G&T

I like to look through cookbooks for inspiration from time to time. Actually, compared to most kitchens, I think ours has quite a collection of cookbooks. It is kind of funny how much the photography can effect the quality of a cookbook. People say not to judge a book by its cover, but the other day I looked through a cookbook with some less-than-perfect photography and it really didn't make me want to cook anything.

One cookbook that I do like is All Cakes Considered, an accumulation of recipes by NPR's self-proclaimed cake lady, Melissa Gray. It also features that photography of Annabelle Breakey. Often, after finding a book I like I will go to the photographer's website to see what other work they do. Breakey's whole book is really strong, but I was particularly inspired by her beverage work. This is what I came up with.

Going Outside

As the weather gets nicer I try to spend as much time outside as possible. For me that means shooting more outside the studio. Luckily, Lawrence offers some great locations for shooting.

The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics is a building that just begs to be photographed. I've been there a couple times and depending on the time of day you can usually find some really interesting shadows on the front facade. This time I chose to see what it looked like as the sun was going down.

The Merc is probably my favorite place in town; or at least, it seems, I spend more time there than anywhere else. I try to support local business and local food, so naturally I buy most of my groceries at The Merc. I feel really lucky to live somewhere that has a local food option and I can't help but think I need to take advantage of it.

Happy Valentine's Day

We got a little extravagant this year for Valentine's Day. In 2009 NPR and Melissa Gray released a cookbook titled All Cakes Considered, I knew it was going to be a must have in our kitchen. For Valentine's Day Emily decided to try what is arguably the most difficult recipe in the book; I think it takes fewer steps to launch the space shuttle.

The $30 spent on the ingredients and the four hours making the cake were totally worth it once I got my camera pointed at it, plus I still got to eat it.

And, yes, it was delicious.