So, this is a recipe I found in Cuisine Tonight For Two.  I actually made four of them and they turned out delicious!  They were not the quickest thing to throw together, but definitely worth the time and effort.  Yummy!  Enjoy.

Apple Pastry Tarts:

1 frozen puff pastry sheet thawed

1 T. butter

4 small granny smith apples, peeled and chopped

3 T. apple liqueur or brandy

2 T. brown sugar

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

1 T. honey

Sauce:

1 cup heavy cream

2 T. brown sugar

2 t. cinnamon

3 T. apple liqueur or brandy

Preheat oven to 425.  Spray baking sheet with cooking spray.  Cut the pastry sheet into 4 squares.  Fold each square into a triangle (see pics below).  Cut a 1/2″ wide band  from the edge, but leave attached to the inside corner; transfer to prepared baking sheet.  Unfold triangles.  Fold the outer corners over to the opposite inside corners.  Pierce insides with a fork.  Bake until golden brown, about 13 minutes.

For the filling, heat butter in a skillet.  Add apples, liqueur, brown sugar and cinnamon.  Cook apple until tender, about 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the mascarpone and honey.  Set aside.

While apples are cooking, Boil cream for sauce, brown sugar and cinnamon in a saucepan until reduced by half, about 8 minutes.  Stir in liqueur.

Divide the mascarpone between the pastry shells.  Spoon apple mixure over the mascarpone and drizzle with the sauce.

Don’t even ask me how many calories or fat are in this dish.  All I know is that it was well worth it, they tasted divine!

In honor of another wedding Saturday, I am showcasing some of the engagement pictures I have taken over the past two years.  Engagement sessions are a fun way to meet the couple before the wedding day and get to know them a little better.  Many couples ask me when they should do the engagement pics and I always tell them whenever they feel like it.  Most people do them about one year before the wedding, but if you have a short engagement, you can do them as soon as you get engaged.  I’ve also had couples do them up to 18 months before the wedding.  All personal preference.  The first photo in this bunch of pictures is my wedding couple for today.  Looking forward to your special day Ray and Rosa!

I bought three dozen ears of corn this week from the local farm market here in Byron Center, Kapteyn’s Farm.  My mom always bought her corn on the cob from Kapteyn’s and so do I.  This week I took my boys and they had so much fun helping me.  I cooked up two and a half dozen and froze it for this coming winter.  With the remaining half dozen I made corn chowder.  I was going to make lobster cakes to eat with it, but ran out of time, so I actually threw the lobster into the chowder.  It turned out quite yummy and I will definitely make it again this winter.

Corn Chowder with Lobster:

6 ears corn cooked and cut off the cob

1 onion chopped

1 can mushrooms

1 jalapeno pepper finely chopped

3 lobster tails cooked and meat pulled off

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon lawry’s salt

3 T. corn meal

3 T. water

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet.  Cook onions, mushrooms and pepper until soft.  Add corn and stir well.  Cook for another five minutes.  In a large saucepan, mix stock, heavy cream, milk, salt, pepper and lobster meat.  Add the corn mix.  Stir well.  Make a slurry with the corn meal and water.  Add to the soup.  Stir well.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes.  Serve with fresh bread.

Of course, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product!  I did get one of the boys getting ready to eat.  Enjoy.

While trying to come up with something to blog about today, I was going through old pictures and kept seeing ones of my sister and I.  I’m so glad my dad took so many pictures of us together as we were growing up.  We pretty much always got along growing up; sharing clothes, jewelry and a love of family.  I still remember my mom telling us (quite often) that we should not fight with each other, because some day we may live far apart (like her and her sisters) and not see each other often.  Luckily, my sister and her family live only ten houses down the street from me in the same subdivision.  We talk almost every day and see each other at least twice a week.  I’m so thankful that God saw to bless me with such a wonderful sister, confidant and best friend.  I love you Sara!

This recipe is awesome!  I could have eaten the entire dish myself.  But I didn’t (well, almost).  I made this for dessert when my parents came for dinner tonight.  I’ve been on a bread pudding kick lately, getting it at any and every restaurant that has it on the menu.  And I’m not sure why I have been craving this specific dessert.  Growing up, my mom would make her own version of this somewhat regularly, but I wouldn’t eat it.  I don’t remember if I just didn’t like it or if I thought it looked mushy or what.  But I love it now.  The actual bread pudding is pretty basic.  Out of all the recipes I have seen over the years, the following is pretty standard.  It’s the fabulous sauce that goes on top of this one that takes this from plain bread pudding to pure, sweet awesomeness!  Try it, I promise you’ll thank me.

