Recipe Reblog: Mini Coffee Cake Muffins

Hellllooooo! Only one more day in this month. I will be happy to start anew in April. But, I forgot to share this recipe with you so here it is today.

Mini Coffee Cake Muffins: A few weeks ago, my family gathered for a brunch birthday party. The celebrant? My grandma. The age? 95. NINETY-FIVE! She is one special lady. We had a brunch party because 95 year olds don't party late into the night, you know? She didn't want to give up her champagne glass though. I wonder where I get that from?

My contributions were Coconut Banana Bread (delicious) and these muffins. I wanted mini ones because I thought that would be easier to pop in your mouth among the other offerings on the buffet table. This recipe comes from Martha Stewart. It mixed up relatively quickly with ingredients I already had on hand. The one thing I'd change is that the batter didn't have any cinnamon in it. The crumble on top was the most coffee cake-y part of the muffing which was tasty. I would have liked to have tasted that crumble throughout the muffin as well. Next time, I'll mix a little something extra into the batter.

ENJOY your Sunday!

Beer Me: Southern Pecan

It may still be March, but the summer beers are tipping their toes onto shelves and taps all over the place. The spring beers have been out for awhile but I have yet to really try any of those either. Instead, today for you I have a warming brew since it's still quite cold here in Ohio.

This is Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale from Lazy Magnolia Brewing out of Mississippi. I'm not sure I've ever had a Mississippi beer before so here we are.

From their site: "Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale is the first beer in the world, to our knowledge, made with whole roasted pecans. The pecans are used just like grain and provide a nutty characteristic and a delightful depth to the flavor profile. This beer is very lightly hopped to allow the malty, caramel, and nutty flavors shine through. The color is dark mahogany. Southern Pecan won a Bronze Medal in the 2006 World Beer Cup in the Specialty Beer category."

This was very nutty and toasty with a little sweetness to it as well, heavy on the pecan flavor. I find I like nut browns more and more lately. Lighter than a porter or stout but just as warming. At only 19 IBU's there was no bitterness to it at all, which I appreciated. At $8.99 for the 6-pack, this was a good buy as well. If you like brown ales, you won't be disappointed with this one.

Blouse It Out

Well, well, well. It’s nice to see you again, sewing machine. Been awhile. I hope you’re not mad at me for being absent. I just haven’t been feeling all that creative lately. I’ve also been in a slump where my projects always seem home sewn to me. I see them hanging in my closet and think, “People will definitely know this is not store bought, and not in a good way.” That has deterred me from sewing for the past few months.

Since I was recently gifted lots of fabric, I decided it was just the kick in the pants I needed. I scoured my stash of patterns, most of which I’ve not sewn yet. Looking for a blouse of sorts, I settled on Simplicity 2725 from the Project Runway series.

 I have made the dress in  before which you can read about here.

A week or so before I wanted to wear it, I set to work cutting out my pattern pieces. Even though I’m typically a medium, or size 10 in a top, I cut this in a generous 12. Nothing worse than thinking you’ve measured properly, cutting and sewing an entire garment just to find out it doesn’t fit. Perhaps I’ve learned my lesson one too many times on that? Time will tell.

This is a fabric type I’ve never used before. It was a bit troublesome but by the end of the project we were smooth sailing. I had grand plans for embellishment around the collar but ran out of time. I wanted to debut my top at a family dinner. The embellishment involved hand sewing. Ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat, at all! In the end, I decided to keep it simple. The pattern gives other options at the neckline for pleats or a jabot. No time for that either!

The sleeves are my favorite part. Admittedly, I did take them in a bit so they weren’t too flouncy but the body of the blouse I left pretty much the same. You are supposed to install a 20 inch zipper down the back. Who wants a blouse with a super long zipper? And more importantly, who has time to put in a 20 inch zipper when you’re staring down a deadline? Concerned that the zipper might pucker the fabric, I settled on a simple hook and eye closure. Worked like a charm!

