Blueberry Muesli Muffins

I was never a big fan of breakfast. Once I hit high school I just stopped caring about breakfast and never ate it. When I married Micah he was stunned when he found out that I never ate it...and I mean never. Give me my coffee and send me on my way, I was just not interested. And that is how I live for over 10 years, that is until a few months ago. I don't know how it hit me. I think it had to do with all the delicious food I was missing out on. All the food I now look forward to waking up to. Yogurt, granola, hot cereals, so many different ways to make an omelet. And muffins. I love muffins, but good muffins, not the store bought ones that are not really muffins but more breakfast chocolate cake.
Here is a recipe for Blueberry Muesli Muffins. I woke up this morning so excited to make and try them. And, if I do say so myself, they turned out great.


Muesli Muffins

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup wheat bran
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup finely chopped bananas
• 2/3 cup applesauce
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups Blueberry-Walnut Muesli (you can sub with pecans or almonds)
• 1/2 cup dried blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flours, bran, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Put butter and brown sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing until combined after each addition. Add bananas, applesauce, and vanilla; mix until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in 3/4 cup muesli and the blueberries.
3. Line 10 cups of a standard (12-cup) muffin tin with paper liners. Divide batter among cups, filling to rims. Sprinkle tops with remaining 1/2 cup muesli. Bake until a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely in tin on a wire rack.

Blueberry-Walnut Muesli

Ingredients:

Makes about 3 cups

• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
• 3/4 cup dried blueberries
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds, toasted
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 2 tablespoons flaxseed

Directions:

1. Stir together all ingredients in a large bowl. Muesli can be stored in an airtight container up to 1 week.

Travels in time

What if I graduated in 1958. I would have probably looked kinda like this.....












or maybe 1966.
















or 1988.

I think I have a elementary school picture where I have this exact same haircut...and probably the same oversized, brightly colored sweater as well. And when you pair it with some neon leggings...man was I stylish.






I spent way to much time on this website thanks to my fellow blogger "lucas life" who recently posted her own pictures. So you should go check it out as well and spend some unproductive time.

channeling my inner parisian

Anybody that knows me knows that I love almost anything resembling something french. Maybe my love started in High School when I tried to learn French. Or when I went to France and was actually able to somewhat communicate. Or maybe it is the abundance of Lavender fields, the aroma of freshly baked bread, or just the invention of the eclair. I love it all.

Art Nouveau
Coralie Clement
Cafe Au Laits
Amile

So when I noticed that one of the hugest fall trends were berets I jumped at the chance to buy one.
I only wonder what will be next!

Celebrating the 4th

Micah and I had the privilege to witness one of our good friends wedding this past 4th of July. They met a few years ago and spent a year living out a long distant relationship while he worked in Taiwan. They are a wonderful couple whom we both love very much.

I love weddings. I love getting dressed up, going to a party, eating good food. I just love the whole shindig. Plus it is always a good time to take pictures!

when nothing else

when nothing else to say
i will give you a recipe...

sugar and nut glazed brie

ingredients:
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts, pecans, almonds, or walnuts
1 tbsp brandy
1 Brie Cheese (round)
Apple wedges, for serving
Pear wedges, for serving
2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice
Crackers, for serving

directions:
in a small bowl stir together the sugar, nuts, and brandy. Cover and chill for at least 24 hours or up to 1 week.

preheat oven to 500 degrees F.

place the Brie on an ovenproof platter or pie plate. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the Brie is softened and puffy. Spread the sugar mixture in an even layer on top of the warm Brie and bake for 5 minutes longer, or until the sugar melts. Brush the fruit wedges with lemon juice and serve with brie and crackers.


...brie is something that I have grown to love. when I was in Europe some time back, to my mothers horror, I would not touch the stuff. but after a few passing years and a change in my pallet, i now savor each bite.

when i make this recipe everyone seems to love it.

Glacier. Fog. Family

I have been to Glacier National Park many times,
but never when it was snowing.
But despite the snow,
the cold,
and the wind,
it had an enchanting fog to it.
Almost like a movie or a fairy tale.














Usually Micah and I like to go to the park
at least a few times during the summer.
But this was our first trip this year.



















If I lived in a fairy tale
my home would be somewhere around here.
In the mountains,
in the fog,
near a waterfall.
But only if I lived in a fairy tale...
in real life I like the city.















We had a wonderful time with the family.

