February 14th - Cupcake & Kiddo Photo Shoot

Today I photographed kids with cupcakes at Cozy Cave Bake Shoppe. It was a fun way to spend a couple of hours on Valentine's Day!

February 13th - A Necklace for Quin

A month or so ago I made a Baltic amber teething necklace for my 8 month old. My three year old has wanted a "turtle" necklace ever since (I have no idea why she calls it that...). I made her one today. It is a combination of Chinese turquoise, Baltic amber, and crystal chips. It is way too long, so I will cut it from the clasp (which is a magnetic barrel clasp), take off a some beads, and reattach it all... tomorrow....

February 12th - Temporary Art

I was invited to a luncheon today by a friend who spent the week in my town at a conference at the Banff Centre. The food was great and it was nice to see my friend before she headed back to her town. She had been given some lilies which she gave to me when we parted. I brought them home to arrange them. I cut the stems and decided to make some quick art out of them. The concept is like environmental art, which is made from natural materials, photographed, and then dismantled or left behind. This quick "sketch", seen on top of one of my daughters watercolor paintings, existed for this photograph and is now gone. It is always inspiring to work with different materials. To think outside of the box. I decided I better take a lily photo, too...

February 11th - Homemade Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

My nickname is Princess Ice Cream. Since receiving an ice cream maker from my wonderful dad for my birthday, this family has been making and eating some serious ice cream. My favorite part, next to all the crazy possible ice cream flavors, is the fact that I can pronounce and identify everything in my ice cream. I had almost quit buying ice cream, aside from Haagen Dazs and some spendy, hard to find in my area, organic brands. I can now use all organic ingredients and make twice as much ice cream for half the price. I should be a Cuisinart rep because I have even gotten people to buy their own makers (if you are wondering, I own the Pure Indulgence™ 2 Qt. Frozen Yogurt-Sorbet & Ice Cream Maker, which for $80-$100 is a great machine!). Tonight we made peanut butter ice cream with chopped peanuts and chocolate chips. I used the sweet cream base recipe by Ben & Jerry's and added to it. I think peanut butter and chocolate is my favorite combo, although banana and strawberry is pretty good, too... oh, don't get me started...


Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Chopped Peanuts and Chocolate Chips Recipe

Sweet Cream Base
By Ben & Jerry's

2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup milk

Beat eggs, using a wire whisk, until frothy, 1-2 minutes. Add sugar a little at a time, beating about 1 minute. Add cream and milk and whisk to combine.

To this add:
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup chopped peanuts (salted or unsalted)
3/4 cup chocolate chips

I whisk in the peanut butter to the base before putting it all in the maker and freezing according to the instructions (about 25 minutes). In the last two minutes I add the peanuts and chocolate chips. This is not an overly sweet ice cream.


For more of my ice cream recipes go here (Candy cane chocolate chip ice cream & Christmas cookie ice cream).

February 10th - Contact Sheets of My Loves

Wow, already Day 10 of Thing-A-Day. Lately, I have been testing my film cameras. I have 5 SLRs left over from my film days. Some are in rough shape and some are good but I needed to test them so I know which ones are which, since 3 of the bodies are exactly the same. I tested three of the five so far, and the contact sheets are here. Quin & Emmanuelle helped me and we had a ton of fun. Q wore several hats and even a fact full of jam for one roll. I really do love shooting film. It makes my heart all aflutter in a way I can't real explain, I just feel it and it makes me happy... stay tuned for more.

February 9th - Making Valentine's With My Senior Friends

From time to time, mostly around major holidays, I am contracted to teach crafts to local seniors. I really look forward to these visits, and I know they really look forward to seeing me and my kiddos. Today I brought my 8 month old to make Valentines with them. I brought an example card I made and lots of cut out hearts and supplies. I love when I give everyone the same materials how they all make something different. I mean, that is generally what happens but it always amazes me. Sue, the woman who works with them regularly, and whom I work with when I visit, also gave them roses which were donated by the local grocery store. And we made chocolate dipped strawberries, which tasted AMAZING. Strawberry prices have been so high I feel like I have not had them in FOREVER!


Here is my card and the rest are a selection of what these fun women made... I get so inspired by them. I feel it is very valuable to be around our elders and to hear what they have to say. They are so generous with their wisdom and are happy to share. I always leave with memories. Today's include being invited into the apartment of one of the residents, to see her MASSIVE teddy bear collection, and photos of her grand kids. She was packing for a trip to Edmonton to see her gentleman friend for Valentine's Day. So sweet! She gave Emmanuelle a tiny stuffed bear. Also, another resident, Sophia, GAVE me a two vintage cases that are filled with her mother's sewing supplies!! I almost didn't know what to say. She said she could not bear to get rid of them but that knowing I will use them makes her happy! I will do a more indepth post on that soon. I better go, I have some thank you cards I need to write...

February 8th - Cozy Cave Cupcakes Shoot

I have been collaborating with a friend who makes truly amazing cupcakes at her bake shoppe, Cozy Cave. I am creating a line of greeting cards with cupcake images to sell in her shoppe and other places. She made me five gorgeous cupcakes to start with. I had a great shoot today but have not edited down the photos yet. Here is a selection...

February 7th - FINALLY Starting My Online Writing Course...‏

I wish that amongst the hundreds of Polaroid transfers that I have created there was one of an old fashioned typewriter. I just wrote to a good friend of mine who runs a thrift store, hoping she will alert me if she gets one in so I can add that to the collection. Anyway, I started an online writing course. My course is taught by a woman, Monica Meneghetti, whom I took a memoir writing course from last year. This is an online course for mom's with young kiddos. It is a free course sponsored by the Banff Public Library. I am already online enough, I might as well channel my writing energies...

February 6th - A Visit from a Friend, Sushi, & Origami

I didn't have much time to create today but inspiration was EVERYWHERE! My friend, Tawna, came to visit. She lives in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. I met her in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, when she was my student. I was teaching a digital photography workshop. We have kept in touch and she is in Banff now to attend a work conference at the Banff Centre. It is so good to see her. She lives in an amazing place that few people have a chance to visit. We would love to do a camper trip to see her one of these summers...

It was a beautiful sunny day and we spent it attending the 60th anniversary for the local library and finding treasures at the thrift store. We went out for dinner at the Sushi Train, where they put sushi on a train and you pick what you want, then they total your bill using your stack of colored plates (different colors represent different prices). Then, Tawna showed me an amazing photo/video slideshow of 3 weeks she spent in France and Italy. It was lovely and made me realize how much I miss traveling abroad...

All I had time to accomplish today was a bit or origami. A panda and a bird. Voila!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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February 5th - Collabrations for the Future & a Few Felt Beads...

This week has been amazing! I truly can't believe how much I have accomplished. I have been pretty sluggish since the holidays but all kinds of things came together this week that I have been working on. I truly believe that when I am busy I can overload myself and get it all done but sometimes when I have all the time in the world I can't get anything done. I have many irons in the fire... I met with two amazing and talented women this week who I will be collaborating with in the future. It is very exciting. One meeting was on Monday and one was today, Friday. A great start and finish to the week...

As for creating, I had grand intentions for today but they didn't come to pass. I rolled a few bits of roving into beads. It is very therapeutic....

All photos by Tiffany Teske
Please visit my blog, Art Food & Motherhood at http://tiffanyteske.blogspot.com

Posted via email from thing-a-day 2010