T.G.I.F.!!!! Eva had a field trip to the zoo today, so she's brown bagging it with a pb sandwhich, carrot sticks, grapes, and a few oreo's.  Gerald got yesterdays French Toast Cupcakes and a breakfast sausage patty for breakfast and last nights dinner for lunch.

I couldn't wait to make breakfast for the trips because I got my new egg fry pans. One is shaped like a star, one like a flower, and one like a bear with a happy face. First, I made pancakes in the pan, then I made the eggs and boy did they turn out cute (if I do say so, lol). This was the first time the kids had a fried egg with a runny yolk, so I made toast triangles and showed them how to use the triangle to mop up the yolk first. Surprisingly, they took to it quiet well.

         It was a beautiful day today and we spent as much time outside as we could. Gerald had to go over to his mom's house as the hot water heater decided to die, so he had to hurry over there and fix it (and he's still there!)  Was kind of dragging my feet on dinner since Gerald wasn't home, but I made the German Apple Pancakes anyway, since I was really hungry for them. This time, I decided to make them in the Skookie pans that I have and it turned out ok. It was the first time that I used the pans for this batter, so it was a little trial and error. We didn't sit down to eat until 7 (oops!), but I'm smarter for the next time!!
Baked Puff Pancake
Maybe you know this as a Dutch Baby or a German Pancake or as Yorkshire pudding. In our house we call it Baked Pancake, and we make it all the time. The yummiest way to eat this is to sprinkle it with lemon juice and sieved powdered sugar, but we usually eat it in big hand-held wedges, utterly plain or spread with jam.
Hands-On Time: 10 minutes
Ready In: 35 minutes

Ingredients
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk (2% and whole both work well)
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons butter, cut into a few pieces

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 425ºF, then put the pan in to heat while you prepare the batter. A 10- or 12-inch oven-proof skillet is ideal, but you could use a comparably-sized baking dish (Pyrex, say).
2. Now use a whisk to beat the eggs in a medium-sized bowl, then beat in the milk, then the flour and salt. We tend to beat the mixture until it's just smooth.
3. By now your pan should be very hot. Add the butter, then remove the pan from the oven and swirl it so that the butter is melted and sizzling wildly. You need to do all this quite quickly because you don't want the oven to lose its heat, you don't want the pan to cool off, and you don't want the butter to burn.
4. Now pour the batter into the buttery pan and return it the oven. Set your timer for 15 minutes. We bake it for 20, but I think it's worth peeking at it at 15 because your oven might be different from ours: you want it to be puffed and golden and quite brown in places.

*Ingredient Tip
The only trick here is that the pan be very, very hot before you melt the butter and pour the batter in: that's what will make the pancake puff.

What I did: I tripled the recipe (to make it for 6 people). I lightly oiled my pans and placed them in the oven to preheat. I then cored, peeled, and sliced into slices, then quartered, 3 Granny Smith apples. I put 3 tablespoons butter in a skillet and when it was melted, I added the apples, 2 tablespoons cinnamon, 1/4 cup brown sugar. I cooked it on med heat until the apples were starting to get soft.  Now came the "fun" part. I took my bowl of batter, got a spoon for the apples and opened the oven door. On two of the pans, I spooned some apples onto the pan, then poured the batter over it until it came to the top of the pan. The other 4, I poured the batter into the pan until it came to the top. I VERY carefully slid the oven rack back in, closed the door, and let them cook until they smelled right - about 12 min's.

                                                                                                                                                                                        The one on the right is the one without apples, and the one on the left is the one with the apples. I sprinkled powered sugar on it and served it to the kids, but they like it with maple syrup. With the apples, it was VERY filling and VERY yummy!!