The main thing that slowed me down on the project was that I used French seams. With French seams, you sew wrong sides together first on each seam and then you fold it back, right sides together, and stitch again. This hides the seam allowance and makes it look a lot more professional for those of us who don’t have sergers. I LOVE the look of French seams but they are a pain in the rear. You are essentially sewing your entire garment twice. The seams were especially painful when I sewed both sleeves to the bodice incorrectly. Twice. Making a different mistake each time. That was super fun.

Oh, also the time that my darts were totally uneven making one boob look like it was 3 inches higher than the other one and both were pointy. WHEEEE!!! Nothing like a lopsided lady to impress. Darts are my least favorite feature of any project. I have never sewed one and met a pleasant outcome. I saved myself a lot of heartache and just unpicked those stitches very carefully. It didn’t need them anyway. Thankfully.

What do you think? It’s sheer enough that I wear a tank top underneath but you can’t even really tell it’s there.

I’ve decided it’s better to wear this tucked in, even though it’s tunic length. Even belted, it adds a bit of unflattering width in the hips.  Luckily, I like it tucked and bloused. Oh man. The use of the word bloused there just took me screaming back to every dressing room I ever visited with my mom and her saying, “Just blouse it out a bit.” What a look!

I’m so glad I pulled this pattern out once again. It came together relatively well, especially if I hadn’t made those mistakes. I probably could have finished this in about two sessions if I skipped the French seams too. However, because of those seams, that no one will ever see but me, people will think I bought it at a high end boutique, right?

Maybe my sewing mojo has returned? Quick to find another project before it leaves me again!

Sugar, Sugar

I used to think I had a sweet tooth. I love sweets. Most especially cake. Lately, I’ve realized I have more of a salty tooth (is that a thing?) While I love sweets, I usually crave savory. For this reason, I didn’t think this sugar detox John and I have embarked upon would be that difficult. I was wrong.

Every night, without fail, we have some sort of dessert following dinner. It’s usually “healthy.” Meaning ice cream that I made with skim milk and lowered the sugar content. If it’s not healthy, it’s smaller. Meaning one or two of the girl scout cookies we just snapped up. But, there is dessert, nevertheless. This doesn’t seem detrimental but it’s a slippery slope.

A couple weeks ago, I was recanting a sugary binge we embarked upon to a friend and grew more and more ashamed with every Peep, jelly bean, cookie, frosted cookie and ice cream treat I listed. I couldn’t believe the amount of sugar I had consumed in 48 hours. Then, I went and did it again the next weekend. Cupcake, cake (twice), donuts, pastries. What is wrong with me!?

Couple that with the few weeks I wasn’t able to work out due to a health issue and we have a serious situation on our hands. Luckily, or unluckily, John is in the same boat. While he was still able to work out, he replaced all of those burned calories with just as much sugar consumption.

We decided to do something about it. SUGAR DETOX.

Two weeks. No added sugar. No regular foods with more than 10 grams of sugar already in them. It sounded simple enough for me. I don’t drink coffee anymore (3 months in!) and don’t sugar my tea. I don’t really eat sweets throughout the day whereas John’s office has candy, pastries, cookies, etc. around every corner. It seemed like I would just be giving up the nightly dessert. I could probably do that.

Let me tell you. This is tough! My effort has been easier than John’s who I think is having actual sugar withdrawal. Headaches, light-headedness and all. I guess that shows how much he was really eating.

It’s our hope that these two weeks will reset our brains when it comes to sugar. For John, no more snacking at work is the biggie. For me, there are plenty of nights where I am not even hungry for dessert but eat it anyway purely out of habit. I often don’t finish dinner until 8:00 pm. Because I go to bed at 10:00 pm, there is no need for me to continue eating in those remaining two hours of wake.

Fingers crossed that the weight I gained on our cruise in October, kept on through the holidays, and is still with me, will start to go away soon. I can now work out again but need to kick it into high gear. I suppose I’m only telling you all of this to keep myself accountable. Maybe I’ll inspire you to kick your sugar habit. Not a bad idea, right?

