Nike Women's Half Marathon 2012

The Nike Women's Marathon (and Half Marathon) is an annual event held in San Francisco to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  This is a very popular race, and I've been trying to gain entry for the past few years through their registration lottery system.  Typically the lottery registration period occurs around March for the October San Francisco race.  I got notice of my entry into the half marathon around late April this year, and I was really excited!  The course is a fun run that goes by some of the major attractions in San Francisco.  Nike goes all out in making this a really special race, catering to women in the race expo with Paul Mitchell hair styling and Neutrogena makeovers.  This year, they also designed a specific Lunarglide shoe that celebrates the Tiffany & Co. sponsorship of the finisher necklace (that's right!) - light blue and white with satin ribbon laces.

As you can see from the course map and elevation map below it, the route is not without its challenges.  The start is at 7am, so that's a challenge for me, just waking up early!  Fortunately, the first 5 1/2 miles are pretty speedy and flat, except for a small hill near Ghiradelli Square. 

Along those 5 or so miles, you pass by some top tourist spots, like Pier 39 (with its sea lions barking), Boudin Bakery and the most delicious scent of sourdough bread baking (torture!), and Fisherman's Wharf.

After a nice pleasant hour of running, you get the first sight of the start of the hill sequence!  These aren't the 21% grade stair step hills that the cable cars run on, they are moderate grade, sloping hills.  While mile 6 was long and steep, it was miles 8-9 1/2 that were never-ending 

Fortunately, mile 10 is a big downhill relief that kind of massages your legs on the way down.  The final section of the race is in Golden Gate Park, where you pass a field of buffalo by mile 12 - buffalo in San Francisco??  One final downhill segment, and you're in the chute on your way to a warm greeting by one of San Francisco's cute firefighters dressed up in tuxedos with a silver platter of finishers necklaces in their Tiffany & Co. boxes.  You better believe I took a few extra seconds to decide on which line I would join.  Look at the dimples on that cutie!

It wasn't my best half marathon time, but I finished, and that is what truly matters.  Plus, I got to share an amazing experience with a good friend who cheered me on while bandit running with me the whole way.  The inaugural Nike Women's Half Marathon in Washington D.C. will be held in April 2013, and I'm definitely going to enter the lottery for that later this month!

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South of the Border Mixology

I took another class at LivingSocial's 918 F Street event headquarters in Washington D.C.  This time the instructor was an award winning mixologist, J.P. Cesares, who will be partnering with the new Farmers, Fishers, and Bakers restaurant opening in Georgetown this November.  He focused on the basic drinks based on liquor found in Central and South America.

First up, the margarita.  I'm very picky on my margaritas, and I have to say this recipe was delicious!  The key to a good margarita (and low hangover probability) is to get a good tequila.  Pay up for Petron if you want, but understand it's just an example of marketing success.  You can get an equivalent or better experience from another tequila, so long as it's made of 100% blue agave.  Actually, to be called a tequila, the liquor just needs to be comprised of a minimum 51% blue agave and come from a particular area of Central Mexico that incorporates just five regions.  This is kind of like the use of the terms champagne (vs. sparkling wine) and cognac (vs. brandy).  Tequila not made in these regions are considered mezcal,  and they tend to taste a bit smokier because they are processed by roasting with the "piña" with the leaves on top.  Margaritas work best with tequilas that are either blanco (aged 0-3 months) or reposado (aged 3-12 months).  Save your money on the anejo (aged 12-18 months) and extra anejo (aged 18-30 months) tequilas and use them on their own with ice.  Good tequilas for margaritas are, for example, Hornitos (I use this!) or Avion.

Margarita
Tools required: boston shaker, juicer, jiggers

2 oz. reposado tequilla
3/4 oz. fresh lime juice (approx. one large lime)
3/4 oz. agave simple syrum (1:1 agave nector and water, boiled to combine)
1/2 oz. Cointreau (alt. triple sec)
Kosher salt

1. Garnish a rocks glass with half rim of salt, using the lime to create a sticky surface and kosher salt
2. In the shaker, pour tequila, lime juice, agave syrup, and Cointreau
3. Add ice to fill 80% of the shaker
4. Shake vigorously for approximately 10 seconds and strain into your garnished rocks glass
5. Finish garnishing with a lime wedge

Next, we traveled to the Caribbean to explore an early rum-based cocktail - the yummy mojito!  The mojito has its roots wrapped around Earnest Hemingway during his residence in Key West.  The first recorded mojito was in the late 19th century when it was called El Draque, but it was Hemingway who made it popular.  "Papa Doble," a nickname often used for Hemingway who liked his drinks strong, wrote about his drinking of the mint and rum cocktail at La Bodeguita del Medio, when not drinking his "Hemingway daiquiri" at La Floridita.

