Winter Greetings

God has blessed us with a soft blanket of snow.

Surprise, surprise! I'm still alive and well contrary to all that this blog would testify to. Thinking back to when I last posted, I honestly can't tell you exactly what happened or why I stopped blogging. I may have lost an interest in taking photos everyday. I don't know. Much has happened since then, though. I've survived a year and a half of the university life. I have learned an abundance of Spanish and been pushed out of my comfort zone more times than I can count. I've traveled to Phoenix and lived with a wonderful Mexican family for three weeks (which will probably be the hottest summer of my life). I have experienced much and learned more than that. I'm thankful to God for His grace in my life.

Will I start blogging regularly again? I wish I could say yes. But because I will be at school for two more years, and I won't have the time or the resources to continue. I did have fun with the blog and will always looks back to it with happy memories. And who knows. Maybe when I'm graduated and continued on with life I will pick it up again...

Lydia's Senior Pictures

I am so blessed to have friends who allow me to take their senior pictures! :)  I really am.  I spent several hours with Lydia last week which gave me time to photograph her in several different outfits and locations. She plays the piano regularly at our church and at times I think that she is not able to think of anything else.  However she also finds time to spend time with her most beloved horses (I remember years ago, how she babbled on about owning a horse one day, when she drew one horse picture after another and prayed continuously that soon God would gift her with one of her own...) and that was certainly an awesome experience to photograph the two of them together.

Sarah's Senior Pictures

The time has come when all my friends are graduating and in need of senior pictures.  This is special, because I have the privilege of going out with them and snapping a billion and two pictures of beautiful people, while laughing and having fun all the while.

Sarah lives in the country, and her "front yard" consists of fields of grass.  She wanted pictures with the hay bales so when the grass was cut and baled together, she called me up and we strolled out into the field, snapping those pictures.

Sad News

We have transferred our internet to limited connection, and I will thus not be able to upload pictures from home.  I do wish to keep posting, and will try to make it to the library.   I am making no promises, however, as taking a trip to the library is much more time consuming than taking a sitting at your home computer a whole 20 steps away!  

Blueberry Scones

I've stumbled upon the thought of baking scones before, but I never actually searched out the right recipe and started whipping the ingredients together.  Until today.

I glanced at the scones pictured in the cook book before, but wasn't very interested until I had tried one.  My Pastor's wife is very skillful in the kitchen and never failed to prepare a tasty treat for us youth.  One Sunday morning, when I saw that she had made scones, I knew I couldn't pass them up.  They were different.  I would say that it tastes much like a cross between shortbread and the biscuit.  And they were delicious. I decided today would be the day I needed to make my own scones.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cake flour, (not self-rising)
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 ounces (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 cup (1/2 pint) blueberries
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg lightly beaten for egg wash
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Fine sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together flours, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter, or rub in with your fingers, until mixture has the texture of coarse meal. Stir in blueberries.
3. Whisk together buttermilk, 1 egg, and the vanilla. Drizzle over flour mixture, and stir lightly with a fork until dough comes together but a small amount of flour remains in bowl.
4. Turn out dough onto a work surface, and gently knead dough once or twice just to incorporate flour. Pat dough into a 1-inch-thick round. Cut into 12 wedges. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Brush with egg wash, and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake until golden brown and cooked through, about 22 minutes. Transfer scones to wire racks to cool.

I would most definitely recommend this yummy snack and will be baking many more, as I realize that I could use some more practice in this art of scone-making. :)