use real butter

Recipe: lemon drop martini

Wooooohooo! I can’t tell you how happy I am to have the food photography workshop website and registration completed (thanks for your help, Andrew)! I am so jazzed and humbled to be working with three dear friends whose photography and cooking/baking have inspired me from day one: Helen Dujardin of Tartelette and Todd and Diane of White on Rice Couple. For those of you interested in attending, hop on over to the Food and Light website to register. Space is limited to 30 and I have no idea how quickly (or slowly) it will fill up. If you have any questions, do ask me soon as I will be mostly out of communication April 12-14.

The last of the Death Valley photos are done and posted. I am on a roll, kids. Plowing through the list of things to do…

life in death valley

marble slot canyon

blue skies over badlands

sunset on zabriskie point

As promised, I have this absolutely delightful lemon drop martini to share with you. When I first uncorked a bottle of my Buddha’s hand citron vodka, I stood sniffing the magical perfume that emanated from the opening. I had no idea what I was going to do with it. I like to play with the booze. Jeremy is the one who drinks it. He hovered around me asking what we could possibly make with it.

how about a martini?

a twist on a lemon drop martini

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Recipe: rosemary lamb noisettes

I have been joined at the hip to my computer lately working on several things at once. I know some photographers will wait to process their photos after a shoot so that they can come at it with a fresh mind. I’m not one of those. I have to plow through them while my color memory is strong, but more importantly before my next shoot or else things begin to clutter together in my brain and on the hard drives. We’re finally at the Death Valley photos and I held off on those until last because it was a complete bitch to shoot. I’m only halfway through, but I thought you might enjoy some of these. It’s amazing how the same place can look so different from sunrise to sunset.

sunset over death valley

…and sunrise

those clouds plagued me for three days

There are a few more photos from Death Valley and I’ll get around to the rest very soon because I have another shoot coming up in a week.

If it weren’t for all of the chatter on Twitter and FaceBook, I would not have known that the holidays were upon us. It’s not like knowing would have changed anything. We don’t celebrate much this time of year other than a Big Dump Snow Day or an especially gorgeous and sunny “Spring” day. It’s all good by me. As it happened, I had been contacted by Annie of Lava Lake Ranch a couple of months ago about trying their organic, grass-fed lamb. These days I’m a lot pickier about reviewing products on urb because I don’t have the time and I’m not interested in shilling for something I don’t feel strongly about. So what was so special about Lava Lake Ranch Lamb? In a nutshell: 100% of their profits go to conservation and restoration of nearly 1 million acres of land in south-central Idaho. I have a soft spot for organizations and individuals who Do Good in the world and of course, Good by my standards may not be the same as yours.

I said sure, but I’d have to let her know when I had an open window of time in my schedule. The window was this week and I received via FedEx boneless lamb loin, lamb chops, and lamb shanks. My regular readers know that I’m sort of new to lamb, so I scoured the interwebs for some recipe ideas and lo and behold – everyone was talking lamb because it’s Easter weekend.

i started with the loin since we wanted a quick meal

rosemary, there is always rosemary…

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Recipe: chocolate-covered candied grapefruit

I have to remind myself that even if a shoot was challenging and disappointing, it doesn’t necessarily mean there aren’t keepers. I’ve muddled through my shots from Zion and Bryce. Click the links to see the images on the photo blog. For those of you too lazy to do so, here’s a sneaky peeky:

sunrise over bryce canyon

hoodoos

a mossy waterfall in zion

slot canyon

Even though you weren’t there with me during the shoot, you get to enjoy the fruits of my labor. Based on the photos alone, you might have thought we had a fantastic time. That’s kind of how it is with this here recipe, so if you think you might be tempted to make this, please read my words and don’t come back hating me when your kitchen and everything you touch is covered in sticky sugary syrup.

grapefruits

peeling as much pith away as possible

**Jump for more butter**