Tonight I had a wonderful engagement session over in Dinkytown, and man was it fun to be out shooting a couple again!I have to be honest, I love every type of shoot: families, dogs, babies, concerts, weddings, headshots... they are all a challenge for me creatively and I enjoy each and every of them. But this time of year I get a tad burned out on families only because I have been doing only that for the months leading up to the holidays.So it's super fun to photograph romance again! And who would have thought that our Dec 15 shoot would be in the RAIN? I was prepared for snow, but this rain is just fine by me.And yeah, I skipped poor Magda today. I'll get her in later this week, I promise! I just wanted something a little different.For your internet share of the day, I will be serving this by the fire after dinner on Christmas Eve. But if you want to see something non-food related, check out this glow-in-the-dark bike path! I love that idea!

That up there is the most amazing lentil stew. I didn't take photos while I was making it because, well, let's face it. It's kinda ugly. But you guys! IT TASTES LIKE HEAVEN. Seriously. So please trust me and make this. Please.

Also? It's vegetarian and can be made vegan! And yet it's super filling. So let's get started.

• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped

• 2 celery stalks, chopped

• 1 large onion, diced

• 4 cloves of garlic, minced

• 6 cups chicken broth

• 1 cup lentils (dried)

• 2 14 oz canned, diced tomatoes

• 2 tsp garam masala

• 2 tsp paprika

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 2 tsp ground ginger

• 1 tsp mild curry powder

First, you line the bottom of a big pot (make sure it's large enough for those 10 servings...) with water. Heat the water and saute the onions and garlic until the water is gone (4 minutes or so).

Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot and bring it to a boil and then cook for 15 minutes. Add salt to taste (I did about 1/4 tsp). If you are lucky enough to own an immersion blender, use it to smooth out the soup. 

If you are like the rest of us, put 2/3 of the soup in a blender, puree it there, then mix it back into the pot with the remaining stew.

Let the soup sit for about 15 minutes before serving. 

Also? This soup is even better as leftovers. Yum.It's 124 calories per bowl, and totally filling. Which is awesome. Also? I got this recipe from my amazing doula and I will make it for the rest of my life.For your internet share of the day, if you are not trying to lose baby weight, you should maybe eat this eggnog french toast that has me salivating.

This is Stanley. I think he might be a bit of an, um, unsatisfied customer. But me? I LOVE THIS PHOTO. I love the grumpiness of bulldogs so, so much. This guy is seriously adorable, and I had such a blast photographing his family tonight.Today I also had another shoot with Bogart's Doughnuts (yay!) and it involved Ezra and Merlin! Which was SO MUCH FUN! I'll have to tell you more about that later.For your internet share of the day, I am genuinely intrigued by the science experiment this gamer did with his child. (*currently thinking of my own experiments...)Also! One of my dear friends put together her year-end music mixes! I haven't had time to get through them all yet, but I am suuuuper excited about it! (Plus? Amazing album artwork as always.)

Tonight we had a holiday party in northeast Minneapolis, and this was the view. Pretty nice, eh? Man-oh-man do I love this town.For your internet share, check out this hidden underwater ballroom. Pretty dang awesome.

My mother in law arrives tonight, and so I've been trying to get the house ready at the last minute. Oh, we've had the tree up for more than a week now, but keeping all those needles picked up and such requires work! And yes, we always get a real tree. I would miss the scent too much to go artificial. And yes, my mother-in-law is Jewish, but we don't blink an eye at putting up holiday decor around the house.A few years back I stole the idea of musical sheets as chains for the tree from a local antique store -- it's now one of my favorite touches. And yeah, I also put feathers in my tree. I like the texture they add.And here is Magda, passed out asleep on this quiet, wintery day. And under the tree you can see one of the many oversized boxes that my parents have been sending. New grandparents are apparently unstoppable.For your internet share of the day, Jamie found this story about film retouching for actors and actresses. It is FASCINATING. I am here to tell you as a photographer, no one is ever happy with how they look. Not super models, not actresses, not the most beautiful person you can think of. We just pick ourselves apart. Anyway, this article proves it. Also? Next time you see some movie and wish you looked like actress X? Remember that she doesn't really look like that either. And she probably wishes she looked like Actress Y.

This is Maggie. I got to photograph her family last weekend (one of many...) and the poor girl was so good to pose for us in the sled. I'm not sure she'd done much of this kind of work before, and she was a total champ! Look how regal she is right there!Today was super busy as I had a shoot that Ezra tagged along for (they REQUESTED I bring him!) and then he and I went over to Kramarczuk's after for lunch. Of course he screamed and cried during my shoot (which is why he will no longer get to tag along to meet my clients), and then he slept entirely through lunch (and is still sleeping 2 hours later -- meeting strangers is apparently SUPER stressful).For your internet share, here is a movie trailer featuring The Rock that I actually want to see! (Yes Mom, there is an actor named The Rock. Yes. It is stupid.)

Yup, she got her cupcake. As I type this, she is hiding under the bed in my office from the vacuum cleaner. She's smart enough to pose like this, but not smart enough to realize the vacuum cleaner is not out to get her. Hilarious.And then after posing, as her reward, I let her eat the cake. I told her it was OK, but as you can see below, she was dubious.And then she tasted it, and DOVE RIGHT IN.For your internet share of the day, Burt Reynolds has apparently come on hard times and needs cash because he's selling off his personal stuff! Like his rolodex!

YUM. Today I will show you how my amazing and wonderful husband makes sweet potato latkes.We came up with these a few years ago when Hannukah started on Thanksgiving weekend -- it seemed to be the perfect blend of the holidays. And now? Now I prefer these to the regular potato latkes. And for all you fellow gentiles out there, latkes are little potato pancakes (much like hashbrowns) that are eaten at Hannukah. And if you want to know more, I *highly* suggest this book, which is what we read to Ezra before bed this week after making our first batch. So much fun!The ingredients are simple. You need:• Sweet potatoes. I count that as 3 up there because the one is so large.• Eggs. You need to match the number of eggs to sweet potatoes. I photographed 2, but we ended up using 3 (again, since that one potato is so large)• Olive oil: You need enough to thoroughly coat the bottom of your frying pan. It should be as deep as 1/2 of a flattened latke (roughly)• 1/2 yellow onion, diced• 1/4 cup matzo meal• salt and pepper to tasteFirst, heat the oil in the frying pan on low while you shred the potatoes and dice the onion. Next, mix the shredded sweet potatoes, onion, eggs and matzo meal together in a bowl. Add your salt and pepper. Once mixed up, spoon heaping tablespoons of the mixture into the hot oil in the pan, and flatten with said spoon, cooking for about 3 minutes (or once bottom is browned). Then flip and repeat.Once you are done frying a batch (we fit about 4 in each batch), transfer to a paper towel and blot dry and dash with salt. Repeat until mixture is all used up, and serve latkes with sour cream and / or apple sauce. YUM.I'm honestly not sure how to calculate the calories on this one because of the frying oil, but based on my research of other recipes online with similar ingredients, I would guess around 120 calories per latke (including the sour cream).For your internet share of the day, this recipe has all of my very favorite things in it. But, um, I had never thought to combine them... thoughts?