1,000 Awesome Things writer winding down beloved blog

1,000 Awesome Things writer winding down beloved blog | CTV News.

Through my lens: small photography portfolio

This slideshow covers a very broad viewpoint of some of the photojournalism and photo essays I have been working on over the past few months.

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Cupid’s day of reign

It’s Valentines Day, and I’m in a long distance relationship. There are a lot of sad, bitter things I could try to complain about right now, but in the spirit of this romantic 24 hours, I have decided to opt out of the “I-hate-my-love-life” Valentine rant.

So today, I am granting all couples a get-out-of-jail-free card. Go ahead, make out on the escalator in front of me. I’ll be applauding you when we reach the top.

What other way to celebrate the most romantic day of the year than with wedding pictures. I had the wonderful experience of attending Tanner and Vicki Bowers’ wedding this past month, and took my Nikon (and boyfriend..!) as a date.

Here are some of the results.

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Dance with Somebody

In memory of an amazing singer. I grew up dancing to this song.

RIP Whitney Houston.

Learning from the best

Peter Bregg is one of Canada’s top photojournalists. He also happens to one of  my instructors at Ryerson University. If someday, I can have a career like this man has had, I’ll be a very fortunate individual.

Just look up his name. You’ll understand.

“Sometimes you don’t see the forest, because the trees are in the way”

-Peter Bregg, 2012

Peter Bregg teaching our course how to take photographs during a news conference on February 10, 2012/Joelle Tomlinson

Why don’t we print photographs anymore?

This post shows what I have been reflecting on this for the past few weeks. I sense a DIY project coming on!

Wholesome Banana Bread

After searching the internet for some healthy banana bread options, by some weird twist of fate, my phone went off.

And what else did my message say but “you need to try this banana bread recipe my sister gave me.” Sometimes things just work out that way. It’s better not to question it. I am definitely not questioning the delicious result I got with this recipe, and a few tweaks I made here and there.

The dense bread has a light banana flavour, with a nutty overtone. It is a great substitute for the overly processed variety of banana bread you would normally find in a supermarket. In fact, there is no butter in this recipe at all (if you substitute the vegetable oil).

Thank you Emma!

Banana bread, green tea and a book. A perfect way to avoid the university workload.

Ingredients

2 cups Robin Hood Nutri-Flour Blend (or 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour mixed with 1/2 cup wheat bran)
1/3 cup granulated sugar (I used Sucanat)
1/4 cup ground flaxseed or flaxmeal (optional)
1 teaspoon each baking soda and baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups mashed RIPE bananas
3/4 cup plain yogurt (2%) [could be fat free,can substitute fat free sour cream]
2 eggs
2 tablespoons butter, melted [can sub. vegetable oil]
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)



Method
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan lightly with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, ground flax, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk together bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter and vanilla. 

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Fold in nuts and chocolate chips, being careful not to overmix the batter.

Spoon batter into prepared pan.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until wooden skewer inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. 

Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove loaf from pan and cool completely on a wire rack. 

Slice and serve or wrap tightly with plastic wrap and store at room temperature.

Tip: The bananas must be very, very ripe (sweet!) for this banana bread as there’s very little added sugar.

A foray into the world of baked goods

Growing up, I thought it was normal to have a bottomless cookie jar, fresh cinnamon buns every morning and the smell of freshly baked goods dancing around the house on a consistent basis. This is what happens when your mom grew up in a bakery.

Pair these muffins with low fat cream cheese for an added flavour kick

My grandfather Babak owned a small bread bakery in Foam Lake, Saskatchewan, and its obvious he passed on his love for baking to my mom.

There was nothing better than pulling out the wooden stool and being given an important responsibility as a child, such as mixing the batter, or cracking the eggs. This may have accounted for the crunchy addition of egg shells in my mom’s baking from ages two to 10. I still strongly believe enthusiasm is the key to a good recipe, though!

In keeping with the pattern, I have also developed a love of baking, though- I do not do it enough. On top of this, in keeping with a healthy lifestyle its hard to find treats that can accomodate everyone. I’m making it my goal to use this blog as a portal to discovering the joys of baking, with a focus on keeping it natural and wholesome, so you can enjoy with the minimal amount of guilt.

First stop: pumpkin muffins. I had made pumpkin spice cupcakes for a birthday party the day before, and was left with half a 28 oz. can of pumpkin puree loitering on the counter. Instead of throwing out the remains, I made a few substitutes and whipped up this batch of hearty, tasty muffins. And this was even after the haze of the party.

Enjoy!

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Yield: 18 muffins

Nutrition facts: 86 calories, 3 grams fat

Ingredients

3 Tbsp. neutral-tasting oil (vegetable, canola etc)
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
2 Tbsp. molasses — a substitute for this is equal parts HONEY
1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp. 1% buttermilk — a substitute for this is equal parts YOGURT (use Greek for extra protein)
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins (or try dried cranberries)

Method

Preheat oven to 400° F. and line 18 muffin cups with paper liners or spray with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, beat together the oil, sugar and egg. Add the pumpkin puree, molasses and buttermilk and mix until well combined.

In another bowl, whisk together both flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, allspice, cinnamon and raisins. Add to the pumpkin mixture and stir just until combined. Do not over mix.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Source: http://www.ilovemuffins.ca 

These muffins are perfect to grab when you're on the go in the morning

My dream library. Reading is one of those things that is neglected far too much.

Homeschool Happymess: A Naturally Inspiring Approach to Education

“The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who’ll get me a book I ain’t read.”   – Abraham Lincoln

In our continuing pursuit of the joy of the written word, we have embarked upon creating our own homeschool library.  The actual collection of books was started in my father’s childhood, continued in my own and has been vastly added to through the childhoods of our own eight children.  Prior to building the actual bookshelves we found that we had piles of books in every room, every corner, and on every surface.  We all knew where our favorites were so location was not a problem.  Literally  every corner of our lives was happily consumed by books.  Ultimately it was time for a bookcase. Well, actually a library.  So with this in mind we have been building a “school house” and “library.” …

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Light up the Night

Sometimes it takes the smallest things to create something beautiful. In this case, it was three. A talented friend, a pair of skates and a lone sparkler.

Late night skate along the waterfront.

Camera settings: 

ISO: 100 

Shutter Speed: two seconds 

Aperture: 4.6

“Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.” 

– Erica Jong