Muffin Monday: Blueberry Sour Cream

Co-worker Andy was out last week to celebrate the life of his grandfather. We missed him lots in CE2, but we were glad he was able to be with family in Ohio. Sue thought I should make him blueberry muffins (his favorite!) for his return today - to help ease his transition ;)

Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins

Preheat oven to 450 degrees, grease or line muffin tin.

1 c fresh or frozen blueberries (I had some in the freezer)
2 T flour
1/4 c butter
3/4 c sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 c flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
3/4 c sour cream
1/2 t vanilla

1. Combine blueberries and 2 T flour. Toss to coat well and then set aside.

2. Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and beat well.

3. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the creamed mixture, alternately with the sour cream. Mix well and then add the vanilla and blueberries.

4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin. Bake for about 15 minutes.

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We ate these straight from the oven and they were excellent! Andy immediately ate two, saying they were the best muffins I'd ever made. The students also loved them.

I doubled the recipe and it easily made two dozen. The ingredients were simple and the instructions were easy. Perfect.

I did pull them out before the tops were golden because the bottoms were getting a little dark. But they were cooked all the way through.

Make these today for your afternoon treat :)

Hibernation

:)

Live together as brothers

This cartoon was in yesterday's Tigard Times. I love it.

:)

Cruising right along

I set a 2011 goal of reading more and I've already finished my second book of the year and gotten a good start on my third!
Michael Connelly writes a great murder mystery. I love to follow along as the LAPD detectives solve the case. They are quick, entertaining reads. Want to borrow one? I have almost all his novels :)

** Do you have a favorite author? What kind of book do you like to read?? **

No-TV Tuesday

I know it's already Thursday, but I still have stuff to report about this week's No-TV Tuesday!

I came home Tuesday after hitting Bi-Mart and Winco and immediately turned on the TV while I checked e-mail. OOPS! As soon as I realized, I flipped it off. Then I got to work on some blogging, finally posting pictures and trip reports from our Sunriver weekend and skiing to Paulina Lake and snowshoeing up Vista Butte.

I put iTunes on shuffle and cranked it so I could hear it in the kitchen and got to work on this:
I read Food Day while starving for lunch and found a couple recipes I wanted to try ASAP: spinach and cheddar strata and potato and zucchini hash. We had soup and panini for dinner Tuesday and I saved the breakfast dishes for Wednesday.

Spinach and Cheddar Strata
(adapted from Food Day)

1 t olive oil
a couple big handfuls of fresh spinach
3 c day-old bread cubes (I used leftover whole wheat bread)
5 eggs, lightly beaten
1 c whole milk (I used half-and-half because I had some left over in the fridge)
1 1/4 c shredded cheddar (I finished off a loaf and then filled in with pepper jack)
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
I cubed the bread and threw it in the oven to dry out while I prepared the rest of the dish.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add spinach and cook, stirring constantly until wilted, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a colander and drain, pressing with a rubber spatula to release as much liquid as possible.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and 3/4 c cheese. Season with 1/2 t salt and 1/4 t pepper.

Put bread cubes in 8 x 8 pan. Add spinach. Pour on egg mixture and top with remaining cheese.

Bake 30-35 minutes.

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Because we were having panini for dinner, I let this cool and popped it in the fridge for Wednesday. Then yesterday we sliced it up and microwaved it - turned out perfect.

I was glad I used the pepper jack - it added a little extra flavor that was yummy. Brad thought it would have been good to add a can of chilies to the entire strata. And while I'm not a meat eater, I could imagine it would be yummy to add some crumbled bacon or sausage pieces. I might try that next time with some Morningstar meat.

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Potato and Zucchini Hash
(adapted from Food Day)

5 or 6 medium/large red potatoes, cubed
2 T olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
salt & pepper
1 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced

Microwave potato cubes until soft.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until potatoes are almost cooled through and golden.

Add zucchini, reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring, until zucchini is tender and potatoes are cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.

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This was quick and easy and made a great side to our strata. I was really pleased with this simple dinner that gave us leftovers for today!

:)

Muffin Wednesday: Apple, Date, Oatmeal

Today's treat is Apple Date Oatmeal Muffins. I doubled the recipe and made two-dozen small muffins.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line or grease muffin tin.

2/3 c + 2 T quick oats
1 t packed brown sugar
1/4 t cinnamon
1 c - 1 T flour
2 T sugar
2 t baking powder
1 T orange zest
1/2 c orange juice
1 egg
1/4 c margarine, melted
1 small apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped
8 dates, pitted and chopped

1. In a small skillet, cook 1/3 c oats over medium heat for about 4 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and stir in cinnamon and brown sugar. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine remaining oats, flour, sugar and baking powder. Make a well in the center.

3. In another bowl, combine zest, juice, egg and margarine. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Fold in apple and dates.

4. Spoon batter into prepared tin, filling two-thirds full. Sprinkle with topping and press lightly with the back of a spoon. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

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I enjoyed making this recipe - it was a little more involved but nothing too difficult. It didn't take too long to whip it up in the CE2 kitchen. I thought they were quite tasty - very moist because of the apples.

Besides one very picky eater, all the CE2 students gobbled them up - most eating more than one.

Success :)

Vista Butte (January 2011)

Because the snow wasn't stellar during our Sunriver weekend, we decided to borrow Kari and Vicki's snowshoes and hoof it to the top of Vista Butte (just east of Mount Bachelor and Tumalo Mountain) for views described as "stunning".

Clear skies were above us as we started out on the trail, which began very flat, paralleling the highway. We started seeing snowflakes falling from the blue sky and noticed storm clouds approaching from the west. We knew they were coming our way, and we hoped to beat the system so we'd have some views from the top.

The trail was circuitous, though well traveled and easy to follow. I made some snow monsters along the way:
The top was a beautiful flat spot with 360-degree views - normally. We could see far to the east:
But nothing to the west (where ALL the mountain are):
The cold winds were whipping on top of the butte, and I mildly froze while Brad took more pictures.

Then he decided to leap off the cornice and into the soft snow below while I took action shots:
Different cornice:
Getting a running start:
The happy couple:
It was a great, achievable trail (about 4.5 miles) that we would definitely do again - on a clear day. We'd also like to try it in the summer. I'm sure the views are amazing.

:)