Doughnut Muffins

No, not yeasty donuts, the cake kind. I know, a little bit of a disappointment, but still good, and a lot less time consuming to make. Also, since it's in muffin form, don't you feel better about calling it breakfast?

Donut Muffins
Recipe from The Joy of Cooking

For the Muffins:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 large eggs
1 cup yogurt, buttermilk, or sour cream
2/4 cup sugar or packed brown sugar
4 to 8 tbsp (1/2 to 1 stick) warm melted unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla

For the Topping:
1 stick butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a 12 muffin pan with liners.

Whisk together in a large bowl: flour, baking powder, baking soda,
salt,and nutmeg.

Whisk together in another bowl: eggs, yogurt (or buttermilk or sour cream), sugar, butter, and vanilla.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just until dry ingredients are moistened. Do not overmix, the batter should not be smooth.

Divide among muffin cups and bake 12-15 minutes, until a
toothpick comes out clean.

While the muffins are baking, melt your butter and blend together your sugar and cinnamon for the topping.

As soon as the muffins are done, dip them 1 at a time in the melted butter and then roll in the sugar mixture.


Oh, and if you plan to eat them the same day you bake them, you can get away with using the lesser amount of butter, but if your gonna hold on to them for a few days, go for the full amount.

Yummy in my Tummy Strawberry Cake

This one is for you Matt! This is an easy and yummy recipe for strawberry cake given to me from a friend from bible study.
For the cake you will need:

1 box of white cake mix
1 pack chopped frozen strawberries
1 box strawberry Jello
3/4 cup of vege oil
4 large eggs
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons of flour

Combine cake mix, Jello,
oil, flour and water and mix in electric mixer. Add in eggs one at a time then stir in half of the pack of frozen strawberries. Pour mixture evenly into 2 round baking pans. Bake at 350 (or use time recommedations on cake box).

For cake icing:

1 cup butter
2 lbs. powdered sugar, sifted (I actually used 1 and 1/2 lbs. and had plenty of icing)
the other 1/2 of the frozen strawberries

Beat room temp. butter on medium speed with an electric mixer for 20 seconds or until fluffy. Add powdered sugar and chopped berries, beating at low speed until creamy. You can add more sugar if frosting is too thins or more berries if too thick. I did not try this, but I think if you sing the Beatles tune Strawberry Fields Forever while making this cake it may actually turn out better. Just a thought...
Frost your cake ans she's ready to eat! Oh, and I garnished my cake with fresh strawberries and a mint sprig.

Carrot Cake, Easter Syle

Yes, Easter is old news, but substitute stencil of your choice and make for any occasion. Or, if you do not have an artistic husband who can draw Easter bunnies on demand, skip the picture all together...it is carrot cake, it's good on it's own.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe from Baking Illustrated
Serves 10-12

Cake
2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 pound (6-7 medium) carrots, peeled
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed (3 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese, softened but still cool
5 tbsp unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 tbsp sour cream (I used yogurt)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) confectioner's sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 by 9 inch
baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a medium bowl.

In a food processor, shred the carrots (you should have about 3 cups); add the carrots to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Wipe out the food processor and put in the metal blade. Process both sugars and the eggs until frothy and combined, about 20 seconds. with the machine running, add the oil in a steady stream. Process until the mixture is light and colored and well emulsified,
about 20 seconds longer. Scrape into a large bowl.

Stir in the carrots and dry ingredients until no streaks of flour remain. Pour into prepared pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 35-40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time. Cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.

To make the frosting, process the cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla until combined, about 5 seconds, scraping down as needed.
Add the sugar an process until smooth.

As you can see below, we taped dried spaghetti to the bunny outline, which was drawn on regular paper, for support. We then placed two noodles over the pan and laid the paper over the noodles so that they would not touch the icing. We then sifted ground cinnamon over the outline.

Are you impressed? I was.

Tarragon Egg Salad Sandwich

So Friday when I got home, I really wanted an egg salad sandwich. Just kidding. But really, I had never made an egg salad sandwich and didn't really understand why people made them. But, I had some eggs, some tarragon left over from another recipe and stumbled upon a Gourmet recipe for Tarragon Egg Salad. So, I thought I would give it a try.

Egg Salad
Gourmet via epicurious.com
Serves 6

8 large eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 tbsp finely chopped shallots
1 1/2 tbsp chopped tarragon
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

To hard boil eggs, cover with cold water by 1 in in pot and bring to a boil. Cover, take of heat, and let sit for 10 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water, and then let sit in ice water for about 5 minutes.
Peel eggs and chop.

Stir eggs with remaining ingredients. Put between 2 slices of bread and dress with lettuce if desired.
The egg salad can be refrigerated for up to 1 day.

I have to say that I was quite impressed. For eggs and mayo, this sandwich was delicious. I might actually wake up one morning craving one. And maybe that morning all also learn not to delete pictures from my camera before I make sure they have uploaded. But no, I'm not bitter.

Bacon and Asparagus Quiche

The best part of quiche is that you can use whatever you have in the fridge to make it and the base of it: eggs, milk, and cream, I always have on hand so it often becomes dinner when a visit to the grocery store is past due.

For this quiche I used eggs fresh from the sister's back yard,


Oscar Mayer natural (no nitrates added) bacon,


parmesan cheese (BelGioioso is my favorite brand),


and asparagus (straight from Mexico, courtesy of Publix).

Bacon and Asparagus Quiche
Recipe adapted from Baking Illustrated
Serves 6-8

1 pre-made pie crust
8 slices bacon
2 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks
1 cup whole millk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground white or black pepper
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
a few hand fulls of asparagus, trimmed

Pre bake pie shell at 375 F until slightly browned.
While pie crust is baking, cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat, until crispy. Remove bacon onto paper towels. Pour off all but 1 Tbsp of bacon grease. Add asparagus to the skillet and cook over medium heat until crispy but still firm,
about 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, milk, cream, salt, and pepper.
Crumble the bacon into bite sized pieces onto the bottom of your pie crust.

Add parmesan and asparagus. Lastly, pour the egg mixture into the pie.

Bake until light golden brown and a knife blade inserted about 1 inch from the edge comes out clean and the center feels set but soft like gelatin, 32 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Simple Weekday Breakfast

This is one of my favorite breakfasts to make/eat during the work week. You have to plan in advance, but it is very easy and is much better than regular oatmeal. The oatmeal is not cooked and is meant to be eaten cold.

Easy Muesli

Makes 1 Serving

1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal
1/2 cup milk
1-2 teaspoons honey or jam of your choice
1/4 cup fresh or frozen berries
1 tbsp walnuts, almonds, or pecans
a dash of cinnamon (optional)

The night before, mix the oatmeal, milk, honey, cinnamon, and berries in a small bowl with lid. Put mixture in the refrigerator overnight.


The amount of honey or sweetener of your choice depends on personal preference. You can always add more later if it is not sweet enough. In the morning, add the nuts and eat.

Green Apple Martini

April Martini Club = Green Apple = Yummy.

This is a very simple recipe. The cinnamon sugar rimmer is a must.

Green Apple Martini, courtesy of Food Network

Cinnamon and sugar for rimming glasses
1 part vodka
1 part sour apple schnapps
1 part lemonade
1 part sprite

Mix 3 parts granulated sugar to 1 part cinnamon. Dip rim of martini glass in a saucer of water and then into the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Add liquids into cocktail shaker with ice. Shake, pour, and enjoy.