Zurich

Zurich

10 Sept 2010

Do you remember this wedding I photographed? Well Ray plus family relocated to Zurich about 12 months ago and just before I arrived, welcomed a daughter to their family, Karolina. As I was so going to be in Paris, how could I not fly to Zurich to see the newest arrival?



I've been to Zurich before, but it was so long ago I don't remember a thing about it. I stayed in a hotel close to the waterfront and once I was organised walked from there to meet Ray, Mona and Karolina. We walked through the old town together and I decided to return early the next day to take some photos.



I stumbled upon an Indian festival in the old town and loved the vibrant colours.



I found lots of interesting alley ways and used up the last of my black and white film.



Zurich was having a bit of a heat wave so the young and (?) brave could be found diving from the bridge and this platform.



We went for a drive to Stein am Rhein. What a sweet place and what a pity we didn't have more time there.



How cute are baby Karolina's feet?



I'm driving to the country tomorrow to see Farmer Andrew so be prepared for some rural photos in the coming weeks.

Have a great weekend,

Jillian

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shopshoot logo design

shopshoot logo design

8 Sept 2010

Do you remember a few months back, I asked for some help designing a new logo for my shopshoots? A few of my lovely blog readers offered to help me out. After a few emails from Alischa from Bespoke Press, I kind of realised all I wanted was a variation of my current logo. I was just about to fly overseas and decided to work on the concept when I returned. 

While I was away I received an email from Jessica Ruisan, a graphic design student. Jess offered to give designing the logo a go and so the process began. We exchanged many emails and Jess worked tirelessly on designs and variations of those designs.

This is what we came up with in the end - a horizontal and vertical variation of the logo to use on my shopshoot blogposts and on my portfolio.



and




We were about to start work on a 'proper' business card, when this flashcard appeared on my desk.



I'd seen this this post on eat, drink, chic a while back and thought, why don't we do a flashcard style business card. I emailed my idea to Jess, then worked on the text and this is the design she came up with.



I thought it was brilliant and couldn't wait to get the cards printed. I thought that moo minicards would be perfect for the task. I sent my order to them a few weeks ago and they arrived in the mail last week.



I prepared a few different designs and I think the flashcard design turned out really well. What do you think of them? Sorry the images are a bit grey but I shot the cards on a wet and dreary day last weekend and due to a minor computer crisis, my time has been spent retrieving files rather than editing images.



I'm really excited to be able to hand out my new business cards at my next shopshoot.

I'd like to thank Alischa for making me think properly about what I wanted and Jess, because without her work the logo and these shopshoot business cards would still be in the pipeline. Thanks once again Jess,

See you all again on Friday,

Jillian

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Grandma's Apple Cake

Grandma's Apple Cake

6 Sept 2010

I visited my friend Jenny a few weeks ago, mother to Miss B. and her brother Ruin. Whenever I visit I bring dessert but, and it's a big but, Ruin is a fussy eater and won't eat most of my baking. He has eaten my pavlova, little apple cakes and white chocolate cupcakes with raspberry icing and that's all from a very long list.



Now I know Ruin loves appletani (stewed apples with sultanas), so I immediately thought of my Grandma's Apple Cake recipe. Grandma used to serve this most Friday nights after dinner. I dove into my recipe box and unearthed it from the depths.



There's nothing very fancy about the cake. It's a basic vanilla flavoured butter cake encasing a filling of grated apples, sugar, cinnamon and sultanas which Grandma used to make in a small aluminium roasting pan. It's 20 years since my Grandma passed away so it's been a long time since I last tasted this and it tasted just like I remembered.

Here's the recipe for you. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup, a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C. 

Grandma’s Apple Cake - serves 6
Cake
125 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
½ cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups self raising flour, sifted
⅔ cup milk

Filling
4 large apples, grated
¼ cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup sultanas (golden raisins)

To serve
icing sugar
cream or ice-cream

Preheat the oven to 180°C/375°F. Grease and flour the base and sides of a small baking tin. Cream the butter, the caster sugar and the vanilla together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, alternating with the sifted flour and the milk until a soft batter forms.

