TWD: Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins

After seeing posts from this group all over the blog-world, finally the TWD (Tuesdays With Dorie) group was open to new members to celebrate their one year anniversary.  I'm in!  :)  This group takes a recipe from the book Baking From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan and posts about it each Tuesday.

My theory is that by doing this I will be spreading my wings and learn more about baking.  You really can teach an old dog new tricks!

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This week's recipe is Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins.  Keith and I both like hot (read that as spicey) foods and since these muffins have a southwestern flair I knew we'd enjoy them.  The batter contains a bit of chili powder, some chopped jalapeno, chopped red pepper, chopped fresh cilantro and corn.  After mixing the batter I had to take the bowl into the living room and have Keith smell it - it was that good.

These muffins were wonderful with just the right amount of kick to them.  In fact, we both were enamored enough that they will go into our normal rotation now.  And I will admit that I was a little worried serving these to Keith since he's not a fan of any kind of cornbread.  The fact that he liked these tells a lot about how good they are.

And now I have a confession to make - this morning I found the frozen corn package still in the microwave.  I HAD FORGOTTEN TO ADD THE CORN!!!  So...I'm here to tell you that these are fabulous even when you don't follow the recipe exactly!

And these muffins go absolutely perfect sitting alongside a bowl of taco soup.  Dinner was a huge success last night!

Good times....

The Armando Hat

Every so often you work on a project and almost hate to see it end.  That's how I felt about this hat, The Armando Hat (this is a pdf file link) .  Not only is the pattern just gorgeous, but it is knit in Malabrigo yarn.  And there is not another yarn I enjoy knitting with as much as Malabrigo....seriously.

I am totally in love with the top of the hat.  The pattern just entrances me and pulls me right in.  And now that I think about it, does anybody else remember the fun houses at the fair?  Specifically the giant rolling thing that you try to walk through and it had colors that kind of swirled similar to this, only in bright, obnoxious colors.  Luckily Malabrigo does not make bright, obnoxious colors!  The subtle color variations in this yarn are truly dreamy.

This hat was made for my brother-in-law in Minneapolis.  I figure he'll surely get more use out of a hat there than we will here in Dallas!

Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. - Psalm 100:2

GAAA

In Texas, 73 degrees in January is not unheard of.  So when I'm sitting here ready to make a chemo angel card the usual January snowmen did not come to mind.  Instead this little owl card came to life and I think she's just as cute as she can be. 

I bought the printable card at an Etsy shop, Ali Design, and printed the owl a second time.  Stickles were added for some bling....naturally.  And then I found a piece of scrapbook paper to print the envelope template on.  I do believe this set will brighten the recipient's day when she receives it in her mailbox!

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Last night was knitting guild and one of the discussions we had was about our guild project, the Great American Aran Afghan (see a photo here and prepare to be amazed).  We all had chosen our block and received our yarn and now it's time to cast on and get started.  The block that I chose isn't showing on that picture, so I finally found a photo here.  Now when I chose this block I did so because it didn't look as hard as the others.  I've since read that this is one of the three hardest blocks, so my enthusiasm has really taken a hit.  I did get an idea from one of the girls last night to buy a skein of yarn like what we're using and to do a practice run.  And one thing about it, this should really help me grow in my knitting experience.  Or as I've heard it put before - what doesn't kill us makes us stronger.

Good times....

Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. - Matthew 5:16

Some Ice and Some Fabric

Monday seemed so much like a back to normal routine sort of day to me.  It might have been the 5th of January already, but for me it was the start of the new year.  Holidays over, retreat over...now back to work!

Earlier this week we had a brief ice storm.  The photo is in my backyard and it looks much more impressive than it really was.  We were very fortunate that the streets were fine and in fact we went out and ran some errands when Keith got home from work.  We did see some poor trees that were heavily iced and bent over, but that was about it.

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This is what I worked on at retreat last weekend.  I had bought the pattern and fabric for this paper pieced Christmas tree skirt about 3 years ago and pulled it out the first part of November.  Guess I had forgotten how long this takes because I thought I was going to whip it out in time for the tree going up!  After about an hour of sewing I admitted defeat and set it aside.  There really is no sense in adding more stress to the season.  But since our retreat was so close after Christmas I was still feeling it and brought this along.  There are 8 Christmas tree panels and each panel has 3 sections (the star isn't on this one).  I managed to finish 5 panels during retreat!  Of course it still just sits in the sewing room waiting for me to work on it, but that will come.

I love this photo of the raggedy sorority that was formed during retreat!  These dolls were made by two different girlfriends and I think there might even have been more by the end of the weekend.  Aren't they darling?

"Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on earth." - Genesis 9:16

Vanilla Retreat Cupcakes

I still haven't decided on what my 2009 Bible verse will be, but I know that one thing I want to do more of is sharing my hobbies with friends and family.  So on that note I present to you the Vanilla Retreat Cupcakes, so named because I will be leaving shortly to join some friends at a weekend retreat!

I used a vanilla cupcake recipe I found here and haven't had the opportunity to try before now and a standard vanilla buttercream frosting.  Hopefully I'll get some honest feedback from my friends so I know whether the recipe is a keeper or not.  Course, I did set two aside so that Keith could have a few.

And this is the cupcake carrier that James and Loni got me for Christmas.  The retreat cupcakes made 24...and can you see the two unfilled holes for the cupcakes I set aside for Keith?  The carrier has another layer so it will hold up to 36 cupcakes.  This is about the coolest thing I've seen in a long time.

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It's not often that a golden retriever can look like a shar pei, but this tired old dog was worn out on New Year's Eve.  We went to bed at 10:30 (I'm sure y'all have surmised by this blog what party animals we are and now you can verify it!), but apparently that was too late for some dogs.  He fell asleep under the lights of the Christmas tree and I think he was happy as a clam over it.

"When just being together is more important than what you do, you are with a friend." - Unknown

Happy 1st Day of 2009

What a wonderful way to start the year.  Lynne' invited us to her house tonight for dinner and as always I'm so impressed with what a good cook she is.  We had ribs and seasoned fries that were so good!  After dinner we played some Uno and lots of talking.  Such a nice way to spend the evening.  And you know they say that whatever you do on New Year's Day you'll be doing all year long.  I hope she does a lot of grocery shopping......     ;)

Good times.....