Butternut Squash Muffins

Butternut Squash Muffins 

Oh my goodness, these muffins are so delicious you will not want to stop!  Similar to a carrot cake, but even better! 

Taken from Jamie Oliver's recipes on the Food Network.  

• 14 ounces butternut squash, skin on, deseeded and roughly chopped
• 2 1/4 cups light soft brown sugar
• 4 large organic eggs
• Sea Salt
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 heaping teaspoons baking powder
• Handful of walnuts, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup olive oil

For the Frosted Cream Topping:

• 1 clementine, zested
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 heaping tablespoons icing sugar, sifted
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped out
• 1 TBSP vodka

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line your muffin tins with paper cups.

Grate the squash in a food processor until finely chopped.  Add the sugar, and crack in the eggs. Add a pinch of salt, the flour, baking powder, walnuts, cinnamon and olive oil and stir together until well beaten. You may need to pause the machine at some point to scrape the mix down the sides with a rubber spatula. Try not to overdo it with the mixing - you want to just combine everything and no more.

Fill the paper cups with the muffin mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Check to see whether they are cooked properly by sticking a wooden skewer or a knife right into one of the muffins - if it comes out clean, they're done. If it's a bit sticky, pop them back into the oven for a little longer. Remove from the oven and leave the muffins to cool on a wire rack.

As soon as the muffins are in the oven, make your runny frosted topping. Place most of the clementine zest, all the lemon zest and the lemon juice in a bowl. Add the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla seeds and mix well. Taste and adjust the amount of lemon juice or icing sugar to balance the sweet and sour. Put into the fridge until your muffins have cooled down, then spoon the topping onto the muffins.

Serve on a lovely plate (on a cake stand if you're feeling elegant, or on a rustic slab if you're more of a hunter-gatherer type!), with the rest of the clementine zest sprinkled over. For an interesting flavor and look, a few dried lavender flowers or rose petals are fantastic.

I am taking these muffins to a Christmas Party tonight.  I served them to some friends for lunch- they were a hit!

A few quotes from "Thoughts" in Whole Living Magazine.....

"The holiday sprit-especially the nice part-doesn't have to end with the holidays."

"Here's to focusing less on how people see us-and more on how we see them."

           

Sweet Potato-Pepper Soup

Sweet Potato-Pepper Soup 

by Alexander Weil

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 small onion, diced

1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed

1 small carrot, diced

1 small bulb fennel, diced

4 cloves garlic, mashed

1/4 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

2 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2-1 tsp course salt

1/2 cup white wine

1 can coconut milk

fresh cilantro and scallions

Heat the broiler to high.  Place the potatoes, onion, corn, carrots, fennel, garlic, pepper, and oil in a large bowl.  Toss and place in a single layer on a cookie sheet.  Broil for 14 minutes, stirring once.  

Place the vegetables in a large pot and add the spices, salt, wine, and 3 quarts water.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes.  Remove from heat and whisk in the coconut milk. Garnish with cilantro and scallions.  My kids loved this last night.  One child stated that it was too hot and spicy, so you may want to add the cayenne pepper and jalapeno in smaller amounts.

"Now I have already mentioned that there was a disturbance in my heart, a voice that spoke there and said, I want, I want, I want!  It happened every afternoon, and when I tried to suppress it it got even stronger.  It only said one thing, I want, I want!

     And I would ask, "What do you want?"

     But this was all it would ever tell me.  It never said a thing except I want, I want, I want!"

                                                               - A quote from the character Henderson in the book,    Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow, whose character describes the pulsation at the heart of his inner turmoil. 

Whole Wheat Crackers

Whole Wheat Crackers

1 and 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sesame seeds, toasted
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp honey
Toppings:  sea salt, almonds, nutritional yeast, sesame seeds, wheat germ, black pepper, poppy seeds, etc.


    Heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the flour, sesame seeds and salt together.  Add the oil and 6-8 TBSP water and knead until the dough forms a ball.  I had to wet my hands a bit to form a ball.  Divide the dough into quarters and roll out into 1/8 inch thick rounds or rectangles.  In a small bowl, combine the honey and water and then brush over the crackers.  Place on a cookie sheet and prick several holes in the dough with a fork.  Sprinkle with your choice of toppings!  Bake for 10 minutes, rotate once, then bake for 12 minutes.  Let cool completely and store in an air tight container.  Delicious served with seedless grapes and hummus!

How much weight can you lose or keep off?  

"How many more pounds dieting women shed in a year when they....

5 lbs- Ate meals that they made at home
6 lbs- Kept a food journal
8 lbs- Never skipped a meal"
                      - Taken from "Health Ticker" in Whole Living magazine, December 2012

    Remember this holiday season to slow down and appreciate the wonders of nature.  Take time to enjoy the company of good friends.

Wild Rice and Apples

Insect eating "pitcher plants"  in the swamps of Northern Michigan

Wild Rice and Apples

This is wonderful as a main dish, a side dish, or as stuffing with a large holiday meal!

1/2 pound (about 2 cups) wild rice, cooked
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 pound baby bella mushrooms
2 TBSP minced onion
1 large tart apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup walnuts or pistachios, chopped
1/4 cup candied orange peel (see below), finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh orange juice

     Add the rice to 4 cups boiling water and 1 tsp salt.  Return to a boil, then simmer and cover for 45 minutes.  Uncover, and fluff with a fork, draining any excess liquid as needed.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Using the oil, cook the mushrooms and onion and then add to the rice, along with all the other ingredients.  Place everything into a 2 quart casserole dish and bake, covered, for 35 minutes.

Candied orange peel: 

1 cup orange peel (2 oranges)
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar or 1/4 cup honey or agave nectar

     Scrape a sharp knife over the peel to release the oils.  Chop the peel into small pieces and place in a heavy saucepan with enough water to cover.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.  Drain rinse and repeat.  Do this 2 more times, as this reduces the bitterness of the peel.  After rinsing three times, add 1/4 cup water and the sweetener.  Simmer until the syrup is almost entirely absorbed by the peel.  Pour into an oiled dish to cool.  This may be stored for a long period of time in the freezer or refrigerator.

Teenagers

by Pat Mora

One day they disappear

into their rooms.

My Ethan, my teenager

Doors and lips shut

and we become strangers

in our own home.

I pace the hall, hear whispers,

a code I knew but can't remember,

mouthed by mouths I taught to speak.

Years later the door opens.

I see faces I once held,

open as sunflowers in my hands.  I see 

familiar skin now stretched on long bodies

that move past me

glowing almost like pearls.

"Come in the evening, come in the morning, 

 come when expected, come without warning;

 Thousands of welcomes you'll find here before you, 

 And the oftener you come, the more we'll adore you."

                    - Irish Rhyme