Pulla or Finnish Dessert Bread

Hello my dear readers,

Yesterday my family and I celebrated Friendsgiving. :) We invited those who weren't able to make it on Thanksgiving to our house for brunch, which consisted of Apple Pie, Apple Crisp, Peach Crisp, Pumpkin Rolls, Leftsa, and fresh Pulla (plus any leftover turkey, stuffing, or other leftovers from the Thanksgiving table).  It was a wonderful event, full of laughter and waves of those we love entering and leaving the house. We saw those who had been absent from our table for too long and those who we see almost daily gather around the table and connect. That's what this holiday season is about for me-it is about the people. The decorations are fun (and trust me, the Klaus house loves our holiday decorations), the food is scrumptious, but it is those who join you in decorating, baking, and eating that give the season its sparkle. So, this year, I invite you to focus not in the shiny tinsel and skillfully (or less thank skillfully) wrapped presents under the tree, but on the people who create and enjoy those items. Share dessert, make snow angels together, take walks through freshly fallen snow, or cuddle on the couch and watch a movie. Time spent with another person is a great gift, and this time of year is laden with opportunities to join in a discussion with an

acquaintance or 

with a dear friend. 

Below are images from the Pulla makin we did yesterday morning. The recipe came out of The Kinfolk Table, which can be purchased

here

. The recipe can also be found in a post on Kinfolk's website

here

. 

Wishing you the very best of the season,

AK

P.S. All images in this post were taken with the Iphone 4s and edited with the Afterlight and VSCOcam apps. 

French Black Bottom Pie

Hello and happy Thanksgiving dear readers,

I hope that this post finds either you full of turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie or waiting with anticipation for the meal ahead!! Today I would like to share the story behind my dear friend Cathy's Black Bottom Pie. The recipe was published by Wolftree Magazine in their e-book "Five Pies and a Sugar Cookie" which you can find here. Anne and I worked on compiling stories and creating images both for the e-book and for a series of holiday posts that Wolftree will be releasing in December, and I'm rather pleased by the result. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the tradition behind this wonderful family recipe.

French Black Bottom Pie by Cathy Field

            I have been lucky enough to have both my grandmother and my great grandmother actively participate in my life.  While these women have inspired me in many ways, none is more prevalent than in their style of cooking.  All of my holidays and family visits have been dominated by food, specifically good homemade Russo-German food.  This style of cooking is hearty and centers around two things, meat and dough. 

            My great grandmother Lillian lived her whole life in South Dakota.  She grew up on her parents’ farm and then, after marrying my great grandfather Henry, settled on her own farm just a few miles away.  Lillian’s sister Betty, however, married a military man and lived quite a different life.  Before WWII Betty lived with her husband in France, but when tensions began growing in Europe she was forced to return.  Luckily, she brought back this recipe for black bottom pie with her.

            The recipe has a fancier name that has long been forgotten by my family.  However, once you’ve made the pie and seen the beautiful distinction between the white fluff and the creamy chocolate, you won’t think twice about an inelegant title.  It has graced every family Thanksgiving I can remember, a fact that was insured by my refusal to eat any of the other pies my grandmother baked.  In fact this is the only pie I actually like (I am much more of a cake girl).

            While this recipe can be a little finicky, it turns out beautifully with a little patience and a few messy bowls.  French black bottom pie is just the thing to impress your friends, and will speak to those in your life who don’t traditionally love pie or the numerous pumpkin treats which populate the season.  I wish you the best in your baking endeavors and a merry holiday season.

 -Cathy Field

Outtake from Wolftree shoot :)

Have a fabulous rest of your Thanksgiving week(end)!

-AK

No-Shame November

Well hello dear reader,

Happy Friday! Most Friday's I post a photo on my instagram in which I share a random fact about me with the #thingsYouMayNotKnowAboutMe hashtag. I began this project because I wanted to allow people to get to know me, the person behind the camera, and also to challenge myself to trust you- the users of the interwebs- with personal details about myself. Well today I am going to devote this post to random details about my life and participate in No-Shame November.

"What is No-Shame November?" you ask. Well, I had no idea either until I read the post Molly Yeh recently created discussing the concept. From what I can tell, No-Shame November is a concept that encourages you to take the month of November and celebrate those guilty pleasures or behaviors that might normally lie south of the propriety line. So I've decided (perhaps unwisely) to participate in No-Shame November by sharing 10 slightly odd and possibly embarrassing details about myself. 

1) I spent my Wednesday night buying Christmas music on Amazon and Itunes.
2) I ran out of shampoo almost two weeks ago, and I've been too lazy to drive to Target and buy more. So I've been using the men's body-wash that my brother left behind when he moved out as shampoo instead (sorry Mitch). 
3) I also tried using dawn dish soap as shampoo- if you haven't tried it, and if you have another option, go with the other option. It will clean your hair, sure, but it takes ALL of the oils with it (including the nice ones that your hair needs).
4) I cut myself shaving for the first time ever this week.
5) I clearly spend too much time in the shower (3 out of the first 4 options are shower related... whoops)
6) I had a food fight in a bar last night, and we didn't get kicked out. 
7) Centipedes and millipedes creep me out- too many legs *yuck* 
8) I have been recording reruns of House to watch in the evenings in an attempt to lessen my addiction to the BBC show Sherlock. It hasn't been the most successful strategy.
9) I think dystopian novels are awesome, but I only read one a year (roughly) because they make me sad and I get so emotionally distressed over the characters and the society that is being portrayed that I literally get ill- my tummy starts to hurt and I get moody and tired.
10) I am terrified of the thought of people judging my grad school applications and expecting me to have aspirations to change the field of library sciences. I don't have huge, field-changing aspirations. I want to work in a library because books excited me, the inspire me, and they challenge me to view the world differently. For me knowledge is precious, and the idea of spending my days being challenged to learn and helping others locate information that will further their own quests for knowledge thrills me. The idea for my ISBN project occurred to me while I was working at the Chester Fritz Library, and many of my photographic inspiration comes from both fiction and non-fiction literary works.

What about you? What will you use No-Shame November to celebrate? 

Outake from a project I collaborated with Molly, Anne, and Wolftree Magazine on. Taken with my Nikon D60 and edited using VSCO film.

Long Live Libraries ;),

AK 

P.S. You can read more about No-Shame November here (Molly Yeh), here (Anne Gillie), and here (Free The Leash Children). :) 

P.P.S. UPDATE!! I DID GO BUY SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER TODAY! :) I thought you should know. ;)