Bacardi Mojito

Additional tools needed: swizzle stick, muddler

2 oz. Bacardi Rum Superior
3/4 oz. fresh lime juice
3/4 oz. simple syrup
8-10 mint leaves

1. "Spank" the mint leaves by placing them in your hand and smacking them once, hard, with your other hand to release the oils.  Place in a chilled Collins glass.
2. Gently muddle the mint leaves in the glass with a muddler.
3. Pour rum, lime juice, and simple syrup into the glass.
4. Swizzle the liquid over crushed ice.
5. Gently "spank" remaining mint leaves to garnish.

For our third drink of the night, we went further south to Brazil.  The liquor, cachaça, is the most popular liquor in Brazil where 1.5 billion liters are consumed every year, compared to 15 million liters consumed by the rest of the world.  The liquor is 38-48% alcohol by volume (ABV) and is typically aged 12 months in a cask.  Since it is distilled from sugar cane, it is similar to rum but has a much stronger smell and taste.  As our instructor said, it's like pouring rhum agricole into a shoe and then drinking it.  A bit more pungent.  The popular Brazilian drink, caipirinha, is based on this liquor.

Leblon Caipirinha

2 oz. Leblon Cachaça (pronounced ca-shah-sa)
1 oz. cane syrup
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
1 peeled lime

1. Cut peeled lime into quarters or eighths.
2. Muddle the lime in the shaker.
3. Pour cachaça, lime juice, and brown simple syrup (1 part brown sugar, 1 part water) into shaker.
4. Add ice and shake vigorously for approximately 20 seconds.
5. "Dirty dump" into a Collins glass with no garnish.

Finally, we covered a popular South American cocktail, the Pisco Sour.  Pisco is another word for brandy, and the Pisco Sour was started by the bartender Victor Morris, an American, in the 1920s at a bar in Lima, Peru.  What differentiates this drink is the use of egg whites to create a froth on top.

Pisco Porton Sour

2 oz. Porton
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz. simple syrup
1 egg white
Angostura Bitters on top

1. Crack and separate egg (use strainer) and pour egg white into blender.
2. Pour pisco, lime juice, lemon juice, and simple syrup into the blender.
3. Add ice cubes, no more than 5, just to ensure the drink is chilled.
4. Blend for approximately 15-20 seconds or until the consistency is less thick than a smoothie.
5. Pour into a wide and flat champagne glass, top with a little of the bitters as a garnish.

Thanks to J.P. for a fun and informative night!

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Favorite Cookies - Part 2

After posting four of my favorite cookie recipes on September 27th, I realized that I missed two other of my favorites.  So, here's PART 2:

Applesauce Raisin Cookies - Are they cake bites or are they cookies?

3/4 c. crisco
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 c. applesauce
2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1 c. raisins
1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cream crisco and brown sugar in a mixer.  Add egg and beat until combined, then mix in applesauce.
3. In a separate bowl. sift together dry ingredients (flour, soda, salt, spices) then add to the wet mixture a little at a time until combined.
4. Add raisins (and optional nuts) to the batter.
5. Scoop onto silpat or parchment paper lined cookie sheet into 1 inch - 1 1/2 inch scoops.
6. Bake 10-12 minutes until bottom of the cookie is browned.

Suggestion: Let cool just enough and eat as many as you can right out of the oven!!

Salted Oatmeal Raisin Cookies - the salt makes all the difference!

1/2 c. crisco
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 c. coconut, shredded (optional)
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 c. oats
1 1/2 c. raisins
kosher salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream together butter, crisco, and sugars.
3. Add eggs, one at a time until combined.
4. Add vanilla and mix together.
5. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.  Combine with wet mixture a little at a time until fully incorporated.
6. Add oats to the batter a little at a time until combined well.
7. Use mixer to blend raisins into batter.
8. Scoop onto silpat or parchment covered baking sheet.  Sprinkle dough balls lightly with kosher salt.
9. Bake 13-15 minutes.

