Baby Muffins Revisited

Since developing this recipe, we've pretty much had a steady stream of these muffins in the house.  Henry loves them, and I can't stop eating them, either. 

I've played around with the recipe a bit and have come up with a delicious (and still healthy!) modification.  Carrot muffins.  I swapped out the applesauce for pureed acorn squash, and the grated apple for grated carrot.  I added a dash of nutmeg. The results are fabulous.

I've also experimented with the egg.  I tried the muffins a few times with a whole egg and was less than impressed with the results.  It seems adding a whole egg makes the muffins stick in the pan even with a liberal greasing and dusting of flour. 


BABY CARROT MUFFINS

1/4 C 2% plain Greek yogurt
1/4 C purred acorn squash
1 large egg yolk
2 tbsp agave nectar
0.5 tsp pure vanilla extract
0.5 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
dash nutmeg
1/2 C whole wheat flour
1/4 C milled flax seed
1/2 C grated carrot


Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Line or grease and flour 9 - 12 mini muffin tins.

Combine wet ingredients and wisk until smooth.

Mix dry ingredients and add to wet, stir to combine - do not over mix.

Gently fold in carrots.

Spoon into prepared tins.

Bake at 350F for about 15 minutes, or until tops just begin to brown. Muffins will spring back when touched.

Book Study - The Curious Naturalist: Spring

This is hard for me to say, but I think that this is my most prized book.

The Curious Naturalist, by John Mitchell & The Massachusetts Audobon Society and illustrated by Gordon Morrison.

It was first published by Prentice-Hall in 1980.

My copy looks like this - and I inherited it sometime in the early 90s from my great Aunt Nora.

This book is fantastic.  It is broken into four sections (one per season) and includes seasonal observations and information, activities and crafts.  Flora, fauna, the night sky, sounds, gardening, the list goes on.  Some of the crafts are somewhat hokey, but still interesting.  I mean, who doesn't  want a twig belt?

The illustrations are beautiful and detailed and the entire book is meticulously hand-lettered.

What I love most about this book are the introductory passages before each season's section.  The writing brings me to that season.  In the dead of winter I can read the summer introduction and be there.  The night sky, the sounds, smells, the heat from the sun.

Want a taste of Spring?

"There is perhaps no other event in the natural world that is as characteristic of a season as a full chorus of spring peepers.  It is not only that the voices of living things are calling once more after the long silence of winter, there is something about the atmosphere in which the chorus takes place that epitomizes the season.  There is a certain moist smell in the air on rainy spring nights, slow mists rise from rafts of ice floating in dark marshes, everywhere on roads through wet areas the small white forms of migrating spring peepers, wood frogs, green frogs, and pickerel frogs will appear, and all around you the air will be filled with a high bell-like ringing, a little like a distant horse-drawn sleigh.  That distant chorus is the voice of the spring peeper, a small tree frog no larger than the end of a little finger.  Throughout history naturalists have referred to it as the voice of spring."

I don't know about you, but that passage absolutely gives me chills.  If you've never heard what the author is referencing, I suggest this be the year you change that.  It's well worth it and it's a sound you will never forget.

Some favourite pages from the spring section -

I hope wherever you are, spring is starting to show itself, and if not, just read a passage from this book - you'll be transported.

From the Weather Book

March 7
- Sunny
- Warm 8C

March 8
- Dreary
- Rain

March 11
- Mild - but still very icy!

March 12
- Fantastic sunrise
- Mild
- First robin!
- Can see the end of the dock
- Mud everywhere
- Light rain in the evening

March  13
- Rain overnight
- Mild 4C in morning
- Lake covered in standing water

What to do When Your Kid Poops the Tub

Alternate Title -

I Don't Remember Buying Any Lincoln Logs...waaait a minute...

Step 1 - Do not panic. 
This will be your natural inclination because you just saw a giant log of poo float past your kid and last you checked, you still resided in the first world.  Plus, totally losing it will probably instill a lifelong fear of pooping in your child.  That's just bad news for everyone.  You have to pay for that therapy, you know.

Step 2 - Remove child from the water which has now become a bio-hazard.
Wrap the poor little dude in a towel and put him on a bath mat.  This may result in whining and/or crying as he is missing out on precious "ba" time.

Step 3 - Drain the tub.
Do I need to explain why retrieving the poop whilst it is floating is a bad idea?

Step 4 - Call for back up.
Be sure to shout "emergency" and "Lysol" while doing this.  If your husband is anything like mine (love you!) then he needs to hear these things in order to know it's serious and to get a move on.

Step 5 - Poop removal.
That tub is drained by now - let's get that poop out!  But wait.  Your husband wants to take a picture.  Of course he does.  Seriously? Moving on...Bunch 5 - 10 tissues up in your hand and grab the log.  Flush that sucker.

Step 6 - Sanitize.
Use the Lysol to wash everything.  And I mean EVERYTHING.  The entire inside of the tub has been poopified, plus alll the bath toys.  Rinse the tub and toys with very hot water.  Run all the towels and mats that have touched the poopy child down to the laundry room and start the wash.  Give your kid a quick once over with some wipes.

Step 7 - Resume regularly scheduled bath time.
Refill the tub, put the kid in, and scrub him within an inch of his life.

Step 8 - Drink wine.
Again, do I need to explain why this is the next logical step?


This may or may not be based on a true story.

The Lyricism of Ice

Even in the stillness of winter, a frozen lake is very loud.  This morning I stepped outside to snap some photos of the spectacular morning sky, and as it always does, the unearthly noise coming from the lake took me by surprise.  It's fascinating to listen to.  Unpredictable.

A frozen lake makes noise in this way because the ice is elastic and dynamic.  Constantly changing due to currents underneath and ranging temperatures.  Certainly, our lake is the noisiest on very cold mornings or when there has been a dramatic temperature change.

We are nearing our one year mark of living here - we moved last Easter weekend, and I am looking forward to coming full circle, as it were.  When we arrived last year, the ice was already out and there were only patches of snow left.  I want to see the lake ice melt.  Having only visited here in the past, and never staying long enough to notice anything significant, I am constantly surprised by how dynamic and lyrical winter is.  I would have never guessed that the most interesting season on a lake would be winter, but it is.

She says, springtime's coming wait 'til you see it

While walking out to get the mail last evening, I felt it.

The air has changed, and the great wheels are turning.  Spring is creeping ever closer.

There was a freshness in the air that wasn't there the day before.  The smell of new.

It's in the wind, in the golden evening sun.  In the slush of my driveway, and the weird crunchy ice like dirty lace, that forms on the gravel shoulder of the road.  It's in the cockeyed grin of my slowly diminishing snow girl.

Title from Thompson Girl - Tragically Hip

From the Weather Book

February 23
- gorgeous morning
- thick blanket of new snow

February 24
- a whole load of snow - allll day long!

March 1
- in like a lion....

March 3
- windy
- stormy
- snow
- ice
- rain
- tree down
- crazy, crazy weather

March 4
- cold, clear
- Happy Birthday Henry!

March 5
- cold!

March 6
- windy
- milder


Now that Henry's birthday has passed (cry, cry) I'm hoping that I can find more time to write and blog.