Once upon a time in Sri Lanka

Sooo.. this past spring I had an amazing experience volunteering in Sri Lanka for four whole weeks. I worked with injured and abandoned elephants, explored the beautiful coast and the vast rain forest. The experiences I had were priceless and very challenging. Here are some of my most cherished images from my life changing travel through Sri Lanka.

Amish Friendship Bread

 Baking during Christmas  gets me in that warm holiday mood. A nice older lady from my dad's hometown baked several loafs of this delicious bread and gave him one to bring home. It didn't last through the day though.. so I decided to attempt it and if it turns out I pass it on to some friends.

Amish Cinnamon Friendship Bread

Ingredients

This is a little complicated because you repeat and repeat steps.
STARTER
flour
sugar
milk
BAKING
1 cup oil
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 large box of vanilla pudding
1 cup dried fruit or nuts (ie. raisins)
cinnamon sugar (topping)

Directions

Day 1.  If starting from scratch.  In a large Ziploc baggie, combine 1 cup milk, 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar.  Close, Mush well.  Let sit and do nothing else.

Day 1. If you just received a baggie of starter. Do nothing.
Day 2. Mush Bag 2 times a day.
Day 3. Mush Bag 2 times a day.
Day 4. Mush Bag 2 times a day.
Day 5. Mush Bag 2 times a day.
Day 6. Add 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of flour, and 1 cup of sugar.  Mush together throroughly.
Day 7. Mush bag, let air out, and reseal the bag.  2 times a day.
Day 8. Mush bag, let air out, and reseal the bag.  2 times a day.
Day 9. Mush bag, let air out, and reseal the bag.  2 times a day.
Day 10. Pour and squeeze contents into a big plastic (I don't know why... orginal recipe said this.) bowl.  Add 1 cup milk, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour.  Stir and pour four 1 cup "starters" into 4 large Ziploc bags.  Give these and a copy of this recipe to friends.

You'll have a little left in the bowl.  Add to it oil, eggs, milk, and vanilla and mix well.

In a separate bowl mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, vanilla pudding mix, and fruit or nuts (optional).

Mix all ingredients together.  Spray the bottom of two loaf pans.  Split the batter between the pans.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar to cover the tops.

Bake 1 hour at 325 degrees F.

Family Photograpy

I have had so much fun lately photographing several families from the Raleigh area. It's been a great way for me to exercise my my brain and fingers and make them "sharper shooters". I have also enjoyed getting to know these families a bit and hearing their stories. Here are a few of my favorite shots from this fall's family photo shoots!