Blueberry Muffins

Yesterday I managed to make both homemade blueberry muffins and Chicken Divan for dinner. I've never made either of those. If I've ever made you blueberry muffins they came from a box. No hard feelings.

This muffin recipe comes from Mrs. Paula Deen's staff. I have to say, it turned out pretty well, though I would probably add more sugar next time, because I have a sweet tooth. I found the recipe from a link she posted on Facebook, here. Anyone really think Paula herself posts those updates on Facebook? Me neither...but sometimes it's fun to pretend. Heck, maybe she DOES post some/all of them, you never know.

I've got lots of pictures from this recipe, too!

I had to gather my ingredients:

LOTS of blueberries. Translation: 2.5 cups fresh blueberries. These were some huge ones.

Sugar! 1.25 tazas (cups en espanol)...

Plus 2 tsp sugar, kept separate.

2 huevos (eggs)

I can't find our regular size muffin pan, but we just got this "Texas Size" one that would be perfect for this. The eggs are there to show some scale.

It didn't occur to my genius self that we'd have to get XL muffin papers, too. I happened to see these on clearance at the party outlet while gathering birthday party supplies. Great! I bought two, naturally.

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt. I used to just leave salt out, thinking it would be better for our health, but I have heard from a particular consumer too often that things need more salt...so I guess I'll put it in in the first place. I don't really notice a difference, but I haven't paid too much attention.

1/2 Cup milk. At the zoo today they were feeding a baby gorilla. I wondered for a moment just what kind of milk they were feeding him. You don't wonder these things until you have a baby yourself...most of the time.

1 stick of butter. Translation: 1/2 cup.

Mixin' it up. I want it to be smooth-ish when I add the sugar.

Then I poured the sugar in and gave it a good, long mix.

There's something almost whimsical about mixing by hand. It reminds me of being a young kid and being excited to get to help cook.

Then I added the eggs...

From this point, I had to mix in the flour and milk. The recipe instructs us to alternate the two.

Mixing, mixing, mixing...

It's getting smoother...We're also warned to "be careful not to over mix." What can this possibly mean? HOW in the world do I know if I've over-mixed, or better yet...how do I know when to stop mixing? I wonder this every time I see those words, but I try to think of it as not beating the air out of it so it can stay light and fluffy. I remain cautious, but try to let my worries go.

Now I can fold in these humongous blueberries. Perfect for our humongous muffin pan.

I had to switch to a spoon to keep from breaking the blueberries.

It's starting to get that familiar smell to it.

Time for the muffin pan.

It looks kind of questionable, but it will all work out.

Filled to this capacity, I should have known they would overflow.

Remember that extra 2 tbs sugar? Here it is:

Drizzled over the top. Again, next time, I'll add more. Yum. Diabetes runs in my family, maybe I should leave the extra sugar out. One day.

Ready to bake!

I set the timer...

And find this thing to stand in front of. That kitchen can get hot after a while of cooking.

Oops...I didn't notice how dirty it was until I saw this picture. It's stored outside in the cooler months and in our haste to get the house cooler we didn't clean it before putting it in...I need a bucket of soapy water and a vacuum.

I had to bake them an EXTRA 23 minutes!!! I didn't account for that when I decided to use this pan. That's a total of 48 minutes. They are worth it though.

I ate one before taking this, just because I couldn't resist. I must say, they are delicious. I'm not opposed to using the Jiffy mix again, but I will probably use this recipe once more this season. At least.

Too Many Forks, Not Enough Fire

It's been one week...without Facebook.


I'm sort of working on my internet addiction. I wouldn't call it an addiction entirely, but I spend WAY too much time in front of the computer. Like now...

I deactivated my Facebook account in an attempt to help reduce the time I spend online. I miss it in some ways, but in others my life is brighter and happier without it.

I haven't spent as MUCH time on the computer, but I have somewhat replaced my Facebook time with craigslist time.

I also am still a "board fly" (there's no alcohol involved or that would read bar fly) on a forum I subscribe to.

If it weren't for school, I'd probably be willing to try to break free from the internet all together for a week trial. It's one of my 43 things. Well perhaps avoiding the computer all together is on my 43 things.

The thing is, I don't realize just how much time I spend here. I get stressed, behind, bogged down.

Being a full time mommy/student/girlfriend/homemaker all at once all the time is hard enough, but then when I spend most of my free time here on this computer...well nothing gets done entirely. Things get started and abandoned. Like this project (I will blog about later) that still isn't totally done...so much for it being a Mother's Day gift, perhaps it'll be accepted as a belated one.

I have piles of things waiting for me to finish/start them. My bookshelves overflow with cookbooks and activity books filled with post-it flags marking things I'm going to do "one day". Even more pressing are the library books. IF I get a chance to look through them, I end up copying the most intriguing pages and returning the books; leaving me with stacks of papers in the "one day" pile.

That blue thing is the above pictured mold, with a coat of paint. The yellow cup has squash seeds I meant to plant this month. That orange folder sticking out of the basket has cut outs of car ads to make a car book for Aidan while we travel (ok so I have a while to finish that still...). The Tylenol is recalled that I'm waiting for the refund on-holding on to it just in case I need those numbers again. Etc...the list goes on!!




Realizing this is what has helped me stop buying more books. I would love to,, especially when I find bargains, but I also try to think about everything I already have at home that I haven't gotten to yet. The same goes for "junk" because cleaning out the attic (and all of my stuff in general) is high on the list too.

On top of this I'm trying to exercise a little "self-care" every day or so which means I need to be MORE lenient in my schedule and make sure it get it in. It really, really makes a difference.

We're planning on going on a camping trip for a week in June as well, so I find myself thinking of this a lot too. I've made a good list of everything we need to bring, though I'm sure I'm still forgetting something. The list fills the first margin of the page and then some...and this doesn't include the FOOD we'll have to bring or exactly what "cooking gear" means.

So...I'm hoping to cut back on my computer time. Seriously. I have a lot to do before the end of this week, and while I'll be trying to take pictures and things, I think I'm going to try to stay off the computer unless totally necessary. There are a few necessary events coming up...like my paper and a recipe I plan in making (though realistically I could print it and might have to to avoid the temptation to go wandering on the internet) in which I will need to  use the computer...otherwise I think I'm going to really try to avoid this necessary evil.


My dear readers and Facebook friends, I will be back...very soon. BUT hopefully after I get a handle on my priorities and don't revert back to my old habits.

Time for some paper writing, or perhaps Calculus?

Let's take a closer look at that test, in case we needed another reminder that I need to DO my homework and study for once.

That's right. It's bad. It took me from a B to a C overall. Even with the curve, it still is in the 50% family. But I made the Dean's List last quarter!! So we'll see what I can do about this C...