Oreos are enough

Elmo vs. Dorothy

Weird sh#t my kid does was my alternate title...
This is the scene that awaited me on the couch the other morning:

I guess he thought Elmo was hungry?

( For those of you who aren't up to date on Sesame Street,
Elmo's best friend is a fish named Dorothy.  Oh the irony. )

Mini Pumpkin Donuts

So you guys all know how much i LOVE muffins,

particularily muffins of the fall-pumpkin-cinnaminy persuasion...

...but did you know that you can make donuts but call them muffins?

I may have died and gone to heaven.

These little babies are baked not fried, so they are, erm, good for you.

And you don't need anything special to make them, just a mini muffin pan and a plastic bag.

Simply mix up the batter, put a tbsp or so in each mini muffin cup, and bake away!

Let them cool for a few minutes, then shake them up in a bag filled with delicious cinnamon-sugary goodness.

My only warning is that these must be eaten the day you sugar coat them,

I found out the hard (and sad) way that the sugar coating tends to melt if left for too long : (

The good news is that they are so good not many of them will last long enough for this to happen!

Last but not least,
high five yourself for making donuts that aren't fried and greasy,
and making muffins taste even better than usual : )


Recipe HERE


ENJOY!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

Muffins make me happy.

They make me happy because they are sweet and yummy and (sometimes) even good for you.

They make me happy because i am always hungry, pregnant or not.
They make me happy because they are usually super easy and quick to make.

But mostly they make me happy because a certain little someone who doesn't seem to eat anything at all
will pretty much always chow down on a homemade muffin.

These muffins make me happy for all the above stated reasons, AND because they are pumpkin. 

 We all know pumpkin means fall, right?  And we all know how much I LOVE FALL, right?
Right.  See?  Happiness is....

Pumpkin Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

Yield: 18ish muffins

1 cup white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup water
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven 350F.  Line your muffin pan with liners, or spray with cooking spray.
Mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl.  Set aside.
In a large bowl mix together the sugar, oil, water, pumpkin, eggs and vanilla until smooth and combined.
Slowly stir in the flour mixture until completely combined.

Streusel Topping:

1/2 cup oats
1 tsp flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
Dash cinnamon
2 tbsp cold butter

In a small bowl mix together the oats, flour, sugar, and cinnamon.
Cut in the butter (i used my fingers) until the mixture is all crumbly and well, streuselly.

Fill muffin cups up 3/4 of the way with batter and top with the streusel topping.
Bake 17 - 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and they are all nice an golden brown.
Let them cool at least a tiny bit before devouring.

The original recipe I followed (found HERE) had loads more sugar and about 3 times as much streusel topping.
And although I am surprised (and mildly ashamed) to admit it, there is such a thing as too much streusel.
I pretended I was making them healthier by cutting back on all that sugar and topping,
and swapping in some whole wheat flour.
Next time I will also try cutting out some of the oil by using more pumpkin
(and because really, have you seen the size of those cans of pumpkin? they are gigantic!)

Happy fall baking!!

Lemony Raspberry Bars

When i was little my brother and i had an area of the garden for our sandbox / swing set.

I'm pretty sure my first dump truck ride courtesy of my brother ended with me being unceremoniously deposited there,

and we spent many many days pumping those swings as high as they could go.

Eventually, the thrill of jumping off the swing at it's peak and trying not collide with the shed lost it's luster,

and our playground was replaced with raspberry bushes that produce some of the tastiest little red gems i have ever eaten.

And while that delicious little raspberry patch is sadly some 4000 kms away, 

farmer's markets and grocery stores are brimming with pints of these yummy red berries right now.

I just can't resist them, and suddenly, my fridge is harbouring multiple little green baskets full of juicy goodness.

What to do with all of these fugitive berries?  

Easy!  Bake these luscious creamy lemony squares.  

cool.  slice.  eat.  repeat.   

Crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

6 tbsp butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

Filling:

2 lrg. egg yolks

1 - 14oz (392grams) can fat free sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice ( i used 1/3 cup bottled lemon juice and could have put in more)

1 tsp. lemon zest

3/4 cup fresh raspberries

Preheat oven 350F. Spray an 8x8 inch baking dish with spray.

Combine the crumbs, butter and sugar in a medium sized bowl until crumbs are moist.

( you can get fancy here and add some lemon zest to the crumbs here too)

Press the crust mixture into your sprayed pan (use a measuring cup) and bake for 10 minutes.

Remove and cool to room temperature.

Then combine the egg yolks and condensed milk, and stir in the lemon juice and zest.

Stir until it begins to thicken, then carefully fold in your little red friends. Be gentle or you will have pink bars!

Pour this mixture over the cooled crust and bake for 15 or so minutes, (mine took a bit longer) or until just set.

Cool to room temperature, then chill for at least an hour before serving.

These can be kept in the refrigerator for up to five days, though i highly doubt they'll last that long...

So easy, so summery, and so damn tasty!

Original recipe from HERE.

Yummy Homemade Biscuits

Growing up, my mom used to make the best buscuits.

It was always a treat to have a fluffy piece of baked dough, hot from the oven and slathered with butter.

She didn't make them nearly enough, which was probably a good thing...

Mmmmmm.  So in honour of mothers day and all good things that emerge from mother's ovens everywhere,

i give you yummy homemade biscuits....just like mom used to make.

Serves four. but actually probably less. 

Preheat oven to 450F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

4 tbsp cold butter, cup up

1/2 cup buttermilk

( you can simply add 1/2 tbsp lemon juice to just under 1/2 cup milk,

let stand for five minutes and viola! )

Whisk together dry ingredients in a medium bowl.

Cut the butter in using a pastry bender, your finger tips, or i even use a wire whisk.

Gently stir in the buttermilk until dry ingredients are just moistened.

Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape/pat into a 5 inch round, 3/4 inch thick.

Using a floured knife, cut into four wedges (or use a round cutter or a glass to cut out circles)

Place on prepared baking sheet 1/2 inch apart.

Bake 10 - 12 minutes until rich golden brown on the top and bottom.

Try to let them cool a bit before dousing in butter and promptly inhaling.

Couldn't be easier, truly!

Although this isn't my mom's recipe, (what is your recipe mom?) these taste as good as i remember hers being, 

and i may or may not have eaten the entire batch before dr. Nails came home.

Don't judge me, but do enjoy!

Blueberry Almond Sald with Creamy Poppyseed Dressing

Mmmmmmm.

OK, so i know it's not summer and blueberries are certainly not in season in Nova Scotia.

But after the taste of summer we just had with last week's heat wave, I find myself craving summery food.

So i couldn't help myself when i saw these perfectly juicy blueberries at the grocery store,

and what's more summery than a spinach salad with fresh fruit in it?!

The salad is super simple:  Spinach.  Red Onion for some bite.  Blueberries.  Toasted Almonds.
Or you can use Strawberries, raspberries, cranberries, walnuts, cashews, pecans, whatever blows your hair back.


Dressing: makes 2 - 3 servings

1/4 cup fat free mayo
2 tbsp milk
2tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 - 2 tsp poppy seeds
Salt & Pepper to taste

I simply put the ingredients together in a small mason jar and shake them up,
Using a jar makes storing leftovers easy too, just put on the lid and pop it in the fridge for lunch tomarrow!

Enjoy!



{ A Stylish Lady }