More baking!

One of the best parts of summer is all the free time available for baking. We had a bunch of strawberries just sittin' in the fridge, getting mushy (perhaps that 4-lb. clamshell was ill-advised?), and I wanted to find a creative way to use them. Voila! Strawberry buttermilk muffins. Here's the recipe, copied & pasted from the Body and Soul website. (The recipe originally appeared in the July/August 2009 issue of Body and Soul, which I found lying on the coffee table. Just so you know.) It is true that I posted this link on my facebook page, but I am so enthusiastic about these muffins that I thought the recipe deserved two postings. In all honesty, these delightful muffs will change the way you think about strawberries, and buttermilk. The end. 

Strawberry Muffins

Ingredients

Makes 12 muffins

• 1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1/4 cup light olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. Toss together strawberries and 1/3 cup sugar. Using a potato masher, lightly mash berries; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a glass 2-quart measuring cup or a medium bowl, combine buttermilk, oil, egg, and vanilla; whisk to combine.
3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk mixture and the berry mixture (with juice). Fold just until combined. Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter among the muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops with remaining sugar.
4. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.

Happy 4th, everyone! We celebrated by hittin' the gym (which was mostly empty: hellz yes), bumming around the house, and getting dinner at the Holy Land deli, which serves a badass Greek salad. (I know Greek salads sometimes get a bad rap, but this shiz is authentic & delectable.) 

Speaking of Greek, I accidentally created the most perfect [Greek yogurt-based] snack last night and could not wait another day to share my find with the in-ter-net. I was hoping to have Fage with almonds and a drizzle of honey, but no such luck - the honey was one big crystallized mess. Still wanting something sweet,  I found some Ghiradelli dark hot chocolate and added a scant tablespoon of chocolate to about 1/3 cup of Fage. I blended the two until the yogurt had the consistency of mousse, and topped with finely-chopped almonds. Srsly, people, this was the best snack of my lyfe. Try it! 

(Aside: the Ghiradelli isn't very good as cocoa. I can't articulate why - it just doesn't taste cocoalike. )

I did not sign up for this weather package

(and other tales of New England meteorological discontent.)

What a week! What a weekend! Highlights (chronologically, not in order of importance):

1) Thursday, Ali and I made an awesome batch of blueberry muffins. Alright: I did the prep, baking, and cleanup, but Ali kept me company and later taught me the basics of needlepoint, so we're even. I'd be remiss if I didn't include the recipe for said wundermuffins:

Blueberry Oat Muffins
(Yield: 18 muffins)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 2 cups fat-free or low-fat buttermilk
• 1 2/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 Tbs. vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp. grated orange zest
• 1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

1. Combine oats and buttermilk in mixing bowl. Cover; let stand 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray muffin pan cups with nonstick cooking spray or use pleated paper liners.
3. Combine buttermilk mixture, flour, sugar, oil, baking powder, baking soda, salt, eggs and orange zest in second mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Fold in blueberries and walnuts. Spoon batter into prepared cups, filling them 3/4 full.
4. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove muffins from pans immediately; place on wire rack to cool.

(Recipe taken from Vegetarian Times, January 1, 2005. And yes, we did use walnuts.)

Not only were the muffins ueber-easy to prepare (I grated orange zest and measured the other ingredients while the oats and buttermilk sat, undisturbed), but they're healthy, too - 130 calories each without the nuts, about 155 with. They are also unstoppably delicious.

2) Also on Thursday, I began my first ever cross stitch project: a small hamburger! I only have a few rows of stitching thus far - packing has sort of taken over my life - but I think I can finish the project by the end of the week. Maybe.

3) This weekend, Cecily and Chris got married. The ceremony, held in an orchard at Quonquont Farm, was simple and beautiful. Congratulations, C & C!

4) Today I started a RunningAHEAD account so I can track my runs (and bike rides). I was hesitant to open an account before, mainly because I was running like, 1.5 miles and felt (perhaps inaccurately?) wusstastic. But today I overcame this mental block and joined the site. My name is Garky. If any of you all are on the site, friend me! (If that is an option.)

A small, mid-year goal of mine is to update more frequently, rather than having these giant, dump-truck posts. But when there's so much happening, it's difficult to find the time, yes? Excuses!

Birthday wishes! And one harvest recipe.

Glad tidings to LDS, who celebrates her birthday today! Last night was the party proper, which was excellent because of (but not solely because of) great company, Dark and Stormies*, and a soundtrack feat. MIA. Hellz yes. HELLZ YES! I did stay out later than I have pretty much all semester (rolled into bed around 2:30), and today I dragged. In fact, I considered going to bed about half an hour ago, but remembered [thankfully] that I offered to pick E. up from work at 10. Ah, exhaustion. Despite my less-than-optimal state, I managed to do my grocery shopping, read a workshop story, sort through a massive pile of paperwork, and go to the gym. Not bad, considering.

Also, I cooked a legit harvest dish tonight: sauteed Swiss chard w/sweet potatoes. My mom made this a lot when I was a kid, and though I didn't really dig the greens, I loved the bite-sized pcs. of sweet potato. Here's the recipe:

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1/2 - 1/3 c. apple cider
1 cup chopped sweet potato (tiny cubes work best)
1 bunch Swiss chard, cleaned and coarsely chopped
seasonings to taste

In a 10" skillet, cook the onions in the oil until said onions are soft but not browned (about 4 minutes). Once onions are soft, add cider and sweet potatoes. Cook sweet potatoes until they are tender (about 5 minutes). If cider evaporates before potatoes are cooked, add a few tablespoons of water. Once potatoes are cooked, add the Swiss chard, cover the skillet, and cook 3-5 minutes (until the chard is wilted). Season to taste; serve immediately.

That's the gist of the recipe, anyway - I am reclining in bed now and was too lazy to find the printed version, whose wording might be a little, uh, more professional. I should note that the real recipe only calls for 1/3 c. cider, but I used 1/2 (because I had more than 1 c. of taters, and because the bunch of chard I used was larger than average). ALSO: in terms of seasoning, I used garlic powder (shaken liberally), fresh ground pepper, fresh ground sea salt. YUM. One other thing: I used a 13" skillet, which verged on being too small. Next time, will use the wok.

Well, I'm off to find an activity that will keep me awake for the next hour or so. Toodles.

*Almost forgot to explain. The Dark and Stormy is possibly my new favorite boozy beverage, composed of rum and ginger beer (in roughly equal parts). Sweet - but not cloyingly so - and lip-tingling, it is perfect for a rainy fall night.