Lemon Ricotta Almond Muffins

When I am reading and a character eats something that sounds interesting, I go online and look up recipes.  If I find one that looks like something I would like, I make it.  I started looking around for a lemon ricotta muffin mix.  This recipe I found on giadzy.com.  It is a Giada De Laurentiis site.  It makes for a light and fluffy muffin that is lemony and delicious with a hint of almond.  Give it a try!

Lemon Ricotta Almond Muffins egg

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup plus 1 Tablespoon sugar. Or more as needed for sprinkling

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

1 Tablespoon finely grated lemon zest from 2 lemons

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 egg

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/3 cup thinly sliced almonds

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Place paper cupcake liners in a muffin pan.  

Unwrap the butter and place it in a stand mixer. You will need to mix for at least 5 minutes, so a stand mixer is really helpful.  

Zest the lemons and add that to the mixer.  Add 1 cup sugar and scrape down the butter.  Keep mixing and scraping the butter until it is much lighter and fluffy.

While the mixer is running, place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and mix with a whisk or fork.  

Add the flour mixture to the mixer.  Start it up slowly and mix until just blended. You don't want to mix out all the fluffiness you just mixed in!

Divide the mixture into the muffin cups.  I used a large scoop to mostly fill the muffin cups.  But I didn't fill the scoop completely.  I tried to scoop up about 3/4 of a full scoop.  They got a bit over filled, so feel free to place a few muffin cups in another muffin pan and make smaller muffins.

Sprinkle the almond slices on the muffins and then sprinkle the reserved sugar over the tops.  Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops become a pale golden brown.  Cool for 5 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack.  

These muffins are great for breakfast, but also as a side dish to a large fruit salad.  They are so light and lemony delicious and I have already made them twice.

Aunt Rugs

 I was bemoaning to my friend , Doris, the fact that I can't get out to fabric stores to get what I want and ordering online has been less than wonderful.  She gathered up a BUNCH of fabric quarters and just sent them to me!  She has been quilting for a long time and has a huge stash of fabric.  But STILL!  All these fabrics that she loved and bought, she just packed them up and sent them!

So I sat down and made her a mug rug to thank her for such generosity.  This is what I sent.  

I spoke to my mother's little sister the other day.  She has seen some of the mug rugs I have posted here.  She mentioned how much she liked them.  So she gets a mug rug, too!  

She used to belong to the Red Hat Society, a group of ladies 50 and beyond that do lunch and wear outrageous red outfits and matching hats.  It was perfect for my flamboyant and beautiful Aunt Suzy.  

I found some dramatic black and red fabric with gold accents. I added lace for femininity and then appliquéd my Aunt's initials. 

I think it suits her.

After I finished these mug rugs, I was at a loss for what to do next.  I still feel that I want to try new things with this tiny quilt journey.  But wait!  I have another aunt on my mother's side. I called my Aunt Donna to see if she would like one.  I don't know if she REALLY does or if she was being polite, but we ended up deciding on flowers and horses.  She is a Kentuckian after all! So we had to include the horses.

This is what I made for her.  I put the horse with the paddle block and then the flowers within the courthouse step block. Here is the mug rug for her.

After I made the mug rugs for my maternal aunts, I couldn't leave out my father's sister  She lives in California.  I haven't seen that side of my family in a long time. They live in Southern California and our granddaughters live in Northern California. Thats a long flight from Virginia, where we now live, so I have only gone to see the girls in recent times.

I chose purple for my Aunt Janet. Once again I added a bit of lace. I found a purple ribbon that fit and tried that, too.  I liked this new quilt square and mailed it off. 

I wonder what my next project will be?

French Toast a la Jacques Pepin

 Jacques Pepin is a famous chef from before the days of Food Network.  Somehow his videos popped up on my Facebook and I have been loving them. He posted a French Toast recipe that sounded FABULOUS.  So I had to try it.

French Toast is made with bread, eggs and milk. So he took a short cut and used melted French Vanilla ICE CREAM!  French Vanilla ice cream is made with cream and eggs, so that seemed good to M. Pepin. Who am I to argue with a Master Chef?

French Toast

1 1/2 cups of ice cream, room temperature 

6 slices bread

butter

One of the tricks to this is to use low heat.  I have an electric griddle and set it at 250 ˚ My usual temperature for French Toast is 350˚. 

Melt the butter in whatever pan you are using.  Place the bread in the melted ice cream and coat both sides. 

Cook slowly in the melted butter, checking until the edges start to brown.  

I placed a new pat of butter on the griddle and flipped the French toast into it.  

Cook until both sides are brown and serve warm.  

I chose to use a small bit of maple syrup, because that is how I serve French Toast!

It was really good!  I probably won't make it this way every time, but I will definitely make this for guests.  Once we go back to having guests. And I can't wait for that day.

