Drumheller in Polaroid

This past week I received my Impossible Project film in the mail!  Woo!  I bought the PX 680 Color Shade and was pretty stoked to start snapping photos.

One thing you NEED to know when buying this film is that Impossible Film is different from ye olde timey Polaroid film.  For starters, as soon as the picture pops out of the camera, you have to shield it from light for 5-30 minutes, photo side down.  Yup, wide time frame, but it's true.  Some photos I managed to get into our car glove box quickly and they came out ok...other photos I merely shoved under my waist band and shirt, and went on my merry way.  Those photos came out with more film burn.  Not bad, but now I know for next time.

Here's what came out:

Drumheller is pretty dreamy.  I have 2 rolls of film  yet to develop, and loads of digital photos Raimund took that we need to sort though.


And that, ladies and gentlemen, was our weekend.  How was yours?


~E & R

The Best Snail Mail Ever...EVER

I mentioned in a couple posts ago that Raimund and I were testing out a camera that we got in the mail from Scott of FatCatImages.  It was seriously THE GREATEST thing I ever received in the mail, and I've been snail mailing since I was 13.  It was a big deal.

Curious to see what the camera looks like?  Well, here it is:

My grandparents were pretty impressed as they watched me open the package up.  Both Grandpa and Grandma have fond memories of their families having similar cameras growing up, so that was pretty nifty. 

The camera seems to be in working order, so we slapped in a roll of 120 and have been shooting periodically with it since.  Let's hope the roll of film actually turns out!

Does anyone else have any amazing vintage cameras like this kicking around?  This is a complete treasure to us.  I seriously can't believe we own this beauty.

Later friends,

~E & R

Music For Yer Monday

Just thought I'd share a song that we love.

~ E & R

We're Never Guaranteed Tomorrow.

Tomorrow (or today, whenever you read this) we're going on a family day trip to Jasper with Raimund's family.  We discussed doing this a few weeks ago, and we've all been looking forward to it since.  

This trip will be both amazing, and bittersweet.  A few weeks ago we discovered that Raimund's mother has inoperable cancer.  She battled breast cancer a few years ago and we thought she defeated it, but the cancer has since spread to a point where not much can be done.  

Raimund's mother wants to see the mountains one last time, so we're all going to be there with her.  She says one last time and I can't help but think "don't say that...you never know."  There could be a chance the chemo will help.  We can only hope.

It seems like that past couple years I've had to deal with death more and more.  Just a few weeks ago we had a funeral for my great uncle who was only recently diagnosed with lung cancer in January...but I'll leave that for another blog post.  

I guess what I'm getting at is that you can never predict the future, and to a degree that scares the shit out of me.  We're not guaranteed to be here tomorrow, let alone five minutes from now.  Thinking like that always makes my mind wander.  I start to question our existence and why the hell we're even here, but then I'm brought back into the moment, being here with Ben while he plays with rocket ships, and I'm just grateful for this time to be with the ones I love.

Many photos will be taken tomorrow, and reminiscing among Raimund's family.  Let's hope for good weather.

~E

The Best Red Velvet Cake Recipe EVER {Pinky Promise}

Generally when I see a blog post about a recipe, I'll skim it or not even bother with it.  "I don't have time for this" I'll usually think and then go back to browsing Etsy. (Derp)  But this recipe, friends, is amazing.

If you've been following my blog for a while then you know, YOU KNOW I make a red velvet cake for my kiddo's birthday normally.  It's moist, it's tasty, and it impresses the hell out of my family so you know it's good.  I've been labeled an excellent baker now because of it. 

The recipe is easy and comes from none other than the Martha Stewart site.  I use it for whole cakes, for cupcakes, and hopefully for cake pops soon.  The original recipe can be found here, but to be honest I've never made the cream cheese frosting that accompanies this recipe.  I cop out and buy the store brand stuff (boo/hiss, I know, I know.)

