things about Johnson's Backyard Garden through Yelp's reviews and they have a stand at the Sunset Valley Farmer's market.  The first time we went, it was one of the few that had a long line which is always a great sign.

We bought several things - a cucumber, cantaloupe, and tomatoes.  All of their produce is organic and prices are better than at Central Market.  The tomatoes?  Oh my goodness, they were so flavorful, juicy, and sweet I wish I had bought more!

We also purchased pastured eggs.  We saw on Eric Ripert's (of Le Bernardin fame, as well as a judge/guest on Top Chef) show that eggs from pastured chickens have golden yellow yolk and are much tastier so we wanted to try them.  Apparently it can't be just organic - this can mean several things and not necessarily pastured.

We had also heard great things about Texas peaches.  They don't distribute nationally so you can only get them in Texas.  They are small, but full of flavor.  Unfortunately peaches are in the dirty dozen for pesticides and no one had organic ones.

Lake Travis Sunset

Our friends invited us to have dinner at Soleil, a restaurant next to the famed Oasis, with breathtaking views of Lake Travis.  I was blown away by how huge this entire complex of restaurants, complete with a golf cart shuttle to take guests from the parking lot to the restaurant and back.

Sunset over Lake Travis

Apparently, a horde of people arrive just in time to see the sunset, and you can climb up some stairs onto a deck to get an expansive view of Lake Travis.  Thanks to our friends for dinner and a wonderful time!

Shiitake & Sweet Peas risotto

One of my favorite cuisines is Italian.  I really should have been born an Italian - everything tastes delicious with a little bit (or a lot) of garlic and olive oil.  They have pastas, cheeses, wines, tiramisu, canolis, porcinis, truffles, prosciutto, and of course gelato.  One of my favorite dishes, is risotto.  Many people are intimidated by it but if I can make it, anyone can make it.
I love this recipe from Cooking Light Magazine because it's relatively healthy compared to other risottos by using fat free/low sodium chicken broth.  Only 1 tablespoon of butter is used, and I put in 1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

from Cooking Light Magazine (recipe)

The only thing is, it's time consuming.  It took me an hour and a half from prep to finish.  I also suggest cooking the mushrooms (a later step in the recipe) first so you have it ready.  Otherwise you have to stir the risotto and cook the shiitake at the same time...that requires too much coordination on my part.

The risotto comes out great each time.  Make sure to use fresh thyme - it's really the star of this dish and goes well with the shiitake and green peas.

Buon Apetito!

Salad Tacos

I'm not sure how cookies and muffins appear as results when I search "fast & easy" or "quick and healthy."  I decided Mexican food is always delicious, it's easy, and can be healthy.

I intended to make regular tacos, but instead of having regular tacos and a side salad, my husband started to put his creativity to work and created a salad taco.  Some fat free sour cream, Sriracha hot sauce to give it a kick, non fat cheddar, layered on with salad greens, tomatoes, avocados, and shrimp.  I'm a fan of corn tortillas for tacos and they tend to be healthier.  These were delicious and filling!