Heidi Herrera Studio

The Sunday Evening Post - 3/27

 

I'm not sure what it is about having new babies in the house. Maybe it's just having two more little ones to snuggle, to make laugh and smile...but I have felt my heart swell with love since they were born. I feel like it's filling every little corner and crevice. I am so happy.

Which, in no way means that I don't get upset when little ones do this to their hair...

 

 

 

Until I had children, I thought there was some sort of perfect life waiting out there for me. I know that's also a young person's perception. I think without children I would have come to the conclusion that there is no perfection in life but it would have taken me a lot longer to realize it. I think it took me about 15 minutes to stop freaking out over Em cutting her beautiful hair before getting her in front of my camera phone. This is a moment I will give her a hard time about for the rest of her life. A moment we will laugh about. One she'll never live down.

What I do know is that there are perfect moments. They may be fleeting, but they are there. You just have to look. And in my case, you just have to capture them.

Our weekend's more perfect moments...

 

 

He looks a little grouchy, but he's harmless and such a fabulous husband and daddy.

 

 

Chunky sweet Elise.

 

 

Saturday evening sunshine calls for a walk!

 

 

Alina's watching the view finder...and more Sunday evening sillies...

 

 

 

 

  

 

How could I not LOVE this imperfect life?

Maybe I Should Rename My Blog to the Mishap Chef

Ok, I say that in the most humorous way possible. But sometimes navigating myself through the culinary world, that exists in my kitchen at least, becomes quite an adventure!

I have two little ones. One is four, the other is two. They continue to amaze me with their interest in the kitchen, they always want to know what's on the stove or in the oven. They always want to help in some way. As a mom who wants to share the wondrous fun of the kitchen, I try to involve them in any way possible.

Of course, I do the prep work like warming stuff, dicing, chopping...the typical dangerous to little hands and fingers type stuff. I really get a kick out of letting them play with their food though. So, last night, they topped their own pizza! Super fun for them and no danger to anyone...or so I thought!

First the cheese!

Then a nibble!

Then tomatoes, olives and mushrooms!

And another nibble! (That's the best part about helping mommy in the kitchen!)

Then bake in the oven at 500 degrees until the crust turns all brown and bubbly! But a word to the wise! If you happen to like to get your crust paper thin like this...

...please make sure your toppings are as dry as possible!!! i.e. use a very thin layer of thick sauce, don't pile the cheese and toppings too high! And most of all, make sure to remove those tomato seeds from those tomatoes!

I didn't remember to follow any of my advice and I'm kicking myself for not getting a picture of the girl's pizza as I was taking it from the oven...the middle pulled right out of it on one side and cheese seemed to make it's way into the far depths of the oven. Oh, the pizza was still yummy and edible and we were able to salvage enough of a decent slice for a few pictures. But I gave myself a mentally forehead slap! Next time the girls help me make a pizza, I will be sure to keep the dough nice and thick!

That's the girl's pizza in the background, the parent's pizza up front...I forgot to take the tomato seeds out of our tomatoes too! Another mental forehead slap! Duh! Amazing how you forget things when you take a month or more off from making it. Perhaps a recipe card with tips for pizza making would come in handy in the future! :)

We rounded out our meal with watermelon topped with fresh mint, honey and rosewater...super yummy unless you're Lily and, well, she prefers hers plain thank you!

 
All in all, having the girl's help in the kitchen was the highlight of my evening. The pizza could have have been even more disastrous but it still would have been worth it to have those little hands helping. My goal is to get them involved a little more every day! Someday I might actually want to take a break from the kitchen and I'm gonna need a few little helpers to whip something up for dinner! *wink*

The pizza dough recipe I work with is from Fine Cooking Magazine's, Real Italian issue, and I love it because it rises anywhere from eight hours to three days in the fridge and is made all in my kitchen aid! With kiddos, fast and easy is best!

Cherry Pie Despite Me

I started cleaning like mad lately (nesting already?) and this morning was no exception. The kitchen has been my main target these days. So much happens in there, so it always needs cleaning! By the time I got to pitting cherries for my pie I think I was already a bit tired, but still determined. We have so many cherries, I can't stand to see them go to waste! So whatever we have post pie making is going in the freezer...for more pie of course!

Pitting cherries is tedious work. I tested out the straw poking method and that was a major flop and I could think of nothing better than cutting the cherries in half and pulling out the pit! T.e.d.i.o.u.s.! But I got to eat a few along the way and had plenty to share with the girlies.

My next major test came with the rolling of the dough, it just kept tearing...why oh why? Wetter dough maybe, better rolling pin pehaps, or just more practice and improved technique?

Then it seemed I didn't have enough filling...I think I could have doubled the cherries and still not filled the pie too full (I was feeling a little discouraged and thinking the worst at this point!). But, what's a girl to do when the dough is all rolled out and the filling all made? Well, I forged ahead! I poured in the filling that I had, topped it with my rolled out dough, crimped and baked!