Sailing

Sailing is a love of my husbands, so therefore I sail.
I am also still trying to get over my fear of sailing.
Combining those two things can be tricky,
but I have found that one way for me to not focus on my fear is by keeping busy while we sail.....

thus the pictures I took here.



























My skipper Micah.















Family















Sunset.

Fall Seasons in August

For the past 3 days the weather outside has felt much like the Fall season. The chill in the air, the gray overcast. Both have given me the urge to curl up in front of the fire with a good book, all the while smelling the sweetness in the air of an apple pie baking in the oven. So yesterday I went out and bought a few pounds of apples and began to bake. There is just something about apples and the Fall, they go perfectly together. Bringing back memories of excitement while you wait for the first day of school.
We celebrated my success in apple pie baking with a few friends and some good laughs.
Here is the recipe so you can share the apples as well.

Apple Pie Filling
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling
Freshly ground nutmeg, to taste
6 medium apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 lemon, zested and juiced

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Mix together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl. In another bowl, sprinkle apples with the juice of 1 lemon and toss. Stir in the sugar mixture to evenly coat the apples.

Mound the apple and sugar mixture into the pie pan lined with dough. Then cover the top with more dough.

Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake pie for 45 minutes. Let rest 20 minutes before slicing.

Peach-Blueberry

I have noticed a trend of people blogging recipes. So I thought I would contribute as well. I happen to be pretty proud of my recipe too. I made it for Micah's 25th birthday and got rave reviews.
I made a peach-blueberry pie and before I go into the details on the recipe I should mention that this was only my second time ever in trying to make a fruit pie. The first time I tried making a pie was when I was in England for Christmas about 5 years ago. I was designated the "desert girl" and had to make everything from apple pies to mincemeat pies (which actually did not have meat in it....to my unknown knowledge). Anyways, that first experience making pies was not really disastrous but more just very disappointing. The pies were either way to sugary or just plain runny, which could be disastrous depending on how picky you are about pies. Anyways, I made an effort to do it right this time, especially since I was baking for a dozen people.
The pie turned out great! So that should show you how fool proof this pie is. So enjoy baking this pie before the summer is over.


Peach-Blueberry Pie

Filling:
3 pounds mixed yellow and white peaches, peeled, pitted, sliced about 1/2-inch thick
1/3 to 1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/3 to 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground fresh nutmeg
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces


For the filling:

Combine peaches, sugars, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, peach eau de vie and cornstarch or tapioca in a large bowl and mix until well combined. Toss the blackberries with the cassis. Let sit for 10 minutes, then use a slotted spoon to spoon the berries into the peaches, and toss.

Spoon the fruit into the crust using a slotted spoon. Add some of the juices that have accumulated in the bowl. Scatter the butter over the top.

Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake on the bottom rack of the oven until the crust is golden and juices bubble thickly through slits, covering edges of crust with foil if browning too quickly, about 1 hour 20 to 30 minutes, until the bottom crust is brown and the juices bubbling. Cool pie 3 hours.

**Just use your own favorite flaky pie crust recipe!

Chocolove

Micah and I decided that we would relax our last night of vacation. This is how we relaxed...


We rented "Once", which is now one of my favorite movies. If you have not seen it then I defiantly recommend it to all. After we watched it we immediately went on itunes and bought the album.






As we watched the movie we enjoyed a bottle of Segura Viudas Champagne. Micah bought it for me when he took a business trip to Spokane a few weeks ago. I love champagne and I think that every time you celebrate something you should do it with a glass.





A glass of champagne and some chocolate by Chocolove! This is my favorite favorite favorite chocolate. Perfect dark chocolate with freeze-dried raspberries. Oh my heaven.

Vacation - Day 1

Micah left for our much needed vacation today. We headed up to Whitefish's Mountain, or Big Mountain (as the locals call it). It was only 2 years ago that we spent the first 2 nights of our honeymoon here, the Kandahar Lodge. It is defiantly one of our favorite places!
But on the way up the mountain we stopped at a local pizza place to get some dinner. I only have pizza once an a great while, but when I do it is good beyond words.














When I was booking our room I had mentioned to the lodge that it was our second anniversary. So when we opened up the door to our room we were speechless. They had upgraded us to a loft suite. I wanted to cry it was so special.



















And, nicely placed on the breakfast table, was a iced bottle of champagne with two flutes. Oh, how I love champagne.

