The Weekend Dish – Bananas Foster

Posted on May 17, 2013 by backyardsisters

A banana tree was planted in this backyard sister’s backyard a few years ago. After noticing one in a neighbor’s front yard, and thus quelling any doubts we had about their ability to grow in our Southern California coastal climate, we decided to give it a try. Enlisting the help of a backyard son we chose a spot out near the vegetable garden, planted it and waited; with visions of Chiquita-like bananas available by a simple stroll out the back door. How excited we were when the first bunch appeared! When it turned, what we deemed a sufficiently yellow hue, we even more excitedly ran in to the house and prepared to consume this previously unimaginable treasure of a banana fresh off the tree. Peeling the tiny fruit was different from your average banana but with some effort it was accomplished and I took the first bite and was greeted by a chalky, slightly bitter, hard, dry banana.
A few chalky bananas later, we came to the conclusion that these bananas weren’t improving and were more like plantains and therefore in need of some cooking (and sugar and liquor and butter!) Bananas Foster visions happily replaced the fresh off the tree visions. Not only is the dish delicious but it makes for an impressive sight when the bananas are flambéed right before serving.

It takes caution and finesse to execute this dish.

This definitely was an improvement for these bananas or plantains. Still, these were not the best bananas or even close. The banana tree tale ends a little sadly with the decision to remove it due to its rapid rate of growth causing infringement on the vegetable garden space and its production of little, dry, chalky fruit. The banana tree is, however what lead us to try this recipe and I am eternally grateful.

~ Susan

Bananas Foster

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup banana liqueur
4 bananas, cut in half lengthwise, then halved
1/4 cup dark rum
4 scoops vanilla ice cream

Combine the butter, sugar and cinnamon in a flambé pan or skillet.
Place the pan over low heat, either on an alcohol burner or on top of the stove, and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves.
Stir in the banana liqueur, then place the bananas in the pan.
When the bananas soften and begin to brown, carefully add the rum.
Continue cooking until the rum is hot, but not boiling or the alcohol burns off and won’t ignite.
Using a long handled match or barbecue lighter ignite the rum using the fumes at the edge of the pan. Make sure you aren’t leaning over the pan and aren’t wearing loose clothes. Never pour alcohol from bottle onto flaming pan because this can cause an explosion.
When the flames subside, lift the bananas out of the pan and place over the ice cream in dishes.
Top with generous spoonfuls of the sauce and serve immediately. This is also a delicious topping for waffles or crepes.

You get what you need

Posted on May 16, 2013 by backyardsisters

Of course you can’t always get what you want. But one Wednesday night in the middle of a perfectly ordinary week you might get this:

Photo credit: Genara Molina, Los Angeles Times

If Mick and his pals aren’t too old to keep rocking, then I’m not too old for my first Rolling Stones concert. It’s not like I didn’t like live music the first time I wore a suede headband with feathers and beads. I sat so close to Elton John at the Inglewood Forum in 1974 that he took my hand and mouthed thank you for the hand scrawled “Elton Babe I love you!” poster I passed over the rail to him. I stayed on my feet all night long for The Who, Jethro Tull, Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, Neil Diamond, Joe Walsh, and the Beach Boys enough times to be considered a groupie. I’ve even seen Kanye West in concert. But The Rolling Stones? Not so much.

Why now? Falling for those skinny boys from Bloody Old took a long slow burn. Maybe it started at a frat party or a wedding when the fastest way to get everyone onto the dance floor was to blast “I (Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” Boys shouted the words feeling misunderstood and restless as under-loved mongrels while we girls echoed the lyrics a hey, hey, hey, tipping our shoulders just enough to promise that maybe this would be the night that the “girl reaction” would be satisfying indeed.

When things ended badly “Get Off of My Cloud” gave us the perfect chorus to hitch up our thumbs and sing out at the top of our lungs of a serious need to be alone. If the Stones wanted a little space, “’cause two’s a crowd,” we did too.

