As you may have seen on Facebook or Twitter, Honeysuckle Life is launching a monthly newsletter on February 1st. Each month, I’ll pass on entertaining, decor, and craft ideas that I have a hankering for, and this month features a tutorial for a Valentine’s Day Survival Kit. Sign up by clicking this link, or by following the ad in the sidebar to the right of this post.

A Selection of Coconut Products

One of the biggest changes we’ve made since starting the Paleo challenge is in how we cook, and what we cook with. Prior to the diet, I knew about coconut products, but they weren’t a staple in our diet. I reserved coconut milk for curries and soups, avoided any kind of shredded coconut, and was thrown off by the (much higher) cost of the flours and oils.

After using them for two weeks, I realized how much better I feel after meals that include these products. Especially those with coconut flour instead of heavier wheat flours. Here’s a short introduction to the basic coconut products.

Unsweetened Coconut

Unsweetened coconut provides bulk to paleo-friendly snacks, smoothies and trail mix.

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil replaces butter and adds a tiny hint of sweetness to chicken, fish, and vegetable dishes.

Coconut Milk

Coconut milk adds creamy flavor to dishes like beef and vegetable chili, creamy chard, and coconut cream sauce.

Coconut Flour

Finally, coconut flour replaces traditional flours as breading for pork chops and chicken, and as a binding agent for salmon or crab cakes.

Have you tried any of these products as part of gluten-free or paleo diets?

When we started the Paleo Diet, I wasn’t completely convinced I would like it. In fact, the thought of weeks without cheese, milk, flour, butter, and hummus sounded like hell. But I have to admit, these recipes have been crazy delicious, and dropping 5 lbs in one week didn’t hurt either. After a week of detox, I’m feeling better than I did before the diet (more on that later). This recipe is perfect for breakfast. You can make it the night before and then re-heat individual muffins. They’ll last a few days in the fridge as well, providing a nutritious and quick breakfast for students or busy workers.

I used paper liners. Don’t do the same. I had to pull each little piece away, destroying the perfect muffin shape of my, well, muffins. I’ve adapted the recipe to include flouring the muffin tins. I think this will help. Or you can go with straight coconut oil or cooking spray.

Omelet Muffins

adapted from Paleo Plan

Yield: 12 muffins
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time:  20 minutes

Ingredients:

• coconut oil
• coconut flour (all-purpose flour if you aren’t on a paleo diet)
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 8 eggs
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 cup water
• 1/8 tsp ground pepper
• 8 oz deli ham, diced (ask for thickest cut)
• 2 medium carrots, grated

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Grease a cupcake tin with coconut oil. Sprinkle flour into each cup. Turn and tap the tin to spread flour evenly.
3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add remaining ingredients and mix evenly.
4. Pour egg mixture evenly into the cupcake tins.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the edges of each muffin are golden brown and the center is set.

…to which I am married! I found this in my inbox Monday morning. My talented husband created it for me to post in my office. Don’t have a graphic designer at home? You can download this free printable from Lola Lina or design your own on Wordle or Tagxedo.

January is having a serious identity crisis, much like November and December of last year. A mosquito bit me a few weeks ago. A mosquito! In January! Even the hyacinthes and daffodils are in on the game.

A few weeks ago, I was able to shoot my first wedding. The groom is a family friend, and kind-of relative by marriage. When he asked me if I could do this, I took a big gulp, fought down the nausea, gave him my disclaimers, and said yes.

Not two weeks before that I had turned down a similar opportunity. Wedding photography is serious business. The field, like wedding planning, is filled with people that don’t really know what they are doing. I consider myself part of that field. I’m capable. I know the basics of what needs to be done, but shooting a wedding requires a lot of physical and creative energy.

To prepare, I researched quite a bit about equipment and timelines, collected a few shots for inspiration, had coffee with Kelly of Spindle Photography to pick up a few pointers, prepped my equipment, guzzled an energy drink, and started shooting. Here are the results of my very first wedding, which took place just outside of Birmingham at a private residence.

The bridal party wore boots! A little detail that made it personal and perfect for the bride and groom.

Ceremony music consisted of simple guitar and a male vocalist. It reminded me so of our wedding, and provided the perfect backdrop before, during, and after the ceremony.

