Afternoon Muffins

These aren't exactly breakfast muffins. They're more along the lines of "it's 2:30 and I need chocolate now!" muffins.

Unless, of course, you need chocolate for breakfast.

If that's you - we should be friends. I'll send you a muffin. (Pay no attention to the muffin in the second row. I couldn't help myself!)

They start off like any other muffin. Creamed butter and sugar.

The mixer I got for Christmas (Thanks Mom!). It's amazing. It has a slow speed. Ooooooh.

Now the bananas - I keep mine in the freezer once they get ripe. Thus the brown color when they defrost.

The bananas get so soft and squishy, there's no need to mash them like in regular banana bread.

Once you've got everything else in, you get to add the chocolate chips. Except for those few that fell out of the measuring cup and into your mouth...

Now, into the muffin pan and off to the oven!

Bake babies bake!


Banana, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip Muffins
Makes 12 big muffins

1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
3 super ripe bananas (I keep mine in the fridge and then defrost them)
3/4 c. peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 c. flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar in large bowl. Add eggs and mix. Add bananas and mix. Add peanut butter and vanilla. Mix.

Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add in 3 increments to the banana mixture, scraping the bowl frequently. Once mixed together, stir in the chocolate chips.

Put in muffin tin lined with paper cups, or well greased. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until a tooth pick comes out clean.

Chalkboard Paint

I've seen it on practically everything now. Chalkboard walls, tiles, wine glasses. It's always struck me as curious how the whole thing works.

I loved the chalkboard in my classes at school. It had texture and character. I just can't see paint being able to replicate it.

So I bought Martha's version and gave it a go.

First, wipe down the jars and tape them off:

Now, 'cause I only have a mild case of perfectionism, a ruler and lines:

Not that I followed these, mind you. Merely suggestions my friends.

Now, on to the painting!

I put on a really thick coat, and then waited 4 hours for it to dry. Then came back for a second coat. This sucker is going to work!

Here's the finished product - though I don't actually have any chalk. So the writing comes later. It still looks weird, but we'll see! I'll keep you updated.

Bread Pudding goes Savory

I love bread pudding. It's something I order at restaurants, and also something I make at home. Woe to the cinnamon roll that makes it past Sunday morning. The sweet little sucker will soon find itself drowning in milk, eggs and sugar.

And thus, when I first heard of savory bread pudding, my heart stopped. What? Could there be such a delight? Turns out, it's a lot like strata (which I am always amazed to realize no one seems to know about).Which means it's delicious.

I started out with wheat bread. The same bread from our Tuesday Supper. If you don't make your own wheat bread, I suggest using a thick hearty wheat from the grocer's bakery. Then cube and toast.

The sweet potatoes need to be cubed, the shallot and garlic diced. Lots of chopping.

Whisk together the eggs, half & half and milk. Then toss in the pretty spices.

The sweet potatoes need to roast and the shallots and garlic need to sautee.

When the sweet potatoes and shallot mixture have cooled, toss them onto the bread cubes. Add spinach (I picked mine out of a bag of salad mix in the fridge. Don't judge me!).

Pour in the milk mixture and toss with your hands. It's gonna be messy! Hopefully you have a big enough bowl.

Sweet Potato and Spinach Bread Pudding
Adapted from Dixie Caviar

1/2 loaf of homemade wheat bread, cubed
5 eggs
2 c. half & half
1/2 c. milk
1 c. (packed) fresh baby spinach
1 large shallot, finely diced
2 large garlic cloves, diced
3 tbsp. butter
1 tsp salt
pepper and paprika to taste

Toast bread cubes in oven at 400 until slightly brown. Remove and set aside. Next roast your sweet potatoes at the same temperature for 25 minutes. When finished, turn the oven down to 350 and set the potatoes aside to cool.

Whisk together the eggs, half & half and milk. Add spices and let stand. In a medium saucepan, add butter and sautee the shallots and garlic until golden. Set aside to cool.

Once the potatoes and shallot mixture are near room temperature, toss the bread cubes, potatoes, shallot mixture and spinach into a large bowl. Slowly pour the milk and egg mixture over everything. Toss with your hands to make sure everything is mixed and thoroughly wet.

Pour the pudding into a greased 8x8 square baking dish. Bake for 45-60 minutes at 350 degrees.

Craftiness!

One of my new year's resolutions was to buckle down and make a serious go of crafting. Instead of just one-and-done (which I'm toooootally good at), I'm going to try to make multiples and *gulp* put them on Etsy. 

Now I just have to figure out what I like making multiples of... so let's start with a new craft! Flower making!

(this does not bode well)

I used Ez's tutorial over at Creature Comforts. It's a really good one. 

But there's one important thing that I learned only after setting fire to at least 5 petals: You want the column of heat that come from the top of the candle. Do not try to push the petal edge into the side of the flame. Wave the petal edge over the top of the flame and wait until it shrivels. There's your heat column. 

Here's the set up - square of polyester, cut the corners off, shrivel edges. Done!

They look really pretty stacked - now I just have to figure out what to put in the middle.

I'm thinking I want to turn the tiny ones into post earrings (cause I only wear posts, and cute ones are harder to find). Thoughts?

What to do with Clementines

There they are. Just sitting there on my table. I've been eating as many as I can, but they still remain (I really think they may be repopulating at night).  To the kitchen!

First up, cookies. Because I saw this recipe on The Kitchn and had to try it. 

Chinese 5 Spice Cookies with Candied Oranges. How intimidating. Candied oranges?? Oh dear.

They look pretty awful, don't they. What I'll do next time: Cut the orange slices just a bit thicker. They meant 1/4 inch.

However, the cookies themselves looked pretty darn good.

You'll notice that they are on parchment paper. This is important. Do not think that just because they are a buttery shortbread that they will pop off a non-parchment-covered tray. Do NOT. Because if you do....

You will get cookie crumbs. Mind you, these would make a lovely filling for a trifle...

Tuesday Supper

I suppose I should have started off with something super impressive. A decadent chocolate cake or a crazy pasta concoction that dirties every pan in the house. Instead - bread. And soup. 

The bread recipe isn't anything special. It's literally the one on the Gold Medal Wheat Flour bag. 

The recipe on the web isn't quite the same, but it's super close.

As for the roasted cauliflower soup, Sweet Paul made it look so pretty I just had to try it. That and Mr. S has recently discovered that roasted cauliflower won't kill him. In order to soften the blow, I added sliced sausage to the soup.

Soup recipe is from Sweet Paul's blog - then I added sausage. It was good.

 

However, most of the sausage sunk to the bottom of the bowl, leaving just a few pieces visible. After a spoonful, he said "you know, maybe if you cut the sausage smaller, you'd get some in every bite." He actually apologized after he reached the middle of the bowl and realized there was still a large amount of sausage left. Hah.

Then, to prove his undying love, he ate his weight in bread and butter. And did the dishes. That's love!

A New Year, and a New Blog

This year I'm going to get serious. I'm going to stop being a mere spectator and jump right in. I'm going to reach for the stars (or at least my souffles will), and I'll make my mark on the world. As soon as I finish doing dishes.

I hope for this blog to be a place of fun, food, and craftiness. 

I also hope for a pony. We'll see if either comes true. On to 2012!

The souffle recipe is Martha's. Of course.