Friday, May 27, 2011

sick day


This is what we're up to today - not much! Our little guy is under the weather so we're just having a relaxing day at home. Here's hoping it passes soon... :)

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mother's Day!

I have been blessed with some pretty amazing moms in my life that provide me daily with inspiration, encouragement, and love! Hope you're all being celebrated today!














Thursday, May 5, 2011

pumpkin (millet) muffins


Pumpkin Muffins
Adapted from the Rebar cookbook
(I found this recipe to yield approx 16 regular sized muffins)

Ingredients
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c butter, melted
1 c buttermilk
3/4 c brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 can pumpkin (can size = about 1 1/2c)
1/2 c rolled oats
1/2 c ground flaxseed
1 c unbleached flour
3/4 c spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

* the original recipe called for millet instead of flaxseed, vegetable oil instead of butter, whole wheat flour instead of spelt - but I just used what I had.
** next time I make these I might try substituting half vegetable oil/half applesauce for the butter

Mix wet ingredients. Stir in oats. Sift the dry ingredients and add to the wet ingredients, stirring gently until just combined. Fill greased muffin tin cups nearly full. Sprinkle with brown sugar and/or toasted pumpkin seeds.  Bake at 350 F for about 25 minutes.

These were delicious!  They'd probably be even better if I had made them with the pumpkin seeds (for crunch) and eaten them warm, spread with apple butter.

The Rebar cookbook is from a restaurant/bakery in Victoria and is predominantly vegetarian.  Everything I've made/tasted from the cookbook has been really good but the recipes all contain about a million steps and at least a few ingredients that I don't normally stock in our kitchen. Sometimes it's worth it to modify the recipe, to "compromise" and sometimes it's worth it to go the extra mile, track down harder to find ingredients, and spend the time making something spectacular.  This recipe was the former: easily modified and surprisingly good, despite the fact that I omitted/changed multiple ingredients/steps. Enjoy!

playoff cookies


I made these sugar cookies on Monday and brought them to family dinner to celebrate our playoff run with my fellow season's tickets sharers.  Go Canucks Go!

Got the idea from browneyedbaker.com