Doughnut Muffin Update

UPDATE:  I finally got around to making these, you guessed it, for Christmas!

For year my grandmother has been making doughnut muffins, and for years we have been asking for the recipe with no avail.  Recently my youngest sister stayed with Nana for a few days and managed to get the recipe.  I vow not to with hold the recipe any longer.

Doughnut Muffins

*Makes 8 muffins

1 1/2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk

Topping
1/2 stick butter melted
1 teaspoon cinnamon mixed into 1/3 cup sugar

Cream butter and sugar.  Add egg.  Beat well.  Mix dry ingredients together and add alternately with milk to first mixture.  (It turns out more like a dough than a batter.)  

Bake in greased muffin tins in 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.  A cookie scoop works really well to get the batter into the muffin tins since it does not pour easily.

Can be used plain, or while still warm, dip muffin in melted butter and then in cinnamon/sugar mixture.  In my opinion, the only way to have these is with the topping.  I would highly suggest dumping them out of the tin to let them cool just a bit, so you can handle them, before dipping in the butter and sugar.


The family LOVES these muffins, and we typically only get them at Christmas.  This week, Nana told me she would make some to bring down in October!  Super excited about that!  (Experienced slight disappointment in October when Nana came to see baby James with no muffins, but with all the excitement around, I got over it pretty quick.)

Christmas Favorites

This week has been crazy.  It's going very fast, and I feel like we're not going to get everything done before my family arrives sometime on Saturday.  Not only are we attempting to get the house clean, but we have many baking and cooking projects that I would like to get done.  The last think I want to do when everyone is here is have to bake and cook. 

This year I am only making three different cookies, with two different types of dough.  It is a bit of a relief to know that I will only be making sugar cookies (both cutout and drop), peanut butter blossoms and peanut butter cookies. Both recipes come from family.  For our wedding, my mother-in-law asked members of our family to send her recipes to put in a box for us.  It was one of the best gifts that we received, and these two cookies have been a big hit.  To make things better, the recipes are both super easy to make as well.

Sugar Cookies
(as written...I know, no times)

1 cup butter
1 cup canola oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
2 eggs
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix well.  Drop 1 teaspoon on ungreased cookie sheet.  Press flat with a glass glass dipped in granulated sugar.  Bake 350 but watch closely as oven vary.  The cookie will barely turn brown.  Delicious one after the other!

Edits:  Last year I found that flattening the cookie made them crisper than I like.  I rolled them into a ball and then rolled in granulated sugar and baked them that way.

Candy Kiss Peanut Blossoms

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
48 candy kisses

Cream together first four ingredients.  Add egg and milk, mix well.  Slowly add flour, soda, salt and vanilla.

Make 1 inch balls and roll in sugar.  Bake 375 8-10 minutes.  DO NOT OVERBAKE.  They are better when under done.  Pull from oven and top with candy kiss.

Final Push

The final push to get ready for Christmas has come upon us.  We are trying to do a top to bottom cleaning of the house, baking Christmas cookies, and trying to relax a little before family comes in on Saturday. 

The house is starting to look like Christmas.  We have the tree up and decorated with wrapped presents under it (although the cats have tried to open a few), Nativity and Advent candles are on the mantle, stockings are hanging in front of the fireplace, wreathes are on the doors, candles are in the windows, garland is on the balcony, and cards are on display.  With all that done, it may not seems like there is much left to do, but windows need to be washed, the house dusted, floors cleaned, random stuff put away, cookies made, laundry done, and last minute gifts put together.  Not to mention me having to run up to school so I have an idea of where I need to pick up when I go back in January, me having to get my haircut and other random errands that need to be don between feedings for James.

Yesterday I was able to get part of the last gifts taken care of.  We decided to stuff stockings with hot chocolate and homemade marshmallows.  While James was swinging, I was able to make the marshmallows, and this morning was able to cut them apart.  They still need to dry out a little, but overall look great and smell amazing.  I used Ina Garten's marshmallow recipe, and have been pleased with it.  Her directions say that you should be able to flip the marshmallows out of the pan that they are in, but I was not able to do that, so I improvised.  I cut the big marshmallow down in the pan, then used the smallest spatula that I have to take them out.  For the final dusting, I decided to put them in a zipper bag with powdered sugar and "Shake-n-Baked" them so to speak.  With as easy as this recipe was, and how inexpensive it is to make, I don't know that I would buy marshmallows again.  They do take a bit of planning, but could easily be made while dinner is being made.

With the hustle and bustle of this last push before Christmas, I am finding it very difficult to relax and really savor the season, and the reason that we are celebrating.  It is very difficult for me to really just focus on what is going on, knowing that the list of things to do seems to be getting longer and longer each day.  Every time I slow down to take a deep breath, I almost feel guilty, because there is so much to do, and at the same time, all I want to do is savor every minute that I have with James.  Knowing that I have to go back to work in just 2 weeks is tearing me apart.  Thinking about going back and seeing teenagers in their groups makes me panic.  Knowing that someone else is going to be caring for my dear son during the day, makes me cry.  I am terrified that I am going to miss milestones while I am caring for someone else's child, and for the first time, I fear that one day I may have to protect my students just as those 6 teachers in Connecticut did.  That is what terrifies me most about going back to school.