Drunken Bread Pudding:

4 cups of bread torn into cubes

2 eggs

2 T. melted butter

2 1/2 cups milk

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325.  Place bread pieces into a 9″ baking dish, keeping the pieces tight together.  Beat eggs, butter, milk and sugar together.  Pour over bread.  Sprinkle pecans on top.  Bake for about one hour, or until golden brown.

Drunken Pudding Sauce:

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup jack daniels whiskey

Combine all in a saucepan.  Stir constantly over low heat until mix reaches a low boil.  Continue cooking about 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.  Serve on individual servings of the pudding.

Completely fabulous!  I think I ate half the dish tonight, with my dad eating the other half.  You could add raisins and/or cinnamon to the pudding, but I’m not into raisins.  You could also leave off the nuts if you are allergic or just don’t like them.  Enjoy!

I found this recipe while on vacation in July.  I pulled it out of a magazine intending to make it for my father-in-law, who loves blueberry pie.  Blueberries are not my favorite fruit, I bought these specifically with this recipe in mind.  They taste great, somewhat tart and firm.  After making sure I had sour cream, I threw this together in less than 30 minutes.  Enjoy!

Creamy Blueberry Pie:

1 refrigerated pie crust

5 cups blueberries

3/4 cup sugar

3 T. corn starch

3 T. water

1 T. lemon juice

8 oz. sour cream

Preheat oven to 400.  Bake pie crust for 10 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool completely.  In medium saucepan, combine blueberries and sugar.  Cook over low heat for about 5 minutes or until sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally.  Whisk cornstarch and water together, stir into blueberry mixture.  Bring to boil and cook for 1 minute, or until thickened.  Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.  Stir in lemon juice.  Add sour cream, stir until well combined.  Pour into crust and chill at least 4 hours or until firm.  Store covered in the refrigerator.

As I mentioned in my last post, my parents rent the same cottage every year in August for a week.  We all go up as one big, extended family (Papa, Oma, Beca, Sara, all the kids and hubbies when they can get out of work) and love each other all week.  My parents have been doing this for seven years now and I love this week.  Every year my boys and I look forward to it.  I tend to take lots of pictures all week, and this year was no exception.  I’ve also realized that my twins like to just wear their underwear all week.  I came home to one whole load of underwear in the laundry, and that’s all.  They swam in them, slept in them and played in them.  Good enough for me.  We spend a lot of time kayaking, a lot of time swimming and a lot of time giving kisses.  And the week would not be complete without watching all the Tiger baseball games!  These are a few of my favorites from the week.

I had the opportunity to photograph Kim and Nick’s wedding in South Bend, Indiana.  The wedding and reception took place at St. Mary’s College.  What a beautiful place for a wedding!  So many spots outdoors and indoors to take awesome wedding shots.  And Kim was a beautiful bride.  I’ve been waiting for one of my brides to wear a wedding dress from the JCrew bridal collection, and she did.  Thanks again Nick and Kim for allowing me to spend this very special day with you and your families.  Enjoy!

To see the slideshow from the beautiful wedding, click here.

Wow, I’m finally home after another week long vacation.  I had the best intentions of blogging every morning, but when I got to the cottage we rented, there was no internet connection and no phone service.  So, we’re back and I’m ready to behave; a blog post every morning 🙂  My parents rent a cottage every year.  My boys and I go and my sister and her family go.  We spend the whole week together and it’s always fun and awesome!  This year, my sister was pregnant for their second baby and due on September 1.  No problem, we all thought, she’ll be fine.  But Monday night, my sister came into my room and woke me up, “I think I’m in labor.”  Needless to say, I ended up driving her in to Grand Rapids on Tuesday morning and by 1130am little Henry Paul was born via repeat c-section weighing in at 5 pounds and 18 inches long.  We went up to see him that night and here are a few of the pics I got.  I will be taking his official newborn pics tomorrow after church.  So watch for a post of those soon to come.  We love you Henry!

Once again I am on vacation for a week, staying at a cottage that my parents rent every year for our entire family.  Every year we spend a week together as a family; my kids and I, my sister and her child and our parents.  Our husbands come out after work a few nights and we all have a wonderful time.  My dad has two kayaks, one is newer and one he bought from someone and it’s got to be at least 30 years old!  This kayak is much bigger and can hold two people easily.  This morning my dad took me out for an early morning ride and I grabbed a few pics.  Unfortunately, I have very limited internet here and no way to edit these shots.  These are straight out-of-camera.  The best part was seeing a mother deer and her two fawns walking through the woods as we coasted by.  What beauty God puts in front of us if we just take the time to look.  I love you Dad for helping me “see” God’s beauty every day and for taking me on these rides every year!