I’m sure you’ve seen the news stories and articles that sugar is so much worse for us than everyone thought and that we are all eating way more than is normal for humans. I don’t drink pop at all but was shocked to find my skim milk even has 11 grams. I’m still drinking that even though the threshold is supposed to be 10 g. It’s everywhere! You  know what has zero sugar? Pickles! I love pickles which I guess should prove my salty tooth theory.

Anyway….this has become quite rambly. I encourage you to see how much sugar you’re eating throughout the day. The answer might shock you into your own detox.

Something We All Should Do

This weekend I did something I haven't done in at least 15 years. I went to a birthday party at a roller rink. It was just as amazing as I remember, complete with the same smells and sticky furniture that the roller rink of my childhood (Starlight Triple-T) brought me so many Sunday afternoons.

blurry iphone pic

I will say this rink has not seen any upgrades since it was first built probably 30+ years ago. All the paint was chipping. The rink wood hadn't been refinished in quite awhile. I'm 100% sure the skates weren't even sprayed out with disinfectant when we returned them. The bathroom stalls were made of shower curtains that were so close to the toilets your knees pushed them out while you went. And there was just a sliver of bar soap on the sink. No matter. We made the best of it.

John was mildly impressed with my skating skills. More so than he was the first summer we were dating and I bit it in the driveway on roller blades and had to go to the hospital. Don't worry. It was just a sprained wrist. He should have known then that he was signing up for a lifetime of clumsiness. This time, all these years later, I didn't fall at all and was super proud of myself. If only the DJ had played Heaven is a Place on Earth or anything from 80's Madonna, I would have been totally transported back to the days of yore.

The activity started a good conversation among my friends. We may all be in our 30's (heck - the birthday girl was turning 34, lest you think this was a child's party) but we're going to seek out good old-fashioned fun times like roller skating more often from now on. Having fun doesn't have to be extravagant or cost much money at all. I had the biggest grin on my face lap after lap around the rink. I was also belting out all the songs, even though they were pretty bad. Luckily, my friend had rented the rink for her birthday so technically, there were no strangers around. I don't embarrass easily when REO Speedwagon is involved anyway.

I challenge you to find something you loved doing as a kid and do it again. If it's an activity that gets you up and moving, all the better. Those two hours were completely carefree. Something I really need lately. They didn't revolve around food or drinking, a trap that's easy to fall into. It was just good, clean fun. Doesn't that sound awesome? 

So, please go. 

DO!

Beer Me: Noble Rot

At a tasting a couple weeks ago, John and I were presented with an interesting offering from Dogfish Head.

From their site: "The first addition is unfermented juice, known as must, from viognier grapes that have been infected with a benevolent fungus called botrytis. This noble rot reduces the water content in the grapes while magnifying their sweetness and complexity. The second is pinot gris must intensified by a process called dropping fruit, where large clusters of grapes are clipped to amplify the quality of those left behind.

"This is the absolute closest to equal meshing of the wine world and the beer world thats ever been done commercially," says Dogfish's Sam Calagione.

Noble Rot is brewed with pils and wheat malts and fermented with a distinct Belgian yeast strain. It has a spicy white wine body and a dry, tart finish."

This was one of the strangest beers I've ever tried. In a good way. I like wine and beer so why not put them together? I wasn't expecting the effervescence but it was welcome. There was a nice sweetness to it with the grape flavor as well.

I know it was pricey but I can't remember the exact amount for the life of me. Definitely try it if you can find it in a tasting somewhere. It only comes in 750 mL bottles though.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

This was another one of those choices on my Kindle when I couldn't come up with anything else. Having never read anything by Neal Gaiman, I checked out The Ocean at the End of the Lane with no idea what to expect.

Source

Good Reads' Synopsis: "Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.

A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Laneis told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly's wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark.?"

What I Thought: This was kind of a weird story. I'm still not really sure what I think about it. Having said that, the writing was captivating. The characters were deep. It was just a bit out there for my imagination right now, I guess. Maybe fantasy isn't my thing.

Rating: * * 1/2