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Sewing A Buttoned Shirt

After a weekend filled with too many hours spent sewing in a classroom at the back of G Street Fabrics in Falls Church, VA the only thing I was thinking on Sunday night after class was that sewing just isn't worth it!  Now, several days removed, I'm still hopeful that I will come to enjoy sewing enough to be able to make fun things.  But when it comes to basics, my advice is to just go buy it!  As I learned over the 2-day class weekend:

1. Sewing sleeves and collars are NOT FUN!
2. Your finished product never looks as good as its store bought equivalent for most things
3. I don't know how Project Runway contestants do it because sewing is very time consuming due to its requirement for precision and order (11 hours invested in one blouse! Yikes!)
4. Buying a pattern size that fits you is a big punch to the ego (your pattern size is practically 4+ steps greater than your department store size)
5. In the end, after a pattern, fabric, notions, and other materials and tools are purchased, most of the time it will cost more than something at the mall.

But I'm not going to get too negative on the act of sewing.  I still really like that it challenges my brain both creatively and mathematically.  And it's a great skill to have in your back pocket, especially during Halloween time!

From Bits and Pieces....

To a Completed Shirt

It's not the best made shirt in the world - ok, it's pretty darn ugly in my opinion - and since I bought a pattern that was too small in the first place, I wasn't even able to fit it.  So, I'm considering it a practice piece and giving it to my friend's daughter to use as an art smock.  Might as well put it to good use, protecting clothing from little kid paint splatters!

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October Cupcake of the Month - Pumpkin Patch

For this month's cupcake, I decided to do something that celebrates the colors and images of fall.  I found a photo online at this website (not sure why it's in russian), and realized that I had seen the fence cutout at Michaels.  They are cupcake wraps made by Wilton.  Also, in the same department, I discovered prefabricated pumpkin toppers and fall leaf sprinkles by Wilton.  Now, you can make your own gumpaste pumpkins, but I wasn't up for the effort.  

Inspiration Photo

Any flavor of cupcake would work, but I also wanted to highlight the flavors of fall and decided on a pumpkin cupcake with maple cream cheese frosting.  The recipe can be found on this website and is an adaptation of a recipe found on Martha Stewart's website.  Detailed instructions for handmade pumpkin toppers are on the site as well.

Pumpkin Cupcakes
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 cup canned pumpkin purée
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (I added this to the recipe)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sift together dry ingredients into medium bowl
3. In a mixer, whisk together eggs, pumpkin purée, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegetable oil.  Add the dry ingredients slowly and mix until combined.
4. Pour into cupcake pan lined with paper liners.
5. Bake for about 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
1 lb. (16 oz) cream cheese, at room temperature - tip: don't use fat free cream cheese
1/2 lb (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tbsp real maple syrup (I added an extra tablespoon for flavor)
1 lb confectioner's sugar

1. Cream the cream cheese, butter, and maple syrup in a mixer fitted with paddle attachment.  Slowly add the icing sugar and beat until smooth
2. Color icing with desired colors.  I used Avocado Green, Yellow, Electric Green, and Brown to get the duller green color.
3. Put icing in a piping bag and ice cupcakes in desired look.  I didn't use a tip because I was being lazy.

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5 Things I'm Loving Right Now (October Edition)

I finally purged four garbage bags of clothes from my closet!  And it only took me 5 months to get over the psychological effects of this horrible activity - the anger, the denial, the sadness... let's face it, I'm really attached to my things!  Who isn't, though?

Now I need a way to really enjoy my new, clean and organized space!

Here are 5 of my favorite closet organization tips:

1. Purging tips - I absolutely HATE the rule that if you haven't worn it in a year, give it away.  I have plenty of things I don't wear in a year, especially expensive things that are classic.  So, in order to reduce the emotional stress of a purge, I collected and made up some more acceptable tips:

