Monday, July 23, 2012

a good recipe: blueberry walnut muffins.

so i went a little baking happy yesterday. (and i am sure that i will be baking again today...) it was raining out, and i was stuck inside for the better part of the morning, so i decided to go through my cupboards and use what we had. i saw that we had pounds of frozen blueberries (were frozen fresh last year) and more than enough ingredients to open up a bakery. so, i decided to throw something together.

using a basic recipe, i made a few adjustments only using what we had in house.




what you need
preheat the oven to 380F
12 cup muffin pan (or 24 mini muffins)
1 large bowl
1 medium bowl
whisk
wooden spoon
two small spoons

the recipe
2 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup sugar*
1/2 cup veggie oil
1 egg
1 cup yogurt*
1/2 cup chopped walnuts*
1 1/2 cups of fresh or frozen blueberries*

the possible adjustments for taste
for more of a natural sweet, decrease sugar to 1/2-3/4 cup of sugar and increase blueberries
walnuts can be omitted from the recipe all together
greek yogurt instead of regular yogurt (i used honey greek yogurt)
can add more blueberries to taste- i prefer about 2 cups

the baking
in a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. set aside.

in a large bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, sugar and yogurt until well blended. slowly add the dry ingredients until well mixed.  fold in blueberries and walnuts, leaving 1/2 cup blueberries and 1/4 cup walnuts for garnish.

add the mixture to a greased muffin pan, distributing evenly. sprinkle remaining blueberries and walnuts onto each muffin, slightly pressing down to ensure they stick. place pan into oven. bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out dry.

once baked, remove from pan to let cool. store in a cool, dry location. yields 12 muffins.








enjoy!


j



new memories.

what a great weekend. the weather was perfect, i was finally able to spend some quality time with the girlfriends and family, and i had two full days at the beach. what more could you ask for.

on friday night, a few of my girlfriends came out to the hamptons. on saturday, after a few full hours at the beach, we took a ride out to montauk point.












sunday, i spent the whole day with my parents. i could not tell you the last time either of my parents had stepped foot on the beach (it has been years!), but we all decided to go down to the beach yesterday. on our way home, we grabbed some local corn from the farm stand and had dinner on the back deck.









and now, it is monday. i can only hope for more amazing memories this coming week.

how would you spend your perfect weekend?


j

Friday, July 20, 2012

the glossy box- june 2012

glossybox. it is something fun to look forward to every month. this month, it was all about the basic beauty essentials for summer.  right up my alley. stay tuned for the review next wednesday!


glossybox: june 2012

the following products were inside:
1. ahava: mineral botanic hibiscus and fig velvet cream wash
2. first aid beauty: smooth shaving cream
3. ofra cosmetics: eye shadow ICE
4. vbeatute: lite up, buying time, and eye never
5. wella professionals: enrich moisturizing treatment
6. a perfume organic: urban organic eu de parfum (as an extra!!)

what product would you try first? 

have a fabulous weekend!

j

Thursday, July 19, 2012

a summer read.

 


okay. so i have already jumped on the fifty shades bandwagon, and have since then, read all three books.  that was two months ago. i have regretfully only read one book [the alchemist: paulo coehlo] since then, and am looking for the next summer read. i was tempted to get back into the classics- as there are so many of those i have yet to read- but am also looking for something new and fresh. ideally, this book would be well written and still able to captivate me, even when i am sitting at the beach.


books on my radar [as suggested by friends]:
gone girl, by gillian flynn
the art of racing in the rain, by garth stein
the secret life of bees, by sue monk kidd
unbroken, by laura hillenbrand
little bee, by chris cleave
sarah's key, by tatiana de rosnay


what are your favorite summer reads?

j



photo courtesy of guardian.co.uk