Little Boy Blue

Good Afternoon!?  How's life these days?  For me, it's going...  rather well, for the most part.  In my city, around this time of year, we experience all four seasons in one week.  Sometimes this will happen once or twice and then we transition into the new season.  Sometimes, the "all for seasons in a week" trend will go on for weeks.  For example, we had 3 days of snow, then 40s, 50s, 70s, and snow again.  That was just the past week... Needless to say my joints are achy and my sinuses are killing me.  But what's a girl to do, right?  My Little Darling happens to feel just fine.  Energetic as ever, which means, aside from the occasional nap to get my bearings, I need to be up and at'em, working full throttle to take care of her.  Funny how stay at home moms find this sort of superhuman strength to preserve through any ailment when it means taking good care of her babies.

So I am almost done with all the color combos for this granny square quilt pattern... and then I will stop boring you to death, I promise!!!  OK, that's silly.  I might still be a little boring, but that can't be helped!  This is a combination of colors I like to refer to as "Little Boy Blue".  I think it fits.  I am obsessed right now with making things for little boys!  They are such a mystery to me, since I am raising a little girl.

My next quilt will be featuring these colors/yarns above.  The squares will be outlined in a brown.  I am on the hunt for some interesting borders for boy items.

Right now, I am considering baking something...  I can bake almost any sort of fruit-related pastry!  Apple cakes, Lemon cheesecake, Raspberry bars, Banana bread...  So today, I figured I would share a recipe with you...  I've never done this before, so it may be the worst recipe you have ever tried to use, but I need to live a little and step up to the challenge of sharing more food adventures, since that is a passion of mine.  In the spirit of this Little Boy Blue blanket, I will share my recipe for BLUEBERRY MUFFINS! 

Ingredients:
3/4 c each  - whole wheat flour & all purpose flour
1/4c - wheat germ
2 1/2 tsp - baking powder
1/2 tsp - salt

2/3 c - sugar
4 tbs - oil
3 tbs - butter (melted)
1/4c - lemon juice
2 eggs

2tsp - lemon zest
1 1/2 c - fresh blueberries

(Optional - streusel topping)
1/3 c - whole wheat flour
2tbs each - wheat germ & brown sugar
2 tbs - diced, cold butter
2/3 c - chopped walnuts

Prepare the batter:
1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Prep your muffin tin with liners, or grease thoroughly
3. Whisk together your first 5 ingredients in a large bowl and set aside

4.  Beat the butter, oil & sugar until well mixed with a hand-held electric mixer
5. Add the eggs, lemon zest, & lemon juice; mix well

6.  Stir in the dry ingredients, mixing by hand thoroughly
7.  Add the blueberries and carefully mix by hand

When you are finished with all that mixing, your batter should look something like this:

Notice, I didn't smash any blueberries.  I feel that they maintain so much more flavor when they're not smashed prior to baking.

8.  Divide into your baking cups

9.  THIS IS OPTIONAL:  Prepare the streusel topping:

Mix all the optional ingredients together.

Use a pastry cutter to further break down the walnuts and to blend in the butter better.  If you don't bake as much as I do or if you don't hoard rarely utilized kitchen items, then just use a FORK!  It works about the same :-)

Sprinkle this mix evenly amongst the muffins and bake for about 20-25 minutes , or until a toothpick is inserted in the center and comes out clean.

.....  Because I am a Foodie, and I like to play dress up, sometimes I even play with my food....

My finished muffin in a handmade cupcake holder/decoration and some blueberry acai berry tea.  But this is just playing...  When I am ready to eat these babies for breakfast or for a mid day snack, it looks like this:

NOM!! NOM!! NOM!!

Yes, I have made myself hungry and crave sweets...  I'm about to raid my pantry and see what I can throw together for a dessert tonight.  It's going DOWN!

Happy Monday 💋 💋 💋