And the house began to smell amazing!

And the pie baked beautifully!

And it looked amazing topped with vanilla ice cream!

And it tasted awesome! Just ask my husband! :)

Even I was impressed!

It truly pays to persevere! So, when you think it's all just gowing to fall apart or blow up in your face...you might come out the other side amazed and pleasantly surprised! I sure did!
  

Realities and Blessings

This post is totally and completely inspired by Maegan. Her realities and blessings post got me thinking about this week. It was a bit on the rough side.

Reality: I got a new computer and was unable to find my installation disks for my entire Adobe Creative Suite.

Blessing: Hey I got a new computer and can download photos 100 times faster than before and I downloaded the Adobe Lightroom 3 beta version and I love it, it has glitches but now I remember how easy it is to use and I want to own it as soon as it becomes available. Plus, I might have found a way to get my Creative Suite up and running, still not sure yet though!

Reality: My husband tried to remove one of the drives from my old computer and place it into the new computer, it didn't work, he's worried that all the data is gone...more than a year's worth of my photos may be completely gone, no backup, no nothing. Just gone. I cried.

Blessing: What I would miss most of those photos are the ones of my girls but I still have my girls and I can still take more photos of them. Plus, some of the photos were uploaded to Flickr, thank god for Flickr...they have my signature and are smaller files but I still have something. We have one more avenue to explore before giving up on the drive so I still have hope...a little shred of hope.

Reality: Emma is officially starting her terrible twos...tantrums, no-no-no, yelling, she actually goes into her room and closes the door! She's not even two yet!

Blessing: She's much easier to cope with than Lily ever was and I can almost always break her out of her tantrum by making her laugh!

Reality: It has rained a lot this week, rain = being cooped up inside.

Blessing: Due to the rain, we went out and got new umbrellas!!! I got a clear, bubble umbrella, thus fulfilling a long standing fantasy of mine! The girls got Tinkerbell and Princess umbrellas that they had been eyeing at Target! Plus, today's rain storm produced the most magical afternoon!!!

So, there are a few of my realities and blessings for this week. This might just become a habit!

A plan, a hiccup, a triumph!

   

Today I made crème brulée...twice! It began several months ago. I wanted Julia Child's, The Art of Mastering French Cooking. My husband, knowing this, forced me to get it on one of my particularly yucky days. As you can imagine, it brightened my mood instantly! I found crème brulée in the recipe index and decided that would be the very first recipe of hers I would attempt. As luck would have it, all my hinting (uh, whining more likely) either convinced my mother in law that I truly wanted a kitchen grade torch, or she just wanted to shut me up! But who cares, it is the best Christmas present I've ever gotten! Thanks grandma!

It started out well, heat cream, whip the yolks with the sugar, combine, add extract, heat on stovetop, chill, sprinkle with more sugar and torch!

That's me torching in pigtails! I'm thinking of starting a pigtail Tuesday series on flickr.

Anyhow, It looked pretty good, it did, but it wasn't...it resembled a very thick soup, not so good. *sigh*

But wait! We already invited our friends over for dinner...I just kept thinking of Kristina as I was preparing the crème brulée. She was so disappointed the last time we went out, she tried and hated the crème brulée at some restaurant, which shall remain nameless. So, we called, invited, invite accepted...but now no crème brulée? unacceptable! What's a girl to do? Aha, try again! To the store I went, cream, eggs, beer...uh...dinner was enchiladas, beans and rice, you can't skip the beer! And don't mention the fact that crème brulée does not go with mexican food...it was a last minute dinner invite, ok?

Ok, new recipe, this time Martha...she actually bakes her crème brulée, and it makes a bigger batch which = leftovers. :) Again, heat cream only this time add sugar and vanilla bean (first time ever with vanilla bean, go me!), whip the yolks with the sugar, combine, place in ramekins, place in waterbath, bake, chill, sprinkle with more sugar and torch!

We did the torching right at the table in front of our friends...nothing like dinner and a show! They cheered me on and got excited right along with me as my torching skills improved with each new heart shaped ramekin. Then, the taste test. Oh yeah, did I mention that I've never even tried crème brulée before? It's a good thing our friends were there, I wouldn't have know wether or not I did a good job...and did I? According to Kristina, it was the best crème brulée she had ever had. The number of "mmmm, this is so good" and "oh, i think this is the best" were pretty assuring. Success! And me, I had seconds.

Sadly, I failed with Julia, I guess I will just have to try another recipe of hers. Somehow, though, I doubt that will be too much of a problem. 

