Apple Pie

My girlfriend Jeanne found an awesome recipe for apple pie on the website: allrecipes.com. I decided to try it this past weekend for my moms 80th birthday party. It was awesome---did not look perfect, but tasted good! I guess that is what counts, right? I love allrecipes.com---always find good things there. And now there is allrecipes.de!!! Yea. I may have lots and lots of cookbooks, but I when in doubt I always check my favorite cooking website for inspiration.

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie 1/2 cup unsalted butter 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup water 8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced

1.	Melt butter in a sauce pan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add white sugar, brown sugar and water; bring to a boil. Reduce temperature, and simmer 5 minutes.
2.	Meanwhile, place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work of crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
3.	Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes.

Still hungry? Then stop by Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum for more!

PS, the recipe calls for granny smith apples--we mixed the apples---Braeburn and Granny Smith

an 80th Birthday Celebration

On December 4th, 2010 we celebrated my mom´s 80th Birthday! She is one good looking mom, grandmother and great-grandmother!!!

To honor this occasion we invited mom´s friends and family and served up a Thanksgiving Feast----for 25 people!!! Holy Cow--what an experience!!! But with help from everyone we pulled off a magnificent feast.

I got the idea for the table decoration from a Rachel Ray Magazine. Not to pat myself on the back, but the table looked wonderful.

Please forgive the 2 sideway pictures---the computer just would not do what I wanted it to do! Hoping to get it corrected during the day!

The charger plates and white plates were on loan from a Christiana, a friend of my sisters.

The silverware belongs to my sister.

The wine glasses were on loan from a drink/party supply store

The napkins were bought at IHR Napkin Store in Cloppenburg.

The martini glasses were bought at IKEA and Alberding-Cloppenburg

The silver candles were bought at Toom Home Improvement Store

The Hersheys Kisses were a gift from my girlfriend Kim

Thanks goes out to my sisters, nieces and nephews for helping set the table so that I could continue cooking in the kitchen!

If you would like to see more beautiful tables please stop by Between Naps on the Porch!

Happy Monday

My Mom, my sisters and I

Good Morning--

thought to drop everyone a line as I am sitting in front of my light therapy lamp and watching Brothers and Sisters! My family and I just got back from a wonderful weekend in Cloppenburg(near Bremen) where we celebrated my mother´´s 80th birthday. WOW, cooking a turkey dinner for 25 people is an experience--at several times during the whole thing I think my sister and I were near nervous breakdowns!!! Thankfully it was a success-due largely to my nieces and nephews and my two sisters.

My mom had several surprises--the first being that my sister from Chicago(where my mom lives) hopped on a plane and flew over for the big event. The second surprise came at the party when a small group from the Feuerwehrkapelle came to play Happy Birthday for her! You see, when I lived in Cloppenburg I was a member of this muncipal band and as a favor to me, my girlfriend Petra got a small group together.

Now I find myself back home on a Monday morning, getting ready for a new week. So much to do-I still need to finish decorating for Christmas, then there is the christmas letter to write and since I live in Germany-I write 2-one in english and one in german. Here´s hoping I get everything done!!! Happy Monday everyone!

2 down and many more to go!°

Made it yesterday to Cloppenburg without any problems, thanks to my nephew aka my driver!

Spent the day relaxing on the couch and enjoying my great nephew and great niece. Today we started on the preparations for my mothers 80th birthday celebration, by making 2 oreo cookie pies! Friday will be the great cook off--Saturday the big feast. I hoping to find the time to take pictures of the whole adventure.

My dizziness is not bothering me as much today-Praise the Lord. Although I will need a nap later today as I will be with girl friends this evening. You see I have 3 girl friends here in Cloppenburg that I have now known for 15 years. We all met in the hospital in the summer before our children were born. Over the past 15 years we have met once a month-in the early years with the children-now just the moms. Of course I can not be here every month as I live 4 hours away, but has luck would have it I am in town for my mom´s birthday party and so I get to meet up with my girls .

This morning we went to the store and of course I found something I just needed to have!!!!! I feel a tablescape idea brewing in my head!

Slowly getting back on track

Hello Everyone!

I have been absent for awhile, due to major vertigo issues and a long recovery. Good news-MRI shows everything is okay! Dr.´s say I need to totally relax to recover. Next week I will also start reflexology--hoping that will help. I also have purchased a light therapy lamp--Dr.´s orders. They say it helps against the winter blues from which I suffer every winter. November is such a gray, gray month plus it gets dark so early now. Well anyhow, I am slowly getting over the dizziness-even decorated a cake yesterday.

Tomorrow I leave for Cloppenburg(about 4 hours away from me) to prepare the 80th birthday celebration of my mom. She is in germany visiting and we decided a thanksgiving dinner would be a great way to celebrate her 80 years.

Here´s to getting back on track, enjoying the holidays and happy blogging

Princess

such a cutie--

Hello Everyone-

i have some new pictures of my great niece Clara-- I just have to share them with you! I hope everyone is having a great Saturday-my vertigo issues are slowly getting better-I am now in the process of finding a good ear doctor-for a check up and answers to my many questions. But for today I am going to enjoy a rain free Saturday!!!