K & Her Friends the Night of their First Homecoming Dance

Today's Joy: Being Invited to Take Part in Big Life Moments.
Was very blessed to be invited to shoot photos at the home of my young friend, K, just before her first Homecoming Dance. She looked so lovely with all her friends dressed to the nines and their shy dates milling around in gorgeous suits. Such a special time. It was really a joy to be able to do this for their families.


K & Her Adorable Date, B


SO cute!

Idealized, Having Fun

Couples

Fresh-picked
Originally uploaded by Fresh Lens Photography

Today's Joy: Loving Every Moment.
It's been a great day, Reader. Had a good, productive day at my new job. I'm really enjoying it. Then rushed home ahead of the storm to get the horses in. They are warm and safe and dry, though I got thoroughly drenched!

But all was right again when I got to Aunt's for dinner. Made plans with Mom to attend our first auction of the year tomorrow morning (we are estate auction junkies from way back). SO looking forward to perusing all those treasures just waiting to be found.

Then had Aunt's taco salad and a good, long visit with her, Aunt Chef & Uncle. The later two being substantially sunburned after a day spent planting heirloom tomatoes in their ever-expanding farm garden. Aunt Chef proclaimed there would be Green Zebras and Black Krims among this year's crop--two of my very favorite heirloom varieties. I can't wait to use them in fresh, summer recipes! There is nothing like the taste of an heirloom tomato. It's like tradition and magic and photosynthesis all rolled into one. Will be sure to get lots of photos for you, Reader.

I love days like this, when you have worked hard, fulfilled your responsibilities and now are pleasantly drowsy on the sun porch as the evening light fades. Content and surrounded by laughter. Would that we had whole summers full of such evenings! Good Night, dear Reader.

Today's Joy: Dinner & 'Dancing'.
In my family, Monday nights are sacred. Come 7 o'clock, my gregarious relatives drop whatever they're doing and turn the TV to Channel 7 (ABC). That's when Dancing With The Stars comes on. For that hour, the rest of the world melts away as we oooh and ahhh and critique form. We pronounce costumes breathtaking or in poor taste and weigh in on frames, lines and who was out of sync. We cheer on our favorite couples and predict who will get the boot on the next Results Show.

Half the fun is listening to each other's take on this season's odd assortment of celebrities. Pamela Anderson as a brunette: Yay! Chad Ochocinco giving Cheryl a hard time: Boo! If we aren't all together, someone calls or texts back and forth between dances. Did you see that? What is she wearing?? Oh, yeah--he needs to go!

Tonight's installment saw us all gathered at Aunt's house, where I made pork tenderloin & cranberry pistachio stuffing. We ate heartily in between waltzes and Argentine Tangoes, all a bit baffled by Judge Len Goodman's commentary, as well as his unfortunate choice of shirt & tie: lime green & orange! For that single hour, we were the ones on the dance floor, wrapped in sequins and ostrich feathers, doing the cha-cha with Maksim Chmerkovskiy and crossing our fingers we won't be in the bottom two. I'm telling you, Reader, it's the most fun you can have without strapping on your dance shoes!

Irish Soda Bread

Today's Joy: Family Traditions.
I missed posting this on March 17th but it's too good to forego altogether so today, Reader, I'm gonna share with you why my family loves St. Patrick's Day.

Most of my family is Irish and we look forward to St. Patrick's Day all year long. My mother spends the whole day cooking an Irish repast of corned beef, cabbage & potatoes, while the family gathers (with much anticipation) to eat it. Now, I LOVE corned beef & cabbage. I've tried it at numerous restaurants & friends' homes. But the old adage rings true--nobody makes it like Mom. This year she made 5 corned beef briskets, 10 lbs. of potatoes and 3 heads of cabbage. A respectable feast, but by no means the largest she's ever made.



Usually, Mom also makes 2 loaves of her famed Irish Soda Bread. We wait all year to bite into a sugar-glazed slice of that warm, currant-filled goodness. But due to a scheduling snafu, this year, for the first time, I was entrusted to bake the pair of golden loaves.
I took this responsibility very seriously. I measured the ingredients, mixed the dough and handled it exactly as Mom had directed. (Except I did add a tad more buttermilk because my dough was a skosh dry.) Long story short--my loaves passed inspection (see photo above) and were devoured with great enthusiasm. They were so good, in fact, that Mom decreed the task of making soda bread each year would now pass to me!



So, here for your enjoyment, Reader, is that treasured Irish Soda Bread recipe. If you'd also like to know the secret to Mom's outstanding corned beef & cabbage, drop me a line.

Irish Soda Bread
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3 tbl. sugar (for dough)
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup currants (or raisins)
1 1/3 cups buttermilk

For Glaze:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup hot water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Stir in raisins.
Add buttermilk until blended. Dough will be very sticky.
Turn onto lightly-floured board and knead 10 times.
Shape into 8 inch round loaf and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Make an "X" in the top of the loaf.
Bake for 45 minutes.
Glaze with sugar & water solution and bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve warm with sweet cream butter.