Failed Muffins and Pumpkin Love

Well, they looked good.  I decided to make a new muffin, and I made up the recipe myself.  I was going for a strawberry chocolate muffin, but the strawberry taste didn't come through at all.  The cocoa sure did, but the muffin wasn't very sweet at all (I was counting on more sweetness from the strawberries and drastically reduced the honey I put in).  Elijah seemed to think they're ok.  They are edible, but not good.  Oh, well.  I'm debating about trying again, maybe this time just a strawberry muffin, since the taste was really lost with the cocoa, or maybe I just put in too much cocoa.  And yes, I do make an awful lot of muffins around here.   Lately, I've found myself humming "Oh do you know the Muffin Man, the Muffin Man, the Muffin Man...."

In other news, Malachi had his first field trip today.  He got to pick a pumpkin at a local farm, and he had a great time.

Long Absence

Sorry I've been strangely silent lately.  I'm keeping busy but not much seems to be going on to write about.  I have a happy fire going in the fireplace right now.  It's been pretty cool in the house, so we've started using the fireplace, and it does make the living room feel nice!
I'm thinking of taking the kids back to the apple orchard tomorrow after school.  I could use some more apples!  They've eaten most of the applesauce I made, and I still haven't made the apple-cinnamon jam.  Plus, the orchard was a lot of fun and is fairly close to us.  And I'm thinking of toying with an apple-cinnamon muffin.  Maybe an oatmeal muffin.  I'm not sure.  With this cooler weather, I do feel like baking!
I'll be back sooner this time! 

Backyard Camping

The boys were very excited last night to set up the tent in the backyard and sleep in it with their daddy.  It's been too dry for a campfire, but they had a ton of fun anyway.  Now they're ready for the big family camping trip in October.

Sad little cantaloupe

No, those aren't super-huge tomatoes.  That is the only cantaloupe I managed to harvest off of 5 healthy-looking plants.  Seriously.  I picked it a week ago, and we ate it.  It did taste good, but after 2 years of cantaloupe failure, I've decided not to try and grow them next year.  Maybe in a couple of years.

Pumpkin Muffins

                                                                                                          Although it has still been hot in the afternoons, mornings here have begun to feel like fall, so I've been in a baking mood.  I also had a butternut squash that needed dealt with, so I made pumpkin muffins, which are always a huge hit with everyone in my family (and I can't say that about most foods!).  I originally got the recipe from my sister, but we've both tweaked it a bit since then.  We do that.  So, here is the recipe for some yummy muffins, which can be made with either pureed pumpkin or butternut squash.  Just don't tell my kids I used squash; you can't tell the difference, but they think pumpkin is the only way to go!

2 c whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

2tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 c softened butter

1/2 c honey

2 eggs

1 c pureed pumpkin

1/2 c plain yogurt

1/2 bag mini chocolate chips

Mix together the wet ingredients, then add the dry.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven.  For mini muffins, bake about 11 minutes; for regular-sized muffins, bake about 15-16 minutes.  These make great snacks or breakfasts.  They never last more than a couple of days around here.

Lydia enjoys her mini muffin

Kid quotes

Here's a little update on the kids.


Today, Elijah was filling out a calendar.  I told him that Nana and Pa got married on April Fool's Day, and he said, "So they fooled each other!"  Then he noted that since his birthday is one day after his sister's, "we will probably be tired because we will eat too much unhealthy food for two days."

Malachi had his first soccer practice yesterday, and he loved it.

Lydia can and does speak in full sentences, like "I want THIS slide."  She enjoyed story time today.

That's it for now.  We're just happy that Nathaniel will be back from California in a few hours!

The Art of Toilet Paper Tubes

The day was saved by toilet paper tubes.  On Tuesday, we "finally" had 2 toilet paper tubes available for crafting.  The boys were ecstatic.  Then they very seriously (as you can see from their expressions here) got to work on a Christmas present for their cousin.  (That was all their idea, from something Elijah learned in school.)  It's fun to watch creativity in action.

And here is a cutie shot: