Archive for February, 2010

places : wilderness state park

February 8, 2010

It’s February and the sun has been shining the last few days.  Yet… we’re all probably getting a little bit ready for summer. :)  I thought this might be the perfect opportunity to share one of my favorite summertime places in the world with you.

Wilderness State Park is located 11 miles west of Mackinaw City, at the northern tip of the Lower Penninsula of Michigan.  The majority of the many miles of shoreline consist of wide sandy beaches with scattered cobble, backed by one of the best developed and most diverse forested dune complexes in Michigan, with some spectacular wetland areas mixed throughout (source, Michigan DNR).

Personally, Wilderness State Park holds a special place in my heart. Ever since I was a little wee one, my family would travel up north with our trailer in tow and spend a week or two at the campground.  It holds so many special family memories – such as bike rides to the doughnut store with my grandma’s loud bike “bell” (ring, ring!! a car is coming!!!), blueberry doughnuts with white icing at 6am in the morning with my dad, crazy trips to the “city” while my cousin and I were learning how to drive, the family photo “bench”… I could continue for hours :).

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These pictures were taken just this summer. Although we don’t head up north to camp any more, we generally take at least one trip per summer to visit Wilderness State Park and the doughnut store – and of course visit Mackinac Island! This year, while driving around Wilderness, we discovered a restored lighthouse tucked away by the lake: McGulpin Point. It was beautiful and very photo-worthy – originally built in 1868! The lighthouse is being restored by the citizens of Emmet county who are working to restore it to it’s original beauty and bring back it’s life as a lighthouse! Just an example of the gems you can find when you head up to northern Michigan :)

If you live or are visiting Michigan, make sure to make a stop to Wilderness State Park. Otherwise… enjoy this little bit of summer while we wait for the next snowstorm to blow through :)

**fun fact: during the month of February, we’ll gain almost 40 minutes of sunshine :)

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maple walnut cupcakes

February 5, 2010

WECLOME!!! – to capturing subtleties new & improved blog!!!  Not only are the photos bigger, but the content is changing quite a bit!

I am excited to launch this brand new blog – which will, like my old blog, cover all my photo sessions.  Yet, between my sessions, I found that I kept wanting to blog about every single thing that inspired me – such as food, nature, design and everything in between.  So get ready, because I’m inspired by a lot of odd things… which will in turn make it to this very blog :)

Today – it’s food.  I am due with our first child in about two days.  For some reason, my first week of maternity leave, I started getting the baking “bug.”  I’ve been baking cookies, candies and… cupcakes.  These were for a co-worker’s birthday, and I decided to try a brand new recipe from none other than Martha Stewart.  Maple-Walnut Cupcakes with Maple Butter Frosting.

I searched and searched (and googled “best cupcakes ever”) to find a recipe.  I searched for two days (really) and I decided on these.  “Not your traditional chocolate cupcake,” I thought!  Way to be a great baker!  Original and yummy sounding, how could I go wrong?  Okay, so I’m going to be honest. I guess I can’t make cupcakes… yet.  They weren’t that good (I say that but I’m still eating them out of my refrigerator a week later).  I just expected moist, gooey cupcakes… and got somewhat dry cupcakes. Maybe it’s my fault as I used fat free milk and fat free cream?  I’ve still got a long way to go to become professional, but I still think they were completely worth it.  Read on for the recipe if you want to give them a shot :).

Maple Walnut Cupcakes:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups (5 1/2 ounces) walnuts, chopped medium-fine

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners. Into a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (helllooo Martha Stewart Mixer! LOVE IT), beat butter and sugar on medium speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat until combined. With the mixer still on medium speed, add the flour mixture in two parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour. Stir in walnuts with a wooden spoon (maybe you should use 2% milk – I didn’t).
3. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating pans halfway through (also didn’t do this… think that was the mistake?), until cupcakes are golden and a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer the pans to a wire rack to cool slightly. Invert cupcakes onto the rack; then reinvert and let them cool completely, top sides up. Frost tops with frosting and garnish with candied walnuts (I used pecans), if using. Cupcakes can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Maple Butter Frosting:
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons cream
1/2 teaspoon maple flavored extract

Directions:
Beat the butter or margarine, confectioners sugar, milk, and maple flavoring in a bowl until smooth. Add more milk or confectioners sugar as needed. (note: this was fantastic. bowl-lickable. and I still smell like maple.)

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