If nothing else, this Christmas season I have learned that I need to slow down more, now and every day.  I can't take any moment with James for granted, and that each day is a blessing.

Tis The Season

The holidays this year are a completely new experience for us.  Having James here brings new joy and new chaos.  I am so thankful that I am still at home, otherwise I don't know that our house would have any decorations this year.

Last year I made stockings for Paul and I, and this year wanted to make one for James.  I would have liked to have done it over the summer while I was home and motivated to be crafty, but not knowing whether we would have a James or a Rebekah made the stocking making difficult. 

These are our stockings...

I knew that I wanted the baby's to be the same green or red fabric with a different cuff, hence having to wait for the little one to arrive.  This year I found a cute gingerbread man fabric with little red and green candy canes that I knew would be perfect for his stocking.

James in his stocking...

My list of things to get accomplished before family comes is quickly growing, and at the same time I am able to cross quite a bit off the list.  Lots of little projects are getting done during nap times during the day, some projects are awaiting Paul to be home to be done. 

We did take James out to cut down his very first tree.  A tradition that we will be continuing.

And this is how James spent the time at the tree farm. 

It was windy that day, and thank goodness we had Paul's field coat that I could put around both James and myself.

High Carb Friday

There are certain advantages to me being home with James right now.  One of them is that I have the privilege of taking care of the two leading men in my life.  While the last two weeks I have focused my efforts on the younger of my two leading men, this week has been particularly difficult for Paul, so I decided to do something special for him.  And let's face it, what is one of the best ways to comfort our men?  Well in my case, feeding him well usually does the trick (cleaning the kitchen and doing laundry doesn't seem to hurt things any either). 

Paul has been in class all week, meaning he leaves the house a little later in the morning (yay!) but he also gets home later in the afternoon (boo!).  And well, this time of year, an hour later in the afternoon means it is dark when he gets home, dinner is usually later because I haven't been able to prep things due to a fussy boy, and any plans to go out and get some Christmas shopping done has o wait until the weekend.  To put a cap on his week, Paul had to go into work early this morning (his normal time, an hour earlier than he's been leaving) to work on a project that no one else he works with can seem to take care of, and stay even later this afternoon because of his class in the middle of the day. 

So, like I said earlier, the way to my man's heart is through his stomach, and his stomach has an affinity for bread.  Knowing this, I decided to indulge him and make a dinner full of carbs.  Typically we have pizza on Fridays anyway, so I knew that was going to be on the menu.  Not knowing exactly when Paul is getting home, I wanted to have something waiting for him when he does get home, so focaccia with dipping oil sounded like a good idea because I could make it early and just heat it up when he is on his way home.  Pizza is a staple in our house, especially since we found a fantastic homemade dough recipe.  For dessert, I decided to treat us to chocolate peanut butter cupcakes.  I found the recipe and halved it so that we don't have lots of extra hanging around the house.

As much as I planned this dinner around Paul's likes, I am very much excited for tonight's dinner because I too LOVE bread.

Focaccia Bread
(from allrecipes.com)

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 cup water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed

1. Combine 1 cup flour, sugar, salt and yeast.  Mix well.  Heat water and vegetable oil until warm, and add to yeast mixture along with egg.  Beat with an electric mixer at low speed until moistened.  Bat for an additional 2 minutes.  Stir in 1 3/4 cups flour while beating, until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.

2.  Knead in 3/4 cup flour on floured surface.  Cover dough with a bowl, and let stand for 5 minutes.  Place dough on a greased baking sheet.  Roll out to 12 inch circle.  Cover with greased plastic wrap and a cloth towel.  Place in a warm place for 30 minutes.

3.  Uncover dough, and poke holes in it with a spoon handle at 1 inch intervals.  Drizzle olive oil on dough, and sprinkle with crushed rosemary.

4.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 17 to 27 minutes, until just golden.  Remove from baking sheet, and cool on rack.

**I didn't use the spoon handle to poke holes, just used my fingers, seemed to work pretty well.  I also used an aerosol can with olive oil in it t oil the top of the bread.  It had some oil transfer from the plastic wrap, so I didn't think it needed too much more oil.  We didn't have any dried rosemary, so I used McCormick Italian Herb Grinder to season the top of the loaf.

Dipping Oil
(modified from food.com)

1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
Italian seasoning
minced garlic

These are the ingredients, I just kinda wung it.  I used my dad's form of measurement for these types of dishes, the palm of my hand and a fork.  There is probably about a tablespoon of Italian seasoning and less than a teaspoon of salt, with a couple turns of the pepper mill.  Also, most likely almost a tablespoon of garlic (we like garlic).  I mixed it all in a mason jar and let it sit on the counter all day, hoping that it would allow the flavors to marry.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

These came from Krissy's Creations, and they turned out great!  I did half the recipe and make 6 jumbo cupcakes (mostly because we didn't have regular sized cupcake liners).  This recipe is certainly a keeper!

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