• Look for possible donation items at the bottom of drawers.  This is very true for me.  I probably haven't worn them in a while, and I must not like looking at them either because they're stuffed far away from my eyes.
• Anything with stains, runs, holes, or frays...get rid of it.  Also sweaters that ball a lot.
• Fix what needs mending or give it away to someone else who would obviously appreciate having the piece of clothing more than you because she would mend it right away
• How long have your clothes been sitting in the ironing pile?  Clearly I hate ironing because my pile has just grown, probably because I'm buying new things to replace items in the pile, not realizing that there's a duplicate buried in my basket.
• Reassess the colors in your closet.  Really, are the fluorescent colors that were trendy this year (and in the 1980s) going to be in next year?  Do they look good with your complexion?
• If it's uncomfortable, it's not worth it.  And for shoes, serial blister-makers get the boot!
• Reassess the number of t-shirts you have with silly slogans or drawings.  An adult woman doesn't need to advertise on her chest...then again, if it's absolutely hilarious, keep it but maybe consider it for the sleeping drawer.  Also check white t-shirts and tanks for stains and toss all the bad ones!
• Keep the black, but not the faded black.

2. Not all shoes need to be cluttering the shelves, especially in smaller closets, so try out these thrifty organizing boxes at IKEA.  Take a photo of the shoes and attach on the outside, so you know what's inside.

3. A better way to store scarves

4. Organizing your clothes in your closets by size or season, using these decorated used CDs

5.  Plan out your clothes using this super chic DIY pipe garment rack, a project featured on one of my favorite blogs - Camille Styles

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My Favorite Cookies

I love to bake, and these cookies are not only some of my favorite cookies to eat, but they are so easy to make.  I literally made batches of all four in a little over two hours!

Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

I will never understand why (1) people use any other chocolate chip recipe besides the original and the best that is RIGHT THERE on the back of the Toll House Semi-Sweet Morsels bag and (2) burn chocolate chip cookies and expect them to taste good.  Throw them away!!! Please!  I'm not even going to retype the recipe here.  This is all you need to see, then go the the store and buy a bag.

Just follow the basic principles of cookie baking and you can't fail:

1. Measure your ingredients accurately, leveling off your dry ingredients (except when brown sugar specifies that it must be packed).  If possible, weigh your dry ingredients instead of measuring.

2.  Make sure your eggs and butter are room temperature

3. First, always cream the butter (or fats) and sugar together.  Add eggs one at a time. Then add the rest of the wet ingredients.

4. Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl (sift if possible) and add to the wet mixture in increments, not all at once.

5. Set timer initially for the lower of the suggested baking time, and check before adding more time.  This way you won't burn your cookies!  Also invest in an oven thermometer to make sure you're baking at the desired temperature.

Pretty simple right?  And you get these yummy, gorgeous cookies as a result!

Peanut Butter Kisses

If there are two things that belong together, it's peanut butter and chocolate!

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
3 Tbsp sugar
48 unwrapped Hershey Kisses

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine butter, peanut butter, and sugar (white and brown).  Cream in mixer.  Add egg to butter and sugar.  Add vanilla and mix with wet mixture.  Add combined dry ingredients to wet ingredients.  When completely mixed together, shape dough into approximately 48 - 1" balls.  Put 3 tablespoons of sugar into a bowl and roll each dough ball in the sugar.  Place 2" apart on a parchment (or silpat) lined cookie sheet.  Bake 10 minutes (balls may have a light browning).  Take cookies out of the oven and place a Hershey Kiss on top of the ball, lightly pressing down.  I like to only push the kiss half way, let it melt a little, and then come back and finish pushing it down.  The melted chocolate helps the kiss adhere to the cookie better.  Let cool completely before packing, waiting until the kisses are hard again or they will smoosh and lose their shape.

Snickerdoodles

Who doesn't like butter cookies covered in cinnamon and sugar??

1 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp sugar mixed with 3 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs one at a time and the vanilla.  Add dry ingredients, a little at a time ensuring they get combined with the wet mixture evenly.  Shape dough into 1" balls.  Roll in the sugar and cinnamon mixture.  Place 2" apart on parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Bake 10 minutes.

Spritz Cookies with Sprinkles

My mom made these cookies every Christmas growing up.  They didn't turn out the exact way that I wanted them because I had some cookie press issues, then I overcooked them by probably 1 minute.  Oh well!  The recipe is still good.  I think I was just tired because this was cookie #4 of the night.

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
Dash of salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cream butter and sugar, add egg and vanilla, then dry ingredients.  Force through a cookie press into shapes.  The way my mom traditionally did it was using a single small star template for the press, then making a long squiggle worm, which was cut into cookie sized portions and with the squiggle pushed together tightly to make a solid cookie shape.  I had to use a clover leaf cookie plate because my star one was missing.  When all cookies have been pressed, shake rainbow sprinkles on evenly.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.

