OK, so February’s photo-a-day project entirely fell apart. But here are the last few pictures I managed to take!
Day Eighteen: Drink
I’ve been trying to drink the recommended 8-10 glasses of water a day, so I bought myself a glass pitcher that holds something like 72 ounces. I don’t know why it seems easier to drink, but it does.
February 18. Drink.
Day Twenty: Handwriting
I thought about taking a picture of my grocery list, but then I decided to write down a line from my favorite song instead.
February 20. Handwriting.
Day Twenty-One: A Fave Photo of You
Aw, look at little me. First day of kindergarten, shorter than a mailbox and all full of promise with my little blue satchel in front of a sugar beet field. I think this would’ve been 1982 or so.
Looking over February’s “Things to Do” list makes me wonder whether I actually did anything at all last month. Reorganize my “office” was on January and February’s lists. It’s still chaos in there. The living room is painted now — it’s Glazed Pears! — but I still haven’t hung (hanged?) any pictures. Technically, I did lose 5 pounds last month. Unfortunately it was all in one 12-hour, virus-stricken night, so those 5 pounds are quickly returning. I did let Poppy invite some friends over for a Valentine’s Day party, but we had to cancel it because the kids were both sick. I’m sensing a theme. And finally: I fell laughably short of the “800 minutes of exercise” goal. Insanely, laughably and pathetically short.
So for March, I’m going to hit reset and try again. Here are some Things I’d Like to Accomplish in March:
Reorganize my office area.
Hang pictures in the living room.
Log 400 minutes of exercise.
Surely I can get at least one of those done this month. C’mon, self! Get motivated!
“You’re nuffin’ without a muffin.” That was something Pete said a few years ago as he was about to tuck into a blueberry muffin. That kid loves food, and muffins are one of his all-time favorites. So he was most pleased about the results of February’s Daring Bakers’ Challenge, which was to whip up some quick breads. I had big plans to make tons and tons of breads and muffins, such as a mocha bread with chocolate chips, a lemon-blueberry muffin with a streusel topping, and a cheese and onion bread. Alas, February went by terribly quickly and I ended up only making three batches of muffins: PB&J, apple-cheddar and blueberry crumb.
The blueberry crumb muffins were a composite of a few different recipes, and I didn’t write anything about it down when I made them. Which is a shame, because they were good. And I’m positive I took a picture of them, but I can’t find it. So now I’m wondering if maybe they were only a delicious dream.
Happily, I do have photographic evidence of the PB&J muffins. Peanut butter is a major staple of Poppy’s diet, so this muffin was the first thing I thought of when I saw the challenge. I followed Baking History’s Peanut Butter Quick Bread recipe pretty closely. I altered it every-so-slightly on half of the muffins — because Poppy won’t eat jelly — to make them PB&J Muffins. That kid is missing out; these guys were scrumptious.
Peanut Butter & Jelly muffins
Peanut Butter & Jelly Muffins
revised from Baking History / “Twentieth Century Club War Time Cook Book,” 1918
1 cup flour
1/2 cup peanut butter mixed with 3/4 cup 2% milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
12 teaspoons jam
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat sugar and egg until light, then add peanut butter well mixed with milk, finally the flour sifted with salt and baking powder. Mix well, then fill muffin cups 2/3 of the way full. Dollop a teaspoon of jam in the center of each muffin. Bake in a preheated oven 12 to 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Makes 12 muffins
Next I wanted to do something savory, to have with the world’s best potato soup. I had some dried apples that needed to be used, and I thought a cheesy-apple muffin would be just the thing. And lo and behold, Better Homes and Gardens had just the recipe! I altered it a little, replacing the oil with applesauce and using heavy cream in place of milk (because I also had some cream that needed using). These weren’t out-of-the-ballpark great; I think they needed some extra salt, a change reflected in the following recipe.
Cheddar-Apple Muffins
revised from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup finely chopped rehydrated dried apples
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cheese, oats, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center of the mixture; set aside.
In another medium bowl, combine the egg, cream and applesauce. Add egg mixture all at once to the dry mixture. Stir just until moistened. Batter should be lumpy. Fold in apple.
Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake 18-20 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Serve warm. Makes 12 muffins.
Someday I will try to make that mocha bread, because it sounds like it would be wonderful. Until then: What’s your favorite muffin?
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The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – Lis! Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles.
