Winter wonderland

Those of us living in New England have had quite the winter, and February has only just begun! Storm after storm, we've ben hit with 70+ inches of snow since January. During the last big one, Mother Nature was on a rampage, spewing snow, rain, freezing rain, sleet, oh and not to mention, the freezing temperatures. But like usual, the day or two after are filled with bright sunny days.

It was on one of these beautiful days that Jake emailed the following to me:

I wish I knew how to use your camera... the frozen trees outside look awesome but I don't think my point and shoot will do them justice.

I'm a little particular about my toys. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I grew up with two younger brothers and had to share everything, most of which was almost always ruined by one of them. I thought about just ignoring the message all together, buuuuuut Jake has been a huge supporter of my hobbies. And with my current photography itch, he wants to be apart of it. So this is as good as any time for him to jump in and learn how to use the fancy dSLR.

To understand my response, you need to know that Jake requires explicit instructions. I mean EXPLICIT. For example, taking out the trash really means take the trash out, put in a new bag, and put the lid back on the bin. Jake interprets it literally as taking out the trash.

If you really want to use it...


1) put strap around your neck (make sure that if you drop the camera, it just ends up hurting your neck instead of falling to the floor)


2) support the camera and lens with your left hand from underneath


3) turn the dial on the left side to auto


4) turn the camera to on (button on the right side)


5) remove the lens cap

6) bring it up to your eye, push the shutter button down to focus (you'll see at least one square light up in the view finder)

7) when it's focused on the thing you want, push the shutter button all the way down


If you want to zoom, turn the lens (not the ring closest to you...the one with all the numbers on it)

I'd say he did pretty damned good for his first time. Take a look and see:

 

Red dress - muslin fitting #2

Here is a quick refresher of what my dress will look like:

My dress as designed by me and Barbara and Charles of Anchorage Nine.
Sketch by Charles Gryor Flores DeRupé.

Here it is after the second muslin fitting:

Please excuse the crappy self portrait.

Please excuse the crappy phone photo. Apparently, I have shaky hands when it comes to taking photos with my phone. It's O.K., you can say it, "OMG it looks like crap". Both Barbara and I agreed that the photo does not do the muslin justice.

• The collar isn't quite there yet, we were trying to decide how we wanted it with a flimsy piece of cotton and lots of sewing pins.
• The shoulders look wider than it actually will be.
• The bodice is bunching because the edge of the fabric are not pinned in.
• The skirt is:
• super wrinkly
• 2 inches too long
• too wide. in this photo, it's a full circle, it will be reduced down to 3/4 of a circle for the next fitting.
• And that black thing you see on my abdomen? That's a frog button, it is definitely too big and the wrong color.

Now that I'm staring at this photo, I'm wondering if I need to lengthen the bodice by just a tad...it looks like I have a really short and boxy torso right now. Maybe it's just that bad of a photo?

Because of all the adjustments we've made, Barbara and Charles will redo the muslin instead of continuing to work on this one. While they do that, I will work on bribing someone to negotiate, purchase, and deliver the fabric for part of my dress. The bodice will be made from a traditional silk brocade. The material that will be used for the skirt is still undetermined.  

Dragon and pheonix pattern from Pearl River Mart.

Previously:
Red dress: muslin fitting #1
Milestone: Red dress

Food - Different Tastes

Molecular gastronomy is a branch of food science in which the physical and chemical processes that occur while cooking are studied by both scientists and food professionals.

Different Tastes is a company that embraces molecular gastronomy. Just take a look for yourself.


Crab cakes with romesco sauce “caviar”. The "caviar" started out as a liquid sauce before under going spherification.

 

Toast cups with whipped goat cheese and walnuts – served warm



Chicken, mango and jalapeno quesadilla with chipotle mayo



Corn and lime edible Asian spoon with roasted salmon and cilantro salsa

Mixed young greens, goat cheese, walnuts, orange supremes and roasted shallot vinaigrette

Caesar salad with shaved parmesan, herbed croutons and frizzled leeks

Deconstructed, recontructed Lasagana rustic with fresh pasta, local
vegetables, thyme and madiera reduction and tomato “orb” 

Pan roasted duck breast with juniper gastrique with julienne vegetables (left) Breast of duck with fig and madiera reduction and pear chutney (right)

Tenderloin of beef with mushroom ragu and rosemary red wine demi glace
with mushroom, leek and thyme risotto with lemon gremolata (left)
Tenderloin of beef wrapped with sun dried tomato tapenade and puff pastry
with saute of haricot vert with local tomatoes and fresh basil (right)

Cheesecake bite and Creme Brulee on edible chocolate spoon

Clockwise from the top:
Dark chocolate cake with caramel buttercream frosting
Vanilla cake with cream cheese buttercream and raspberry drizzle
Carrot cake with brown sugar buttercream

All photos taken by Celia.

Save our Date!

Hello Family and Friends -

We are getting married! Our celebration will take place on August 20th, 2011 in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

This will be a great way to visit Boston if you have not had the chance yet. And for those of you that grew up in the area, you can hit two birds with one stone and visit family, too.

We would love for you to be present for the festivities, but we understand if you cannot make it for whatever reason. Please, do not feel obligated by any means.

In the mean time, please click on the link below to help us fill in our address book, otherwise we won't know where to send your invitation!

Celia and Jake's Address Book

We look forward to celebrating with you,

-Celia and Jake

Designed by yours truly. Photo credits from left to right: Hung Family, Perkowski Family, and Jason Angelini (last 3).

Click here to see the first round of STDs we sent out to our friends living west of the Mississippi. (STDs is wedding speak for save-the-dates, not venereal disease.)

Coming to a newsstand near you

I've taken wedding crafting to a whole new level of insanity. I sought out to create a wedding party newsletter about a year ago. But, I've been dragging my feet on it. I didn't want to just use a boring template from MS Publisher. Of course, my idea isn't completely original, I stole the magazine style idea from Mrs. Piglet via Weddingbee. Even though I had the idea, I knew it was going to take hours to put together. As I previously mentioned, I can layout a publication no problem, it just takes time. Having to write all the copy (articles) that go in it, is another ballgame and not my strong suite.

I bet you want to see how all the blood, sweat, tears, and hours upon hours I poured into this project ended up. Just click on the link below.

The Adventures of Celia and Jake - a wedding magazine - volume 1, issue 1
Best viewed in Reading Mode with Page Display set to "Two-Up" and "Show Cover During Two-Up")

Not too shabby. Yea, I wished this was actually going to be on display at a newsstand near you.