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Skillet Cooking

I'm not kidding.  If you live near a Sur La Table store that offers cooking classes, you need to listen to this tip.  Search the online calendar for the classes that are sponsored by cookware or bakeware manufacturers and see what kind of free goodies you can get that offset the cost of the class and more!  I recently took a saucepan class sponsored by Scanpan and walked away with a skillet worth $150.00!

Scanpan is an environmentally-friendly product manufactured using completely recycled materials.  The pan we used in the class has a nonstick surface made from ceramic titanium that is resistant to scratches, even from metal utensils, and the rest of the pan is created using five layers of aluminum for even heat distribution.  These features reduce the need for fat to cook your food, allowing for healthier cooking, and still allows for traditional browning to occur, unlike other nonstick pans.  Finally, the pan had a great, ergonomic stainless steel handle that is so sophisticated.

For the class itself, the menu included recipes that showed off the many uses of the Scanpan skillet:  herbed goat cheese frittata, seared lemon pepper scallops, gruyere and potato gratin with thyme, and dark chocolate and cherry clafoutis.  The frittata was not good (too much dill and I'm not a fan of goat cheese), and the clafoutis was average (could have done without the chocolate), so I'm going to highlight the scallops (my first time ever eating them!) and gratin in this post.  Leave a comment if you want me to update with the other two recipes, as well.

Seared Lemon Pepper Scallops (Yields 4 Servings)

12 sea scallops
1 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsps olive oil (or vegetable oil if you prefer a higher smoke point)
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1/2 cup squeezed lemon juice
1 Tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped
Kosher salt

On a plate, sprinkle the scallops with freshly ground black pepper.  Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large Scanpan nonstick skillet over medium heat.  When the oil starts to shimmer, add the scallops and cook until the scallops are opaque in the center, about 2-3 minutes per side.  Be careful not to over-brown.  Remove scallops from the skillet to prevent them from overcooking and place on a plate.

Return the skillet to the heat and lower temperature to medium.  Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the butter.  When the butter has melted, add the shallot and garlic and cook until soft, about 3 minutes.  Add the lemon zest and lemon juice, and reduce slightly to incorporate all of the juices from the pan.  Add parsley, taste, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

To serve, place scallops on a plate and spoon over lemon sauce.

Gruyere and Potato Gratin with Thyme (Yields 8-10 Servings)

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided, plus more softened for greasing baking dish
2 large leeks, white and light green parts only, washed well and thinly sliced
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground white pepper
3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled
3 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup grated gruyere cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Generously grease a 13x9x2 inch baking dish or casserole dish with butter

Place 2 tablespoons butter in a large Scanpan nonstick saucepan and heat over medium heat.  Add leeks and saute until softened but not browned, about 4-5 minutes.

Add cream and milk to the saucepan and heat until mixture simmers.  Add salt and white pepper, stirring well to combine.  Peel potatoes and use a mandolin to slice the potatoes, evenly, at 1/8" thick.  Add to the hot cream mixture.  Press potato slices, gently, with a silicone spatula to submerge.  Cook undisturbed until potatoes are partially cooked and mixture begins to thicken, about 10-12 minutes.  Stir in 3 tablespoons thyme leaves.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and place rack in the center.  Combine cheeses in a small mixing bowl. Using a slotted spoon or spider, carefully transfer the potato slices to the prepared baking dish.  Carefully pour enough cream mixture to barely cover potatoes.  Dot with remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and cover with cheese mixture.

Bake in preheated oven until casserole bubbles around the edges, potatoes are tender, and top is golden brown, about 50-60 minutes.  If top begins to brown too deeply before potatoes are cooked, cover gratin with aluminum foil.  If top has not browned when potatoes are cooked, place gratin under a preheated broiler.  Allow gratin to sit for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Here are photos of the frittata and clafoutis:

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Off Camera Lighting Techniques

I took another fabulous workshop from Douglas Sonders, a local professional photographer that has created some very interesting commercial work - from cars to celebrities and from ads to covers.  After taking his class on off camera lighting, I now realize how much impact just one and up to as little as three lights can have on your shot. Prior to this understanding, I had looked at some of Doug's work and erroneously assumed he had manipulated the shot in post-production with Photoshop. While that may be the case on some of his work, I witnessed how he built a photo composition one light at a time to generate an amazing photograph using a student from the class and things in the environment, both inside the classroom studio and outside in the parking lot. The preview of the photo on his camera was near perfect with little or no post touchup action required.