Loving the Mug Rugs

 I'm really liking making mug rugs.  

Maybe it is because it is like making a tiny quilt and I like quilting.  

It is very satisfying to finish a project in a day or so.  

I can try different fabrics and designs and then move on and try something else.  

I've used some horse and cat fabric I bought for masks. Now I am going to try other ideas.  I don't know what, yet.  But I am going to get in the craft room and go through my books to find my next project.  I may even keep one for me! 

I am going to try new and different designs and I will document them here.

Mug Rugs for My Granddaughters

I have been inspired by mug rugs for some reason.  Perhaps because it is a quilt with a tiny commitment.  Unlike most quilts with many squares, a mug rug has a single quilt square and maybe an appliquéd side bar or two.

   

For the mug rugs I made for my granddaughters, I chose two simple patterns.  I found them in this book, One Block Mug Rugs, by Amanda Weatherill. 

   

It has a lot of good patterns with clear instructions.

   

I made two different patterns with two different color palettes.  

   

Here's hoping for a lack of arguing over who gets which one! 

   

I've already started two more mug rugs. I will try to remember to take more pictures as I go. Maybe I can inspire you to try one or two!

Knitting and mug rugs

 I have been trying to keep busy.  COVID has kept me inside most of the time.  I started making masks in March and have sent a few to friends and family.  

    

Then I decided to make an afghan for my son-in-law.  After I got part way finished, I realized that I ought to make one for my other son-in-law.  I wouldn't want one to feel more loved than the other!  So I bought more yarn and started a second afghan. I was worried I wouldn't finish the second one in time for Christmas, but finished a week or so before.

    

Since Christmas, I have been looking for a project.  I have been checking out books with crafting ideas.  One of the ideas that I have collected, is mug rugs.  A mug rug is a quilted or appliquéd type of coaster for a warm cup of coffee with room for a snack. As it is fabric, the snack would have to be something dry, like a bagel or cookie of some kind. 

    

The local library didn't have any books that had patterns, but Amazon had quite a few.  I bought two with patterns I liked and tried to find fabric I own that would work.  I am doing daycare for my grandson and have quit going into stores, even with a mask, so I am limited in what I can do.  

    

The book has patterns to appliqué the cup and saucer.

   

I made this one for my friend Jackie.  It was my first and looks kind of busy, but I don't have a lot of pastel fabrics.

    

I made this one because I was intrigued by the bees and had some fabric with bees on it.  I may send it to my friend, Mary.  

She told me she wants to learn to quilt and this may give her some added inspiration.  

    Once the world gets back to normal, maybe she will come for a visit and we will actual go to a fabric store and PICK OUT fabrics and make some of these together.

Next I will  make some little ones for my granddaughters.

No More Chickens

   

I was excited about inheriting chickens when we bought this house. Not only did the previous owners have chickens, but a really sweet set up for them.  They had two chicken coops. and a lot of protective fencing.

After both of us got sick over winter and still had to go out and care for them on top of all the other things we had going on in our lives, we decided that if we could find a good home for them, we would let them go.  Another factor was trying to buy the food and bedding during the lockdown.  In addition, someone kindly went in to the feed store and bought all of the egg crates.  Hundreds.

   

Our daughter has a friend with a small farm nearby.  She had been planning on getting chickens, but their current coop was not fixed yet.  She was excited about getting the coop, fencing and chickens.  We waited for a few months, hoping the lockdown would be over.  As it got to be warmer, we decided it would be better to get them moved before the hot and humid weather made it dangerous for the chickens.

   

After debating methods of moving the one coop that she was taking, she decided to hire a guy who moved small buildings for a living.

   

We spent one evening moving fencing, so the chickens would have a safe place to go to.  Then a few days later we caged the chickens and took down one end of the fencing to remove the coop.  He winched the coop up, secured it and took it away.

   

Then Lee took down the rest of the fencing and took out the brush we didn't want any more.  We did save a few trees.  He used some of the excess dirt we saved from other projects to start leveling the area and filling in the holes.

   

We still have one coop.  It wasn't as nice as the one we sent with the chickens and it needs some repair.  But I think it will make a cool playhouse for the grandson we are expecting in September.  Obviously he won't use it for a few years, so we have time to fix it up.

   

The plan is to add a gutter to keep the water from splashing the from of the house and rotting the wood.

   

Then we will replace the wood on the front and paint the whole coop.

   

The top of the nesting boxes will be taken off hinges and secured as a roof with a roofing material.  Then there will be little cubbies inside for toys.

   

The roosts will be removed and the whole inside cleaned.

   

The house has lights and electricity, so it will have a bunch of options to put in fun stuff for a little boy for his "fort".  I will have plenty of time to plan for the "upgrades".  I'm open to suggestions. Also open to carpenters to do the work!!