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Friday, February 21, 2014

To Die For Blueberry Muffins


Corny title, you say?  Well, I didn't name them.  I got the recipe and the name from allrecipes.com, and whoever named them....  Let's just say, they were...absolutely correct.  The goodness of these muffins can't really be over exaggerated.

Blueberry Muffins


Muffins:
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour                              
  • 3/4 cup sugar                                                   
  • 1/2 tsp salt                                                          
  • 2 tsp baking powder                                           
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Crumble Topping:
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 2 Tblsp butter (softened a little)
  • 3/4 tsp cinnamon
Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 400*.  Sift the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder together into a largish bowl.  Pour 1/3 cup of vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup.  Add the egg, then fill to the 1 cup mark with milk.  Add to the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.  Fold in the blueberries.  Fill muffin cups just to the top with the batter.

For the topping, mix the sugar, flour and cinnamon together, then either cut the butter in with a fork, or just use your hands to fully incorporate it.  Sprinkle on top of the batter.

Cook for twenty minutes, or until done.



See how the side of the muffin is all smooshed in?  That further proves its amazingness.  I was in such a hurry to remove it from the muffin tin and stuff it in my face, that the smoosh happened.  The fact that I didn't have another muffin to photograph stems from the fact that the rest of them are gone.  Inhaled.  Eaten.  Never to be seen again.

This muffin only takes a few minutes to put together (unless you're veeery slow at measuring), and twenty minutes to bake.  So make some in the morning!  You won't regret it.  Unless you gain six pounds...then you'll regret it for a second, but then you'll go back and break the crusty, sugary edge off another one and pop it into your mouth.  No more regrets.

Friday, January 31, 2014

Snow?!

I really love living in the South.  I put down stakes in Wisconsin for a little while, and let me just tell you...a special calling from God is needed to permanently dwell in that lovely area of our country.  Snow here is not part of our way of life, so typically, it's a lovely little surprise.  You and your baby hop out onto the deck in pajamas and bare feet to "experience it" for a second before it fades away.

Well, Tuesday (as I'm sure you all know), it didn't.  It actually accumulated!  However, the same stuff that provided a few inches of fluffy white beauty at our house, immediately turned to thick sheets of ice on all the roads in Birmingham, and shut the entire city down for a couple days.  So many people were stranded and separated from their families...for hours or even overnight!   Thankfully, the sun is shining, the temperatures are rising, and things are starting to return to normal.

Here are a couple pictures of our snow day.




Allow me to translate Silas' little baby thoughts when we plopped his non-walking self down into the cold stuff:

"Huh? I mean....why...."  


"I mean...you guys seem to be enjoying this...."


(Anthony throws a snowball at his leg) "Ok.  I'll admit.  That's pretty funny!"


 "Look...I'll even poke it a little bit for you.  Woooo!"


(Anthony "accidentally" throws a snow ball directly in his face)
"I'M OUT!! DONE! Remove me!!  This is the worst thing two loving parents could ever do to a child!"


And that was that.  His first snow experience.  Short and sweet(ish).

Then we went inside and drank lots of lattes and kept the fireplace going.  My kind of snow day!


 Anthony had quite the intricate system of drying out the logs then taking them to the garage to split them...  Whatever works!  He kept are house toasty all day long :)


























Well that amount of snow oughta do us for a few years...

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

16 Months


This child.  Amazes me every day.  He's soaking up the world around him at a fantastic rate.  Of course, he's still not walking, but hey, he'll get to do that for the rest of his life.  Might as well enjoy scooting while he still can!  He informed me that wearing a onesie was for babies, so he graduated to a real shirt this month.  Such a dapper dude.


He's saying lots of words, and doing lots of pulling up and almost standing up without assistance.  Oh, and he eats like crazy!  I think he eats more than I do most of the time!  And his appetite for books is insatiable.  He'll follow me around, scooting while clutching onto one of his favorites, while persistently saying, "Buh!  Buh!  Buh!!!" until I give in,  Then the moment we finish he starts up again, "Buh!!! Buh!!" until we find another one.  I love it.



He got his first hair trim a few days ago, his top eye teeth are coming in, and he's getting quite good at using a fork.  Growing by leaps and bounds, I tell you!







15 Months


Those holidays.  They'll throw you off your game.  This is Si as of December 18th.  Cute as a button and ready for Christmas.  We had so much fun with him this year...he really got into the whole thing.  And he loooved having lots of cousin playmates!

This particular day, he was in quite the mood.  I'd already put him down for a nap, then realized it was picture-taking day!  After pulling him out of his crib and changing his clothes, he was not thrilled about posing for the camera.  We got quite a range of emotion!