Healthy and Delicious

2 hours ago I decided to bake Pumpkin Muffins. (I'm still baking them!) It is one of my favorite anytime snacks. I got the recipe out of an old make-your-own-baby-food type cookbook, and then made a few alterations, like subbing wheat flour for the all pupose flour, or a 2-1 ratio of it. The Pumpkin counts for the vegetable, and then the wheat flour is whole grain. Not sure what all the nutritional information would be, but I know its one of the few things D-Roo will actually eat, since he's not a big fan of vegetables. The regular recipe calls for a little sugar sprinkled on top but you can skip that and I think they are still delicious. (Since I luv 'em, I add chocolate chips.) I only had a big can of pumpkin, which was more than enough, I quadrupled the recipe. I'll be eating them breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Pumpkin Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all purpose unbleached flour

1 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup canned solid pack pumpkin (sometimes I round this to 3/4 cup)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) margarine, melted (I had butter)

Topping: 2 1/2 tsps sugar mixed with 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a large size muffin tin, or use baking cups.

Sift together the first 6 ingredients into a mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine the egg, milk, pumpkin, and melted butter.

Add the wet ingredients to the sifted mixture, mixing only until combined. Fill the greased muffin cups two thirds full; sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar topping. (Or mix in 1 cup chocolate chips.)

Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Makes 12 large muffins.

Yum!

Spring Bows

I got out my ribbon this week after a sale at Micheals and got busy making bows. I like bright colors and Little L has lots of summer play dresses that I like to match. Anyhoo, here's a few:

Impatien Update

I have to take a minute and give you an update on my babies! The impatien seedlings I was so worried about even germinating are on thier 2nd set of true leaves now! I just potted them into 3" peat pots over the weekend, as well as some of my petunias (which are only on the 1st set of true leaves), and a few of Leah's "mystery" seedlings from Primary. I sowed 12 impatien seeds, and out of that I have 9 strong little plants. I also potted up approx 20 petunia seedlings, after I thinned them out, and potted up the strongest, least leggy ones. I really need to get another old flourescent desk type lamp for more light in my dining room, where they're currently growing.

It's past time to start my zinnia seeds... I better get cracking so they'll be able to plant in my borders right after the last frost date. Not to mention I'd like to have things (hopefully) blooming in mid June, ready for BBQ's and garden parties.

Cake Talk

I've always enjoyed baking, and I'm always baking something: cookies mostly, brownies, bread, and other treats. When I was around 9 or 10, my mom started letting me make cookies for our family, and after that I was the designated cookie baker. "As long as you clean up the mess," my mom would let me do it. In our household of 6, we always quadrupled the recipe, and it took a lot of batches and time in the oven to get them all baked. I'd sit there in the kitchen reading a book, waiting for the timer to go off. With so many batches, I'd almost always burn one, losing track of time about 45 min into it. Then we'd freeze 3 bags of them in the freezer. When I was old enough, my mother let us kids decorate our own birthday cakes, which I always enjoyed. Even though my daughter Leah is only 5, I couldn't resist letting her decorate her birthday cake as well.

A few years ago I got a few frosting tips, but usually end up decorating the kids cakes the same way for every birthday. So imagine my delight when my friend Stephanie (who's an excellent decorater) invited me over to decorate Easter cakes. After completing our egg cake, I couldn't stop thinking about it- it was so much fun! I contemplated signing up for the Wilton cake decorating class at the local craft store, but before I parted with the registration fee, I thought I better go home and see what You-Tube had to offer. It did not disappoint. The techniques were all online in the demos, it was great. I purchased a few more tips and frosting coloring, a bigger spatula, and got to work; baking cake after cupcake. I realize I have a long way to go before they look professional, but here's a few of the fun cakes I've been practicing on:

Easter Egg Cake (This turned out so cute- and delicous! Thanks Steph!)

Flag Cake (It was April 15th, and I couldn't think of another theme besides tax day! And I wanted to practice some flowers so that's why they're tacked on oddly at the bottom.)

Egg Nest Mini Cupcakes (I took these to our Egg theme Relief Society Recipe Club. Mini Cadbury Eggs on top.)

I'll have to wait a bit to do any more practicing, since we are still eating the flag cake. I may have over done it with icing, if you consume more than a few bites its sugar overload (the flag cake is a 2 layer, frosted with chocolate in the middle and on top, in addition to the red, white and blue frosting). I found a lot of inspirational cakes online. One awesome website is http://www.pinkcakebox.com/ . They use fondant, and the cakes are beautiful! I'm not sure I'm ready to attempt fondant, but no matter what you use its fun just to create something yourself. Anyhoo, happy cake decorating!

Notes from the Farm

I'm taking time today to share my absolute favorite garden catalog from White Flower Farm. It is such a gorgeous and classy catalog, I actually used last years' spring and fall circulars for dressing up my cute recipe stand on my kitchen counter. C'mon now, stop drooling over that gorgeous Firedance Begonia! The covers are beautiful, and not to mention the gorgeous and wide variety of plants. The plant descriptions read like a dreamy vacation...

New Shades of Pink Dahlia Collection, Spring 2009, pg. 2, "...they will light up the summer in ways you can scarcely imagine."

A favorite splashy color combination (similiar to my bridal bouquet) is pictured on pg. 3 entitled New Just by Chance, is the Orienpet Lily 'Yelloween' backed by a pair of Hydrangea 'Preziosa.'

It reads:

"Their shapes and textures could not be more different but in bloom, the combination of their sunny and sultry personalities is almost too good to believe."

I must say I agree... and then I hear Elaine Benis recalling a description of mens' clothing item...

The actual White Flower Farm which is pictured throughout the catalog is quite stunning. My favorites was a page I clipped from the Spring 2008 catalog. Located in Connecticut, you may have seen their ads in Martha Stewart Living magazine. This may be a little dramatic, but viewing those tall beautiful Dahlias blooming alongside the grassy pathways really blows my mind. I am truly amazed at the beauty that our Creator has created for us to enjoy and be surrounded by. There is something simple and wonderful about walking or even driving through a neighborhood while cheery, graceful flowers greet you.

I'm trying to muster up some courage to devote to planting a few Dahlia tubers this year. Most are not hardy to zone 5, so they will have to be dug up and stored indoors in the fall. I would especially like to grow them for cut flowers for indoor arrangements. I'm a little nervous about digging and storing them, since I don't want them to die in my basment later, but one of the benefits is being able to then divide them for more plants for free, and to pass along to friends.

So go ahead, order yourself a free catalog, and curl up on the sofa with a nice cup of lemon water and give your eyes a treat.