mae...wordless wednesday

food friday...5 ingredient salsa

 I am by no means a salsa guru like my friend Sarabeth, but I am a girl who loves salsa. Also my family loves to dip and we have tacos or quesadillas almost weekly so a quick salsa recipe is a must. This five ingredient recipe is great in a pinch and I love that I almost always have this stuff on hand.

5 ingredient salsa 

1 28oz can whole tomatoes
1 can rotel tomatoes with cilantro and lime
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp dried cilantro

mix in a blender or food processor and it's ready to serve.

and the winner is.....

Julie Young!!!
Congrats Julie! Email me to set up a time for us to get together this fall. (whitneyloibner@comcast.net)

To everyone else who entered I so appreciate it and would love the opportunity to work with you. If you entered and would like to set a date for Fall 2013 take $25 off your session fee by getting a date set this month.

fall giveaway

Just a friendly reminder to hop over to this post and comment to be entered to win a fall session (a $100 value). Due to some troubles I am asking that you leave the comment on that post through the blogger comment option, not the facebook comment.  If you have already left a comment on facebook go ahead and leave a blogger comment too. Sorry for the difficulty, I just want to make sure I get everyone entered. I will draw a winner Tuesday evening and post the winner on Wednesday.
happy Monday!

food friday...sangria margarita

This drink is a play on a sangria swirl, a margarita with sangria ice cubes. 

I used Alison and Taido's sangria recipe and placed them in ice trays to freeze. Probably best to do that over night for a firm cube.

Citrus Sangria

1 bottle medium bodied red wine (we used Shiraz)

2 cups sparkling water (we used Pellegrino)

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons Triple Sec

Juice of one orange

Juice of one lemon

Juice of one lime

Mix all ingredients together and place in ice trays.

For the margarita the most important factor is for sure fresh squeezed juice. Since making these I have purchased this electric citrus juicer because it is a pretty serious undertaking with a hand juicer.

Margarita

2 cup fresh squeezed citrus juice (I did 1 1/2 c lime and 1/2 c orange, but you could use some lemon too)
1 1/2 cup white tequila
1 1/2 cup triple sec
limes for garnish

Place margarita in cup and fill with sangria ice cubes. This recipe is perfect for a hot summer day, but works with fajitas and guacamole anytime.

fall sessions and a session giveaway (arkansas family photographer)

hello all. 

in the midst of the 100 degree heat i am struggling to plan for fall, but i know that soon it will be upon us. i wanted to let you know that i am planning my fall schedule and would love to work with you again or for the first time. fall is a great time for updating family photos or planning senior photos for those 2014 graduates. 

please email me if you would like more information or would like to plan a fall session. to book a date i take a $100 deposit that will hold the date and pay your session fee. 

for a chance to win a 2013 fall session fee like whitney loibner photography on facebook or follow this blog by the tab at the bottom of the page and then leave a comment on this post and you will be entered to win. for an extra entry go ahead and send your deposit and book a date before i draw a winner (September 17) and i will enter you twice and save the deposit to go towards prints, christmas cards or a session disc.
i will draw a winner on the afternoon of September 17th and post it here and on my facebook page.
good luck!

call, text or email with questions

501-554-9998

whitneyloibner@comcast.net

to win the session you must be available to meet up in central arkansas. the giveaway is for a session taken between september 18 and december 30, 2013. not valid on a session that has already taken place.

*had some trouble with the facebook plug in and those comments not all coming through. To be safe either do both or just leave a comment through blogger. It says "click to leave a comment using blogger". thanks!

it's hot out here (little rock, ar family photographer)

 In an Arkansas September you never know what you might get. When we planned this shoot in early August it was unusually cool outside and I had hoped that we would still be working with those temperatures. Unfortunately it finally got hot around here and even though we weren't meeting up until evening it was still close to 100 degrees. In an effort to not melt away we decided to meet up at the library and take advantage of a little air conditioning before heading outside. And lucky for us we have a gorgeous new library in the area with nice space and great windows that make you feel almost outside.

 This adorable little one has the sweetest smile and I had a great time chasing her around and making each other laugh.

hello Monday!

food friday...grilled romaine salad

This summer I decided that I would like to learn to grill. I feel a little silly to say that, as the idea of grilling doesn't seem too difficult, but I know it is an art and one I would like to work on. Somewhere in the turning on tanks and using a lighter to ignite the fire I was intimidated, but I was determined to overcome that. Peter showed me how it all worked and is still very willing to get it all going and just step aside for me to actually cook the food, a fact that I am very thankful for. He is even willing to turn that tank off and do the cleaning.
It is possible that one of the reasons I wanted to work on this art is because I wanted to try to grill things that I knew might get a strange look from my husband and which I might not be able to give specific instructions, not his favorite. Such is the story with this grilled romaine salad. I have seen several photos and articles about grilled lettuce and want to give it a whirl. I think it gave the lettuce more flavor and I really liked the warmth of the salad. Have you grilled lettuce? I would love to know more about it...ideas?

Grilled Romaine Salad
1 head of romaine cut in half
2 corn cobs
1 cup grape tomatoes cut in half
1/3 cup chopped purple onion
dressing of choice, I served it with a homemade ranch

Put corn on the grill (i wrapped it in foil with a little olive oil and salt and pepper). Place the romaine on the grill with the inside down so all the edges get a little sear. both of these can cook to taste. I think I did the corn for 15ish minutes and the lettuce for 5+ minutes. chop lettuce and put on a platter or bowl, cut corn off the cob, top salad with remaining ingredients. This would be a great side of perfect to top with your favorite grilled meat.

hot springs, ar...instagram travel thursday

Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, AR has a very special place in my heart. As a child we spent our summer weekends here, a tradition started by my mom's family who drove to Hot Springs for summer vacation every year from Waxahatchie, TX. The year Wilson was born my parents bought a house on the lake and we try hard to visit as much as possible. Our summers here are filled with swimming and boat rides, but we love this lake and precious town in the winter too. The downtown is full of gorgeous bathhouses and quaint little restaurants and it is a town that comes alive not only in the summer, but in the racing season. 

My parents are lovers of the race track and this past Spring we had the opportunity to take the boys to the track and they even got to ride one of the horses that they use for training. It was such a treat to see them ride the horse and to meet a few jockeys and pet the racing horses. 

The next day we got to see those horses run and then had a dinner party with my parents friends from the race track. 

While in Hot Springs we have a few favorites that we try to hit Winter or Summer...

Rolandos Restaurant

Mid America Science Museum

Quapaw Bath House

Central Park Fusion

What is your favorite weekend getaway?

tissue balls (little rock, ar family photographer...styled shoot)

I am a girl who loves color and a little diy so when we made the plans for this styled shoot I knew I wanted to incorporate pops of color and tissue balls are such a fun way to do it. They are fairly easy to make and can be used so many ways. I have used these for room decoration, pictures and parties. I just store them and refluff when I need them.

To make them you need:

8 pieces of tissue per ball

around 22 gauge floral wire (i use the strips...1 per ball)

scissors

patience

These two need no help with the cuteness. They were a pleasure to work with and all the color worked so well with the clothes we chose and their bubbly personalities.

I'm not the only one loving those tissue balls :)