Decades pass like dandelion dander and we find ourselves once again in the age of frequent weddings – this time our friends’ children. Any event with music and a dance floor – cheesy New Year’s Eve parties, milestone birthday bashes, charity parties and backyard barbecues – is guaranteed to have a band covering epic Stones tunes or a DJ spinning them. “Brown Sugar,” “Let’s Spend the Night Together,” and “Emotional Rescue” still pack the floor with lip-synching, lyric shouting dancers of our age, yes, but also children and grandchildren who know this music as well as their own. These songs are in our bones the way the ocean is.

I finally had to see The Rolling Stones with my own eyes, had to be in The Honda Center, Section 202, joining the roaring crowd of bleached blondes wearing ripped black and white striped pants and red sparkly circus shoes, of long white-haired ponytailed men in tye-dyed t-shirts, of a pink twirly skirted little girl holding her grandmother’s hand, and strangers on a first date, a dad taking his big brown-eyed daughter to her first concert – He’s the best dad ever! We all wanted to see the original before a man who’s “got the moves like Jagger” is all that’s left.

Watching Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood, and the entire cast of characters that create The Rolling Stones “50 and Counting Tour” feels like standing on shore watching winter waves ceaselessly crash toward you. It’s an unstoppable force of nature that miraculously transcends time. I don’t feel so bad now that my rarely modernized dance moves pinpoint, like some sort of carbon dating science, that my teenage coming-of-age happened in the early 1970s. Mick still dances the same too. Footage of Rolling Stones concerts is prevalent enough for the gyrating, wiry, clapping, finger waving, prancing, Jagger to be unsurprising. Yet when you are there miles further away than a TV camera close-up and you can still feel the power of the man then you wonder why you stayed away so long.

As the band tore into its signature concert-closing song, I peeked over at J as he pumped his right fist to the roof of the arena shouting along. “I can’t get no-oh satisfaction.” Our eyes caught. I tipped my shoulder back just a bit and smiled before offering up a little hey, hey, hey to the rafters.

With fuzzy ears,
~Catherine

p.s. Genara Molino, photographer for Los Angeles Times captured far better photos than I could get from my seat in Section 202; view his slideshow here. But, from his fancy spot near the stage, he missed one thing.

A cool thing about arriving early was the chance to watch the spotlight team ascend from the back of the floor seats, right in front of sections 201 and 202. These guys spend the concert suspended by cable providing spots for the musicians.

Object will move before show.

Indeed. On their way to the ceiling.

The Two Generation Piano in a Flash

Posted on May 14, 2013 by backyardsisters

A consequence of living in the same house for many years is that some things become fixtures without you noticing it. Until one day, for an unknown reason, you look around, really look around, and realize there are some remnants of childhoods long gone sitting abandoned in a long forgotten corner of a room. Then comes the tough decision of whether to save, donate or sell. A recently implemented policy of mine to donate or sell items not being used has prompted another recently implemented policy of photographing the items before giving them away – for memory’s sake. The toy piano which has provided countless hours of musical enjoyment and delight to me and my sisters and then our children is the subject of this realization. It made the first cut because it’s just so “cute” but there is that new policy I must adhere to if I am going to keep “stuff” to a minimum. As I begin photographing, I decide to experiment with diffusing the on-camera flash (since flash is our theme this month). My intention is to add light to capture details without obtaining the harsh look and glare which often accompanies this type of flash. First, I took one photo without any flash, simply using the available window light.

Next, I turned on the flash using the same settings,

there is quite a difference. The details are now visible maybe a little too visible. Lastly, I put a piece of white paper in front of the flash to spread out the light (the same principle behind umbrellas and soft boxes in studios). A small diffuser which will affix to your camera can be purchased for this purpose but I chose to go the homemade route, which requires a tripod for freeing a hand to press the shutter.

I like it and think it is a happy medium between the two previous pictures. I tried the sequence once more with a close up.

No flash,

flash,

and diffused flash.

I like the softer look of the diffused flash and think it can be especially beneficial when shooting portraits. Sometimes, the direct on-camera flash gives a harsh and not terribly flattering look to people. When indoors, it is often necessary to find ways to increase the light for proper exposure of a subject and diffusing the on-camera flash is a pleasing method of accomplishing this.

