Simple Muffins

The past few weeks have sucked big time.  Too many sick and dying animals.  I will write more about that later, but right now I’m just not up to it.

In the mean time, I have been drowning my sorrows in ice cream and cake.  Store bought.  So I’m trying to get back to making my own junk food.  This muffin recipe is quick and easy and tasty.  They’re good with tea or out of hand or better than toast with your breakfast (nuke them in the microwave for 15 seconds to heat them up).

Yeah, we had already started snacking on these by the time I realized the first photos I had taken were blurry. I usually like mine a tad bit lighter than these. My husband laughed and said, “More for me!”  Um, they’re not THAT dark! 😀

Simple Muffins

These are muffins that my mother used to make when I was a kid.

• 2 cups of flour
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 3 tsp. of baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. of salt
• cinnamon and sugar mix
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil (I use canola)
• 1 egg

Put rack in the center of the oven and heat to 400 degrees F.

Mix all the dry ingredients together EXCEPT the cinnamon and sugar mix.  In another bowl, beat the egg and oil together then add the milk and stir.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir, do not beat, until just combined.  Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way with batter.  Sprinkle as much or as little cinnamon and sugar on top of the muffins as you wish.  Bake 20 – 25 minutes.  Toothpick inserted into the center of muffin should come out clean.  Cool in pan on trivet or wire rack for 7 minutes and then remove and finish cooling on a wire rack.  Or serve warm (yum).  A narrow spatula run around the edge of the muffins will help loosen them from the pan.  For me, this makes 10 muffins.

Note: If you don’t have cinnamon and sugar already made, start with, say, 3 tbls. sugar and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon.  Mix and taste and adjust to your liking.  There are no rules here.  Make what you like.

ENJOY!

Anadama Muffins

Here you go Saver!  This recipe is from 1001 Muffins, Biscuits, Doughnuts, Pancakes, Waffles, Popovers, Fritters, Scones and Other Quick Breads by Gregg R. Gillespie.

Anadama Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups of flour
•   1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1 Tbls baking powder
•   1/2 tsp. baking soda
•   1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 large egg
•   1/4 cup light brown sugar (packed) ( I’ve used dark, it was fine)
• 3 Tbls. molasses
• 1 cup sour milk or buttermilk  (Sour milk = 1 cup minus 1 Tbls milk plus 1 Tbls. vinegar.  Let this sit 5 minutes or more before using.)
•   1/4 tsp. butter, melted (I don’t bother)

Some the instructions I’ve modified to suit us.

1)  Position rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.  Lightly grease a muffin pan or line with paper baking cups.

2)   In a large bowl, blend together all the dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl, beat the egg, butter, and sugar together well.  Then add the molasses and mix well (this will help keep the molasses from sinking to the bottom of the bowl when you add the milk.)  Now add the milk and mix.  Adding wet to dry, combine the two mixtures until the dry ingredients are just moistened.

3)  Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full and bake 12 – 15 minutes.  Toothpick inserted into the center of muffin should come out clean.  Cool in pan on trivet or wire rack for 7 minutes and then remove and finish cooling on a wire rack.  Or serve warm (yum).  A narrow spatula run around the edge of the muffins will help loosen them from the pan.  For me, this makes 11 muffins.

ENJOY!

 

Miserable Little Thief

Soooooooo, I had the munchies.  A batch of Anadama muffins got thrown into the oven.  They’re faster than cookies.

Boy, did these smell good while they were cooking!

Unfortunately, someone else thought they smelled good, too.  And she decided to help herself right off the kitchen counter.

Yep, that’s Annie with one of my muffins. Espe’s going to see if she wants some, too.

Annie starts chowing down. Notice Jake in the crate waiting for his nightly bone. I’m a mean mommy so they did not get to finish that entire muffin!

Little Brat.

Life At Our House

I have managed to get one thing done for Christmas.  I got my holiday towels out!

Holiday Pot Holders!

And the first of about 12ish? Holiday Towels!

Yes, I know I’m running out of time till Christmas.  I’m running late as usual anymore.  Is this really a surprise?  But I do swear that Once-Upon-A-Time I actually did get started at Thanksgiving.  And the tree would go up BEFORE Christmas Eve.  Maybe, again, someday….

Mercury Is In Retrograde (YUK) and A Wee Critter Is Found

Random Thoughts

So Mercury went retrograde on Oct. 21 and has been slapping me around ever since.  Remember how much trouble I had posting that day?  A sign of things to come.  Me and the internet and this computer having been having at it ever since. Internet for 5 minutes then no internet then internet then no internet, ARGH!  The Husband did a shutdown and reboot(?) of all things computer and internet related that has given me back internet for now. The question is will it last?  Retrograde doesn’t end until November 10.  So no starting new things, no signing contracts, no buying new cars, expect delays in travel, expect anything to do with communications to fritz out, got the picture?  I am told that revisiting old projects, sorting paperwork, cleaning out clutter, organizing, and regrouping are good ideas till everything settles.

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Another bit of ‘fun’ was an intestinal virus that came to visit last weekend.  I still feel like all my ‘go juice’ got drained away.  When I can sleep, I’m hitting 10 – 11 hours at a clip.  *sigh*

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” It takes both the sun and the rain to make a beautiful rainbow.” — Attributed as Unknown or Proverb

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“Nature does not hurry yet everything is accomplished.” — Lao Tzu

Life At Our House

Not much to tell.  It’s been a whole lot of nothingness this week.  I did, however, get in the mood for food.

Fresh sourdough bread and Cranberry Pumpkin muffins.

Out In The Yard

When The Husband grabbed a couple of hours to mow, he found a wee surprise under one of the flower pots.

I did not handle this wee fellow who was maybe all of 3 inches long. Just gently scooped him on to a leaf and moved him. So by process of elimination on what lives around here and what my yard has to offer, I believe he is a lead phased, Eastern Red-Backed Salamander. (Normally they have a red back.)  They eat all kinds of wee crawlies that live in the leaf litter and soil.

These guys have no lungs, they breathe through their skin.  They must live where it is moist, for if their skin dries out they will suffocate to death. They also do not require a water source for their eggs. There are no intermediate stages, so eggs are laid in leaf litter or under logs.  The young that hatch are fully developed baby salamanders about an inch long.

It was such a nice surprise to know my yard is safe enough for these guys to live in it.  I rarely, rarely use anything poisonous in my yard.  (My big exception is getting rid of fire ant colonies. I refuse to be constantly attacked in my own yard.)

Our header today is Bee Balm or more properly, Monarda.  Everything loves this stuff.

So pretty. It is a member of the mint family and can be used for tea or to spice up dishes.

Mugs

Yes, another old favorite.  Have I mentioned before that this is one of my favorite sets?  I leave it up on my mug rack all year round.

It’s now 11:14.  So time to go.  Fingers crossed this posts the first time around!