Everything but the Kitchen Sink Muffins... and the Train Park.

This delicious recipe for "Morning Glory Muffins" came from King Arthur Flour.

They have carrots, pineapple, coconut, walnuts, almonds, granny smith apples, and golden raisins. I also exchanged a portion of the white flour for wheat flour. Basically everything but the kitchen sink!!

I used 5in squares of parchment paper for the wrappers. If you tied little bows around them they would make a sweet little gift : )

And if you want to indulge, add a sweet cream cheese spread... it's like a glorified carrot cake!

And this is McCormick Railroad Park in Scottsdale. It is such a wonderful place full of history and lots of fun! It has an old presidential train, and 100 year old train depots that are now cute little shops and restaurants. They have kept the prices very reasonable, and I think we are so lucky to have something like this in our city!

So long for now!

Morning Glory Muffins- King Arthur Flour
( I exchanged 3/4 cup of white flour with wheat flour, and added pineapple )

1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) raisins
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) white flour
1 cup (7 1/2 ounces)  white or brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (7 ounces) carrots, peeled and grated
1 large tart apple, peeled, cored, and grated
1/2 cup (1 1/2 ounces) sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup (2 ounces) chopped walnuts
1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) sunflower seeds or wheat germ, optional
3 large eggs
2/3 cup (4 5/8 ounces) vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin, or line it with papers and spray the insides of the papers.

To make the muffins: In a small bowl, cover the raisins with hot water, and set them aside to soak while you assemble the rest of the recipe. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, spices, and salt. Stir in the carrots, apple, coconut, nuts, and sunflower seeds or wheat germ, if using. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and orange juice. Add to the flour mixture, and stir until evenly moistened. Drain the raisins and stir them in. Divide the batter among the wells of the prepared pan (they'll be full almost to the top; that's OK).

To bake the muffins: Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, until nicely domed and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes in their pan on a rack, then turn out of pans to finish cooling

The Big Four!

Bella's favorite thing to do, in the world, is color.

So for her birthday I made her a gigantic pink crayon!

I thought these candles were soooo cute.

Birthday Buddies once again!

Happy Birthday Bella!

Halloween 2011!

There were some especially great costumes this year!

We had ties in both 2nd and 3rd place.

Congratulations "Red Solos Cups" for winning first place!!!

  

So we had Dorothy and the Scarecrow...

Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera...

Which couple is the real one?!

Boy Wonder!

 A missionary...   ; )

Kelly Kapowski, from Saved By The Bell...

Zach and his huge cell phone were also at the party  : )

The Farmer and his Wife.

A baker...

Starbucks employee and customer...

And games!

Every year my dad ends up around the "Left, Right, Center" table with messy hair, half a costume, and a really dirty face!

The Big Winner!

Here's to another year of great memories!!!

This is a new favorite recipe that we had at the party. I didn't bake it as long as the recipe instructed so that it would be a little chewy. I also bought kettle corn at Sprouts to start. It is basically covered in butter and sugar, how could you go wrong?!

Caramel Corn Recipe - ( Paula Deen, no wonder there is so much butter in it! )

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

Over medium heat, combine first 4 ingredients and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in baking soda. Stir well. Pour over 8 quarts popped corn. Stir to coat well. Bake in large roaster or pan for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on waxed paper to dry.

For the Love Birds.

This is a wedding cake I recently made.

I have been loving the little birds atop cakes!

'Til next time!

Pizza Pizza!

This pizza has peaches, basil, a really good ricotta, mozzarella and prosciutto!

 I used premade dough this time, and like to brush the crust with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt before baking.

Excellent with a glass of wine!

And this is Malaysian Chicken Pizza.

It is Dom and I's favorite and it is good!!!

The recipe is from Cooking Light. For an easy weeknight dinner it is perfect! If I buy premade pizza dough, and a hot rotisserie chicken from the store, the only thing left to make is the sauce.

I love it!

I hope you're able to fit a little bit of this into your busy weekend!

Malaysian Chicken Pizza- Cooking Light

3/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

3 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger

2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter

1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

4 garlic cloves, minced

Cooking spray

1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat, reduced-sodium Swiss cheese (such as Alpine Lace)

1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1 Basic Pizza Crust 

1/4 cup chopped green onions

Preheat oven to 500°.

Combine first 8 ingredients in a bowl; stir well with a whisk.

( This is where I use the rotisserie chicken instead. ) Heat a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Add chicken, and sauté 2 minutes. Remove chicken from pan.

Pour rice vinegar mixture into pan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook mixture 6 minutes or until slightly thickened. Return chicken to pan; cook 1 minute or until chicken is done. (Mixture will be consistency of thick syrup.)

Sprinkle cheeses over prepared crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border, and top with chicken mixture. Bake at 500° for 12 minutes on bottom rack in oven. Sprinkle with green onions. Place pizza on a cutting board; let stand 5 minutes.

An Old Favorite, A New Mug, And a First!

This breakfast was inspired by one of our favorite places in Phoenix, The Farm at South Mountain.

It is such a special place, with pecan groves and fabulous restaurants that use their own freshly grown ingredients. Just thinking about it makes me anxious for summer to end so we can go!



I could eat this every morning!

French toast with a crusty french bread... carmelized bananas with brandy... vanilla-cinnamon syrup with toasted pecans... and whipped cream!

And this is my new favorite mug. When I saw it in Starbucks it said, "I'm super cool." So I bought it, cuz that's what you do when you come across a talking mug!

And the First...

Trip to the lake for Will!

The first of many to come.

He kind of resembles Sponge Bob on his lifevest.    ; )

Happy Summer!

For the how-to on the french toast refer to the Go Nuts with French Toast! post from August 2009.

Enjoy!!!

Red, White, and Blueberry Pancakes!

This delicious pancake recipe is from Martha Stewart Living.
It uses part flour and part cornmeal and it is goooood.

July is one of my favorite issues of the year.

 The recipe wasn't in this month's, but I wanted to include it because it's so beautiful!



Here are the pancakes fresh off the griddle, with warm juicy blueberries.

First I spread orange honey butter on them, using orange juice that has been reduced until it is thickened.

And then top them off with whipped cream, berries, and cinnamon maple syrup with pecans.

Happy 4th of July!!!

 

 

Blueberry-Cornmeal Pancakes - Martha Stewart Living

Ingredients-

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup whole milk
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for griddle
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 cups (1 pint) blueberries

Directions-
1.Whisk together flour, cornmeal, 2 tablespoons sugar, the baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, milk, butter, and egg. Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined (mixture will be lumpy).

2.Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Heat a griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Toss blueberries with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Brush griddle with melted butter. Spoon batter onto griddle 1/3 cup at a time. Sprinkle with sugared blueberries, about 2 tablespoons per pancake. Cook until edges are set, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip, and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter and blueberries, adding more butter to griddle and keeping prepared pancakes warm on a baking sheet in the oven.

Orange-Honey Butter- Bobby Flay
3 cups fresh squeezed orange juice
2 sticks butter, slightly softened
2 tablespoons honey
Pinch salt

Place orange juice in a small non-reactive saucepan over high heat and reduce to 3 tablespoons. Place butter in a bowl and add the orange syrup, honey, and salt; mix until combined. Scoop into a large ramekin, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.