Snufflebug

New word courtesy of Ben.

Snufflebug \SNUH-ful-buhg\, noun,verb: To Steal covers from another person with whom you are sharing a blanket with. A person who steals the covers. Use: He tried to snufflebug the blanket but his efforts were in vain.
Snufflebugging The act of stealing a blanket with one swift jerk of movement.
Use: Please stop snufflebugging the covers, I'm getting cold!

Do you fancy a cup of tea and a buscuit?

Inspired by a friend Amy's post on Facebook of an old Real Simple recipe, I took to the kitchen and baked a delicious pan of Lemon-Chamomile Shortbread. Yum! I'm enjoying a piece of it right now with a cup of tea and I am feeling very happy and very British.

Lemon-Chamomile Shortbread


Yield: 16 cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Grated zest from 1 lemon
1 teaspoon loose chamomile tea
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
Raw sugar crystals (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan.

2. Combine the butter, sugar and salt. beat with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy. Blend in the lemon zest, loose tea and flour until smooth. Press into pan. (In order to make it fancy I made fork indentations along the rim and sprinkled it with raw sugar crystals)

3. Bake 30 minutes or just until the shortbread begins to turn golden.

4. Cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into 16 wedges.

Midnight Colinization #4

Midnight Colinization #4: "It was Mom. They were just goofin' around with Mom."

Note: This was said with a bit of a chuckle. Practical joke maybe?

Apple Blueberry Crisp

Apple Blueberry Crisp



When I put my apple blueberry crisp in the oven, I was scared. I didn't use a recipe and I was beginning to doubt my cooking skills. Also, this was my first time using agave nectar in the place of sugar. In the end, it turned out pretty well!

Anyway, with a few tweaks, this could be fantastic. Don't get me wrong, it's tasty, but the fruit was a bit tart and I probably could have used another 1/4 cup of agave in the topping. If you make this with regular brown sugar I would say to use a full cup and to cut the flour to 1/2 cup.

Here is an approximate estimate of what went into the crisp:

Filling:
3 Fuji apples sliced thinly
1 1/2 cups of blueberries
3 Tbsp of corn starch
2 Tbsp of lemon juice

Topping:
1 cup of oats
3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup of blue agave nectar (no, it's not actually blue)
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of nutmeg
1 tsp of vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put apples and blueberries into a large baking dish.(I used a round 9" wide 4" deep ceramic crock.) Toss the fruit with the lemon juice and then sprinkle on the corn starch and toss.

In a medium bowl, mix all topping ingredients. Butter should be cold and it should be cut into very small chunks with a pastry blender of knife. Because of the liquid from the agave, this will be like a dense, sticky dough. Use your fingers to drop small amounts of the dough on the fruit until the top is evenly covered in the topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Note: Because this was a bit doughy, I pulled it out after 20 min and broke up the topping with a fork and put it back in and it turned out great.




I just couldn't keep myself from posting this one. The steam was so pretty.

Nighttime prayers

Ben's prayer tonight: "Thank you Jesus for muffins and for Honey Smacks with soy milk."

Midnight Colinization

I've never shared with anyone other than Colin, the crazy things that he says to me at night. You see, Colin talks in his sleep. Being Colin, he can't do it like a normal person and talk about food or something. No, he spits out the most random phrases imaginable and I've recently started writing them down. With Colin's permission, I will now be documenting his sleep talking on my blog. It will be called "Midnight Colinization."

You see, at night I always read. I usually read too long because I'm kind of a book nut. Anyway, while I read, Colin is off in dreamland. A couple of times a week he will say something hilarious, ridiculous, and totally random. It usually begins like this: Colin starts making a gulping, clicking sound with his throat and then he begins to thrash around a little. He usually turns to me and starts mumbling incoherently. I say "What did you say Colin?" He repeats himself two or three times until he is speaking more clearly and then, I have my pearl of wisdom. He promptly turns over and begins the snore-fest.

So, without further ado, I will publish the first three Midnight Colinizations.

Midnight Colinization #1:
"Erin, you'd look funny coming out of the wall, mounted like a deer."

Midnight Colinization #2:
"I think it's best if he didn't hug his hogs!"

Midnight Colinization #3:
"That's some pretty fabulous foam inside the shampoo."

Note: I don't edit the grammar in these quotes and I SWEAR that I did not make this stuff up!

Gemma goes to Costco

Today in Costco, Gemma made a very loud squeal in the book section. It turned a head or two. To the untrained ear it would have sounded like she was quickly screaming "EeeeeeeOhhhhhh." To the trained parental ears of Colin and myself, it was easily understood as Gemma saying "Peeeetotes!" Which again, to the untrained ear would sound like "whattheheckdidshejustsay?" But to the trained parental ears it was easily deciphered as Gemma screaming the word "PRINCESS!"