Red Velvet Cake

(as adapted by yours truly)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder  <--Buy a red-shaded cocoa powder (Bulk Barn sells "Ruddy Red").
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 one-ounce bottles liquid red food coloring   <--I just dump a whole bottle of colouring in.
• 3 tablespoons lukewarm water
• 1 cup buttermilk         <--Smells like ass.
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar 

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, sift together cake flour, cocoa, and baking powder; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar, and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 15 minutes (I DON'T ACTUALLY DO THIS, I JUST BEAT IT 'TIL IT'S FLUFFY.  ALSO AT THIS POINT I TASTE TEST A LOT BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, JUST TO MAKE SURE IT'S ACCEPTABLE AND JUNK). Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla, salt, food coloring, and water; beat, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until well combined. Add reserved dry ingredients in additions, alternating with the buttermilk; beat on low speed until well combined.
3. In a small bowl, stir together baking soda and vinegar; add to batter. Beat on medium speed for 10 seconds. Be sure not to overbeat. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes (DIRTY LIES, USUALLY TAKES LONGER THAN THIS, MORE LIKE 40 MINUTES). Remove pan from oven, and transfer to a wire rack to cool, about 15 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack; let stand until completely cool.

 

I don't follow this recipe to a T, but it still comes out fantastic as hell.  I plan on baking some cupcakes next week during my stay-cation, and this is always the recipe I use.

 

So, yeah, you're welcome.  :)  Anyone else use a different recipe?  Share with us please!

 

Lost in flavour country,

 

~E & R 

 

(PS -- just wanted to throw this out there, my friend Liz is giving away one of three ruffle scarves on her blog.  Free stuff is always delightful, right?  Go check it out!)

 

New Blog Buttons

So, I finally made some new blog buttons.  Feel free to grab one!  They're 250px by 130px.  If you need anything smaller, let me know.  It feels like forever since I've made buttons, it's kinda fun!

<a href="http://www.charliefoxtrotblog.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Charlie Foxtrot" src="http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv218/suicide_blonde999/BUTTON4.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://www.charliefoxtrotblog.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Charlie Foxtrot" src="http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv218/suicide_blonde999/BUTTON3-3.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://www.charliefoxtrotblog.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Charlie Foxtrot" src="http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv218/suicide_blonde999/BUTTON2.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://www.charliefoxtrotblog.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Charlie Foxtrot" src="http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv218/suicide_blonde999/BUTTON1.jpg" /></a>

I'm just on my way out the door to work.  Hopefully tomorrow I can share a recipe with you kids.

~E & R

Summer Smoke

One thing about living in Alberta is that when there's a smoky haze from a wildfire up north, chances are high you'll get a beautiful sunset out of the deal.  

(That's not saying I love wildfires -- I don't, but the haze that's produced makes for good photos.)

These were taken straight out of my camera (SOOC for you shutter bugs).  A couple I added a filter to for effect, but the actual sunset photos were as we saw it Friday evening.

I also bought a remote for my camera on Friday!  May the jumping photos commence...

We'll get the hang of this eventually.

~ E & R

Toddlerhood

So, this one time last month my kid turned 3 and I was all like "How the hell did that happen?!"  Well, it did.  The kiddo is now 3 and has quite the personality.  

At this age I always wonder to myself when he'll start forming memories that will last his life.  I think this is the age that starts happening, right?  My first memory was when I was almost 4.  I was excited that my cousin Jen was coming over that I started bouncing in my chair and then fell on my face.  Another memory I have is of riding my bike down the stairs and my mom screaming "NOOO!"  Pretty awesome memories, right?

 

As is tradition, I baked Ben a red velvet cake, which he ate up in a heartbeat.  

PRO-TIP: next time you bake a cake, get yourself down to Michael's crafts and buy some edible stars.  They're tiny but are pretty fun to have.  My family was oddly impressed.  Huh.

~E & R

Fort Edmonton

Today we went to Fort Edmonton Park, one of the many gems our city has to offer.  One of the main reasons to go was to test out a "new-to-us" TLR camera that Scott of FatCatImages sent me (I'll post photos of the camera soon, promise).  We also thought it'd be fun to take Ben, as it was his first time ever there. (these photos are from my Canon camera.)

The most memorable moment for me was when we were getting off the street car.  Ben turned to the conductor and said "Good job."

That's been our day.  Tomorrow we are farm-bound with multiple cameras in hand(s)!

~E & R

Fireworks

We live ground-zero for fireworks here in town.  It was pretty amazing being able to watch all this from our balcony.  Did I mention I love our apartment?

I managed to shoot some video as well, but won't bother to upload it all.  That's boring, right?  So here's roughly :20 of what we saw.

Good times were had by all, especially by Ben.  He woke up the next morning expecting to see more fireworks and was disappointed there weren't any to greet him.

Hope you had a good Canada Day!

~ E & R