Spread half the cake mixture over the base of the tin. Mix together all the filling ingredients and layer over the cake mixture in the tin. Top with the rest of the mixture and bake at 180°C for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until golden brown. I used an 11 x 8 inch tin and it was a bit small for the quantity of mixture so next time I would make it in a larger tin. This served 5 people generously.

The cake an be served either warm or cold. Before serving dust with icing sugar and serve with either cream, ice cream or both!



And did Ruin like it? Well he 'lov, lov, loved it!' and told me I could make it for dessert everytime I come over. A liitle bit like my Grandma, I guess.

See you all again on Wednesday,

Jillian

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Helsinki in black and white

Helsinki in black and white

3 Sept 2010

When I flew into Helsinki I really had no idea what to expect as all I'd experienced before was a short lay-over at Vantaa Airport. I was blown away by the fabulous architecture and wanted to capture it all on black and white film.



It took me a few days to track down some film but once I did away I snapped. Actually when it comes to film photography I'm very careful about what I shoot, where I shoot and how I shoot.

Film is too expensive to waste, so I carefully compose and expose my images as I normally take just a single shot.

How do I choose what to capture in black and white? 



Well really I think the image chooses to be photographed without colour.



Black and white imagery is pared back to basics, so is the perfect medium for story telling.



I was wondering if there was any interest in my running another lunchbox, a small group practical photography workshop? If so, could you let me know your interest and if there are enough of you, we'll try to work on some dates that suit. All the contact details can be found in the link.

It's been a very long week so I'm planning to be tucked up in my bed very early tonight. Have a great weekend and I'll be back again on Monday.

P.S Happy Father's Day Papa.

Jillian

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Le Petit Atelier de Paris

Le Petit Atelier de Paris

1 Sept 2010

Have you heard of this store before? I first heard about Le Petit Atelier de Paris about 2 years ago after reading Abigail's blog. I loved what I saw and as I was just about to go to Paris I copied down the address.



I was staying in the Marais, so I walked to the store only to find it closed for the summer break. I was really disappointed but promised to return the next time I visited Paris. Well I managed to get to the store on my most recent visit but it was a close call. The shop closes at 8.00 p.m. and I arrived with my friend at 7.15 p.m. on my last night in Paris. In about 10 minutes flat I'd narrowed down my selection to 3 pretty tart forms, a hand stamped beaker and some porcelain numbers, but in truth I liked everything in the store.



And the best thing about the store, apart from the cute bandana wearing puppy, was the way they wrapped each item so beautifully with brown paper, ribbon, porcelain buttons, string and stamps embellished with stars.

Now that I'm back home I do have 1 question though. Does any-one know if I can actually use the tart shells safely in the oven? Unfortunately my French isn't good enough to email the owners of the store and ask the question and I think they're still on their summer break. I'd so hate to use them and break them so if any-one can help out, I'd be grateful.

See you all again on Friday,

Jillian

2016 edit - le Petit Atelier de Paris is no longer open but you can still shop online.

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Carrot Cake Cookies

Carrot Cake Cookies

30 Aug 2010

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Looking through a blog a few months ago, though I can't remember which one, I spied a story on Carrot Whoopie Pies. We don't have Whoopie Pies in Australia so I was keen to find what the fuss was all about.



I tracked back the recipe for Carrot Cookies to Gourmet Magazine and thought I'd make them for work. As always, I adapted the recipe somewhat. I doubled the cinnamon and halved the quantity of walnuts and sultanas in the cookie mixture. Instead of honey flavoured cream cheese, I sandwiched the 2 halves together with cream cheese icing.



I stored the cookies overnight in an airtight tin and took them into work the next day. The cookies disappeared very quickly and a 'very yummy' note was taped to the biscuit tin. The cookies were a great success.



I've since made a batch for myself and they were just as delicious the second time around. They're like a mini serving of carrot cake but I found one cookie wasn't quite enough and 2 cookies were too many. I still have 1 left in the biscuit tin to have with my evening cup of tea.




I'll be back again on Wednesday with something new for you, so until then,


Jillian

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