Yes, Gemma saw a boxed set of Disney Princess books. This is what caused The Great Costco shriek of 2009. So, being the good parents (i.e. softies) that we are, we picked up the $6 set of boks and handed them to our little lass. Of course she began chanting "peetote" followed by "fankies"(thank you) and a kiss for Daddy. Let me point out that she is only 21 months old, yet she is already able to bend us to her will and melt our hearts. Well played Gemma. Gemma-1 Parents-0

Every creature was stirring. Even the Mouse.

The kids were very noisy tonight after we put them to bed. This is what I overheard.

Ben speaking to his Yucky Blanket: "...and I'll have a hat for you and gloves to keep your hands warm. But that's just pretend that you're real, Yucky Blanket. I love you Yucky Blanket. (high pitched voice)I love you too Ben."

Gemma speaking to baby doll- "Heeeeeey Lola, heeeey Lola, hey! Lola! etc,."

Carrot-Pumpkin Muffins.

I baked again today. It was really fun to bake in the morning and have a snack to bring to a playdate. I always bring something "Gemma safe" so today I made Carrot-Pumpkin muffins. Of course, they were eggless and they turned out really well. I have been struggling to bake perfect muffins that had no egg and I think that I finally succeeded! Yee Haw! I found a recipe on a vegan blog for carrot muffins and I messed with it quite a bit adding pumpkin and cutting the amount of sweeteners. My recipe is below.

Also, I should say, I had one of these cut in half with cream cheese and it was heavenly. These could very easily be turned into cupcakes with the addition of cream cheese frosting. Yummy.


Eggless Carrot-Pumpkin Muffins

Dry ingredients:
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt

Wet ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
(I use the O Organics brand because it has the best vanilla flavor)
1/3 cup of unsweetened pumpkin puree
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup of warm water and 1 Tbsp of flax meal mixed together and set aside to congeal in a small dish (this makes the exact consistency of egg and serves as a binder in the muffins)
1/3 cup soy milk (or regular cows milk, we just use soy)
Give or take a bit on the soy milk, I just added it at the end until it was a nice batter consistency

1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots (2 big ones or three regular sized)
1/4 cup raisins
Sugar in the raw for the tops

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line muffin tuns with papers.

Sift or stir dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl mix together wet ingredients except for the soy milk, carrots, and raisins. Combine wet and dry ingredients in the large bowl and stir until just mixed (it's important not to over stir) Then add the carrots and raisins. Add the soy milk to get it to the right consistency. It should be a thick batter, not too runny, but also not like a dough.

Fill muffin tins 3/4 full, sprinkle tops with raw sugar crystals, and bake for 15-20 minutes.

This recipe made 24 mini muffins (15 mins to bake) and six regular sized muffins (20 mins to bake.) Cool on a wire rack. Also, do not try to take them out of their wrappers until they are completely cool or they will stick to the muffin liners. Enjoy!

Autumn: The Happy Season

Eggless Chocolate chip cookies


Fall is in the air. I can feel it. Today, the sun is shining and the horizon is a crisp, bright blue. There is a definite bite of cold in the air and my cheeks look a shade rosier every time I go outside. Although it isn't technically Autumn until September 21st, I'm just going to pretend that it's already here. I can't get enough of this time of year. September is usually when I finally come out of my lazy-days-of-summer heat coma. I re-connect with my inner housewife and thus begin a new season of baking, sewing, knitting, and curling up on the couch with a blanket and reading. (okay, so I read all year-round. Whatever.)Life outside of the home slows down but indoors, I feel like I'm just waking up.

To celebrate the changing season, I baked cookies today. I have wanted to make some eggless chocolate chip cookies for a long time. I found a good base recipe and tweaked it. It make a pretty good cookie. I also experimented and added oatmeal to half of the dough and baked them in a mini-muffin tin instead of a cookie sheet and I actually liked them more than the basic cookies.

It was very fun to be able to allow Gemma to eat cookies and not be worried about them making her sick. They were the first home-made chocolate chip cookies that she has ever eaten. It was pretty special. I took some pictures and have put up the recipe as well.

First bite, not so sure about this "warm cookie" business.

Hey! That's good!

Seasoned cookie connoisseur trying out the new recipe

It passed inspection.


INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2/3 cup margarine or butter
1/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup vanilla nonfat yogurt
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the brown sugar, white sugar, margarine and shortening until light and fluffy. Stir in yogurt and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until incorporated, then mix in chocolate chips.

3. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.

4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges begin to brown. Cool for a minute on the cookie sheets before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

To make oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bites:
Add 1 cup of rolled quick-oats with dry ingredients. Spoon dough into greased mini-muffin tin and bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees on top rack.

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bites

Camping in Montana (and the King's living room)

The upwards view from our campsite. It was even more incredible at night. I've never seen so many stars...

On August 21st-24th we went camping in Montana at Lake Alva with our friends The Andersons, The Kings, and Mr.Syris Trahan. We had a grand old time sitting by the fire and sharing stupid/embarrassing stories (I think that Jon King took the cake with his "poop can" story. Honestly) singing, and playing guitar. We also spent a good amount of time eating, and eating some more, and then eating s'mores. We played at the lake and let the kids get as dirty as possible. Gemma had a great time sucking on rocks and Ben spent a large amount of sitting on a box next to a cooler, holding the handle of the cooler and pretending like he was riding an "ice ta-box." (I'm pretty sure he was trying to say ice toboggan)

After two very chilly nights we all decided that we had spent enough time being at-one with nature so we packed up our camp and headed to The King's house in Missoula. We ate delicious pizza and played a super fun card game called "Bang." Ruth King (who made the most amazing marshmallows) made some to-die-for cinnamon rolls for breakfast. She even made a tiny batch for Gemma without eggs. I was so touched that she considered Gemma's allergy. Anyhow, we had loads of fun and hope to go camping again next summer.

The few things that I would change would be:

The amount of nasty aggressive bee type-things attacking our food and us. Colin got a sting and so did little Naomi King. That was not okay.

Also, the toilets were REALLY NOT OKAY. I've never been in a toilet that smelled so pungent. Try to imagine this: A cheap knock-off perfume factory explodes and takes with it the neighboring sewage treatment plant, causing the two overpowering, acrid aromas to mingle and swirl about in the same airspace. That is precisely what these wretched pit toilets smelled like. I almost added some puke smell to them. I didn't. But seriously, it was so strong that I held my breath in them. Yet, despite my best efforts, after I had run 10 yards from the defiled area, I would breathe out only to find that my nasal passages had trapped "the reek" and I was forced to inhale the offending fumes. *shudder*

Okay, enough about the toilets-of-wretch... Here are some pictures!

Our epic tent "The Cave of Wonders". Yes, that's a hinged door.

Ahhh, nature. Now, where do we put our massive amounts of stuff?

The King Family. (From left to right: Jon, Naomi, Ruth)

A happy Colin. He's happy because the ancient percolator worked (I had serious doubts.)

Syris in his ottoman-equipped camp chair reading Wired Magazine. Because, it's important not to lose touch with technology when you are in the wilderness of Montana.

Ben driving the "ice ta-box."

Gemma enjoyed sharing her special rocks with Aunt Theresa(Anderson).

Gemma and Uncle Jon(Anderson). Jon King pointed out that Gemma closely resembled a tiny ewok. I heartily agree.

Naomi King peeking in on Caleb Anderson. Adorable kids!

Naomi. Or, as Ben and Gemma called her "Maoni." Same letters, wrong order.

Colin made this percussion instrument with an old guitar string, flattened beer caps, and a stick. We saw some at a street fair and he got inspired.

Ben playing the back-woods percussion instrument.

Syris in his awesome Costa Rican (correct me if I'm wrong please) hammock. How cool is it that Syris slept in a hammock? (I'm glad that a bear didn't lumber into the camp and eat him)

Montana. The happiest place on earth.

The picture that will make Gemma cringe in 10 years

I'm not really sure what else to say about this picture, but that Gemma will most likely dislike this picture in ten years. I personally, think that it captures the spirit of The Moot quite well and I will relish showing it to her future husband. :)

Sporty Shorts

Ben has decided to wear sports themed underwear today in lieu of pants. He is calling them his "sporty shorts." The fancy underwear are nicely complimented by a cowboy themed tee-shirt and green froggy rubber boots. Should I be worried?

Ranch Dressing

I just went out back and cut a ton of fresh chives. They made my hands smell, but I don't mind it right now at least. Anyway, in order to use my bounty I whipped up some scrum-didily-umptious ranch dressing. Here's the recipe:

1 cup of non-fat plain yougurt
1/8 cup of mayonnaise
1/8 cup finely chopped chives
2 cloves of fresh garlic, pressed
1 teaspoon of dill
1 Tablespoon of dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon of onion powder (NOT onion salt)
1 teaspoon of Kosher salt

Put all ingredients into a mini food processor and give it a few pulses (until it turns a lovely light-green hue) and then store in a jar or airtight container.