Cookie's Crumbles

Cookie's crumbles, morsels and tidbits

November 14, 2011 | 1 Comment

German Apple Pancakes

This recipe is an old one. I’ve seen variations of it all over, but this recipe is from my Mom’s cookbook. She used to make this quite often when we were growing up for dinner. She’d usually make bacon or sausage to go with it. I would love to do the same thing, but my hubby is not a fan of fruit in his dinner food. Whatever…So I like to make this when I can have my friends over for brunch. Hubby is at work, so it gives me the opportunity to indulge. Unfortunately, this is not one for the waistline, there’s just a tad bit of butter, milk, eggs and sugar in it. But this is easy and a great tradition to start for Christmas brunch. You can also saute the apples the night before and just throw the 9×13 pan in the refrigerator until morning. Just make sure you have lots of syrup on hand for your final product. Enjoy!

German Apple Pancakes:

7-8 large apples (i used granny smith and honeycrisp)

1 stick of butter

1 1/3 cups milk

1 1/3 cups flour

2/3 cup sugar

8 eggs

cinnamon/sugar

Saute the apple slices in butter until soft. Pour into a 9×13 pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. I just sprinkle until it looks good. In a large bowl, beat milk, flour, sugar and eggs until well mixed. Pour over the apples. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Make sure you have room above your oven rack, this will puff up quite a bit around the edges as it bakes. When you take it out of the oven and let it sit, the edges will deflate back down. This is also great leftover. Just pack the leftovers away and enjoy a piece every morning with your coffee…Yummmmmy!

November 13, 2011 | 0 Comments

Senior Guys 2011

As I was looking back over past posts, I realized I had not posted a bunch of my senior guy sessions from this fall. Here are a few of my favorites from this year, 2011. It’s funny, because out of all the seniors I photographed, only two sessions were girls…all the rest were guys. Which is fine, usually means less outfits, less hair issues and less makeup changes. I also have to laugh, because at every single senior guy session the following dialog would occur:

Mom: Come on _________ (insert name here)! Smile. Smile nice. Smile your real smile. That is so not your real smile.

Senior Guy: I am smiling Mom. This is my normal smile.

Mom: __________(name), please. Just do some good ones for me. I know you really don’t want to be here, but I want a nice shot for the yearbook and I would like a nice picture for the wall.

Senior Guy: I know Mom. (grunt, eye roll, loud sigh)

Mom: _________ (name), now fix your hair. It’s hanging in your face. (To me…) He really needed a haircut, I can’t stand it so long and hanging in his eyes. (She walks up to him and starts fixing his hair) Do you want me to get the hairspray out of the car.

Me: It really is the style right now, the girls love it. He looks great.

Senior Guy: Ugghh…Mom, it’s fine. Don’t touch it. No, I don’t want any hairspray. Just leave it.

And on it goes 🙂 I just smile and try to make the guy as comfortable as I can, and make Mom happy in the process. Not always easy, but definitely rewarding when I can show them some fun, good looking shots. Enjoy!

November 12, 2011 | 0 Comments

Henry Paul {3 Month Session}

Last Sunday was my nephew Henry’s 3 month birthday. Feels like my sister and I were just flying north on US131 early on the morning of August 2 from our vacation cottage to get her to the hospital, when in actuality it was already 3 months ago! Little Henry made his debut about a month early, but he has filled out nicely and is such a sweet little baby. Mom wanted a few pics of Henry with each member of his family. For any other photographers out there, you all know that it can be a challenge getting a picture of a 3 year old and a 3 month old, but I think we got a few cute ones of Henry with his big sister Elsha. Love you all!

November 11, 2011 | 2 Comments

Steak Salad Pizza with Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing

OK, I wrote this post way back at the end of August, saved it as a draft and then never posted it. I thought for sure I had, but it’s still showing up as a draft. For some reason, my apple, Gorgonzola, artichoke pizza post from a few weeks ago has gone viral today, over 700 hits on my blog today and most on that post. I had one fellow blogger, Kathy, ask if I had any other fun pizza recipes. I was going to reference the shrimp pizza on the grill and then this steak pizza, when I realized this steak pizza never made it. So, long story not so short, here is that old post. This pizza was fabulous! Although, it’s much more of a summer pizza. Enjoy!

I had so much fun making the shrimp pizza a few weeks ago that I thought I’d try another one this week. Again, I used a Boboli thin pizza crust instead of making one from scratch. I also used ranch dressing on half the pizza instead of the blue cheese dressing, as my hubby does not like blue cheese (what can I say, he’s weird). This pizza turned out great! I loved it and would make it again next week. Even my 9-year old son liked it, and he’s usually into cheese pizza, no toppings. You could also mix things up a bit, adding almost any type of veggie that you like and leaving off those you don’t. Enjoy!

