Here is one of my latest go-to muffin recipes. It is modified slightly from a recipe by Christina Koopmeiners (Rest in peace.) from the St. Mary Help of Christians Country Kitchens II of St. Augusta. (St. Anne Christian Women of St. Augusta, MN, circa 1991.) My copy of the cookbook has fallen apart after much use. They have either re-printed it or still have old copies, but I have not yet sprung for a new one. The first time I made Christina's recipe I used Quaker oat bran. I have since found a much cheaper source for oat bran, Swany Mill Flour in Freeport, Minnesota. The Quaker oat bran had a much finer texture, but Swany Mill is a fourth of the price even after shipping, and is local.
Oat Bran Muffins
2-1/4 cups uncooked oat bran
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
Mix dry ingredients. Stir in moist ingredients all at once. Put in greased or papered muffin tins. Sprinkle with nuts, sugar crystals or brown sugar as desired. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Makes 12-15 muffins.
Variation - add 1/2 to one cup dried cranberries, cherries, nuts or raisins.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Friday, August 15, 2014
Shaklee to the Rescue
My Shaklee did it again! Last week I helped Anne sort through a bunch of baby clothes. I brought home a shirt which I had purchased on clearance at Gymboree for Ariana which she had worn maybe once. It had a set-in stain, but I did not want to part with it because it was so cute. I decided to soak it overnight in a pail of water with my Shaklee Nature Bright, this time actually following the directions on the package. (Normally I just throw the Nature Bright into the washing machine and never bother to pre-soak.) Since I had to soak that shirt I threw a couple of my stained shirts into the pail as well. (I have a thing for splattering grease and sauce as I cook, and do not always use an apron, in case you are wondering! I also spill when I eat.) All came out spankin' clean. Great saves.
I finished all of my embroidered quilt squares. The fabric for backing and latticing is washed and ready to press and cut. I will be tight on fabric, so I did not want to cut any before pressing. I am not looking forward to working with an 11 yard piece. I have already started embroidering the squares which Alice brought in for the next quilt. Something about them which makes me want to sit down and get them all done.
Two more quilts to bind for St. Anthony's. This time I am going to sew around the edge of the quilt before attaching the binding, to see if that eliminates stretch. I was very disappointed in the last binding I did, since the top fabric stretched in one direction, and the bottom in another. I am not sure why. Either one of the fabrics was a blend, or it was because the backing piece was cockeyed in the frame, or perhaps I was working in too crowded a space to support the weight of the quilt when I had it on the machine. I hope this one turns out better.
We completed our 33 Days to Morning Glory class at Holy Spirit. I had done my consecration to Mary privately a few years ago using St. Louis de Montfort's Preparation for Total Consecration. When this class came up, however, I decided I would go as a renewal. I am glad that I did. Fr. Gaitley's book combined Louis de Montfort, Maximillian Kolbe, Mother Teresa and John Paul II to give a fresh look at Marian consecration. His answers to practical questions, such as which prayers to use for the consecration, the annual renewal of consecration and attitude after consecration were helpful to me in living the consecration daily. He quoted Maximillian Kolbe as saying that the consecration involves an act of the will, not continuous 'thought, memory or sentiment...' Kolbe says that once we make our consecration we do not have to continually renew it, since once it is done, it is done, and we do not take it back. This was also affirmed in another way through my reading from the Opus Sanctorum Angelorum Formation Letters, which state that it would be impossible to be always thinking of offering up the activities of the present moment: the morning offering is sufficient to include everything. I found comfort in Kolbe's saying that Mary works behind the scenes, as it were, directing our actions, inspiring us, multiplying our good and cleaning up our mess, even when we are not consiously thinking of her. Our part is to have fervent recourse to her. I know that I did not take in everything the book has to offer. I am sure I will want to re-read it in the future. I highly recommend it both to those who have already made their consecration, and those who wish to make it in the future. I am including a picture of the candle which we received on consecration day, as well as the creative name tag made by our group leader, Sarah Howard. She did a terrific job leading our group.
 |
| Spankin' clean for the next grandchild. |
I finished all of my embroidered quilt squares. The fabric for backing and latticing is washed and ready to press and cut. I will be tight on fabric, so I did not want to cut any before pressing. I am not looking forward to working with an 11 yard piece. I have already started embroidering the squares which Alice brought in for the next quilt. Something about them which makes me want to sit down and get them all done.
Two more quilts to bind for St. Anthony's. This time I am going to sew around the edge of the quilt before attaching the binding, to see if that eliminates stretch. I was very disappointed in the last binding I did, since the top fabric stretched in one direction, and the bottom in another. I am not sure why. Either one of the fabrics was a blend, or it was because the backing piece was cockeyed in the frame, or perhaps I was working in too crowded a space to support the weight of the quilt when I had it on the machine. I hope this one turns out better.