Black and white shots aren’t my favorite, but I couldn’t resist turning these two shots into magic with a Totally Rad action called “Milk and Cookies.”

Because it was a cool night, a huge bonfire roared during the ceremony and reception, and the microphone was turned over to the groom’s nephews and nieces who entertained the crowd with karaoke.

Congratulations Kelly & Charlie!

My thoughts:

• Having the right equipment is key. I rented lenses and a flash because I didn’t have the right equipment. If the budget had been bigger, I would have gone for a better camera body as well. My little D60 didn’t have a high enough ISO for clear night shots.
• Getting organized is key. Make sure to do a walk through the entire ceremony and reception with the bride or groom prior to shooting. I assumed the ceremony would be conducted on the lawn. Instead it took place on a staircase landing.
• Have a padded timeline. Make sure the bride and groom know how important it is to have enough time to shoot without feeling stressed or rushed. And shoot in multiple short sessions to give them a break from the camera.

Do something fun this weekend. Like flying a kite. With a fishing pole.

Susannah Conway posted an interview with Justine Musk, author and blogger, and I found what she said in the interview interesting enough to click over to Justine’s website. I found a post called, “the art of letting your freak flag fly” on the front page. In it, she writes the following:

We get trapped in patterns of thinking, including the way we’ve learned to perceive the different aspects of ourselves. We learn what is wrong with us – or rather, what other people perceive as wrong with us. Those external voices get internalized and become the inner voices that we carry around with us until we decide (if we decide) to finally stop listening to them.

What we often don’t recognize is that it’s the things that we get criticized for, that get declared as the ‘weaknesses’ that we must fix and fix and fix (until we fail, give up and watch American Idol), that hold the key to our potential Remarkableness. In our weaknesses lie our strengths (and vice versa). If our brains can only learn to perceive them that way.

What resonated so deeply is that my husband and I spoke yesterday about something he considered a weakness in himself, and it was something I considered his biggest strength. It’s all a matter of perspective.

It’s a great (and long) article to which I kept coming back, especially the parts when she wrote of all the things people had said she was “too much” of. Too melancholy, too disorganized, too bookish, too quiet, too introverted, too absent-minded.

We’re allowed to be some things, so long as we’re not too much of anything. We prune ourselves back and rein ourselves in, in order to fit in and be normal. And for women, ‘normal’ often translates into effacing ourselves; we worry that if we speak, we’ll be too obnoxious or offensive; if we attend to our own needs instead of those of others, we’ll be too selfish.

My heart jumped when I read that paragraph, because so often my biggest regrets are being offensive or obnoxious. Of being too much when I’m surrounded by people satisfied with too little. I worry about how much I read. Or whether I should have children/buy a house/get a real job just to keep people from giving me that odd look when I tell them how old I am, and no I do not have children, and I’m a social media manager and blogger.

While reading the article, I knew I wanted to ponder these ideas more, and I’m assuming I’m not alone in this. So, here are a few journaling prompts to consider over the weekend:

Write down anything you think could be a weakness. How could it be turned into a strength? Does your inability to commit allow you the freedom to explore new ideas? Does your lack of imagination allow you to complete tasks on time, every time? Get every weakness out, and turn it into a strength.

Write down anything people have said you are “too much” of. Too obnoxious? Too skinny? Too tall? Too short? Too fat? Too smart? Too driven? Too ambitious? Too lazy? Write down everything you can think of.

Write down everything you think you’re “too much” of. All those moments when you think, “Dang it! Why did I have to say that?” Or woke up in the middle of the night regretting. Have you tried to downplay your abilities out of fear of alienating those around you? Write it down. Have you pretended ignorance so that others won’t think you too scholarly? Write it down.

At the end of your page(s), write the following statement: “I give myself permission to turn my weaknesses into strengths and to smile and say “thank you” when someone tells me I’m too much of something.

Image by Rebekah Burder for Honeysuckle Life.

