Michelle Loewen Photography

snow day

admin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:13:06 +0000

there is nothing like the excitement on a victoria child’s face, when they wake up and see snow. the sounds of delighted screams i am sure could have been heard across town from our house this morning when i told the kids that the school was closed and they could stay home and play. they jumped out of bed, pulled their ski pants over their pj’s and off they went to sled down our perfectly suited driveway. it seems funny to me, having grown up with snow as a kid my whole life that this fluffy white stuff is now such a novelty to my own children. usually now we have to vacation to go and find the snow rather then to vacation to get away from it, so waking up to so much of it this morning was a pretty little surprise! i secretly hope it doesn’t last long as it really does cause problems in our city, since we really are not well prepared to deal with the very icy conditions on the road it causes, but i hope it lasts long enough for my kids to get their winter fill. it may be the one and only time it snows. the bottom photos are taken before breakfast at about 8am and the top two taken at noon. amazing how the time of day can make such a difference to a photograph. they were taken in the exact same spot in the yard.

lean

admin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:57:31 +0000

lean… well at least that is the plan, i never make new years resolutions, so please understand that this is not one of them! but i have decided to cut a few things out of my life. i know it sounds sad, but really it isn’t. i need to fixate on something anyway and this seems like the perfect thing. first off is spending. we have spent the past year spending way too much money. we have not too much to show for it either. no major purchases, nothing that people walk in the door and say “wow i love your…” not that i care about that stuff anyway, but seriously somehow my husband and i have managed to shop away some pretty good money. new socks, new shoes, new boots, new jackets, new kids clothes, new watches, new cutting boards… while i think it is important to have nice things, i do not think it is important if you have to purchase them on a credit card. so this year for us i would love to make only cash purchases.

so if you are still with me, then that is my number one lean plan.

my number two lean plan is eating. i spent pretty much all of last year cooking up a pretty yummy storm. i loved it. loved cooking, loved sharing it and loved photographing it. but it left me with about 7 extra pounds at christmas time. so i am almost a week into my plan of cutting out sugar and bread/wheat. now i won’t go crazy with my new regime, and i will still cook and feed my kids and family the usual but i will not be eating sugar, just for the sake of eating sugar. nor bread, i am pretty sure that by cutting out just these two things i will be back to where i was before christmas and maybe even better. so there, i have said it, so if you see me walking down the street with a slurpee and a piece of licorice in hand, and a baguette in my back pocket you are totally allowed to say something! and for those of you who say i don’t need to lose the weight, thank you, you are very kind, but it goes with number one. my jeans don’t fit me very well anymore and i can’t afford to buy new ones!

happy new year

admin — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 22:55:44 +0000

have a wonderful and safe new years eve. ours will be spent with family in our cozy home. xoxo

Merry Christmas

admin — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 04:00:37 +0000

i hope you and your family have the best christmas. we say goodbye to our elf jingle tonight. my kids will be sad to see him go, as he has brought much fun to our home. last night he wrote all over the mirror in the bathroom with toothpaste. i am so glad he picked the tube of really gross bubblegum flavor. and i am including photos of my all time favorite home made christmas ornament. my kids made them with their teacher in grade three. they are made from small pieces of driftwood from the beach. so simple yet so beautiful and fitting for us living near the ocean without snow. for those of you with snow, please throw a snowball for us. xoxo

family

admin — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:27:08 +0000

we just celebrated an early christmas with family in chilliwack. tim’s dad and wife have a beautiful home on the mountain. we took advantage of the sunny weather to photograph his step sister and her darling daughters. my children had a blast playing with all of the cousins and the giant slumber party in grandpa and grandma’s room was pretty special.

more sugary treats

admin — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:19:18 +0000

i know, i know, too many food posts! since cutting down on business almost a year ago today i pretty much only blog my dog, my kids or my baking. so i assume that if you are still following my blog, then thats okay. i am finding the darkness really hard to work with in terms of photography. i love baking in the afternoon, some of the stuff is just so wonderful i would love to share it, but then its too dark to take photos in my kitchen. so i always plan to the next day, and most often the treats don’t last until the next day in our home. these treats were made for gifts and i started early this morning. with enough time to photograph before eating. two of my favorite christmas treats, the chocolate fudge cookies that i love to eat and love to make, and toffee, with chocolate and nuts. such a simple recipe, just sugar and butter heated until it reaches 285 on a candy thermometer and then pour in a pan (lined with parchment) the sugar and butter of equal parts. i did two cups sugar, one pound of butter and thats it. it made a huge huge pan. i also toasted the nuts prior to adding them. and of course some fine dark chocolate. the better the chocolate the better it tastes. i buy mine from a local bakery. i found the exact same box for double the price at a specialty store. in the below photo, our elf on the shelf makes an appearance… the little elf has been doing the sneakiest things in our home. the kids think its the funniest thing ever! having jingle the elf is way more fun then an advent calendar.

cranberries

admin — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 04:42:07 +0000

a very easy and delicious treat. just soak fresh cranberries in a simple syrup overnight. then drain and toss in sugar. i used an organic cane sugar. a wonderful snack on their own or perfect for a cheese plate at christmas. even the kids couldn’t resist them. the only mistake i made was putting a bit to much sugar on them, and putting them into a bowl before the sugar dried. i would lay them on a tray until they dried (about an hour) before putting them into a bowl. the sugar actually dries and sticks really well. inspired by the recipe on 101 cookbooks website.

adorable niece

admin — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 04:17:21 +0000

it had been way to long since we had a visit from little hazel. she is such a delight to be around. her visit seemed to lift everyone’s spirits and there was a smile on our faces as she chattered and sang the whole weekend. her new baby brother or sister on the way will be very lucky to have such a happy, and very funny big sister. only a little over two months until we meet the newest little kaldestad.

smelling like christmas

admin — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 04:25:06 +0000

the smell of gingersnaps always makes me think of winter and of christmas. these turned out terrific. just an average recipe with the addition of fresh grated ginger and chopped candied ginger, along with silk road ginger spices. delicious and wonderful smelling. i am getting a bit smarter, by keeping the dough in the fridge and only baking about a dozen at a time.

december

admin — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:57:17 +0000

the start of an amazing month. i can’t wait for christmas, for family, for food and for celebration!