{from left to right}

1. Little Odd Forest
2. The Merri Weathercouncil
3. Fail Jewelry
4. LeighViner

Next month is my birthday month and I always make a big fuss about my birthday—even though there’s more candles on my cake than ever.

I am even letting you guys in on the fun birthday stuff by offering an awesome ad special called the

Pay What You Want Birthday Ad Special

There are no strings attached, you can really pay whatever you want for a banner ad for the month of June.  There are only a limited # of spots available though.

So, sign up HERE or email me at jen@indiefixx.com to reserve your spot before they are all snapped up.

This special is open to all and is my way of offering advertising to folks who may not have a very large ad budget and for those who haven’t yet given Indie Fixx a try yet. Please do pay what is appropriate to your budget.

This weekend is Memorial Day Weeked, so that means a 3-day weekend for many folks in the US. And as the unofficial start of summer, it will mean many outside get-togethers…and that will mean many cocktails will be imbibed.

To get you ready, I’ve curated a list of some refreshing cocktails you can make at home. I will also be periodically sharing recipes with you over the summer for this series, so stay tuned.

Lavender Bellini

The Veracruzana

Watermelon Agua Fresca

The Bellhop

Strawberry Swizzle

Sidecar

The Panamanian Soother

Vodka-Thyme Lemonade

Singapore Sling

Grapefruit Mojito

Nate Padavick and Salli Swindell are the brother and sister design and illustration team who created this concept. The pair came up with the idea on a family vacation. While Nate was busy making dinner—fettuccine with figs in a balsamic butter sauce—Salli  was playing around with her watercolors and  painting the crate of figs.  They toyed around with some other ideas, but finally hit upon the idea to start a blog and invite artists to submit their illustrated recipes. Visitors can browse the recipes and now can even buy some of the recipe illustrations….plus, there’s a book!

Here’s some of my favorite recipes….and illustrations as well.

It’s time for another Photo Challenge!

In case you aren’t familiar with them, I periodically post a Weekly Photo Challenge and ask readers to upload photos around a particular theme to the Indie Fixx Flickr Group. Participants have a week or so to get their photos taken and added to the Group.

The idea is to provide everyone with a venue to share their craftiness and photography skillz & offer up some inspiration for everyone involved. Sometimes, but not every time, I offer up a prize.

The theme for this challenge is: Happiness is….?

Fill in the _______ {blank} with your photo composition to answer what happiness is to you.

Myself and 2-3 other judges will be choosing the most creative, fun, relevant and interesting photo from all those that are uploaded and the winner will receive a prize!

Prize:

In addition to bragging rights, one winner will be chosen to win the following:

1. Hammered rustic cuff  from Andrea Bonelli Jewelry
2. Woodland Creatures Letterpress Print by Hello!Lucky
3. Year of the Cheer Card kit by Hello!Lucky
4. Pendant necklace from Broken Plate Pendant Company

Details for the Photo Challenge:

1. Upload your photos to the Indie Fixx Flickr group by Friday, June 1, 2012 by 11:59 pm EST.

2. Make sure to tag it with the following: “happiness weekly photo challenge” or happinessweeklyphotochallenge.

3. One winner will be notified via Flickr Mail after June 4th.

4. Multiple entries will be considered.

5. All photos added to the flickr group between May 21st and June 1st will be considered entries for the purposes of this contest.

6. Myself and 2-3 other judges will be choosing one winner who will receive both prizes.

7. Contest open to US and international entrants!

When I set out to make this biscotti, my intentions were very clear.  The morning was dreary and cold, the outlook for the afternoon even drearier and colder.  In the interest of providing myself with something to cut through the depressing gray day ahead of me,  I was aiming to whip up bit of a treat that I could enjoy with a soothing cup of afternoon coffee.

It seemed like such an innocent endeavor, and it was, really, until I opened up a cupboard to rifle around for a bit of inspiration concerning what I could fold into the biscotti dough and, oh, hello, dried Montmorency cherries.  And who is that sitting right next to you?  A bottle of Kentucky bourbon, I see.  We may be onto something here.  A bit more shuffling of things in said cupboard also unearthed the last bits of a bar of bittersweet chocolate, a natural pairing, I thought, for the tartness of the cherries.  A bit of chopping, and we’re almost there.

And where was there?  Well, surprisingly, it ended up being a place where crisp, satisfying biscotti, ripe with bourbon-plumped cherries and streaks of dark chocolate, tastes a lot like the best chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever eaten.  While still firmly planted in the crunchy family of biscotti, this little number has the brown sugar notes of a cookie, but with a hint more sophistication on account of the chunky pecans and varying hits of tartness, sweetness, and, of course, smooth bourbon.  It may not have been the exact treat I thought I’d end up making, but it served its purpose more than sufficiently.  Dipped into a cup of hot black coffee, it was a warm and cozy highlight to what can only be called a cold and punishing day (ah, springtime in Portland).

Pecan and Chocolate Biscotti with Bourbon-Soaked Cherries

3 tablespoons bourbon
½ cup dried sour cherries (you may have to hunt around to find dried sour cherries instead of dried regular cherries, but the difference between the two is so totally worth the hunt)
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (½ a stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup white sugar
¼ cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup coarsely chopped, lightly toasted pecans
½ cup coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate

In a small bowl, combine the bourbon and the dried sour cherries.  Allow to soak at room temperature for at least 1 hour (if you have the inclination, soaking them overnight would provide the most forward bourbon flavor), tossing occasionally to keep all the cherries in touch with the bourbon.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until they are light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs and vanilla.  Beat the sifted dry ingredients into the butter mixture until everything is just combined.  Stir in the pecans, chocolate, and dried cherries, along with any bourbon leftover in the bowl.  Stir until everything is incorporated.

Directly on the prepared baking sheet, divide the dough into 2 logs roughly 3 ½ inches wide and 8 inches long.  Pat the logs into a uniform thickness of about ¾ inch.  The dough will be sticky, so lightly greasing or flouring your hands might help your shaping endeavors.

Bake the logs in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, until the centers are firm and the tops are golden brown.  Remove the baking sheet from the oven, and remove the logs to cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.  Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.  With a serrated knife, slice the slightly-cooled logs on the diagonal into ½-inch thick slices.  Return the slices, cut side down, to the baking sheet, then bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until the slices are extremely crisp and nicely browned.

Remove biscotti slices to a wire rack to cool completely.  Biscotti can be kept in an airtight container for several days.

About the contributor:
	Elizabeth Miller is a freelance writer who runs Savory Salty Sweet, a food and kitchen appreciation website. She also writes the Melting Pot column here on Indie Fixx, which appears bimonthly on Fridays. Read more about her on the contributors’ page.

Diana’s work is very reminiscent of 1970s fashion photography and I must say that I am smitten. Here’s a sampling of some of her other work. To see more, visit her website or her flickr page.

I’ve been meaning to do this every since its inception…maybe this will be the year that I finally stop putting it off.

by lori l. dunbar of Marzipaninc.com

by Sarah Draws Things

by Illustrateur

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by .nique.