Pumpkin and cranberry weekend muffins

Sewing hasn’t been working out for me lately. The past few days, I’ve had to rip out every single stitch I’ve made. So I’m giving myself a break and turning to the kitchen instead  (=

Here was yesterday’s offering, delicious pumpkin and cranberry muffins, perfect for nibbling on a Saturday morning. The recipe makes a lot of batter, but you can refrigerate the extras and bake up fresh muffins each morning. The baked muffins also freeze pretty well.

Here’s how you make them:

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

4 eggs
1 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 tbsp white vinegar
3 cups frozen or canned pumpkin purée, thawed
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup agave syrup (or 1/2 cup sugar)
1/2 lb. (16 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 Tbs. ground cinnamon
3 Tbs. ground ginger
Pinch cloves
Pinch white pepper
1-1/2 cups dried cranberries (soaked 10 min in water)

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Heat the oven to 350°F. Measure evaporated milk and stir in vinegar. Set aside 5 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, evaporated milk mixture, pumpkin purée, brown sugar, agave syrup, and butter. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and pepper. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring until just mixed. Gently fold in the (soaked and drained) cranberries. Line a muffin tin with liners. Scoop about 1/2 cup batter into each tin so that the curve of the batter is even with the rim of the cup. (Refrigerate any extra batter in an airtight container for up to a week.) Bake the muffins in the middle of the oven until firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into them comes out clean, 30 min. 
(recipe adapted from Fine Cooking)

Try ‘em, they’re good!

Next up is our Valentine’s Day decorations.  Crayon/waxed paper hearts tied to the curtains of all our kitchen windows. Not too original, but along with our modified Christmas wreath, my Martha-esque pot holders, and baking some heart-shaped cookies, that’s all I’m up to doing.

Finally, just for kicks, here’s a pic of me, snapped by my 4 year old. He always misses the top of heads but seems to have caught on to that whole rule-of-thirds thing. We’re working on it  (=

With any luck, tonight I will remember how to sew a straight seam and maybe actually accomplish something.

Linked to:

Valentine’s potholders

I have to admit, Valentine’s Day has never been a big deal in our house. While I love him dearly, hubby isn’t exactly Mr. Romance, given to lovey-dovey gestures, particularly on a day he is convinced was contrived by the greeting card industry. My boys still don’t get the concept of Valentine’s Day, so I figured, what’s the point?

But then it started. Little glimpses of what everyone else in blogland is doing to heart up their homes and spirits. All that pinky goodness is getting to me. Step one was a baby step. I moved the coffee filter wreath I made for Christmas from the hallway to over the fireplace – with the addition, of course, of a few pink hearts that my boys and I fashioned out of pipe cleaners.

Then I saw a link to these cute heart-shaped pot holders from Martha Stewart. Although on an intellectual level, Martha represents to me so much of the perfectionism I try to reject in my life, I can’t help myself: her projects are pretty much all adorable and I can spend hours browsing her website. Such a moral conundrum.

I dismissed the pot holders first (too cutesy), but left the tab open in my browser. For days, I’d take a peek and then shake my head no. Last night, the temptation became too much, and at about 11 pm, when I should have been going to bed, I instead went down to my sewing machine to cut out these little beauties. Pardon the wrinkles…I was feeling too lazy to iron.

They were super easy and quick to stitch. Best of all, I was able to make them from scraps. The polka dots were the remains of an apron I made for a friend, years ago. The white portion was cut from a nice thick canvas that used to be a stained bbq apron, and the back was cut from a pair of worn out jeans. I had the bias tape trim in my stash from a 95-cent sale at Fabricland last year.

I used one layer of Insulbrite batting instead of the three layers of cotton batting Martha suggested. The only other change I made was to start my binding at the bottom point of the heart. I started the first one at the centre top, as Martha directed, but I found it tricky to finish later. Starting at the bottom point gave me a cleaner finish.

So yeah, bottom line, I think I’m hooked on Valentine’s Day crafts now.  (=

PS…if you’re not a fan of enlarging things when you print, here’s a link to the full-size pattern.

Linked to:

Someday Crafts Reveal-My-Gender Party

A Little Lovely Saturday Soiree