Two of the biggest goals I have in 2012 is to “learn how to photograph food beautifully” and “find a photography style.” Nicaragua provided daily opportunities for photography, just by stepping out of my door. But lately, in Birmingham, my interest in actually taking a photo has diminished because it’s not as easy. Since I’m such a homebody, it’s difficult to push myself out the door to find new and beautiful places to photograph in Birmingham. We live about 45 minutes from the historical and downtown areas, and anything within fifteen miles is obnoxiously commercial and man-made. Other than horses and pine trees, I’m not sure what to photograph out here. Those are my excuses. The reasons why I haven’t developed something I profess to love. To be honest, one of my biggest weaknesses is not using my time wisely enough to develop my ideas and business.

But I digress. The first step to finding a photography style and learning to photography food is to research the masters. People I admire and photography I respond to. So, here they are, with my short critiques and comments.

Images via Sasha Gitin.

I love the boldness of Sasha’s photography. Each shot is perfectly exposed and styled. If you go to her website, there is a shot of a mushroom that I adore. But. Her images are clearly more commercial and professional than most, and while they are perfect for advertising and news articles, they aren’t approachable. I want my photography to incite the response, “I could do that!” and not just, “Wow, that’s a beautiful image.”

Image via Tracy’s Culinary Adventures

Tracy’s images score high on the approachability scale, but it’s still not the perfect match. I’m more interested in vintage pottery and silverware, natural fabrics, and a more renovated farmhouse style. Side note, are those cupcakes not amazing? I’m on day 8 of a Paleo diet and it’s been torture seeing all the beautiful recipes on Tracy’s website.

Image via Sunday Suppers by Karen Mordechai.

Sunday Suppers is a website to which I keep going back. The combination of food plus styling is irresistible. She often uses calligraphy, stationery, and packaging as the perfect additions to food (a result of her wedding photography background). It’s a little too New York loft to make it believable for my lifestyle.

Images via Tartelette Blog.

Hélène Dujardin, the creator of Tartelette, wrote a book called Plate to Pixels: Digital Food Photography and Styling. I’m adding it to my Amazon wish list. My motto is, “ask an expert” and Hélène seems just that. Someone with a deep love of food, styling, and photography. The bowl of limes is so appealing to me. It reminds me of Nicaragua lemo-limes, or what they call a limón, the fruit that’s a mix of lemons and lime. Tart, tart, tart, and perfect when squeezed over chicken, salsa, or rice. Ugly on the outside, amazing on the inside.

But, I’m not sure about linen fabric as a background, even if it is a welcome change from solid whites.

Images by Cannelle et Vanille.

In a dream world, I would be able to travel to Dordogne, France and learn from Aran, the creator of Cannelle et Vanille, and her crew. Yes, she lives in southern Florida, but her workshops are only offered at a renovated French farmhouse. Joy. Her style is the perfect mix of food, ingredients, style, food sources, and more. Her photographs are filled with pops of color against a white background. And when she travels? Gorgeousness, like the images above, in food form. Her diet is just so different from mine that I often think, “I will never cook with that ingredient.” But the photography, oh, how beautiful.

The main question for me is: how do I combine all of my influences into one style? From traditional Southern style, to Central American flavor. From rural Alabama simplicity to modern Irish design. The answer is complicated and unformed. But here’s what I do know, pulled from the images above:

My ideal photography style is:

Bright, clear images of ingredients and dishes against a solid background. Props include vintage pottery, dishes, flatware, and glasses, with solid linens. The background is well-lit and solid in color. Shots are from the top, or from a 45 degree angle.

So now that I have clearer guidelines, my goal this week is to select the perfect props and photograph ingredients as I bring them home from the stores, and meals as I prepare them.

Two things I’m sick of: short days, and lack of natural light. If only I could have all the things I love about winter, scarves and sweaters, and none of the things I hate, early darkness and late light. I’m tired of yellow tinted photos and a mere two hours out of the day to get things photographed.

And that’s my complaining for the day. In other news, I ran 11 miles on Sunday. Poorly, slowly, and not without fear of collapse. But I did run them. The last 1.5 miles consisted of me breathing “thank you” in and out, as each step was agony. That’s not an exaggeration. My hips felt like they were going to explode, as did my shins. I could feel both of the blisters on my left foot. Literally everything on my body hurt from my chin down. My spine was aching. I was starting to shuffle. I had to take a short walking break up the last of what seemed to be 20 hills.

But I did it.

And today, I got back out and did four more on those same hills. Back up and down, and I did it better and faster.