Before setting up, Doug, first, walked us through the various equipment. In many cases, there really isn't a need to spend a lot on lights, and you may be able to find much of what he used on ebay or craigslist. A basic setup includes the lighting stand, the light itself, transmitters to sync the flashes, and a couple light modifiers. For transmitters, Pocket Wizards, Radio Poppers, and Cactus transmitters seem to be popular. You will need at least a pair, one for the first external flash and one on your camera hot shoe. Additional devices are needed for more lights, obviously. Next, the setup requires the actual lights, themselves. The brand Doug uses are made by White Lighting, but Alien Bee makes more affordable models that produce similar results. Finally, the basic setup is completed with light modifiers, like beauty dishes with honeycomb grids, reflectors, soft boxes, and umbrellas. It's not necessary to buy all of this equipment, though. In fact, websites like borrowlenses.com will rent them to you for various durations. 

My favorite composition of the day was shot outside with a student leaning against a car.  Doug used one 3200 watt light with a beauty dish and wide honeycomb grid on the subject's face, one 3200 watt light with a reflector from behind and to the right of the subject, and one additional light with a reflector aimed on the rear car light that was on the opposite side of the car from the subject. Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of that photo, but we did set up an environmental shot in a supply room in a similar way, adding a fog machine to accentuate the directional aspect of the lights and lights in the background on modeling mode (a softer light used for posing) to tell the story of the photo.  By the time I got to shoot the subject with my camera and the lighting setup, the fog machine had created too much of a haze to get a clear photo.  My shot isn't terrible, though.  I could have been a bit lower to the ground.

What you can see, though, is the impact of the light that frames out his face, and the rear reflector light that highlights his shoulders and hair to make him, the subject, stand out from a noisy background.  Neat, right?  Now I just need to recruit some people, rent some equipment, and practice!

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Who doesn't love cheese?

I never knew making homemade cheese was so easy! I took a class at the local Sur La Table, and we were able to make 4 cheeses and 1 butter in 2 hours - mozzarella, ricotta, chèvre, yogurt cheese (or greek style yogurt), and fresh butter. The butter surprised me the most because it literally was just heavy cream and some cold water. I think this is actually doable at home! I want to make some lasagna and caprese salad right now.

Here are the recipes and some photos for the ricotta and mozzarella.

Fresh Whole Milk Ricotta (makes 10-12 ounces)

8 cups whole milk (cannot be ultra pasteurized, farm fresh milk is best)
1 1/2 - 2 Tbsp white vinegar or fresh lemon juice
1/2 - 1 tsp fine sea salt (optional)
A colander or fine sieve with 2-3 layers of cheesecloth, 12-14" square, set over a large bowl.  Buy fine cheesecloth, or use more than 3 layers if using the kind you buy at the grocery store.

1. Place milk in a large, heavy saucepan and set over medium-high heat.  Cook, stirring constantly, until the milk comes to a frothing boil.

2. Turn off the heat and, as the bubbling subsides, slowly stir in the vinegar or lemon juice (we used the vinegar).  Continue gently stirring, in one direction, until the curds (white cheese part) and whey (liquid) begin to separate.  The mixture at this point will resemble thickened buttermilk.  The whey will still look milky and the curds will be very soft.  Remove from stove and let sit, covered and undisturbed, for 5 minutes.

3. Carefully pour the curds and whey through the cheesecloth.  The whey will drain into the bowl.  You can save this for another use or discard.  Leave the curds in the strainer to drain for about 15-30 minutes, depending on the desired consistency.  At this point, gently mix in the salt, if desired.  Use immediately or transfer to a sealed container and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

For the class, we drizzled honey on top of the fresh ricotta, and it was just heavenly!  

Easy Homemade Mozzarella (makes about 3/4 - 1 pound)

1/4 tsp liquid rennet (purchase at New England Cheese Making Company)
3/4 cup cool water, divided
1 1/2 tsp citric acid (this should be powdered, like the stuff on the outside of Sour Patch Kids)
1 gallon whole milk (not ultra-pasteurized)
Salt to taste (optional)

1. In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix liquid rennet into 1/4 cup cool water and set aside.  In another small bowl or measuring cup, mix citric acid into 1/2 cup cool water, stirring well to dissolve the citric acid and set aside.

