{autumn recipe} german pancake with apples & cinnamon

APPLE CINNAMON GERMAN PANCAKE

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

• 2 granny smith apples, cut into slices (I left the skin)
• 1/4 cup turbinado raw cane sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (GF: use brown rice flour)
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 tablespoons salted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400° F. Make sure the oven rack is in the middle of your oven.
2. In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon.
3. In a medium bowl, combine eggs, salt, flour, milk, and vanilla extract and beat until batter is smooth.
4. In a 10" ovensafe pan (I used Calphalon) or a cast-iron skillet melt butter over medium heat, tilting pan to cover sides. 
5. Add apples and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture. Stir and then remove from heat (if you let the apples cook too long they will become very soft/mushy in the oven).
6. Pour prepared batter over the apples into the baking pan. 
7. Place pan in preheated oven and bake approximately 20 minutes or until puffed up and lightly browned and knife comes out fairly clean (it may puff irregularly in the center); remove from oven (the pancake will begin to deflate).
8. Serve warm, cut into quarters.

To Make This Gluten Free:  I replaced the all purpose flour with the same amount of Bob's Red Mill Brown Rice Flour.  It didn't puff up quite as much as regular flour, but was still really yummy.  I've made it a few times now and Ryan always comments on how delicious it is!

Notes:  I left the skin on the apples and liked it a lot.  However, traditionally you'd peel the skin off.  I've also tried this recipe with a little more of the cinnamon sugar mixture for when I have a sweet tooth, but another option is just adding powered sugar on top. Most of the time it's plenty sweet without anything extra though.

I also like to add whole milk ricotta cheese (a 1/2 cup or so) and just add a little less milk. It makes this dish a little more rich and filling. 

Hope you enjoy this lovely autumn treat! I'm using apples or pumpkin something in almost all my recipes the last couple weeks and it feels so festive!!  I also have been loving all the colorful leaves and crisp air around here so I snapped a couple pics of my front yard.  Happy autumn days to you!! XO

*The graphics added to my pics (other than the first one) are from Studio Calico's Underground Digital Scrapbook Kit Stamps and Underground Background Cut File by Paige Evans.

{these days} turning 36

The first half of this month has flown by faster than any other this year for me. We celebrated my birthday which I always love. Although, when I was a kid I remember my mom being in her mid-thirties and she seemed so grown up. I had a picture of what it must be like in my head which is totally different than my reality today. Not good or bad, just different. I still feel like such a kid in a lot of ways (which I get from my Grandpa), but in general have really enjoyed most all of what comes with the ageing process. Truly.

Another highlight was when Ryan and I got to see baby girl for her second trimester ultrasound. Every time I get a glimpse of her my heart skips a beat. I'm amazed at how fast she is growing, and those profile pics the stenographer gives me always makes me giddy!

I've also been able to spend lots of quality time with my mom. She visited me two weeks in a row which is quite special in my book. The first week we went to the theater to watch 100 Foot Journey and then ate Indian food after....yummmmmm!!!  There was also candle shopping, which means my house smells like fall. It's wonderful! 

The second week she and my sisters all surprised me with a visit for my birthday! I was in heaven!! We went to the farmer's market for crepes (gluten free for me), and I picked out a huge bouquet of flowers. I now officially think black eyed susans are my favorite fall flower and will be sad when the farmers market ends.  They also spoiled me with a big gluten free cake from my favorite bakery which we ate in no time.  So many wonderful memories already this month.  XO

{these days} august 2014

The past couple month's I've tried out a the idea of taking fewer photos with my DSLR so that I'd actually make the time to edit and print them out without feeling too overwhelmed. It's been working....and so far I love it! Every one of these pictures feels so special. Of course I still have loads of photos from August in my IG feed (and I'm working on a mini album to hold all of those), but I'm excited to print these out larger than my IG pics and add them into my 2014 album.  