Steak Salad Pizza:

1 Boboli thin pizza crust

olive oil

1 New York strip steak

salt/pepper

1 1/2 cup mozzarella shredded cheese

3 cups chopped lettuce of your choice

chopped tomatoe

chopped onion

chopped mushrooms

chopped red pepper

chopped green pepper

Prepare crust by brushing with olive oil. Cook steaks on the grill to your taste after rubbing with some salt and pepper. Let steak rest for 5 minutes before slicing against the grain into thin strips. Cover crust with mozzarella cheese. Top with your favorite toppings. I used tomatoes, onion, fresh mushrooms, red and green peppers. Top with slices of the steak. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until mozzarella cheese is melted. Remove from oven. Top with chopped lettuce and drizzle with blue cheese dressing. Slice and enjoy!

Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing:

1 cup crumbled blue cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 t. white wine vinegar

salt/pepper to taste

Whisk together well. Drizzle on top of pizza.

November 5, 2011 | 6 Comments

Chocolate Flourless Cake

I pulled this recipe out of an InStyle magazine almost three years ago and make it all the time. It is very easy and only has five ingredients in the cake. It’s very easy to whip up on the fly or if you have to bring a dessert to pass. It tastes decadent and most people love it. It’s also great for anyone with gluten allergies, as there is no flour in the cake. The spiced whipped cream is what really puts it over the top. Try it, you’ll like it.

Chocolate Flourless Cake:

Cake:

1/2 lb bittersweet baking chocolate

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3 T bourbon

4 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

Spiced Cream:

3/4 cup cold heavy whipping cream

2 T confectioners’ sugar

dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9″ pie pan or 9″ round baking pan. Melt chocolate and butter in saucepan, stirring frequently so as not to burn it. Stir until smooth. Mix in bourbon, remove from heat and set aside. With an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar until mixture is thick, about 7 minutes. Fold into chocolate mixture slowly. Mix well. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely. Just before serving, beat heavy cream until frothy. Add confectioners’ sugar and spices, continue beating until soft peaks form. Serve on individual slices of cake with chocolate shavings. Yummy! Enjoy!

October 31, 2011 | 4 Comments

Fall’s Morning Frost

I was able to sneak outside early this morning before church to capture the beautiful fall frost. This is my favorite time of the year, when the sun sparkles off the early morning frost, creating beauty in the quiet early morning hours. I am a morning person anyway, and someday I hope to be able to head out every morning to shoot, enjoying God’s creation by immersing myself in it.

October 30, 2011 | 6 Comments

Caramel Apple Bundt Cake

This is a quick and easy apple cake recipe that works great if you need something fast and easy. Enjoy!

Caramel Apple Bundt Cake:

1 pkg yellow cake mix

1 pkg instant vanilla pudding

1 c. water

4 eggs

1/3 c. oil

1 T cinnamon

3 apples, peeled and chopped (I used honeycrisp)

1 can caramel topping

grease bundt pan. mix all but apples with a beater, mixing well. gently stir in apples. pour into greased bundt pan. bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. drizzle with caramel just before serving. mmmm…

October 29, 2011 | 0 Comments

Pumpkin Carving with the Boys

This was the first year that almost all my boys would put their hands into the pumpkins to gut them. Only Jordan refused again this year, saying it was too yucky. But Justin and Brendan jumped right in. We had lots of fun carving, with Justin doing all his own carving this year. Good job boys!

October 24, 2011 | 1 Comment

Mini Cinni’s

I found this really easy recipe the other day and thought I’d try it out on my church small group. I actually rolled out the rolls and sliced them the night before and placed them back into the refrigerator to bake the next day. The rolls did not rise as much as I thought they would and I don’t know if I had done it all in one day if that might have helped. But they tasted great and were so very easy to throw together. Enjoy!

Mini Cinnamon Rolls:

1 loaf frozen white bread dough

4 T melted butter

2/3 c brown sugar

2 T cinnamon

1/2 c whipping cream

chopped pecans (optional)

milk and powdered sugar

Thaw loaf of bread dough. Roll out into a large rectangle. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on top. Starting on the longer edge, start rolling the dough until completely rolled up. Slice into 1″-2″ pieces. Places into a greased pan. Put in a warm spot and let rise for about 1 hour. Drizzle with cream. Sprinkle on pecans if desired. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Invert onto a plate. Mix milk and powdered sugar into a frosting, pour over warm cinnamon rolls. Enjoy!

October 16, 2011 | 1 Comment

Happy Birthday Mom!

I’m such a bad daughter! I had every intention of posting this on my mom’s birthday last week Thursday, and the week just got away from me. But better late than never I say. Happy belated birthday to the best mom a girl could ever ask for. I consider my mom one of my best friends and love her for everything she has taught me, all her help that she gives selflessly, her great Sunday lunches after church and so much more. I love you mom, happy birthday!