A couple of friends invited us over for dinner the other night to try out their homemade bun rieu and I was hooked. It reminded me when my mom use to make it. Their soup base was with pork meat. Craving the taste and also the challenge, I scoured the internet to find a recipe to make some. Of course the extra challenge was to find a recipe that was simple with easy to find ingredients and also something that can be made on the fly. We all know how busy life gets so something that is quick and easy is always a good thing. Happy to report that I found it and the prep time along with the cooking time is roughly 45mins to 1hr depending on how efficient you are in the kitchen (lol). The time cruncher is really all the simmering time to allow the flavors to infuse the soup. I made the soup the night before as I didn’t know how long it would take me. The good news is that it allowed a longer time for the flavors to meld together…and the other great news is all the more quicker dinner was served tonight. The biggest time saver is the fact that this recipe uses a chicken broth soup base. I think if you use pork meat and bones you’ll have to add some time to boil and prepare the pork. But that’s for attempt #2 when I always modify the recipe to shake things up a bit (lol).

Here’s what it looks like simmering in the pot.

Here’s the finished product with beans sprouts and basil.

Verdict: It was YUMMY, the sort of yumminess that causes you to drink all the soup and lick the bowl clean type of Goodness. Well at least I thought so. My two taste testers both went for seconds so it must be a good sign!! Now I can’t wait to modifiy the recipe with Pork bones next time for an even more authentic taste.

If your interested in trying out the recipe, you can find it here. If you do give it a try, let me know how it goes. I did a slight modification by putting in a whole can of tomato paste instead of the 1 TBSP they recommended, just because I didn’t want any left over tomato paste (lol). Oh and for all those out there that have little experience with Shrimp Paste….a little goes a long way and its one of the things that makes bun rieu authentic in my opinion. But it has a very strong flavor and smell so you might even want to substitute it out or add into the bowls later for those that can handle it.

Happy Cooking everyone!!

Meet Emilie and Stephen. We spent a day with these two love birds in Kananaski Country. It was fun going around and exploring the back country as you never know when a turn of a bend or a jaunt over a little hill will surprise us with breathtaking scenery. And despite being in the thick of these surrounding, each location stop WOW us time and time again. But of course capturing the love of two people was the real icing on top.

Emilie and Stephen , your un-wavering faith and devotion in each other moves me. When asked what similar hobbies and interests you two like to share. Amongst their replies, the simple “we love to pray together” really stood out to me. That response brought to the forefront, that sometimes it’s not about all the other external things in life, but really the small things that really bind us to another. I can tell the love you two have for each other runs deep. We feel honored to have been able to capture this period in your lives. It’s a shame we won’t be able to shoot your upcoming wedding due to scheduling conflicts. But we know whoever gets to document it will be very lucky indeed.

Your GORGEOUS Emilie!!

Thanks you for sharing a bit of yourself with us that day.

There’s more photos here in the slideshow.

Much Love and Appreciation,

Amy + Brian

Has spring finally arrived in cowtown? It sure felt that way when we headed out for an afternoon shoot with Jeannette and Boo. We could not have asked for better weather or better models. We went exploring in a new part of town. This area has a couple of off leash dog parks that Boo was able to run around in. It was nice to be able to head out to enjoy the fresh air, stretch our legs and enjoy the sunshine. It was the first time for all of us to venture into an off leash dog park and I think Boo enjoyed the open space the most. The amount of fun he had meeting other dogs and just being free running around makes me want a pet of my own just so we can share in the fun times like all the fabulous dog owners that we saw that day. Its awesome to know that there are lots of open area in the city that is designated as off leash for you to check out if you dogs.

When we set up the photo session with Jeannette to celebrate Boo 8^th birthday, she was estatic to finally get some pictures of Boo because as we found out during the shoot, he’s lightning quick and camera shy. We said we would do our best and she proclaimed that she just needed “ONE GOOD PHOTO, that’s it!!” Well I hate to say it Jeannette, but I think we’re going to have problems picking out ONE GOOD PHOTO. When we were reviewing them, I already claimed a few favourites even before editing them. Both you and Boo look so great in them, it’s going to be hard to produce just one good photo for you guys. We were so blown away by this session, that B and I were both fighting over who gets to edit them, (lol)

I hope you and Boo enjoyed the photoshoot as much as well did. The Love you have for Boo is definitely oozing from the photos. Looking at your session really really makes me want to get a pet of my own. Now if only I can convince B to feel the same way!!

HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY BOO!!

Can Boo be any cuter!! The shirt was a gift from Jeannette’s cousin Joyce….it’s uber cute too!!

I love how he smiles and his eyes just disappear!!

I am “lion”, hear me ROAR. Seriously, I could just snatch him up and take him home with me!!

There’s more photos here in the slideshow!! Leave some Comment LOVE for Jeannette and Boo too!!

Love,

A + B

First impression, there was a line up, must be good enough to try to incur some form of lineup. My friend made reservations, which was a pretty smart idea. We got sat pretty quickly and filled up their one and only “Harvest table”. It was a quaint restaurant I must say, the décor was neat, wooden tables, mixed with floral wallpaper, an open concept kitchen and deli bar and even chandeliers. It really gave off that homey comfort farm feeling with a electic twist, minus the animals (well there was some animals on the menus) and the hay of course (lol). It immediately gave a sense of comfort. You can order off the regular menu or the daily specials that are written on the chalkboard in the back or choose from the charcuterie selections of cheese and meats. If you see something you like on the chalkboard menu, my suggestions is you better order it, they ran out of the “Baked Egg” dish that morning. Guess we’ll have to come back to try it out next time. The atmosphere is quite laid back, it seems that time had stood still and we left the hurriness and the bustle of the day when we walked through the door. It was just a place where the restaurant didn’t give off the persona to rush you to order, to quickly prepare the food to usher you out the door for the next round of guests. The server leisurely came and took our order, giving you ample time to soak in all the choices. But as we waited for our food it really gave us an opportunity to connect with friends and actually enjoy one another company. So when the food arrived, it was a feast for the eyes. The presentation was simple, nice but the taste…divine. Everything we tried was delish despite how simple it looked. Definitely worth a try,..or second try for us. I would love to sample more of their charcuterie menu with all the different meats and cheese and also maybe give their wine list a perusal next time.  They also have a Harvest Table Menu/Tasting, that you can enjoy with a large group of people that you can check out too. So what did we eat?!? Scroll down to find out!!