Anyone else find a system that works well for consistently being able to document with photos?  You can see my July in this post : )

 

1. Running towards the ocean and of course I DID end up getting my feet wet, shoes and all.
2. Our watchdog.
3. The smallest county fair I've ever enjoyed.
4. 20 weeks.
5. Mom waiting in the livestock area.
6. Moody mist and a teenager at the Dungeness Spit.
7. Breakfast of coffehouse greek yogurt, cinnamon, and miniature chocolate chips.
8. Watching the horse show.
9. Our beaches here are rocky.
10. Mom with her youngest.
11. Wind on a hot day.

{these days} july 2014

These days are long and hot. The evening sun leaves contrasting shadows. These days I'm enjoying my blue hair. I've had it for almost a year now and love that it doesn't fade quickly.  These days low maintenance is key.

 

These days the baby bump is growing, and I'm learning there's a lot of adjustment in everyday life.  These days Ryan and I are in love.

 

These days nature is breathtakingly beautiful, and I am blessed that our house feels like home. These days there's lots of making and learning and sharing going on.  These days are good.  XO

{summer} of love

This summer is all about the love. So, it was only fitting that I retake Kara Haupt's Summer of Love class this year. The photo above is my day one self portrait for the first day of summer. 

It was not actually taken on the first day of summer, but instead on the day I decided to join class.  Also, I took this photo in the sense that I lined up the shot, adjusted the settings on the camera and THEN handed it to Ryan....but he really took it because try as I may, the make shift tripod I was using was not tall enough no matter how much I adjusted things.  Thank you, My Love.

The photo is self explanatory as to why I decided to document this summer specifically.....Ryan and I are expecting a little bundle of joy January 2015.  I'm 13 weeks in this pic, and we are oh so happy.  XO

{meet} ridley rose

Last week my lovely sister Sarah had her little baby girl, and we are all smitten!   I snapped a couple pics at the hospital (minus the one of me holding her....my sweet little sister took that one). She is only hours old in these.

*The image with text above is a simple birth announcement I put together for my sis to share with her friends and family.

Below is a pic with her Grandma.  She is such a precious little thing she didn't even cry.....

Ridley snuggling with her Papa:

And below falling asleep with her Mama.....(I'm the proud aunt with the blue hair above ; )

I also took a couple updated pics of Harper Rain that same weekend, so I'll be sharing those here soon too.  We are all in baby heaven here!!!  XO

A couple posts of baby Harper:
Meet Harper Rain
Harper Walking

{photo journal} long beach | part 1

Ahhh....memories of Long Beach, WA : ) I recently decided to edit most of what few photos I took during our road trip to this romantic beach over Valentine's weekend. Some of the pics are from my DSLR and the others are from my phone. I took most of them, and my mom and sister took a few too. I didn't take photos of everything, but I did also shoot a little video. The video is pretty cheesy and my hands shake a bit, but it sure reminds me of how much fun we had.  (I gave my mom the Secret Life of Walter Mitty Soundtrack as a Valentine's gift so we could listen to it on our road trip.  The song in this video is one of my favorite tracks.)

Lots of driving along the longest beach in the world. Soaking in the outdoor hot tub, staring at the multitude of stars (and even pretending to name a few). Blue sky and sunshine one minute, and crazy rain and wind the next. Exploring Astoria, OR for the first time and feeling butterflies as we walk closer towards the Goonies house.  Playing with my new Diana F+ camera.  Exploring, exploring, exploring. Watching a bald eagle relax and fly around us in the sand.  Feeling the salty wind in my face as I sit on the window ledge while we cruise along the water.  Pink cheeks.  Lots of smiles and laughter.  Laser tag.  XO

{origami hearts} and goodie bags

Lately I've been thinking about Easter. Last year I put together a few Easter baskets for some of my family and I'm contemplating whether or not do the same this year.  As a little gift giving inspiration I decided to look over the pics I took of the goodie bags I recently put together for Valentine's Day.  It totally put me in a crafty mood, so in case it does the same for you here's a peek at what I did ; )

To make the origami hearts (with cute little pockets) that I attached to the front of the bags, you'll need the following:

• pretty paper (both sides will show)
• bone folder
• paper trimmer
• your favorite paper adhesive

If you want to make your hearts the same size as shown in these photos, trim your paper to 2 inches wide by 3.5 inches tall. Below is a picture of each of the folding steps.

