What's Cooking at The Cromer's

Well I was looking over my recipe book the other day and wondering what I have eaten over the years that my family and I have enjoyed. And I remembered a syrup that we had at the Lombardi's house for pancakes. The Bartlett's have made this syrup for quite a few years and it was new to me. It is really good!! I could not remember the recipe so I contacted Lindsay via the email because they live in Florida now! (and it was 16 degrees here yesterday and snowing today). She says they enjoy the sun! Well anyway here it is! Enjoy it and don't eat too much of it! Bartlett Syrup : (That is my name for it not theirs) 1 Cup of Cream 1 Cup of Sugar 1 Cup of Butter Heat it on the stove until right before it starts to boil then remove it from the heat and add some vanilla! It is good!

OK how is your diet going? :) Well last week it was Katy's Birthday! So we went out to dinner, she decided that we should go to The Cheesecake Factory. I think their was about 12 of us that went. Kind of funny how our little family is growing. Everyone brought their spouse or a date! Everyone seemed to get something different. I got the Chicken and Biscuits. I did really well and ate about 1/2 of it, and took the rest home in a doggie bag. Oh I did eat a little bit too much bread also. Well anyways I thought I was doing pretty good and the waiter asked......... OK what kind of cheesecake would you like for dessert? aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh . Connie and I decided we could share one. Their portions seem to be pretty good sized. I think everyone got a different kind and I chose the the one called Chris's Outrageous Chocolate Cake!!! It was good! I'll have a picture at the end here. So anyways We ate about 1/2 of it or so. The next day I'm cruising around on the ...

I think this is one of the things that makes the Holiday Season GREAT! Getting together with family and friends and cooking...........Then distributing it around to other friends and family members, or coworkers etc. As you can tell by the pictures we have a fun time. We have tried to teach some of our crafts to lots of people over the years. That is how we learned it by someone teaching us. We have lots of new people in our family this year so they got to learn also. We had fun!!!! Check out the Photos. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!

Ok I have a few recipes that will make you the hero at your next party or get together. (Or even with the kids) and all three of them are easy to do, and you should be good on your first try. The first one is Faux Toffee: Faux Toffee (Tastes like the real thing but easier) 1 Sleeve of Saltine Crackers 1 Cube of Butter 1 Cup of Brown Sugar 1 Bag of Chocolate Chips Butter a cookie sheet well then spread the crackers over the entire pan, just line them up in order. It should take almost the whole sleeve. Turn the oven on 350 degrees to warm up. In a sauce pan over medium high heat melt the sugar and the cube of butter. Once it is all melted together pour over the crackers and spread evenly. Bake in your oven for 5 minutes. It should be bubbly all over. Bring out of your oven and let sit for just a minute. While it is still hot pour the bag of chocolate chips evenly over the entire surface. Let it sit for a minute then spread the chocolate all around kind of like a frosting. It will melt ...

Family Home Evening last night... Nicole and I started to make some "Spudnuts" (Doughnuts). Then everyone else seemed to join in and help out. Spudnuts used to be available in Utah but I haven't seen them for years. Spudnuts are doughnuts made with mashed potatoes. When our family goes to California we always seem to hit a Sputnuts shop, they are all over California. I don't remember where I got the recipe from but here it is. The Recipe: Spudnuts ½ Cup warm water 1 Package of Yeast 1 Teaspoon Salt ½ Cup of Sugar 2/3 Cup of Shortening 2 Cups hot milk 1 Cup room temp mashed potatoes 2 Eggs 6-7 Cups of Flour Oil for frying Pour the yeast in to the warm water and let sit for 5 minutes or so. In a large bowl add salt, sugar, shortening, and milk. Let it cool down a little. Add the potatoes, eggs, yeast mixture to the milk mixture. Add the flour 1 cup at a time till it forms nice firm dough. (A little more if you need or a little less.) Sprinkle some flour on your counter...

We haven't done this in awhile..... We had some family pics taken. here are a few of them: Oh and one of our little kiddos.... :)

I was reading something the other day and was fascinated by a statement in it. So I wrote it down. Sorry I don't even remember where I saw it so I can't give credit to that person. I thought it was pretty interesting lets see what you think? "Wasted opportunities come back to haunt us later in life, but it is never too late to start learning." So lets keep learning if you have stopped!