2. Place milk into heavy pot.  Slowly pour in the citric acid solution, and stir vigorously to mix well with the milk.  Place the pot over high heat and continue to stir while heating the milk to 90 degrees.  When the milk reaches 90 degrees, remove the pot from the burner and slowly add in the rennet solution in one direction for 30 seconds.  Cover the pot and leave it undisturbed for 5 minutes.

3. After 5 minutes, check the curd - which should look like custard, with a clear separation between the curd and the whey around the edges of the pot.  To do this, take the back of your spoon and very gently press down on the curd at the edge of the pot.  If the curd is too soft or the whey is milky, let it sit for a few more minutes.  If your milk did not form a curd, you may have to reevaluate your milk source.

4. With a knife that is long enough to reach the bottom of your pot, cut the curd into 1/2-3/4 inch squares, creating a checkerboard pattern.

5. Place the pot back on the heat and bring the mixture up toe 110 degrees while slowly and gently moving the curds in one direction with your spoon.  When it reaches the desired temperature, remove from heat and continue slowly stirring for 2-5 minutes.  A longer stirring time produces a firmer cheese.

6. Ladle the curds into a colander or strainer.  Push the cheese to release the liquid whey as much as possible. At this point, you may place the curds in a plastic bag and store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days before stretching them into mozzarella.

7. When ready to stretch, heat a pot of water to 175 degrees.  Once it has reached the temperature, place part or all of your curds into a clean bowl and ladle hot water on top, covering the cheese.  Let sit for 3-8 seconds.  Using your hands, covered in rubber gloves (or 1-2 latex gloves), fold and knead the curd until it starts to become smooth and elastic, and begins to stretch. You may need to place it back into the water to soften it up if it is not stretching like taffy because the curd must be at least 135 degrees to stretch properly. Try not to work it too much, or your cheese will be firmer and run the risk of becoming rubbery.  Also consider adding salt at this point to taste or wait and use a salted cold water bath later.

8. Shape the mozzarella into one or more balls and place in (salted) ice water bath to cool.

Cheese Making Tips:

• When learning to make cheese at home, start with soft cheeses that require no aging.
• Before you begin any recipe, always sterilize all tools and equipment to keep cheese from making bacteria and becoming contaminated.  You can use the dishwasher to sterilize metal and glass tools, or heat them in boiling water for 10 minutes. Hand wash cheesecloth with dawn and nuke it in the microwave to kill the bacteria.
• Buy the best quality milk products you can afford.  Never use ultra-pasteurized milk because it destroys the protein structure of the milk, making it impossible to use in cheese making.  
• A few degrees of variation in temperature or time can make a huge difference.
• Use a large, heavy-bottomed and high-quality pot for heating milk to keep milk from scorching.

Alright, fine, I'll add the butter recipe...

Homemade Butter (makes about 6 ounces butter or 8 ounces sweet buttermilk)

1 pint heavy cream (check label for additives)

1/2 cup ice cold water mixed with crushed ice cubes

1/4 tsp sea salt or kosher salt as desired

1. Place the cream in a food processor with metal blade.  Process the cream until the butter begins to separate from the buttermilk, and the butterfat granules are about half the size of a pea.  

2. With the machine running, pour in the ice water.  The butter will immediately form a large mass. Quickly turn off the machine. 

3. Pour the entire contents of the bowl into a cheesecloth-lined strainer set over a bowl and let drain for several minutes.  (The sweet buttermilk is ready for another use)

4. Gather the ends of the cheesecloth together and squeeze, pushing downward to extract as much additional buttermilk as possible, then unwrap the butter solids from the cheesecloth.

5. Place butter solid in a bowl and rinse the butter in a bath of cool water, carefully kneading and folding the mass onto itself with a spatula, pouring off the water and repeating the process as needed until the water stays clear.

6. Place the butter into a large dry mixing bowl and sprinkle with the 1/4 tsp of salt.  Using a clean spoon or spatula, smear the butter repeatedly against the side of the bowl to incorporate air into it and to thoroughly incorporate the salt, while pouring off any additional liquid the butter may release.

7. Transfer the butter onto a piece of plastic wrap and form it into a smooth-sided block or log.  Refrigerate overnight before using.

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