See what people are saying about Jenna Danelle Photographer on facebook!
I am a proud member of Professional Photographers of America 
You will also see me on the [ b ] school forums – an online community for professional photographers to network, learn, and share!
.jpg "1")
For those of you who know me well, you know that I am a true foodie and proud of it. I have an appreciation for beautiful, stunning, and delectable eats, and I love to share the best with my nearest and dearest. On a truly down day, I love to spend it in the kitchen, and my husband out does me in this department all the time. He really does make some amazing eats, and give him time to do magic with a smoker and you’ll have some of the best barbeque you’ve ever had in your life! Of course he denies these talents – but then, often great artists do.
This last year, at Thanksgiving, I took part in making my first German Apple Strudel from scratch and it was exhilarating. The results were pretty yummy too, and I learned a lot for this years version – but I think I found a new tradition. For me, this process was an emotional tie to my Dad, you see I’m 3rd generation German on my Dad’s side, and he grew up with the gals making this delectable delight every holiday season. But I didn’t grow up around my Dad’s side of the family, and I feel often that I missed out on some amazingly rich, family and cultural history, not to mention bonding with them. So for me this was a distant tie to that side of the family, and it was nice to feel like I was a part of something bigger.
Above are home made breadcrumbs from Panettone bread – so yummy all by itself!
The fun really starts with stretching the dough over an entire table top, so thin you can see through it! I mean a BIG table – I know for next year to use our formal LARGE table for this! You put down a clean sheet (I bought muslin from the fabric store specifically to use for strudel making) and you flour it, then get to stretching. I didn’t really know what I was getting into before I started researching different ways to go about the whole process – but having my Dad here with me to help give advice on what he could recall helped a great deal – and it was a bonding experience I’ll always remember.
After that you fill it up with delicious goodness and roll… Mine were so big you had to use two large pans to put the results in, and that was only HALF of the dough!
Food is like that for me in many ways. Yes, I believe that it is nourishment, and we should only eat the best of the best, and stick with as organic and true to nature foods as we possibly can. But I am also a lover of baked goods, all in moderation (or that’s what I tell myself, following that is another story). After all, I think pie counts as a great breakfast food, especially if it is one of my peanut butter and jelly pies – protein, fruit, dairy, can’t get much better! Or a good chocolate cream pie like this one that I made!
Pie reminds me of my Grandmother, who baked, cooked, and did everything from scratch without recipes to follow at all… Her pies were to die for! And when we would go out to pick the ingredients for pies and jam and then spend the day in the kitchen making the goodies for later that day, it was magical. The pie crust scraps sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar were the BEST too! Her place always smelled good, and she worked hard and cooked for an army even when there were only a few of us. When I get to can preserves I always remember her telling me how to sanitize the jars, and make sure to add enough of this and that… It is something I’ll always hold dear and I hope to pass onto our kids when the time comes.
On that – I thought I’d share one of my inspirational pinterest boards – my Delectable Delights board! Follow the link HERE to see the entire board and to get some fun recipes. I plan on trying some of these new yummy treats this year, what are you going to make to entice your pallet, bond with family and friends, and have some fun in the kitchen?! I’d love to hear some of your favorite things to cook up, so don’t forget to comment below!
show 3 comments
not only are your photos beautiful – but your food looks amazing! making me so hungry right now!!
Oh yum – I’m seriously craving sweets now! That apple strudel sounds so good!
Reading your blog and seeing these photos before I’ve had lunch was a bad idea!
I am now starving and craving your strudel!!
I give to you the SuperMoon! This amazing beauty shines it’s brightest – this year, on Cinco de Mayo! A supermoon occurs when the moon is both making its closest approach to Earth and turning full. It happens about once a year. The moon will appear up to 30 percent brighter and 14 percent bigger than the dullest moons, and it was a sight to be seen! If you were able to catch it with your honey, it could have made for one big romantic night! In fact you still have time to go out and see it! It’s the perfect lighting for any romantic adventure, and, if you are planning something big, like proposing – and your honey is into the celestial events – tonight is the night! Best wishes to all my fellow Moon lovers out there, may your hearts overflow with love and happiness on this bright occassion!
show 2 comments
Fantastic moon shot!
I love this image! Just stunning!
I have a love for paper… I don’t really know what it is – but put me in any office supply, scrapbooking, or greeting card store and I’m a happy girl! It is no wonder that weddings with more paper products and details (cards, letterpress tags, handmade embellishments, poms, tassels, etc.) get chosen for magazine publications so often. They are just pretty, personalized, and fun to interact with! I have been planning out my office space, however small or large it may end up being in D.C. and hanging paper poms is one of the decor projects I have been contemplating for a while.
