blog has moved...

I finally made the switch to wordpress. mainly because I can customize my site.

if you are following me via blogger I would love if you would subscribe to my new blog. if you are already subscribed you should continue to get updates via my feed burner feed url.

and if you stumbled here somehow you can find my new blog at...

www.rachelschell.com

let me know what you think of the new design. my blog and galleries are integrated better than they were.

Won an Addy

A Spokane Metro Mag spread won an Addy and it was my photo! I have to say it was one of my favorite shoots for them.

Congrats to Jen Moore, the greatest Art Director in Spokane!!

What does this make?

As I've said in previous posts. I get fresh, organic produce delivery once a week from Fresh Abundance. Last week I got the following things in my deliver (among other things of course). Now the last ingredient will probably give away the answer, but what do you think I made?

Lime
Cilantro
Tomatoes
Avocado

you guess it! homemade guacamole.

I got the idea from a restaurant we used to go to. They would come to our table and make the guacamole right there, fresh! So I just paid attention to what they put into it and made my own.

Once you've had fresh, homemade guacamole (not to mention organic!) that green goo you buy at the store just won't do anymore. Not that I ever really liked the store bought stuff. I never liked guacamole at all because the only kind I had ever tasted was the store bought kind. There is just something that isn't right about it. Some strange flavor and where are the chunks! give me some chunks, ok?

here is a recipe if you'd like to try it yourself!

3 ripe (or even a little over ripe) avocados
2 roma tomatoes (or really whatever kind of tomato you have sitting around)
around 2 tablespoons of fresh cilantro (I don't really measure)
juice from 1 lime
salt to taste (I use LOTS of salt because I love it)

cut up the avocado into medium size chunks and mash quickly with a fork. If you like creamier guacamole you can mash as much as you like (or even use a food processor), but keep in mind when you add the other ingredients you'll be stirring them in as you go which will make it creamier.

cut up the tomatoes into small chunks and add to avocado. give it a quick stir.

finely chop (or even mince) the cilantro and add to avocado and tomatoes. give a quick stir

before you cut the lime, press it into the counter and roll it around (will pressing down). This will release a little more of the juices. cut lime in half and squeeze juice into bowl. I squeeze it with the cut size up so any seeds won't fall in or I put my hand underneath while I squeeze (guess you better make sure your hands are clean!). give a quick stir again.

And last salt to taste and stir well to combine ingredients.

This recipe actually makes quite a bit of guacamole so make sure you have friends there to enjoy it with you. It doesn't keep well. It will look a little brown the next day, but it still tastes good. Not as good as it did the day you made it, but you can't waste all the yumminess! It probably only stays good for a day or two at most. So eat up, buttercup!

down in history... or maybe snow

December 18, 2008

day 205 - down in history... or maybe snow

yesterday and today will go down in history. the snow started yesterday morning and by the end of yesterday we had around 12", which beats the most snow for that day in history (which was 5"). We also beat the record for the most snow in 24 hours. the snow isn't stopping there. we probably have over 2 feet right now and it's still snowing. the city bus system isn't running and all the schools are closed. they are telling people to stay home and are requiring chains just to get up into our neighborhood since we are on a very steep hill. I don't think we could leave even if we wanted to. luckily we have enough food to last us about a week, but it's not looking like the snow is going anywhere either. it's not supposed to be above freezing all next week. well, might as well enjoy it right? :) it's an excuse to not go anywhere for a couple of days at least.

I honestly thought it would be a mild winter this year since last year was so bad. last year it started snowing around October and was still snowing in June. I guess mother nature just decided to save it up this year and dump it all on us at once. that's fine with me as long as it doesn't snow in June again.

Autism Awareness...

I have a wonderful friend who has an amazing son with autism. The Department of Education does not want to give her son the type of education he needs to lead a mainstream life with his typical peers. They fight her tooth and nail. She has gone to due process, lost the hearing and is trying to appeal. All the while her son is not getting services. Her and I have discussed making a photo book of images of many different children with autism and selling this book to raise money to pay for her sons education. I would love to help her out with this so here is what I'm offering...

If you live in the Spokane area and have a child with autism or know somebody who has a child with autism that would like a photo session please contact me. I would ask that the parents sign a model release giving me the right to use photos of their child in the book and in return I would pay them with the free 2 hour photo session and CD of all usable images ($300 value). This is an amazing opportunity to get some wonderful images of your child and an opportunity to help a mother pay for an education for her autistic son.

If you would like to visit her you can also donate money via her blog, Autism Awareness.

Contact Me
My Portfolio of Children

a photo of her son taken by her.

icy cold!

December 13, 2008

day 202 - liquid metal

I've done a shot like this before, a couple of other times as a matter of fact. I'm sure you're tired of seeing my poorly insulated window condensation. It's been around 9 degrees F the last few days. All the condensation on the INSIDE has become ICE. Yes, ice on the inside of our windows. Our furnace doesn't shut off much. :P I have a picture of the ice too.

PS - this is color not b&w. :)

matted prints available.

I didn't sell all the prints at the craft fair yesterday so I have many still available. Contact me if you're interested in buying one and I will give you links the ones I still have.

8x10 mat with 5x7 prints are $15 (that includes shipping)
11x14 mat with 8x10 prints are $25 (that includes shipping)

All my prints are available for direct purchase through my printer here, but these are matted and in protective bags. They look really nice.

Moving on to the craft fair...
I think it went well. It was nice meeting and talking to people in the neighborhood. We ended up winning a Christmas tree and it came with lots of yummy goodies (cake, cookies) from Whipped. Would it be wrong to re-gift them? There were so many we will never eat them all.