As for the little toy piano, it will hopefully find a new home where it will provide more hours of delight, fascination and enjoyment to yet another generation.

Play on,

~ Susan

News “Flash”

Posted on May 7, 2013 by backyardsisters

Here we are in May all ready, a new month, and therefore a new photographic term to explore here at backyard sisters. This month we will be investigating flash. It may seem like an odd choice for me since I don’t have flash capability with my current camera set-up. However, I have in the past and am going to examine some of the the benefits and drawbacks of the use of flash. At this point, in my photography, I prefer to use the available light but, especially in the house at night, I find limitations to my ability to capture what I want. For the photos this month, I am borrowing my daughter’s Nikon D3000 which has a built-in flash.

The first scenario I want to consider is when your subject is in a darker area in front of a brightly lit area, such as a person in the shade of a tree with a sunny area behind them or inside the house in front of a window. In these cases, if you would like to have your subject and background in focus and visible it is necessary to use a flash.

Let me introduce today’s subjects – they are two well-loved monkeys which have been members of our family for twenty plus years. Chester and Sam, as we call them, were a gift to our sons from their great-grandparents. Through the years, they have turned up in various locations and poses throughout the house. Just recently, I found Sam resting in the window. In this first photo, I didn’t use a flash and in order to achieve the correct exposure of Sam, the background is blown out and unrecognizable.

You can have your subject slightly under-exposed and the background will come into focus a bit more but some times that is not the look one wants. So, the solution is to turn on your cameras flash.

This allows the subject to be well lit. A word of warning here though, when using a flash in front of a window you need to be careful to avoid the flash reflection from the window in your photo. The way to do this is to stand to the side of your subject or take the picture from a lower angle.

Not wanting to be left out, Chester joined the photo shoot.

The first one without flash and then with.

As you can see, the yard is much more visible in the second. Perhaps, they are taking a break after mowing the lawn with that mower out there. . .

Cheers,

~ Susan

Play With Your Food, I Say!

Posted on April 30, 2013 by backyardsisters

I am wrapping up this month’s exploration of patterns with a play session. When young, we are admonished to not play with our food. Aside from the occasional volcano of mashed potatoes and gravy lava I mostly adhered to this rule. But now that I am grown, I have thrown that reprimand out and taken to playing with my food. My idea of “playing with food” these days is styling and taking pictures. My latest subject – citrus, was chosen for the patterns created when cut in a cross-section.

A grapefruit,

a mineola tangelo,

and a mandarin tangerine

are my citrus of choice.

I gathered leaves and cilantro from the yard and had a great time cutting and arranging. The smell – refreshing, and a fun way to kick-off a Saturday for this backyard sister. Citrus still on my mind I had a vision of delving deeper into the pattern created in the segments. So, I rigged up a photo box using an opaque plastic storage bin turned on its side and a clip-on desk light allowing me to place the light facing up inside the box. After slicing the citrus thinner I set them on the box over the light.

The back light allows the segments making up the segments to be visible. What joy! I was made even happier by the adjustment in Photoshop of filling the background with white thus removing any distractions and allowing the fruit slice to stand alone.

These patterns are intriguing to me as well as inspirational. I may create a backdrop based on them.

It reminds me of a stained glass window.

These subjects make a great snack too!

Enjoy!

~ Susan

Go Ahead and Break It

Posted on April 23, 2013 by backyardsisters

Patterns denote a certain regularity – repeating designs or behaviors.

photo credit: @1ofmykind

I have noticed l have a tendency to fall into a photographic pattern. It hit me while going through my photos one day. Whether shooting portraits, landscapes or even editorial I become comfortable with what has worked in the past and tend to repeat it- same poses, settings, subjects.

It can be difficult but fun to try and break out of patterns, try a different angle, a new lens, different settings, new pose, etc.

I am naturally drawn to certain subjects, and I find making a conscious effort to look at them from a different angle or focusing on a smaller part of the whole, keeps me from falling into a familiar pattern.

Not that we have to do something different every time, simply making an effort to create new takes on old scenes can spark a freshness in our perspective and get the “creative juices” flowing.

