Chocolate Peppermint Truffles

It's our yearly winter tradition to make chocolate truffles. We've experimented with different flavors over the years, but our hands-down favorite is peppermint!

Peppermint Chocolate Truffles

1 8-oz.(eight ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3 cups confectioners' sugar,
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1 1/2 tsp. pure peppermint extract (or extract of your choice, such as vanilla, orange, almond)
Crushed peppermints for rolling, optional

1. Beat cream cheese until smooth in a large bowl. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until well blended.
2. Stir in melted chocolate until no streaks remain. Mix in peppermint extract. Refrigerate for about 1 hour. Shape into 1-inch balls and roll in crushed peppermints. Store in parchment-lined candy tins in a cool place. Makes about 60 truffles.

Amber | Newborn

I had the marvelous opportunity last week to take newborn photos of precious little Amber, the newest arrival at our church. I've never done a newborn session before, so it was a great learning experience and so much fun! After taking some pictures with Amber's big sister and brother (ages 2 and 3) beforehand, you really appreciate how cooperative a newborn is. :-)

She is absolutely adorable and sweet and... well, I want her. Unfortunately when I asked her mom if I could have her, I got a negative response. *sigh* I guess the pictures will have to do for me. :-)

A favorite. :-)

For the second set of bed shots we put a pink feather boa underneath...

I think I like it better than the plain bed.

Two more favorites... I love how there is the tiniest hint of a smile in the one on the left.

Thanks to Josh & Abbey for letting me come take photos of their little sweetie!

Lookie what just came!

Yep, Adobe Lightroom! Whoo hoo!

And stay tuned - I can't wait to share pictures with you from my first newborn session....!!

I Heart Faces - Furry Faces

Now is as good a time as any to introduce the newest member of the family... Katije! Her name is a Russian name which was originally spelled Katya, but then we used the Dutch spelling (ij in Dutch equals a y) so that in Dutch it means "Little Cat." Yes, it's a bit complicated, but it works for us. :-) She is 2 years old and is a retired breeder. And as you can see, she's quite feisty. :-)

I'll be posting some more pictures of her at some point, so c'mon back later!

Winter Sparkle

Last week we had our first snow! It didn't even last the whole day, but toward the middle of the day, it had started to melt in the sun but it was still cold enough that it formed ice crystals on the bushes. I was having a lot of fun with bokeh. :-)

Also, if any of you are interested, a good friend of mine is looking to sell her Nikon D80... it comes with the 18-135mm lens, battery, charger and computer cable. You can view her Craigslist ad here! I've seen the pictures they have taken with this camera and it produces very nice shots (which I admit in spite of my love for Canon :-).

I Heart Faces - On Your Feet!

... or, off them. :-) You might have seen this one before in the baseball post a while back; but it's too cute not to use again for this week's theme! One of my favorite little people goofing around at the baseball field.

If my sister went to the beach in the 1940's...

She'd probably look a lot like this. :-) Check out her blog for more pictures from the photo shoot I did of her new dress!

The Granola Recipe

Ashlei requested the recipe for the granola, so here it is for her and anyone else who might like to mix up a batch for themselves. :-)

Vanilla Almond Spice Granola

4 cups uncooked oatmeal
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup honey
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raisins

Mix oatmeal and cinnamon. Add honey and vanilla and mix until oatmeal is evenly coated. Stir in almonds and sunflower seeds. Spread in a thin layer on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350ºF for about 10 minutes; stir, and then back another 5-10 minutes. You want the oats to get a nice toasty color but not get burnt (though I've burned it before and it doesn't taste THAT bad :-). Remove the granola from the oven and let cool. Stir in the raisins and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. (We usually eat it up fast enough to just keep it on the shelf, but it will probably last longer if you refrigerate it).
Enjoy!