Wanna order Coffee? It comes in a pressed canister and raw cubed sugar!! Love the quaint and mismatch cups (lol)

Items from our Charcuterie Menu (this was a 3 items for $15 dish that we shared between 3 ppl). We tried Wild Hog Salami, Buffalo Pepperoni and Chaumes Cheese (France). It was served with Apple butter, mustard seeds, fresh baguettes and OLIVES!! If you love olives, you’ll really like these ones and maybe even if you don’t like olives, you should give them a try!! I haven’t found an olive I liked since travelling to Spain and eating their olives, but these come a close second on my scale. What’s so special?!?, they buy the olives from a local farmer and marinate them in-house with oil and spices.

Sweet corn, Potato & Murguez sausage with fresh basil. Simple and yummy!!

Janice’s bubbling, mildly spicy mac n’ cheese accompanied by Farm pickles (lg). This Mac n’ Cheese was to die for. It was one of my favorite dishes that we ordered.

Croque Madamme sandwich: Béchamel, Brassica mustard, Maple Pepper ham & Gruyere with a Fried egg on top. The little dish on the side was juiliene radishes in a sweet vinaigrette dressing, VERY REFRESHING!!

Frittata: Shallots, Peas, Fresh herbs, Fairwinds Farm Chevre & preserved lemon on sourdough toast (but only b/c they ran out of Baked Spinach and Chorizo baked eggs with parmigianno and garlic sourdough toast)

And if I had room or wanted something sweet, I would have ordered this: French toast with Saskatoon berry compote, chocolate sauce and & housemade ricotta

And what better way to celebrate a Sunday then with GOOD FOOD and GREAT FRIENDS.

Until the next FOODIE adventure….

We’re VERY lucky to be in a profession of taking picture of the SWEET moments in life and capture LOVE between people. But besides being photographers, we have a STRONG ADDICTION to the other SWEETS in our life….the CUPCAKES (or like our friends like to call it…..CUPPIE CAKES)

These smaller version of moist cakes, should make you feel a little less guilty about ingesting one…maybe two, RIGHT?!? And who can resist the COLORFUL and TASTY buttercream icing that sits innocently on top of the cake.

So begins our elusive search for the perfect cupcake recipe!!

Bake Date #1 – Our friend Connie came over for a bake date. We tried our hands at making Martha Stewart’s ROASTED BANANA Cupcake with HONEY CINNAMON BUTTERCREAM.

The verdict: SUCCESS

Taste: like a Banana muffin

Icing: YUMMY goodness

A GREAT BIG thank you and HUG goes out to Connie for the GREAT company and the wonderful evening.

No blog is ever REALLY complete until a picture is posted. For you viewing enjoyment…our CUPPIE CAKES!!

Roasted Banana Cupcake with Honey Cinnamon Icing

Please stay SAFE and WARM this holiday season and we look forward to hearing and seeing you guys next year.

I’ll just end with our festive story. We got into the festive spirit and decorated a gingerbread house (courtesy of Ayden, Rose and Eugene Wong (Thanks guys)). Brian and I decided to put our creative juices to good use and tackle half the house each. From this experience, nothing is truer than the saying “MEN are from MARS and WOMEN are from VENUS” when it comes to the way our brain works, but we’ll let you be the judge.

Here is our final work of art for your viewing enjoyment. Can you tell who is who’s? =P 

This side has 3 food groups on there....can you spot them?

This is the colorful and SWEET side...

Wishing YOU ALL a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and A HAPPY NEW YEAR,

 Amy + Brian

WELCOME to our NEW BLOG!

We’re happy to announce that we have switched over from blogger to wordpress. This new blog application looks to be more powerful and it gives us the ability to show a larger size of your AWESOME images.

We can’t wait to be blogging with this new tool.

Feel free to leave a COMMENT or two. We’d love to hear from you!

Cheers,

Amy & Brian

If you got any ideas or suggestions, feel free to leave us a comment!!

We’d like to thank all our clients who have put their trust in having us capture a precious time in their lives and we wish all our upcoming clients next year a happy wedding planning.

Cheers,

Amy & Brian

We spent our morning volunteering for the Children’s Wish Foundation “Wishmaster Walk for Wishes”. This foundation works hard to grant wishes to children that are diagnosis with life threatening illnesses. It was a great sight seeing the overwhelming support from the community and all the kids’ costumes that came out. This years walk raised over $35,000 dollars. We want to thank the Children’s wish foundation for giving us the opportunity to capture the event. The volunteers were awesome and the kids looked like they had a fun time too. Keep up the great work and we are looking forward to more children’s wishes coming true!!

If you are interested in donating or volunteering for this worthwhile cause, please show your support here.

Check out the slideshow here.

Cheers,

Amy & Brian

Time for some good food and some lovely hot and humid weather.

We’ll be back on September 23rd.

See you all soon!!