New Hat

I saw this adorable hat on fuoriborgo's blog and I just had to make it!  It took me a few tries to get the gauge right because I used thicker yarn.  Here is the free pattern.  I used Vanna's Choice yarn in Dusty Purple with a size H hook and did the "baby" size pattern.  I made the flowers up.  I think it turned out great!

Muffin Making

I love to cook.  I especially love to bake.  Some people get stressed about cooking, but for me it's how I de-stress.  When things are crazy you will find me in the kitchen making a batch of blueberry-lemon scones, peanut butter-chocolate chip cookies or some new creation.  I think that's what I love about it, the creation. Taking handfuls of totally unpalatable stuff like ground up wheat, baking soda, and raw eggs, and throwing it together with butter and sugar to make delicious melt-in-your-mouth cookies.  Or how something as basic as flour, yeast and salt can become fresh baked bread, crisp and golden on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside, whose tantalizing aroma fills the house. Today it's the scent of banana wafting from the kitchen.  Our local market has great deals on bananas when they get too ripe.  They are only 25 cents a pound right now, so today became muffin making day.  Muffins freeze really well so I can make several batches and save them for easy breakfasts.  They come in very handy on Sunday mornings when we're busy getting ready for church.  Just pop them straight from the freezer into the oven  and reheat for about 10 minutes.  You will have a warm, simple (but yummy!) breakfast in no time!

Banana Nut Muffins

What You Need:

3/4 cup unbleached white flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup cane sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 beaten egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup honey

3 very ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

What You Do:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  

Grease muffin tin, set aside.  

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together flours, baking powder, salt, sugar and cinnamon. 

 Set aside. 

 In small mixing bowl, whisk two eggs.  

Add milk, melted butter, and honey.  

Whisk until well combined.  

Add wet mixture to dry ingredients, stirring until just combined.  

Do not over mix.  

Gently fold in mashed banana and walnuts.  

Spoon evenly into greased muffin tin.  

Bake at 400 degrees  for 15 minutes.  

Makes 12 muffins.

This are especially delicious straight out of the oven slathered with butter!

Time to Dig

It finally feels like spring around here.  The sun is shining and daffodils are up in full force.  There are rumors of another frost (noooo!) but I'm hopeful things are warming up for good.  My garden last year did not turn out so well.  Between weeds and the deer, we lost a lot of produce.  This year we have a dog to hopefully keep the deer out of the yard, and I'm building some raised boxes with some free wood from our neighbors to help keep the weeds out.  But first we have a lot of digging to do to clear all the weeds and grass that have taken over my poor garden.  We spent a good part of yesterday out there and I'm heading back out again today to work on it a bit more.  Luckily the ground is so soft and the hula hoe is so awfully handy, that it is actually going pretty quickly.  My body is protesting from the unaccustomed exertion, but it is a good tired feeling.  You can crawl into bed after you've scrubbed the dirt out from under your fingernails and feel like you've earned a good night's sleep.  So I'm off to dig some more!

For breakfast this morning I made one of my favorites, quiche with spinach, bacon and onions.  So yummy!

Saturday Mornings

I am quite fond of Saturday mornings. Besides the obvious benefit of getting to sleep in (a little bit!) it is also the day I get to make breakfast.  We eat breakfast every day of course, but on Saturdays I have time to make real breakfast.  You know, fluffy golden pancakes covered in real maple syrup, plump juicy sausages, and eggs fried in butter till the yolks are just right.  I actually grew up never eating breakfast.  I wouldn't touch an egg to save my life and don't even mention oatmeal!  Fortunately I grew up and discovered the wonderful world of breakfast.  Over the years, as I have taught myself to cook from scratch, I have ditched the bisquick and packaged powdered gravy (yuck!) and learned how simple and delicious breakfast can be.  Homemade pancakes are definitely the family favorite.  I started with the recipe in my old Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, but I eventually came up with my own.  Here it is...

Honey-Wheat Pancakes

What You Need:

1 cup unbleached white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 beaten eggs

1 & 1/2 cups milk

1/4 cup melted butter

2 T. honey

1 tsp. vanilla extract

What You Do:

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together flours, baking powder, and salt.  

Set aside.

In small mixing bowl, whisk two eggs. 

 Add milk, melted butter, honey and vanilla.  

Whisk until well combined.  

Add wet mixture to dry ingredients, stirring until just combined.  

Batter will be lumpy. 

 Do not overmix.  

Pour a scant 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake onto hot griddle. 

Cook 1-2 minutes per side.

Makes 16 pancakes

Serve with plenty of real butter and warm pure maple syrup!

In the beginning...

I have been an avid blog reader for years, but for some reason I've never gotten around to creating my own. I thought it would be too difficult, too expensive , and besides who would want to read about my silly ideas anyway? Well, it turns out it's not too terribly complicated, it's free, and who knows?  Maybe I can even find someone interested in my ramblings. So I'm giving it a go...