Lessons to Learn and Park Rangers to Entertain

 
I love it when the weatherman is wrong, as long as it results in sunshine! Such a beautiful morning to go out for a walk and a photo shoot! We set up our shoot along the back-road path by the river. The girls worked so hard to lay out the little candy hearts for me, not eating a single one. Near the end of the shoot, it happened, Emma walked right in front of me and smashed my focal point heart...I think it said "be mine," I got upset for a moment and then looked up along the line of hearts and realized she had done me a favor...there in plain sight was a heart that said "forever." Much more meaningful, as I had hoped my line of candy hearts would drift into the background and appear to go on forever. I have been trying so hard to make this a mindset for myself, to realize that the little mishaps in life are often blessings in disguise and just go with the flow. There's so much our children can teach us as we try to teach them.

So, there I was, lying flat on my belly, eye to my camera and in the background I hear a car pull to a stop. It's not unusual for a park ranger to drive along these trails and they are the only ones allowed with motor vehicles so I felt pretty safe. I was a little nervous however, here I was with valentine candies scattered all along the ground, I almost expected him to chastise me for making such a mess. But as I stood, he looked relived, I told him I was sorry to be in his way and that we were just having a morning photo shoot. He chuckled and said he was nervous when he saw me laying on the ground and wanted to make sure we were alright. I told him we were just getting dirty, lying on the ground this morning, he chuckled again, returned to his truck and backed off the road, leaving us to our clean-up. Phew! Just to make sure though, the girls and I picked up every little piece of candy! I don't want to be responsible for little bunnies and birdies streaking through the park all hopped up on sugar!!! :)

A beautiful day and then the ER

 
Our morning started out perfect, just beautiful. A yummy, hearty breakfast, then clothes and boots, hats and gloves and out the door we went. I have been dying to get out and take the girl's pictures, it's been too long! This nasty (much needed) rain has kind of hindered our outdoor excursions of late and it felt so good to get outside. We hadn't wandered down to the river since sometime last summer and now that Emma is older, she's so much easier to let loose and wander to her heart's desire. I even threw in some bubbles to sweeten the pot, Emma ended up spilling all of hers of course, but she's learning and she enjoys her sister's bubbles in the meantime. After the river, cut short by a potty-break, I couldn't quite decide if we should head home or make a quick stop at the park, remembering the looming threat of rain that's supposed to last for-e-v-e-r, the decision was made, off to the park we went. Hind sight. Oh boy. Sigh.

They went running, swinging, sliding, just having fun, fun, fun. Until, Lily decided she had to try to slide down the pole, she reached, she jumped, she missed and landed 5 feet below into the bark, she paused, then screamed. It all happened in the blink of an eye. I remember looking away for a second to make sure Emma was doing ok and out of the corner of my eye I saw it all happen. I still felt the smile on my face as I tuned and looked down at Lily whose breath was knocked out of her, a look of astonishment on her own face. My face crumpled. My first thought was how that must have hurt and how I hoped her back was ok. I just grabbed her and rocked her as she screamed. In time, I was able to get Emma to slide down the slide and her and Lily to walk slowly to the stroller. I was so scared when Lily got out of the stroller at home, hunched over, clutching her back, having a hard time walking. Needless to say, we ended up in the ER. They checked her out, gave her the A-ok and home we went.

I'm so relieved. She's now running around the house with Emma and she really wants to Wii, both good signs. Though the Wii will have to wait until tomorrow. Rest is what mommy has prescribed! It's amazing how a day can change so fast! Phew.

False Start

 

1. I dropped my iphone into my coffee cup.
2. My very favorite, most used, 50 mm lens got dropped to the floor, where it split open like an easter egg.
3. The 4runner was stolen, relieved of it's tires and rims and other miscellaneous items. Upon recovery, it was dragged by the tow truck causing damage to the brakes.
4. In the midst of these heavy California storms, the roof started leaking, rain started pouring in through the ceiling in our bedroom, it is now collecting in a bucket.
5. The wind ripped our fence apart in two separate places, we patched it as well as we could. See, it's still strong enough to hold my iced white mocha!

Thus began our New Year. Our house hunting has come to a screeching halt, our dreams of moving completely obliterated. I am officially declaring a false start to this New Year!!!! I'm beginning to think these are all signs, signs that we are not supposed to move yet. I find myself believing there is some unseen force out there gently, or perhaps not so gently, nudging us in the direction that will ultimately lead us to our happiest possibilities. I'm ok with that. Additionally, I was able to replace the 50 mm lens (thanks to a very exciting project in the works!) and my iphone has finally stopped declaring it's incompatibility with "this charging device" (when I'm not even trying to charge it) and has fully recovered it's sound capabilities. The hubby is, as this is being typed, in the garage beginning to repair the 4runner. When the rain dies down, we will begin work on the roof and talks with the neighbor to determine how best to fix the fence. I am finally past the emotional breakdown stage of all of this. Amazingly I still believe that 2010 is full of possibility, it just has to be.