Welcome to Life, Inspired — The Weekend Review. This is the weekly column where I take a step back from the recipes so you can have a wider look at what’s been inspiring me, moving me, or just catching my fancy out there in the life beyond my kitchen.

My Morning Walks

Although the landscape is stark as late autumn dances with winter — snow one day, mild gloominess the next, then brilliant sunshine that belies the temperature — it has a certain beauty as these photos show. I love the message of beautiful perseverance as the last few autumn leaves cling valiantly to their branches.

Publicity & Photography

When I started blogging, photography was a mere afterthought. My primary motivation was to write, and I chose food as my subject because, well, I think you can tell why. A few of my early posts didn’t even have photographs, and my skills were sadly lacking in many respects. I set about to learn and improve, and today I’m finding that photography and photo editing are among my most rewarding creative outlets. In September I opened an Instagram account and I’m absolutely loving it. The account is tied to the blog, so there are a lot of food photos there, along with more personal shots that you don’t see here. In particular, I’m drawn to nature photography and interesting sights that I happen across when out and about. I’m participating in the Food Bloggers of Canada Instagram #FBCphotoaday challenge this month, and on Friday they shared my submission on the theme #skate on their account. Not being a skater (for obvious reasons if you read last week’s Life, Inspired column), I wasn’t sure what I would do for this challenge, but on my way to the market on Thursday I saw the outdoor skating rink at the Covent Garden Market glistening in the soft afternoon sunshine and knew I had found my subject. I’m very happy with how this photo turned out and how it has the quality of a sketch. It was taken with my iPhone 4S and edited with Snapseed. The version on Instagram was modified further with their editing tools.

I love participating in the National Post’s Gastropost missions. As an early Gastroposter, I’m notified about upcoming missions in advance. This week, they used my cranberry pecan coffee cake to help announce the Season’s Sweetings mission. I love the clever names they come up with, and I’m especially partial to a good pun!

An aside: this cake holds a special place in my heart, as it’s a variation on the coffee cake that was my Dad’s favourite. I often made it when my parents came to visit. With my parents love was rarely spoken, but this is how I showed it for Dad.

Baby Shower

Yesterday I hosted a family baby shower at my home. It was a wonderful event, full of love and happiness. There will be more about that in a later post, but I wanted to share with you today the ‘cake’ that I made to celebrate the Mamma-to-be who happens to collect elephants. Yes, it’s a diaper cake! It’s made from 84 newborn-sized disposable diapers and festooned with books, rubber duckies, little socks washcloths and other things for baby. And of course it’s topped with an adorable little elephant, which is also a soft and cuddly rattle.

Around the Web

Just keeping this section brief, as I’m heading out soon for a family holiday gathering. Since I spent so much time getting ready for the baby shower this week, I didn’t noodle around on the web too much, but I did come across this post on how to arrange a bread basket on the Canadian blog Family Bites. Here’s how to present your bread artfully:

http://www.familybites.ca/2014/11/how-to-fill-a-bread-basket.html

Sherri, of the British blog A View From My Summerhouse, is a talented writer and just one of the kind and generous spirits I’ve met out in the interwebs. She’s provided me guidance and support on my writing journey, and her writing and photography always inspires. This week, the post below touched a chord with me, as I too was appalled at the Black Friday mayhem, but mostly because her story of the interview proved once again that there is a lot of goodness in this world.

http://sherrimatthewsblog.com/2014/12/01/a-merciful-interview-bite-size-memoir/

Finally, check out the “ultimate healthy vibrant kitchen essential tools list” that my friend Jo-Ann is featuring on her blog, 9 Cup Challenge. There’s a giveaway too! Jo-Ann’s blog is filled with healthy goodness; do look around while you’re there.

http://9cupchallenge.com/the-ultimate-healthy-vibrant-kitchen-essential-tools-list/

Weekly Recap

Last week I posted an updated recipe for roasted red pepper and tomato soup, with tips on how to serve it stylishly for holiday parties, as well as the strawberry chocolate cupcakes with strawberry buttercream that I made for Littler Miss’s third birthday party. Do check them out if you missed them!