A Photo A Day [Day 142]

Witness the beheading of Marie Antoinette. It's amazing that such high-quality photographic evidence of the event exists.
Theme: Mid air

A Photo A Day [Day 141]

I was trying to follow The Daily Shoot's theme of photographing something with a soft look by capturing my soft, fluffy fleece jacket. Then Bunsen came along and helped me get an even better shot.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Coffee Cake

Yup, this creation is pretty much exactly what the name suggests and it's absolutely delicious! I know that I bake a lot, which is why I try to limit myself to only one or two servings of everything I produce, but with this I somehow found the excuse to have some both for breakfast at the beginning of the day and dessert at the end. I'm surprised by how buttery the cake tasted despite only using one stick of butter. And yes, I know I just further cemented my status as delusional when I use the word "only" to describe something that contains over 800 calories and about 90 grams of fat. Not to mention that I cleverly neglected to mention the additional 1/4 cup of butter called for in the streusel.

The cake on its own would be divine as it's light, buttery, moist, and flavorful. But add oats and layer it with cinnamon brown sugar streusel, raisins, and chopped nuts and it becomes irresistible. For good measure I also threw in some white chocolate chips, not called for in the original recipe but a brilliant idea if I may say so myself. Either way this is a must-try recipe!

Note: I don't own a 9" pan (as called for in the recipe) so used my 10" springform without any ill results. In fact, the slices were so thick that even if I had the choice I'd go with the 10" pan.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Coffee Cake
Recipe adapted from Baking Bites

For the cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup quick cooking oats
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup white chocolate chips

For the streusel filling/topping
1/4 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup toasted pecans, chopped (I used walnuts)

1) Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9-inch (or 10-inch) springform pan.
2) In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, quick cooking oatmeal, baking powder and salt.
3) In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by half of the buttermilk and the vanilla. Then, blend in add half of the remaining flour, the rest of the buttermilk, and finally the last of the flour. Fold in white chocolate chips. Set aside to prepare topping.
4) For the topping, combine flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in a medium mixing bowl and stir well. Rub butter into the mixture with your fingertips (or by pulsing a a food processor) until mixture resembles coarse sand.
5) Pour half of the batter into the springform pan. Top with half of the topping mixture. Evenly sprinkle raisins and pecans in a single layer. Pour remaining batter on top and spread carefully to the sides of the pan. Sprinkle all remaining topping over the batter.
6) Bake in a 9-inch round springform pan
7) Bake for 45-50 minutes (adjust time if using 10-inch pan), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow cake to cool on a wire rack until it is room temperature before running a knife around the edge and removing the springform. Store in an airtight container.

Serves 10.

A Photo A Day [Day 140]

Here's my tribute to The Italian Job. This is but a small sample of my extensive Mini collection. I might have a bit of an obsession. That's perfectly normal, right?

Theme: movie scene

Rejoice! I Finally Sewed Something!

I don't know why I've been dragging my feet so much when it comes to sewing projects. Sad to say, this is the first thing I've sewn all year and it's such a simple item to whip up that I have no excuse for not making it sooner. When I saw a tutorial at Is It Naptime Yet? for a tea wallet I was intrigued, but couldn't decide if I'd use it enough to warrant making one for myself. Then Christmas rolled around and I realized it would make a perfect gift for a friend of mine. Fortunately she doesn't mind tardiness when it comes to presents.

Once I forced myself to cut out the pieces — and we're talking simple rectangular pieces here, nothing fancy — the entire thing sewed together very quickly. With all of the pressing and topstitching it looks professional and I was pleased to find the perfect button for her in my stash. The tutorial also includes some tips at the bottom for altering the pattern to make a credit card wallet so I might give that a whirl for myself.

A Photo A Day [Day 139]

Now that I'm on a roll I'm quite enjoying this week's theme (movie scene) and am sad it's ending tomorrow because I've got lots of great ideas. Here I am as The Other Mother from Coraline. I have buttons for eyes. Wouldn't you like some too?

A Photo A Day [Day 138]

For some reason I always find myself in the mood to re-watch The Third Man at the beginning of each new year, and this one was no exception. With this year's viewing I found myself reaching back into the recesses of my mind for the tiny bit of knowledge I've retained from an interesting college course I took about mysteries in film and literature. It was an online course and, let's be honest, an easy credit since most of the assignments were to do things I already spent most of my spare time doing: read and watch movies. The teacher had us scrounge up obscure old films like Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt and analyze the various camera angles and avant-gard effects employed. Between that and the few shot-by-shot workshops I got to attend with Roger Ebert at our local film festival I thought I'd become quite the film expert. But while watching The Third Man this year I realized how much of its beauty I've missed and I was especially struck by the use of shadows, particularly in a scene where a little boy is chasing the protagonist around the streets of Vienna accusing him of being a murderer. At one point he totters around a corner and an ominous shadow precedes him. Now, I already find children to be terrifying creatures so that shot in particular caught my attention. Here's my recreation of that scene.

Don't worry; I was able to use an action figure in place of a real child so I didn't have to come into contact with any of those scary critters. I know you were concerned for my well being.