Holiday Baking - {Recipe}

When I started writing this post, I was just planning to write a quick post with a recipe. As I began to write, my mind went elsewhere and the post is a lot longer than I originally planned. But it is sharing a little piece of my family history and why I love holiday baking so much. :)

One of my favorites parts of the holidays is holiday baking. Ever since I was a little girl, my mom and granny would make the most delicious cookies -and of course I was always there to "help" (eat the batter & cookies). As I grew up, I began to do more and more of the baking and really loved the quality time I had with my granny and mom. It was always an all day affair - we're talking starting by 8am and not finishing until late in the evening. My parents always made cookie trays for all of their friends & family, so we had to make double, triple & sometimes even more batches of each cookie. My mom and granny would bake up a flurry and then we would enjoy the cookies over the next few weeks. When my granny passed away due to cancer in October of 2006, the holidays were obviously very different that year. I was away from home graduating from college & working three jobs - all while planning my quickly approaching wedding. That year was one of the first years I didn't do the Christmas baking and probably one of the reasons why that holiday seemed so "off". 

The next spring, I got married and moved to Dallas. I think I may have done one or two cookies that year, but I honestly don't remember. It certainly wasn't the same baking by myself.  Fast forward to 2008 when my parents decided to leave the town they lived in the past 25+ years to move to the Dallas area. This opened up the door for my mom and I to continue our holiday tradition of baking all of our yummy treats together since I was living here! Although it is a little different from how it used to be, I love the quality time I get with my mom. Of course things are a little different since Luke is a very active toddler. Instead of both of us doing the baking, it has now turned into me doing all of the mixing while she chases around Luke. This year she was able to at least roll out many of the batches which was a HUGE help! When all was said and done, we made 22 (yes TWENTY TWO) batches of various cookies and my home smelled *wonderful*. 

I had great plans to document all of it with my camera, but I am not known for being the neatest cook - so once the flour started flying, I put my gear away. Hah! Before the day began, this is what one small part of my counter looked like:

I wanted to share with you guys my favorite homemade cookie recipe! This recipe was handed down to me by my Granny. If you had the pleasure of knowing her, then you know she didn't mess around when it came to the kitchen. These are SO good (and the recipe makes a ton)!

Crunchie Cookies

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup shortening

1 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 egg (for egg free version - substitute 1T white vinegar, 1 tsp baking powder & 1T milk)

1 tsp vanilla

1 T milk

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cream of tartar

1 cup instant oats

1 cup rice krispies

1 cup coconut

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Cream the sugar, brown sugar, shortening, canola oil, egg, vanilla and milk together.  Slowly add in flour, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar. Mix well.  Then add instant oats, rice krispies, coconut and nuts. Roll into balls and flatten on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes until golden. Cool on cooling racks then enjoy!

And here is the finished product!

Don't they look yummy?

I even made an egg-free batch so Luke could enjoy my favorite cookies!

You should definitely try these & let me know if you love them as much as I do!

............

Krystal

Noble - {Siblings} - Sneak Peek!

This set of siblings met up with me for their session after we had to reschedule because of the crazy rain we had a few weekends ago. They were super flexible and totally understood that I can't control the weather (although that'd be nice if I could!). All three of them were so easy to get along with and it was easy to see they each have their own individual personalities! They had me cracking up during the session and they even laughed at my jokes (or maybe they were laughing at me?). Either way - it was so much fun and was definitely one of my favorite sessions!

They had never had a session done like this before and did this as a surprise for their mom for Christmas (shhhh!!!). We wanted to get some shots of all three of them together as well as feature each of them individually. The location we chose had so many different great areas, so we were able to get a lot done in the normal amount of time it takes for one session. I've tried to narrow it down, but this is definitely one of my longer posts. I had too many favorites! See for yourself! :)

 ..........
Krystal

The Jernigans - {Family} - Sneak Peek!

This adorable family met up with me for their family session on a very chilly morning. It was *so* cold, but they didn't complain about the temperatures at all! Their sweet boy pretended to be shy, but as you will see from the photos - that didn't last long at all. I thought their outfits were great and the scarf was the perfect accent! They were so sweet and completely easy to work with. It didn't hurt that they are a great looking family either! :) 

These are just a few of my favorites from their session!

 I was trying to convince him to let me have his owl hat! It's so cute!!

He didn't want to share though ;)

............
Krystal

Benjamin - {18 months} - Sneak Peek!

Are you ready to have your heart melt? This little guy is SO cute! We met up on a very chilly day that was quite foggy and overcast. We were originally supposed to have a morning session, but had to change it to the afternoon due to rainy weather that morning. Benjamin pretended to be shy for the first few minutes (you can see some of the first photos he has this adorable bashful face). But then he quickly decided I was a-okay and he gave me some great expressions! It was so much fun chasing him around during the session! His mommy was so sweet and even played in the leaves with him at one point to get him interested. 

Here are just a few of my favorites!

............
Krystal

Fabulous Shoes - {Personal}

I think every girl should have at least one pair of fabulous heels. I have just a *few* more than one pair, but always seem to think I need to have just one more pair (even though most days I am wearing comfy clothes and practically never get dressed up). ;)  With the upcoming holidays, that brings the onslaught of many holiday parties to attend. Which gave me just another excuse to get a pair of shoes! Hah!

This year, I will be sporting these fabulous, sparkly shoes to many of the holiday parties we will be attending! And surprisingly, they are not killers to wear!

Aren't they fun??

My name is Krystal and I may have a shoe addiction....

Mark & Patricia - {Just Because} - Sneak Peek!

I met with this gorgeous couple last month. They had never had a professional photo session together before, so I was very excited that they decided to use me for their first one! You wouldn't be able to tell at all that they had never done this before. Mark & Patricia were total naturals in front of the camera! I am totally jealous of Patricia's gorgeous hair - if I even try to curl mine, it ends up looking like curly sue. It was so easy to see that Mark truly adores Patricia. Such a loving couple. :)

These are just a few of my favorites from their session!

..............
Krystal

New Branding & Logo!

If you are a regular reader of my blog or follow me on Facebook, then you already know that for the past few months I have been working with the fabulous Ravyn of Three Fifteen Design. We have been working on a new brand identity project to help my business have a cohesive look. The last part of this process that you guys saw was the Design Board:

The goal of this project was to not only come up with a new logo, but to really come up with a strong identity for my brand. Something that truly represents my style, my photography, my life, my passion, and lil ol' me! I believe that photography is me being able to look at things with my eye & capture the true beauty there - so it really does need to be representative as a whole of all of these things! I love capturing real emotions and always strive to create meaningful relationships with each and every person I work with and wanted this to be a part of the brand project.

After speaking with Ravyn, she came up with words to describe me & my work. The words she used for this project were natural, sweet, emotional, friendly, ease, organic, texture and modern. It was so amazing to hear that she was able to pinpoint exactly what I wanted my photography to portray just by getting to know me a little & looking through my work! (If you ever need design work done, seriously - you would be crazy to *not* work with Ravyn!)

And now..... I am SO excited to reveal the new brand identity of KM Photo Studio!!

Isn't it beautiful?? I am so in love with this new look & am excited to be on my way to having a cohesive look. :) Thank you thank you thank you a MILLION times, Ravyn! You're amazing!

The new website is in the works and will hopefully be rolled out by the first of the year! I'll then be able to take all of the new pieces she designed and put them on the blog, website, facebook, twitter & everywhere else I think can of! 

...............

Krystal