Some of you may recognize this couple from their wedding I was able to shoot almost 18 months ago. They were back in town for a week and asked me to do some updated family pictures with their precious four month old son. What a sweet little guy! It was raining almost all morning, but we managed to find a few minutes to squeeze in some pictures between the rain drops. Look at this precious little boy!
I had a bunch of extra apples sitting on my counter yesterday and decided to quick throw together an apple pie for my hubby. I found the following recipe in Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade’s September/October issue and thought I’d give it a try. This was a very easy recipe, pretty much your typical apple pie recipe. Enjoy!
Brandied Caramel Apple Pie:
1 refrigerated pie crust
5-8 large granny smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 cup plus 2 T flour, divided
2 t ground cinnamon
2 cups caramel sauce
3 T apple brandy
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup butter
1 cup instant oats
preheat oven to 375. fit pie crust into 9″ pie plate, fluting edges. bake for 4-5 minutes. cool on a wire rack. in a large bowl, toss apples with 1/4 cup plus 2 T flour and the cinnamon.
in a saucepan, heat the caramel over medium heat until warm. remove from heat. add 1 cup to apple mix and toss gently to coat. stir brandy into the remaining sauce and reserve for topping pie. spoon apple mixture into pie crust, layering apples as tightly as possible.
in a medium bowl, combine remaining flour, brown sugar and oats. using a fork, cut butter into mix and stir until crumbly. sprinkle over apples, pressing to adhere.
place pie on a baking sheet (to catch drips) and cover loosely with foil. bake for 30 minutes. remove foil and bake an additional 35-45 minutes until brown and bubbly. enjoy!
Thought I’d post just a couple of pics from the wedding Saturday night. These are some of my personal pics from the night, me and my good buddies. Mandy and I grew up right down the street from each other and played together almost every day. Mandy’s sister Erin and my sister Sara were also good friends and played together all the time. Mandy, Jason (Erin’s husband) and I all graduated together and have known each other a long time. I love it when I actually know the family at the weddings I shoot. Makes for such a great day! The actual wedding day post will come later this week!
Mandy and I
Mom getting a hug from Mandy.
Mandy and Jason, hey good buddy!
Beca and Jason
Erin and Jason
Sunset at the resort the night of the wedding
Tomorrow morning at this time I will be in the air on my way to New York City for the wedding of one of my dearest friends. Mandi and her two sisters lived right down the road from us our entire childhood. We were the same age and her sister and my sister were the same age. Our mom’s babysat for each other often and I spent most of my younger years with Mandi. We went to the library on our bikes, jumped on (and broke) each others beds, ate over at each others houses, had sleepovers, watched movies, sang to The Sound of Music records and went to high school together.
I am so excited that she is finally getting married to the sweetest man around. Jeff, I’m so happy that you make my friend so happy. I can’t wait to head out to the east coast for the next five days and be part of your very special day. I am honored that I get to take your wedding photos!
Mandi, I love you and am so happy for you. I will see you tomorrow. Until then, enjoy a few old pics I found that I had already scanned into the computer. I wish I had some older ones, but I need to dig for those!
Sometimes, when I see sunsets like these, I feel like God is giving me a glimpse into His world. His glory was on full display last week through three nights of beautiful sunsets. I’m finally looking at the pictures I took this morning and am reminded of a song my dad wrote years ago. He recently posted a portion of it on my Facebook wall in response to something I said and I felt it fit these pictures perfectly:
‘He let me catch a glimpse of His holy face
and all I wanna do is to run the race
I’ve got to reach the goal by coming face to face
once again…’
Thank you Lord for giving us glimpses of your glory on a regular basis, if only we take the time to see them. May God bless you all in your week ahead!
I thought I’d post a few pictures from the senior session I had last week. Justin was such a sweetheart to work with, he looks tough but don’t let that fool ya. And he has the cutest freckles! What I have found with my guy seniors is that they do not like to smile. They want to look rough and tough. Inevitably, mom is standing behind me speaking words of encouragement: “Come on! Just smile. No, no, no…smile with your teeth, like you really mean it. That’s not your real smile, come on! Just do it for me, you look so cute when you smile.” And on and on and on it goes. I stand there and try to catch that fleeting smile, all while trying to make the poor guy feel comfortable and not embarrassed. Not always easy. I’ve also found that converting some of the pics to black and white helps with the “tough” look and give the guys something different to choose from. Here are a couple of my favorites from Justin’s shoot, enjoy!
I found this recipe on Pinterest and thought it was perfect for fall. I used granny smith apples and changed it up just a little. Instead of a round cake pan, I used a square one. I also did not put the nuts inside the batter, I sprinkled them over the apples underneath. We ate this hot out of the oven with a cup of coffee for dessert and it was wonderful! I also had a piece the next day, but it wasn’t quite as good. I probably should have zapped it in the microwave to melt the caramel just a little. To see the recipe, click here. Enjoy!
Brandon and Sam met on the co-ed bowling team at Grand Valley. Some of you will remember the engagement pictures we did at the bowling alley last fall, so much fun! Their wedding day turned out to be a beautiful fall day, a great day for their outdoor wedding at Centennial Country Club in Grand Rapids. Thank you both so much for including me in your special day. Hopefully you’ve made it down to Jamaica and are enjoying some fun in the sun! Many blessings!
Ceremony & Reception: Centennial Country Club
DJ: DJ A-Dubs
Hair & Makeup: The Hair Studio
Wedding Photography & Slideshow: Tomorrow’s Memories by Beca
As the mother of three boys all under the age of 10, my life is anything but boring. Here is what I found in my refrigerator this morning. Because we all need a coffin and chain in our fridge…
Cookie's Crumbles 