Vacation - Day 2

Big Mountain is great in many ways. One of the reasons is that this winter resort is open in the summer. They keep the chair lifts (or gondolas) open all summer so that people can ride to the top of the mountain and view the beauty of glacier park and the Canadian Rockies. Both Micah and I visited this place 2 years ago, right before we were married. It was wonderful to be able to come back, remember the memories of the last time, and make new ones.













Huckleberries are HUGE around here. And I was so tempted to start filling up buckets with all the huckleberries that scattered the mountain. We love huckleberry pancakes!













We followed some of the trails, but did not venture far. Neither Micah or I brought our hiking shoes.













Our must needed coffee (and Chai for me) for the long gondola ride up. We had to stay warm!













I absolutely love wild flowers. I think next year I will buy a pack of wild flower mix and just scatter it about my back yard. So that I can have fresh bundles of wild flowers all summer long.

rain rain go away

come
again
another
day

Get out your rain boots

It is nearing the end of summer. I can tell this by the drastic changes in the weather pattern. Two days ago it was a beautiful hot summer day (around 90 degrees) and then in 24 hours it dropped....and it kept dropping. Now it is rainy and cold and about 59 degrees outside. I like the rain, I love it actually, but I was beginning to enjoy the late summer blooms of all my flowers. Especially the flowers that I planted 4 months ago which are now starting to bloom. Like my sweet pea. I Planted that a long time ago and after battling with the deer (who ate it down to a nub one night) it finally got one flower on it. I was so excited. But of course now the weather has dropped and I will be shocked if it continues to bloom anymore this season. Sigh. Here are some pictures of my favorite flowers that I have in my garden.

Finished

I bought this book 4 years ago and began to read it when I was distracted. I was distracted by another book (which I can't remember what it was), but I ended up putting this one down and forgetting about it. Two years later I found it collecting dust in my bookcase. So I decided to give it another shot. Not that it was uninteresting the first time I tried to read it, I just tend to be a bit impatient at times and jump from book to book. Well, two weeks later guess what happened. That impatient personality of my came out and once again I was distracted by anther book. Skip another two years, up until about a few months ago when I was searching through my books for a good summer read. I stumbled upon it. The thorn in my side. The unfinished book. I was determined to finish it and prevailed.

Happy Birthday Micah

Micah's 25th Brithday
friends
family
summer night
peach-blueberry cobbler
limeade
kids and sprinklers
corn on the cob
oregano flowers
cheesy potatoes
gifts
walking barefoot
sunset

Cupcake Cravings

Today I am throwing a Birthday Party for Micah and we are having a few people over to celebrate. Micah wanted a pie (I made a Blueberry-Peach Pie) and I wanted cupcakes. So I searched on the internet and found a great recipe for these! Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting. Cupcakes are one of my new favorite things.

The Montana Fair

Micah and I decided to finally visit the Montana Fair tonight. I have been here almost 4 years and have yet to go. So I decided that it had been long enough. I loved the fair as a little girl. The rides, the food, the exhibits, the giant pickles, the photo booths, just about everything about the fair.
The only thing I have to say is that the Montana fairs are different. I had to learn the hard way. They are really nothing like the good old Fresno Fair, which I grew up loving.
So, to make the best of it, Micah and I took both cameras and decided to just shoot a whole bunch of random pictues. Micah using the digital and me using the old 35 mm manual camera. We had fun despite the let down of my expectations.

New Do

It has been over a year since I went to a salon to get a hair cut. Mind you over that year I have (on occasion)taken a pair of cooking scissors to my head to chop off unwanted-ness, which usually ended up in a-not-so flattering look. But today I had enough. So, like the impatient and decisive person that I am, realizing that I needed a haircut NOW, called up the salon and said "I'll take anyone at anytime to cut my hair". Luckily they had an opening. Now, because of my impatient nature, I did not have the time to actually think of what kind of hairstyle I wanted. I just hoped some kind of inspiration would come to me. And it did. When I walked into the salon the woman who was scheduled to give me a new "do" had the exact hairstyle that I wanted....sound like a God story to me (hehehe). I politely said to her "I want your hair". So here it is. My new do. What do you think?

Wonderful Items @ Wonderful Prices

I love it when you are shopping, but not really to buy anything, merely to just window shop, and you come across wonderful items at wonderful prices. Like these shoes I found at one of my favorite stores. I was simply browsing when I came upon them....and they were only $5. They are one of my favorite things at the moment.