So I am excited to share my recent experiment of paper pom making! I used a bright and colorful striped tissue paper for the two small poms, and a white for the large pom. The project took me around an hour of running around and gathering all my tools, then sitting down and making all three – as well as to get a snack, a drink, and you know – make a phone call… After all – I have a short attention span. Realistically – each small pom takes about five minutes, the large, maybe seven – you have to be patient with the larger one as the paper can rip easily.
The striped tissue was 5 sheets of standard Hallmark issue paper.
The white tissue I used was 12 sheets of 20×26 inch paper.
What you’ll need:
Tissue paper in your color of choice (you can even stack different colors together)
Florist wire, Long Pipe cleaner, or jewelry wire
Ribbon of your choice or clear fishing line or clear jewelry thread to hang it with.
Scissors
Step one for Small Poms: If you plan on making small poms – you can get two poms out of five pieces of tissue paper. Simply unfold your tissue paper flat and cut in half in the middle vertically with the long edge of the paper and stack to make one pile of ten pieces of tissue paper. After completing step one and accordion folding along the short side of the paper – you will divide your accordion folds in half and cut along the crease in the middle (you are cutting vertically along the short side this time), so you now have two accordion folded pieces, around four folds a piece… Continue onto step two.
Step one for Large Poms: Unfold tissue paper flat, then accordion fold approx 1 1/2-inch-wide sections of the tissue paper (folding on the short side), and crease the paper as you fold.
Step two: In the middle of the paper – place your wire and twist tie shut around the paper. It should be snug, but it shouldn’t crease or fold the paper.
Step three: String ribbon or clear thread you intend to hang the pom with through the wire at this time. It is easier to do this now rather than later, I kept forgetting this step so I know.
Step four: Trim the edges of the paper into the shape of your choice. Experiment with different finishes. If you plan on hanging multiple poms, having a variety can add extra depth and texture to the arrangement.
Step five: Unfurl each piece of paper individually, and take care not to rip the tissue – it is delicate and will tear much easier on the larger poms than the smaller as well – so take your time! I did this by pulling half of the paper in one direction, then the other half of the sheets in the opposite direction on one side, then repeated for the other side until they were all fluffed. Straighten out the edges of the paper as you go – fluff when done.
Step six, hang and enjoy!
You can finish the ribbon off with a little hot glue on the ends if you want to make a loop to hang on things, or leave both ends loose so you can tie them onto whatever you need. You could just as easily hot glue the entire length of ribbon together, leaving a small loop at the top to make it look a little more “finished” than letting it go loose if you have more decorative ribbon.
I had a lot of fun with this project and I hope you do too!
no comments
I am a BIG supporter of date night. In fact, I encourage it, no matter if you are still planning that wedding, or already married! My husband and I do date nights still, and when we do – it is a ton of fun, allows us to reconnect despite our crazy busy lives, and relax together. You don’t have to spend a lot of money for a great date night either. Some of my favorite date nights are when we play video games all night, watch obscure movies no one has ever heard of (some of them are actually pretty great, almost always, the ones my hubby picks out), and have an easy dinner and drinks at home.
There doesn’t have to be an occasion to spice it up either – if you want to go all out and paint the town, have a blast and go for it! I thought I’d share some ideas to help you get inspired! Enjoy!
1. Have a themed movie night. One of my favorites – Harold and Kumar go to white castle, now I know that not everyone has a White Castle, or even Krystals, near them. That’s okay! Make sliders and fries at home with this super yummy recipe: Sliders with Chipotle Mayonnaise And get some fries from your local fav fast food joint or some great frozen shoestring fries (they are my fav) and serve with a little extra Chipotle sauce. Yum! Then snuggle in for a great movie and dinner! We actually watched the movie, and at 1am decided it was a great idea to drive 45 mins away to get White Castle! It was totally worth it!
2. Go Geocaching! So a couple of mine told me about this once, and I have to admit – this is the ultimate fun treasure hunting experience! Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location. Most people have a phone with GPS capabilities these days, and a basic membership to geocaching.com is free! Try it out, it can be a lot of fun.
3. Go Rollerskating. Now I know this may take you back to when you were kids, which may be a good thing or a bad thing, but no matter what happens, it has a nostalgia to it that is simply fun and unforgettable. Personally, this activity would leave me on my backside, or face depending on my momentum, because I am the WORST skater on the planet. On the other hand, my hubby is an amazing skater – so, go figure. I guess if it means I fall into his arms, I’m all for it, and a few laughs!
4. Recreate your first date! In High School I think it was cuddling on the couch at a friends house while we all watched Armageddon… but we weren’t really dating then soooo, technically, I think ours was movies, and spaghetti, where he burned his foot and I nursed him back to health for the week, we drank beer, ate duck, and king crab legs, and watched football – I think it was more like a date week… lol. Officially, it was dinner at this fantastic Mediterranean place and we went to go see 300 at the theater. And it was perfect!So recreate yours, as best you can, and have some fun!
5. Get some Bubbly! That’s right, grab a bottle of your favorite wine or sparkly drink, and some bubble bath… I’ll let you figure out the rest. ;D
6. Get some Culture! That’s right, go snag some tickets to a great Broadway show, local play, visit a museum, art gallery, or concert! Have a blast, get dressed up, and make some memories!
7. Steak! Okay, admittedly NOT for more cruelty free peeps, but I’m sorry, I LOVE me some Brazilian Steak House! And that is just what I recommend. Google your nearest one, there are so many popping up all over the place now – there is bound to be one within an hour of you somewhere – GO!!!! You won’t regret it!
8. Feed the Animals. Maybe not the best choice to post AFTER the Brazilian Steak House idea – but I also adore going to the zoo or aquarium, and it makes for a fun filled day with your honey! At many of these places you can actually feed the animals. Our local zoo has a place to feed Giraffes, awesome! Hey, just cause I’m an adult doesn’t mean I don’t like going to the zoo and having a blast. Besides, you may see something you have never seen before and share a new experience together! Ahhh, memories.Don’t forget to take your camera!
I could have this list go on for miles – but these are some of my favs! Hope I inspired you to create a date night soon. It is a great way to reconnect, so if you are just about to say your I do’s the one rule is NO wedding talk! And if you have been married for a while – the rule is, flirt like you just met, oh, and let the kids stay with family else where – this is about the two of YOU! Happy Friday!
no comments
Another installment of the D.C. Chronicles, this week I give you CAKE! Not just any cake, and technically it isn’t in D.C. at all, but my husband pointed out to me that we are going to be within decent driving distance to my favorite bakery on the PLANET! That’s right ladies and gentleman, Charm City Cakes will finally be within the realm of reality for me and I can finally get one of their yummy and phenomenal creations! Something I think I may have to do is get a piggy bank dedicated to Charm City Cake, so every year I can get a cake from Charm City Cakes and celebrate! Because, who doesn’t love cake?! Even better – they just started to offer “cake for two” so everyone can have their cake and eat it too!
For anyone not in the foodie camp on cake – allow me to introduce to you Chef Duff Goldman, the owner of Charm City Cakes, and star of Ace of Cakes on the Food Network. His equally (warning: Jenna-ism ahead) “awesomesaucey” crew help him achieve the magically delicious and oh so very edible works of art that come out of the bakery! And they WANT you to eat them! If you can imagine it, these guys can make it. Out of CAKE! Seriously. I swear that they have magical spatulas hidden in the bakery somewhere that can make your dreams come true in 49 flavors!
And as if it couldn’t get any better, they now offer “cake for two” *happydance* ohhhh yeah!
*drool* Sorry, Pavlovian response to just thinking about it… but seriously – check out the mega list of flavors!
almond
almond amaretto cream
apples and cinnamon
banana caramel
bananas foster
beurre noisette
black forest
blackberry sourcream
blueberry muffin
brownie
butterscotch walnut
cardamom and pistachio
carrot
cherry and almond
chocolate
chocolate chip muffin
chocolate espresso
chocolate mint
chocolate orange
chocolate raspberry
curry caramel
dulce de leche
egg nog
ginger and green tea
italian orange and vanilla
lemon
lemon curd and berries
lemon poppyseed
marble
mudslide
orange and ginger
peaches and cream
peanut butter and jelly
peanut butter cup
pear compote and ginger
pear spice
pecan pie
pineapple coconut
pumpkin and cinnamon
pumpkin chocolate chip
red velvet
Rum
smores
strawberry shortcake
tiramisu
white
white chocolate raspberry
yellow
yellow w/ choc. buttercream
Hungry yet? Let’s go get cake!!!! What do you guys think our first cake flavor should be?
no comments
show hide 4 comments
FABULOUS!!!! CANNOT wait to see the “about me” vid!! xoxo ur amazing!
That was an amazing video!
I cried all the way through this video, she did an amazing job… of course it helped that she had such an amazing bride and groom. and lets not forget the brides awesome FAMILY! Love you Nakia, Aunt Robi
Whats beautiful about this video is its very touching. Your work definitely touches the right cord. Love it.