Thursday, December 29, 2011

Homemade Marshmallows

Homemade Marshmallows


Marshmallows are some of my favorite things. Toasted, in hot chocolate, baked in brownies, straight out of the bag – I don’t discriminate. So fluffy and good. What’s not to love?

This year I got a shiny red stand mixer for Christmas. What do I make first? Marshmallows of course!

As it turns out, they are really easy to make. They are just whipped sugar and gelatin.

There’s a local coffee shop that makes honey vanilla lattes. At first I wasn’t so sure about it because I don’t like flavoring in my lattes. Well, I was hooked at the first sip.

Imagine my delight when I came across a honey vanilla bean marshmallow recipe from one of my favorite food bloggers, Joy the Baker. How did she know that these are the marshmallows of my heart’s desires?

I can be a little melodramatic when it comes to food. On with the recipe.

Homemade Marshmallows
Adapted from the Food Network.
(I’m sharing a basic marshmallow recipe because I’ve since found that you can flavor marshmallows however you want at the end of the whipping process. Peppermint, caramel, chocolate, you name it.)

3 packages unflavored gelatin
1 cup ice cold water, divided
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
Nonstick spray

Combine cornstarch and confectioners’ sugar. Spray a 13x9 in baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and coat with half of the cornstarch and sugar mixture.

Put the 3 packets of gelatin in the stand mixer along with ½ cup of water. Have your wire whip tool ready.

Bring ½ cup of water, sugar, corn syrup and salt to boil in a small sauce pan. Remove from heat once it reaches 240 degrees F. It took me about 8 minutes.

Turn the mixer on low speed. Slowly pour in the hot syrup mixture down the side of the stand mixer bowl. Careful not to splatter the hot syrup. Slowly bring the mixer up to medium-high speed. Whip for about 10 minutes, until the mixture cools and becomes white and fluffy, like the inside of a toasted marshmallow. Add vanilla extract and keep whipping for another two minutes.

Spread mixture into the prepared pan and top with the cornstarch and confectioners’ sugar mixture you used to coat the pan.

It will set in about 4 hours. Turn the marshmallow onto a cutting board and cut into squares with a pizza cutter. Coat the sides with more of the cornstarch and confectioners’ sugar mixture.

It’s very hard to lick the marshmallow fluff off of the wire whip attachment, so don’t try it. You’ll end up with marshmallow fluff all over your face. Ahem, um… at least that’s what I imagine will happen.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Splishy Splashy

A few months ago a introduced you to baby Nathan and his adorable DIY nursery. You already know that Amanda's got skills in the craftiness arena. When it came time for her family shoot, she wasn't going to settle for a standard one.

One of the things I love about Amanda is that she's always looking for ways to create sweet memories with her kids. Why not make the photo shoot one of those memories?

When she emailed me about the idea of a family painting session, I was totally on board. Sometimes it can be challenging to get three little ones to sit still and smile pretty for photos. One good way to get around that is to plan the photo session around an activity. I love doing lifestyle photography because I get to be there to capture real smiles, real moments, real emotions. Trends in styling and photo editing can come and go, but photos that are honest and real are timeless.

To be on the side, we first did a few "normal" shots in case they decide to go with a more traditional look for Christmas cards.

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Yeah, I know... photogenic much?!

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Love these of James. Look at those cheeks!

Phoenix Family Photography

And now for the fun!
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Phoenix Family Photography

Creative Family Photography

Phoenix Family Photography

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Creative Family Photography

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Sunday, November 13, 2011

Family Portraits :: Pierres

Mya loves to cuddle up to mom and giver her kisses. She adores her baby brother. Marcel shares his dad’s love of reading, learning and of course, Star Wars. He likes to race his dad, who ran track in college. You’d never know by the way they interact that Marcel and Mya became Pierres only a few years ago.

Vermon and Dennae adopted Marcel and Mya through foster care. Since Vermon is the lead pastor at my church, I’ve been able to see their family grow and bond through the process. Dennae shares beautiful stories of their challenges and triumphs of adoption on her blog.

I loved doing their family session. You can see why through their photos. It’s a beautiful thing to see their love for one another—the kind of love that heals old wounds and surpasses biological ties.


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Classic Juda face on the right. He's one of the most thoughtful toddlers I've ever met.
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So, so sweet! I live for moments like this as a photographer.
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Love these of them. I told Vermon to tell Dennae something funny. I wonder what he said? ;)
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Annnd... I leave you with this last shot. I am currently in love with it.
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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Family Portraits :: Snyders

The Snyders did their family session early October. Only in Phoenix would October feel like the middle of summer in most places -- hot, stuffy and even a little muggy. Despite it all though, we got some nice shots!

These boys are the epitome of boys -- filled with energy and love for all things superheroes. Hanging out with them reminded me of my childhood spent with my brother and four boy cousins. There was no shortage of imaginary police vs. bad guy games, wrestling matches and general running around for the fun of it.

Kirsten is super-mom for keeping up with all of them!

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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Newborn Portraits :: Ramayah

Hello world, meet Ramayah. Remember this maternity shoot? She's finally here!

I love babies under two weeks old. They're still so sleepy and curly. Ramayah was just 11 days old in these photos. She pretty much fell asleep after every time she ate... making my job so easy. :)

Phoenix Newborn Photography

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Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Newborn Portraits :: Nathan

Nate and Amanda are good friends of ours. Joel has known Nate since second grade! I moved around a lot growing up, so I don't have any childhood friends. The oldest friend I have is from middle school. I always wondered what it's like to know someone for that long, and to have all of these shared memories throughout various seasons of life. A while ago I dug up a photo of Joel's and Nate's third grade class. It's so funny to look at these little faces and realize that many of them are are parents now!

Little Nathan is Nate and Amanda's third child. His chubby cheeks remind me of his big brother. They are such a great family. About every other month we go over thttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifo their house to have dinner, play card games and catch up. It's a blessing to watch their family grow and to see them parent their children with such grace and love.



Amanda is so crafty! I love the soft colors in the nursery.

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That baby buggy belonged to Nathan's grandmother. I love old things with stories. Just had to work it into the shoot.
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...And I leave you with this adorableness. This is why I love photographing newborns! So much smushy goodness.
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Congrats Nate and Amanda! Good job on another adorable addition to the family. :)