Strawberry Muffins

Strawberry Muffins did the trick!!

Well, I actually found the time and gumption to make the Strawberry muffins I had promised my lovely family. I did have to run to the store in the middle of all of it though for a lemon, even though I have a prolific lemon tree. See, my kids like to play with the lemons and make a gigantic mess in the kitchen...... well, that's another story for another day. Lets just say I had to go to get a lemon and leave it at that.

The recipe I chose is from the Phyllis Hoffman CELEBRATE magazine that's out on the stands now. I did change it up a bit. I put in an entire lemons worth of zest and i used half almond extract and half vanilla. (I just love, love, love almond extract. Seriously, I could sit and smell the jar all day) Also, the butter for the crumb topping was a bit much. Yes, you heard me right!!! I would use half of what the recipe calls for next time. There was so much butter that it pooled up under the paper liners in the pans.

They were fabulous. Yes, I said "were". My family and I ate almost an entire batch I did manage to hide (freeze) 9 muffins for next weeks breakfast but still, we ate 15 muffins in one evening. Rave reviews for sure!!!

The Strawberry Butter turned out fabulous too. Someone asked what Strawberry butter is and it's also in the magazine but I'll just tell you how to make it. Take any flavor preserves you like, soften some butter and mix it in. You can start with about 1/2 cup butter and 1/8th cup preserves and add more preserves or butter as you like it. To make mine super smooth I ended up putting it in the food processor on pulse for a few seconds. I probably hadn't let the butter soften all of the way. My oldest was eating it by the spoonful....... good thing she's a size 2.

So..... I am feeling a bit better. It's always nice to have sweets:-) But, I think that the real reason is because it feels good to make something filled with love, from scratch,(or a box, whatever works for you) for your family and to have them truly appreciate it.

Have a fabulous day. Thanks for all of the kind words.

xoxo

Cari

Daffodils and Strawberry Muffins

Daffodils and Strawberry Muffins!!

I've been struggling with the blues lately. I am not the kind of person that generally allows that kind of thing so, I have been trying to figure out a way to snap out of it. Oh yeah, sure, I could do what I used to do, I could go to Michaels and buy lots of new crafting items, that always worked. Except for the fact that I have no money right now.

Ugh!!

So, what's a girl to do?

Well, here's what I did...

I found these absolutely stunning flowers at the grocery store (of all places) 20 stems for $3.00!!!! Even I can afford an absolutely amazing bouquet of sunny yellow daffodils that lasts more than a week for just $3.00.

O.K, that covers the sense of sight, now for smell and taste....

Well, I found some lovely strawberries on sale (at the same store) for just $1.50 a basket!! So, I'm going to try making some Strawberry muffins. I meant to do it yesterday but got busy at my boys school. Boy was my family disappointed when they came home to NO muffins. I have a few recipes in mind. I know that I am going to make Strawberry butter to go along with the lovely muffins I plan on making. I'll take pictures and post whichever recipe I use if they turn out good.

Oh yeah, and I won a fabulous giveaway from SweetPeaInk!! Yeah me!! The giveaway was to spread a little joy. So, some of my swap partners might be getting little bits of my prize in our swaps. Check out her fabulous blog when you get a chance.

I think my mood is changing already. With all of this loveliness how could it not?!

Hope you all have a fabulous week.

xoxo

Cari