Also, choosing subjects that you may not usually photograph will have the same result and often this is right in front of our eyes! We just have to remember to raise the camera, focus and click.

To a week of breaking patterns.

~ Susan

The Weekend Dish – Trifle

Posted on April 19, 2013 by backyardsisters

We gather, gab, nosh and fête frequently. The backyard sisters take our celebrations seriously. Yes,truly, getting the extended family together and feasting are not activities to be trifled with.

photo credit: @1ofmykind

The backyard sisters, their spouses, parents, children and often in-laws and a friend or two celebrate birthdays and holidays on a regular basis. A backyard cousin, home from college for a spring break visit, spurs us to man the party stations. Just so happens one of his favorite desserts is Trifle and lucky for him his Oma makes an impressive one. Lucky for me, I was privileged to indulge in this light and creamy delicacy that night. Not only is the layered presentation special and elegant but also

it tastes luscious. Now I know why he loves it so; it is a perfect mix of sweet, fruity flavors and creamy, airy textures. It sure impressed this guest and I daresay it would impress yours too, and that’s no trifling matter!

~ Susan

Trifle

Angel Food cake torn into bite size pieces
vanilla pudding (recipe follows)
strawberry sauce (recipe follows)
whipped cream
sliced fresh strawberries

A trifle dish is the optimum container but if you don’t have one don’t let that stop you, any tall glass bowl or tall glass individual dishes can work also. Begin with a layer of the angel food cake, then spoon pudding over, next the strawberry sauce and then repeat topping it with whipped cream and sliced fresh strawberries.

Vanilla Pudding

2 1/2 cups whole milk
2/3 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup flour
3+ tsp vanilla extract (to taste)
3/4 tsp salt

Mix sugar, flour and salt in a saucepan. Mix milk and egg yolks together and add to dry ingredients. Cook over low to medium heat until thickened stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Cool and chill.

Strawberry Sauce

4 cups frozen strawberries mashed
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine mashed strawberries sugar, cornstarch and water in a saucepan. Cook until thickened stirring frequently. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla and stir until butter incorporated. Cool.

Whipping Cream

To a pint of whipping cream add either powdered sugar or agave and vanilla to taste. Then whip with an electric mixer on high speed until it holds its own shape. If you beat too long you will end up with butter.

Dark. Then light.

Posted on April 18, 2013 by backyardsisters

I ran a marathon once…

Today’s post comes from Theresa, the eldest Backyard Sister.

I ran a marathon once. I ran because my life was a train wreck right then and I was afraid if I didn’t get up and move I would never get up again. I ran to learn how to just breathe. I ran to be a part of something larger than me.

I spent months training, long hours alone with my thoughts and the sound of my ragged breaths. I learned to love the smell of early morning and the peace of downtown before shops opened and the sidewalks filled with people hurrying to begin their day. I came to appreciate the soft breeze of twilight and the gentle shapes of nightfall when the world is infused with the last bit of sunlight. Trees, leaves green and then brilliant with fall, and birds with their busy chatter and endless fluttering kept me company. As did my faithful training companion, a middle-aged Jack Russell terrier whose exuberance for life and tireless motion inspired me to keep going many days when I didn’t think I could. I ran in rain and wind and cold and wondered if I was crazy. I discovered that I could struggle with self-doubt or pain or fatigue and emerge still moving, still breathing, still alive.

I ran that marathon, 26.2 miles, each mile an adventure. Through it all, people lined the path, there on a Sunday morning in January for no other reason than to show support for a group of strangers who had an idea they would challenge themselves to do something really hard and were there to accomplish their dream. When I finally came around the last corner, there was a crowd of spectators and runners who had already finished, calling out encouragement and congratulations, helping us celebrate what we had done. I have kept these lessons I learned in my heart – one foot in front of the other, breathe, things get better in time; run after life, even when you aren’t sure where you are going; and there are many more good people in the world than bad.

