Inspired Leftovers - Macadamia Caramel Tartlets

Inspired Leftovers - Macadamia Caramel Tartlets

8 Feb 2010

Last weekend I was battling through my freezer and decided to use some of the leftovers stored therein. I found some frozen almond pastry and chocolate pastry, frozen caramel filling and macadamias and set to work. I baked some little tart shells and immediately put the chocolate tart shells aside for another project. Check back on Valentine's Day for that one.

I decided to combine the macadamia nuts with the caramel filling inspired by a recipe I found in Delicious Magazine by Philip Johnson of e'cco fame. I've tried to track down the recipe but without any luck. It involved making a shortcrust pastry using macadamia nuts, a filling of caramel and a topping of roasted macadamia nuts.

This is what I came up with.

Unfortunately I only had enough filling for 6 tarts so I didn't get the chance to try my creation.




Here's what my critics had to say.



I was happy with that.

I'm going to be in Melbourne next weekend and thought I might try and squeeze in a shopshoot whilst I'm down there. Do you have any suggestions for me? Either leave a comment or send an email to info@jillianleiboff.com and I'll see what I can do.

I'll be back Wednesday with the last photos from my trip to Canberra, so until then,

Jillian

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The Lunchbox - small group practical photography workshops

The Lunchbox - small group practical photography workshops

7 Feb 2010

You asked for it and here they are - photography classes. I've called them lunchboxes, 3 hours packed with photographic information. As well as practical sessions covering lighting and exposure, we'll go through the nitty gritty of processing the images and creating lay-outs for blogging/collages or album design.



These are small group classes with limited numbers so it's first come first served. I'm starting with food photography but if there is sufficient interest I'll be adding a children and family photography lunchbox and a design/travel lunchbox.

As these are practical classes you must live in Sydney or be prepared to travel/have access to an SLR camera either film or digital/understand exposure/shutter speed and ISO and most importantly come along to have some fun and learn all of Jillian's secrets - well maybe not all of them but her photographic ones anyway!

Your place on the course is secured by full payment and once your place is confirmed I'll email you more specific details. If that date doesn't suit let me know and I'll try and get another class together.

I'd love you to join me so if you're interested please email me info@jillianleiboff.com 

Jillian

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Friday Favourites - Postcards from Europe

Friday Favourites - Postcards from Europe

5 Feb 2010

A while back I mentioned I had a deadline which required me to chain myself to my desk until the task was completed. What was I up to?

I went to Europe 18 months ago and I'm ashamed to say I didn't even start working on an album of those images until last November. Things kept getting in the way like weddings, work, christmas etc, etc and time marched on. It was partly my own fault. I always shoot in RAW but when I went away I'd underestimated the file size from my newly purchased Nikon d-300. I didn't bring enough memory cards with me so had to shoot in jpegs until I could buy a few more memory cards at a reasonable price.

When I came home the prospect of having to individually colour correct all those images got the better of me and I put the album into the too hard basket. A 20% off Thanksgiving special spurred me into action and I put together a book I've called 'Postcards from Europe'.



The album got caught up in the Christmas mail so it only arrived last month. Considering I slapped this together in 10 days with no time to proof it properly, I think it turned out pretty well.

I'm in the process of arranging my next trip to Scandinavia in June with a side trip to London, Glasgow, Paris and Zurich. Everything about Scandinavia looks so picturesque I know I shall go mad with my camera and this time will take a little hard drive with me so I never have to shoot jpegs ever again. I promise this time to design my album in less than 18 months.

In case you're wondering, the book is an 8x10 inch hardcover blurb book made using my own lay-outs and it has lots and lots of colour and black and white images.

Have a great weekend and I'll be back next Monday,

Jillian

EDIT

If you're interested in buying your own copy of 'Postcards from Europe' I've attached a link to the blurb bookstore, which you can see on the top right hand corner of the blog. If you click on the title 'Postcards from Europe' or 'preview' you can view some of the pages from the book and order one if you like. The books are available in either softcover or hardcover.

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Canberra

Canberra

3 Feb 2010

Canberra always looks so dry and dusty in summer. My first stop was the Australian War Memorial. I've been before but it was many years ago and a new pavilion has opened since then. It was so busy inside and as I'm not very good with crowds I visited the Love and War exhibition and marvelled at the size of George, the Lancaster bomber, in the Anzac Hall.

I really loved the new Anzac Hall and how it hugged the land. When I did a bit of research I discovered it had been awarded an architectural award.

From the heat of Canberra it was off to locate my hotel, the Realm. As hot as the weather was, cool was the only way to describe my room.

Do you remember the shopshoot I did of Bison Ceramics? My room contained 3 pieces of Bison including the highly covetable sky blue dish you see on the coffee table. I managed to fight the urge to slip the dish into my luggage because I don't do that kind of thing (and it doesn't match my home colour scheme).

After a monster breakfast and a visit to the NGA I made my way back to Sydney via Collector. I haven't finished preparing the images yet so check back next week for part 2 of my trip to Canberra.

I'll be back on Friday with a Friday favourite so until then,

Jillian

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Chilewich Giveaway Winner

Chilewich Giveaway Winner

2 Feb 2010

The Style Council has spoken and Jennifer is the winner of the Chilewich pressed dot runner courtesy of allmodern.

Jennifer if you could send me an email to info@jillianleiboff.com including your full name, your email address and contact phone number I'll pass your details onto the nice people at csnstores.

Thanks for your participation,

Jillian

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Banana Date and Walnut Muffins

Banana Date and Walnut Muffins

1 Feb 2010

When I was in Canberra I stayed at the Hotel Realm - photos to follow later this week. They put on a really nice breakfast buffet and I took an apple muffin with me for the drive back to Sydney. I don't normally eat muffins, in fact I can't remember the last time I had one. When I returned to Sydney I'd already planned to make muffins using over ripe bananas I had in the fridge.

The apple muffins at the hotel were wrapped in baking paper and they looked far more appealling than the usual paper cases. I took one just so I could measure the dimensions of the paper and pinched their idea. The apple muffin tasted very good as well.

When it came time to make the muffins I realised I'd run out of raw sugar, a key ingredient in the recipe given to me by my friend Mandy. So I modified the recipe by using caster sugar, then substituting the oil with butter, replacing some of the wholemeal flour with regular flour, etc, etc. This is what I came up with.

I loved the little paper cases made from baking paper. I thought they looked a little like a nun's wimple.

I took the muffins into work last Monday but put mine in the freezer so I could take it home to photograph. I defrosted the muffin on Friday but didn't get a chance to taste it until yesterday. Even though the muffin was a few days old it still tasted pretty good though probably a little too sweet for my liking.

I'll be back on Wednesday with some photos from my trip to Canberra and Collector so until then,

Jillian

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