Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Hi there!  Happy New Year!  Has it really been over a year since I’ve shared something with you?  Time has flown by!  Our little guy is walking now, and we love every minute with him!  I haven’t really baked many things since he was born aside from some special celebratory cakes, a few random batches of cookies, and these muffins.  I whipped these up the night before his birthday so he had a special treat to share at daycare and so that we had a tasty baked good to put a candle in when we sang to him.  We’ve been making his food since he started solids, but this was the first time he tried my baking, so his first bite was a special moment for me!  These muffins come together really quickly and have a tiny halo of health since they are made with whole wheat and oatmeal flours and bananas.  That being said, I didn’t let him eat too much since we’re really striving for him to have a healthy diet!  If you want a nice muffin that uses up the cache of ripe bananas that is taking over your freezer, give these a try!
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Gingery Pumpkin Bread with Chocolate Chunks

I hope you are enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday and had a nice lineup of pies to round out your meal.  I managed to get out of baking this year!  Can you guess what would keep me from baking for this holiday?  I’m sure you’ve noticed that my baking and blogging has slowed down a bit over the past few months.  It isn’t that I haven’t wanted to bake or share recipes with you, it’s just that I’ve been busy with other things.  My current focus has ten fingers and ten toes and he arrived just over three weeks ago.  Yes, Scott and I just had a baby!  He is so cuddly and cute and I’m totally over the moon for him.

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Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

Scott and I recently spent a very relaxing week in Maine with some friends.  We were on a small island on Penobscot Bay within walking distance of a little shack that sold lobster and crab rolls, ice cream, and huge slices of wild blueberry pie.  It was such a perfect, peaceful setting that we barely left the island.  Mostly we just sat around reading books and playing board games, went for an occasional walk, and took naps in the afternoons.  After a rough morning of reading, who doesn’t need a nap?  Pin It

Pumpkin Muffins

I have been enjoying these muffins all week.  In particular, I have been eating one along with a fudge drop cookie as a snack around 3:30 or 4 pm at my desk.  Muffins make the perfect afternoon snack, don't you think?  Plus, these muffins contain both a vegetable and some whole wheat flour, so you can wear your baked-goods-masquerading-as-a-healthy-food halo.  Score!
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Cardamom Zucchini Muffins

When I was little, our backyard was one giant hill that sloped down away from the house and was covered with yellow with cheery dandelions in the spring and perfect for sledding the few times that we got snow in the winter.  My mother kept a garden at the far right corner of the backyard, at the spot where the hill began to level out a bit.  She always grew tomatoes, zucchini, and cucumbers, along with a smattering of other vegetables.  The zucchinis always seemed to be prolific, and we spent our summers eating them in every way possible.

At some point, we would head off for vacation, and one of the neighbors would kindly tend the garden in our absence.  We were on one of those vacations when a zucchini went off the grid. 
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Carrot Cake

I was digging through my recipe box last week looking for something to make when I came across my grandmother's carrot cake recipe.  Several years ago I went to my grandparent's house and went through their recipe boxes and typed up the ones that were most interesting to me.  Before I went, I put together a spreadsheet of all of  the recipes I could think of that I wanted to type up and created a template so that each recipe would look the same.  I came away with about 60 recipes, most of which were not on my original list.  It was a fun weekend - they showed me how to make a few things, and then we relaxed together in the living room, my grandfather in his reclining chair, my grandmother in her spot on the couch, and me sprawled out on the flowered chair near the front door with the recipe boxes on the little wooden bench to my right and my computer perched on my lap.

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Sweet Pretzels

I have a pile of dishes in the sink due to a foray into the world of making pecan sandies, so I am going to keep this short.  This recipe is one of my favorite things to make on the weekend for breakfast or a mid-morning snack.  It's nice to spend a few quiet moments in the kitchen, gently kneading the dough and then setting it aside to rise.  Once the dough is ready, there is the fun of shaping the pretzels, and then the immense pleasure of eating them.  I pretty much only make these when Scott and I will be able to share them with others because we can't resist eating just one more.  Adding this recipe to your brunch routine will certainly make your life sweeter. 
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Walnut Rolls

I am super excited to share this recipe with you!  I've been working on it on and off again since the beginning of February, so it is great to finally have a product that is blog-worthy and relatively fool-proof!  I made this recipe over the weekend at my parents' house.  Lots of people were coming for the weekend (18 to be exact!) so I got there Thursday night to secure a bed and bake this bread.  Just kidding!  I really got there early so I could spend the day with my mom. 
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