And so this brings me to the events of the week, the bombing at the Boston Marathon, how to make sense of something so senseless, so purely evil. How to live with the images forever etched into my brain, runners reaching the finish line, the joy of that moment, the cheers of the crowd juxtaposed with the sound of explosion, the smoke and screams, blood and shattered glass. I have struggled with this contrast all week, angry and deeply saddened that someone chose a marathon as a backdrop for murder and tremendously moved by the stories of courage and sacrifice that are emerging. Stories of strangers comforting the injured and saving lives, strangers offering a bed and food to those stranded by the bombing, people who when faced with a situation they never dreamed possible embraced the challenge and ran forward to help. What I have decided is that there will always be good and evil and shades in between, always the overlay, always the pattern, there is no making sense of it, it just is.

I have stopped looking at the pictures and videos because they live in my mind now, the contrast of the horror of the bombing with the celebration of the day. I play them over and over, trying to rewrite the ending like I do when I wake up after a bad dream. And I am starting to see other parts of the picture emerge, I see people bent over the wounded, I see those who rushed in and began the terrible work of saving lives and I am beginning to realize that in the same moment of great darkness is the light of goodness we all contain, in the moment we are most fragile, there is great strength. And I do believe that good always triumphs over evil, maybe not at first, but always in the end, I am holding on to that thought – to ponder more during my next run.

~Theresa

You can read more by Theresa. Her essay “Lessons From Winter” is here.

Seeing the tree through the forest

Posted on April 16, 2013 by backyardsisters

Patterns in nature come in many forms. This week, I took the time to “be in the moment” when walking about and looking for natural patterns. I found them! On a recent “photo walk” in Palisades Park, Santa Monica, the eucalyptus and palm trees are abundant and once I stopped looking around them and instead looked at them the beautiful design of their trunks became apparent.

Next, the patterns in the leaves of the grape vines and apricot tree, which are just beginning their new cycle of growth, right in my own backyard.

Twenty-four years ago this April, our family received a cymbidium orchid plant to celebrate the birth of our daughter (thank-you again backyard sister.) Every March and April since, it bursts forth with the most beautiful pink blooms which have an intriguing pattern in their center.

It’s such a treat!

Sometimes, nature is used by man as a medium to create an art installation like the puppy sculpture at the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao Spain.

Or, nature can be tamed and formed into geometric patterns creating a grand and formal garden like this one at Versailles.

The pattern possibilities of nature are great. I’m sure I can find more if I try this exercise again. It is helpful to capture with a purpose – for it’s through practicing your photography that you will improve and hone your craft. Having a project or a purpose in mind when you are going out to photograph, makes you ponder what you are trying to convey and the best way to capture your vision. It also can keep you from falling in to a pattern of always taking the same types of pictures – more on that next week.

Naturally yours,

~ Susan

A Patterned Place, or Two

Posted on April 9, 2013 by backyardsisters

The patterns are out there, both natural and man-made. When looking for patterns to photograph, buildings are where I find my lens gravitating often. This week, I explore some man-made patterns and ways to look at things in your everyday life for their pattern potential. Seems to me, many architects have an affinity for repeating geometric patterns and I have discovered I too have a fondness for these patterns. Architects Daniel Burnham and John Root designed a patterned masterpiece in the Rookery building in Chicago. The light court, above, is loaded with patterns; from the intricate iron work to the painted walls, it’s an awe-inspiring space. Staircases are often an architecturally interesting and pattern producing feature.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago

CaixaForum, Madrid

This skyscraper is outside the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles.

I am drawn to the two towers reflected in the mirrored building but I like the cut out space breaking up the pattern especially.

Sometimes, patterns can be found in unexpected places.

Let’s not overlook the amusement park for patterns.

Incorporating patterns into your photos adds interest and impact.

This coming week, I will be looking for natural patterns.

On a patterned path,

~ Susan

backyard sisters

Saving ordinary moments from the brink of oblivion

Author Archives: backyardsisters

The Weekend Dish – Bananas Foster

You get what you need

The Two Generation Piano in a Flash

News “Flash”

Play With Your Food, I Say!

Go Ahead and Break It

The Weekend Dish – Trifle

Dark. Then light.

Seeing the tree through the forest

A Patterned Place, or Two

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