We completed our 33 Days to Morning Glory class at Holy Spirit. I had done my consecration to Mary privately a few years ago using St. Louis de Montfort's Preparation for Total Consecration. When this class came up, however, I decided I would go as a renewal. I am glad that I did. Fr. Gaitley's book combined Louis de Montfort, Maximillian Kolbe, Mother Teresa and John Paul II to give a fresh look at Marian consecration. His answers to practical questions, such as which prayers to use for the consecration, the annual renewal of consecration and attitude after consecration were helpful to me in living the consecration daily. He quoted Maximillian Kolbe as saying that the consecration involves an act of the will, not continuous 'thought, memory or sentiment...' Kolbe says that once we make our consecration we do not have to continually renew it, since once it is done, it is done, and we do not take it back. This was also affirmed in another way through my reading from the Opus Sanctorum Angelorum Formation Letters, which state that it would be impossible to be always thinking of offering up the activities of the present moment: the morning offering is sufficient to include everything. I found comfort in Kolbe's saying that Mary works behind the scenes, as it were, directing our actions, inspiring us, multiplying our good and cleaning up our mess, even when we are not consiously thinking of her. Our part is to have fervent recourse to her. I know that I did not take in everything the book has to offer. I am sure I will want to re-read it in the future. I highly recommend it both to those who have already made their consecration, and those who wish to make it in the future. I am including a picture of the candle which we received on consecration day, as well as the creative name tag made by our group leader, Sarah Howard. She did a terrific job leading our group.
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Cookie Day
We are finally having rain after a month of none. In the past two weeks St. Cloud has had a couple of good rains, while the showers missed us. Our lawn is brown, and many of my flowers have gone dormant. I am grateful for the good downpour. My rain buckets will be filled again, too.
I spent much of the early afternoon looking up candidate information so that I know whom to vote for in the primary election this Tuesday. Then I decided to make cookies. (See Oatmeal Cinnamon Chips Cookies blog on 9/24/13). For some reason I grabbed the muffin scoop. Once I got to the pan I thought, "Why not?", so we have jumbo cookies instead of regular. They are a bit faster to scoop out. I'll have to try it again.
I had already planned on making meatballs today since I will have leftovers to take to my mom's house tomorrow. I had stopped at Byerlys for some of their specials yesterday, and found that if I purchased two pounds of hamburger, the price was $2.99 per pound instead of the $5-ish per pound which I would pay at either Byerlys or Coborns. That was a good deal. I am trying a new recipe from The Drummer newspaper out of Wright County, my latest favorite clip and try place. I will substitute oatmeal for the bread crumbs, sage for the poultry seasoning, and milk for the spaghetti sauce. But this recipe has Parmesan cheese in it, so I thought it would be something different to try. It also calls for a whole teaspoon of pepper, a half cup of dried parsley, and no onions or garlic. Sounds very different. Used my muffin scoop to measure the meatballs, too.
Back to Byerlys. The raspberries which I purchased were huge and delicious. Too bad I did not buy yogurt. I also grabbed two bags of their Lunds & Byerlys Kettle Chips. Again, the price looked comparable to what I would pay at Coborns, and I was after a flavor which would taste like the peppery, cheesy kettle chips which I had with my Liquid Assets sandwich the day before. We tried the Buffalo Blue Cheese flavor yesterday. Not what I had at Liquid Assests. They were good, with a definite blue cheese taste. Good enough for me to polish off the rest of the bag today. They would not be my first choice, however.
Tonight I hope to machine stitch the binding onto a quilt so I can do the hand stitching in front of a good PBS Mystery.
I spent much of the early afternoon looking up candidate information so that I know whom to vote for in the primary election this Tuesday. Then I decided to make cookies. (See Oatmeal Cinnamon Chips Cookies blog on 9/24/13). For some reason I grabbed the muffin scoop. Once I got to the pan I thought, "Why not?", so we have jumbo cookies instead of regular. They are a bit faster to scoop out. I'll have to try it again.
I had already planned on making meatballs today since I will have leftovers to take to my mom's house tomorrow. I had stopped at Byerlys for some of their specials yesterday, and found that if I purchased two pounds of hamburger, the price was $2.99 per pound instead of the $5-ish per pound which I would pay at either Byerlys or Coborns. That was a good deal. I am trying a new recipe from The Drummer newspaper out of Wright County, my latest favorite clip and try place. I will substitute oatmeal for the bread crumbs, sage for the poultry seasoning, and milk for the spaghetti sauce. But this recipe has Parmesan cheese in it, so I thought it would be something different to try. It also calls for a whole teaspoon of pepper, a half cup of dried parsley, and no onions or garlic. Sounds very different. Used my muffin scoop to measure the meatballs, too.
Back to Byerlys. The raspberries which I purchased were huge and delicious. Too bad I did not buy yogurt. I also grabbed two bags of their Lunds & Byerlys Kettle Chips. Again, the price looked comparable to what I would pay at Coborns, and I was after a flavor which would taste like the peppery, cheesy kettle chips which I had with my Liquid Assets sandwich the day before. We tried the Buffalo Blue Cheese flavor yesterday. Not what I had at Liquid Assests. They were good, with a definite blue cheese taste. Good enough for me to polish off the rest of the bag today. They would not be my first choice, however.
Tonight I hope to machine stitch the binding onto a quilt so I can do the hand stitching in front of a good PBS Mystery.
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