The steps:  Start with your rectangle.  Fold your paper in half length wise.  Unfold.  Fold in half width wise.  Unfold, and then fold the right half to the center length wise.  Next fold the left half also to the center length wise.  Unfold the right half only.  Fold the now open right half to the first crease mark length wise (not back to the center).  Turn upside-down.  Fold the top half to the center width wise.  Fold the bottom half to the center width wise.  There will now be 4 flaps to fold down - one for each corner of the top of the heart.  To do this take each of the four corners and fold them backward to where each corresponding flap ends.  Secure each of these corner flaps down with your paper adhesive.  Turn your heart around and it is now facing up with a pocket in the front.  All done.

These little pocket hearts would be perfect for holding a small photo, love note, or pretty embellishment. In the examples here, I added in a hot cinnamon candy heart.

For inside the goodies bags, I filled these cute cellophane bags with different things for each person....so some have candies, chocolates, peeps dipped in chocolate (my favorite!), single serving red velvet flavored ground coffee, a Starbucks gift card, road trip music (since we like to travel together), or local loose leaf tea.  I mailed a couple out, and the ones for my mom and little sister were given to them on Valentine's Day when they picked me up for a weekend road trip to Long Beach.  I have a few super fun pics from that trip that I'll share in the future.  I hope you enjoyed this post and my goodie bag inspiration.  Happy weekend to you!  XO

P.S. You can watch a video of how I put my Valentines together (attached to the front of the goodie bags pictured) HERE.

{prompt 8} share the love

This next prompt is all about sharing the love on love month : ) 

Prompt 8: Perform an act of kindness.  I have a few examples listed above if you'd like some ideas to choose from, but you can really do whatever you want.  For example, today Ryan and I spent the afternoon together and I let him pick out what we where going to do, and where we were going to eat, etc...and we had the best time!  I'm sure throughout the month, I'll choose a few more specific things to do, like buy the coffee of the person behind me next time I'm at the coffee shop, and I'm a big fan of offering to get people things when I get up myself.  Any ideas on how you'd like to share the love this month?  XO

List of prompts so far:

• Prompt 1
• Prompt 2
• Prompt 3
• Prompt 4
• Prompt 5
• Prompt 6
• Prompt 7

{prompt 5} make a love list

Today is a crazy busy day for me, so sitting down and taking a little time to think about things I'm loving feels great. 

Prompt 5: Make a list of things YOU love right now.  Such an easy prompt, that makes for a great memory and a reflection of yourself....and honestly, the timing for this couldn't be more perfect.  In the past, a prompt like this would have been a piece of cake, but this time it really didn't come to me right away since it feels like me, myself and I have been the last thing on my mind.  I'm really happy I took the time to think about the little things.  XO

List of prompts so far:

• Prompt 1
• Prompt 2
• Prompt 3
• Prompt 4

{prompt 3} choose a quote

We are really enjoying February so far this month over here in Seattle (Yay Hawks!).....and the next prompt to help celebrate this love month is....

Prompt 3:  Choose a quote to reflect your goal driven word for the year.  I personally chose the word STRONG as my word, and you can read more about it HERE, and also about my participation in the online One Little Word workshop I'm enjoying with teacher Ali Edwards HERE.  If you don't have a word that represents your focus for the year, then feel free to just choose a quote that means a lot to you right now, or something that the feels inspiring.  Today's prompt is reflective and is a step towards thinking about this year in a loving way, and tomorrow we will do doing something crafty with it.  Also, if you decide to play along, make sure to use the hashtag #foxy14 on Twitter or Instagram so we can see too!  Happy Monday to you!!  XO

This is prompt 3 of 14, and you can see prompt 1 HERE.

And prompt 2 HERE.