Abigail's Blueberry White Chocolate Chip Muffins

Last Sunday, Abigail and I checked on our blueberry bushes and were excited to see so many blueberries ripe! She was very careful getting under the netting I have up so the birds don't steal our berries. If you are not careful getting under the net, sometimes it can stag on the berries causing them to fall into the grass, making them difficult to find or worse, causing them to fall before they are ripe. Abigail was gentle picking the blueberries and at some point asked if we could make muffins with them. Why not? Abigail helped me make the batch of muffins and she decided she wanted to take them to share with our friends at community group so we did. The muffins were a hit! All we brought home was an empty container. I knew I wanted to make them again but somehow the week just flew right on by, and here we are, Sunday again...and time for more muffins!

For a generic muffin recipe, I used my Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book (I registered for this over 7yrs ago so it's not really "new" but it has great recipes. 

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil (we substitute applesauce)
3/4 cup blueberries

This recipe says it makes 12 muffins, but we used mini muffin pans and it made 40 minis. They cook at 400* for 18 minutes if you're cooking regular muffins, it only took 10 minutes for our minis.

Abigail posing with all the ingredients.

Abigail helped me count out the cups of sugar and flour and couldn't wait to crack the eggs herself. For the most part she does very well, I just end up picking out a few shells. She loves beating the eggs with a springy egg beater. Abigail helps stir the batter too. She is very careful not to keep all the ingredients in the bowl. This week I decided we should double the recipe, we still have so many blueberries!

Abigail's extra special ingredient is the white chocolate chips. I added a 1/2 cup per recipe.

Ready to fold the blueberries and white chocolate chips in!

Once all the ingredients are ready, it's my turn to fill the muffin tin and Abigail heads off to wash her hands. She was sweet to return and put the blueberries away for me too. The finished product of these muffins may not look pretty, but they sure are delicious! The blueberries are so fresh some seem to explode while baking and the while chocolate chips melt, so they are a surprise when you take a bite. I know what we're having in the morning for breakfast!

Yummy muffins, ready to be devoured!

QUESTIONS:
-Do you grow any fruit or vegetables in your yard?
-What is a yummy recipe you like to make with blueberries?

Happy Birthday Mommy

Earlier this week I went grocery shopping with Mommy. In the cake aisle I decided Mommy wanted a pink cake with pink icing. I really wanted to pick out sprinkles but Mommy said we had plenty at home. Sprinkles are my favorite.

Today is her birthday and I cannot wait to make her cake. I brought my tall step stool into the kitchen (it's the one I use to wash my hands in the bathroom). The cake mix was on the counter and I was ready. I found my apron and Mommy helped me put it on, and I gave her apron to her (it's pretty, she got it yesterday in a big package from my Great-Aunt Sharon & Great-Uncle Ken). Mommy read me what I would need to make her cake and she got out a bowl, eggs, sprinkles, measuring cup and a bouncy thing that was really fun to pretend stir. I was ready!

 

Mommy helped me by starting with the eggs. I was careful to using the bouncy thing to stir the eggs. By the third egg, mommy help me do it myself.

When the eggs were all mixed it was time for the water and oil. I was very careful and poured it in all by myself. I stirred it some more then it was ready for the cake mix. I poured a little in and stirred, then poured a little in and stirred.

I really like stirring Mommy's cake. Mommy said it was ready to be baked but I said it needed sprinkles. It needed purple and pink sprinkles.

I watched as Mommy poured all the cake batter into a big pan. Then it needed more sprinkles.

I tried to pick up the big pan but it was too heavy so Mommy put it in the oven for me.

Mommy closed the oven door and set the timer. I was very excited. Every couple minutes I told Mommy the cake was done but she said no. She moved the step stool in front of the oven and showed me the timer and read the numbers to me. It still wasn't ready.

I was so excited when the oven beeped. Mommy opened the oven door and pulled out the rack so we could look at it. I was ready for more sprinkles. I got sad because Mommy explained the cake was too hot for sprinkles. I watched TinkerBelle movie to help pass the time. Then it time to decorate the cake!

The pink icing wasn't easy and I kept moving the spoon up and down into the cake, instead of side to side like Mommy showed me. I let Mommy help so I could get to the sprinkles faster.

I had lots of fun decorating Mommy's cake with the pink sprinkles, purple sprinkles and tiny heart sprinkles. When I didn't think Mommy was looking I would sample them! I was all done with each sprinkle shaker was empty!

Now the cake was ready for candles, fire and Happy Birthday.

I was very careful placing each candle one at a time. When I was finished I decided the candles might look better another way, so I rearranged them. It was almost time to sing Happy Birthday! I helped Mommy retrieve the fire from the kitchen drawer (I'm very observant!).

Daddy and I sang Happy Birthday to Mommy. She was sneaky and blew out all the candles so fast that I was only able to help her blow out one. I really wanted to blow the candles out for her.

Mommy's cake is super tasty! I think I did an excellent job on my very first cake. :)

-ABIGAIL-

I HEART Pinterest Recipes

What have you been doing lately? Anything new and exciting? I'm addicted to Pinterest. This is not new. What is new is that I'm actually using it to create....exactly what the site is for!

A couple night ago I attempted Carrabba's Bread Dipping Spices. I was lazy and didn't get out the mini food processor, nor did I have all the ingredients. Attempt #2 tonight was amazing, and had more of a kick from the red pepper flakes. It was tasty (my mouth was on fire at first). In the end I realized I forgot the garlic but it was delicious anyway. I will be making this again.

Originally I wanted to make some of Mac&Cheese Balls like the ones from The Cheesecake Factory for New Years Eve. I bought all the ingredients but didn't read all the instructions. Major oops. These bad boys have a couple days of prep. Tonight I made Mac & Cheese using the same recipe but without all the frying. The Gouda made it so creamy! Unfortunately, Abigail didn't care for it. Not sure if it was due to being 3 and full of disagreement, I mean independence, or if she didn't care for the Gouda.

This Chinese Honey Chicken recipe was tasty, made on 12/30. The flavors in the sauce were tasty but I think I either need to double the measurements or cook it last next time. There didn't seem to be nearly enough sauce for the crazy amt of chicken it called for in the recipe. I'm anxious to try this one again.

For New Year's Eve I tried a few new recipes. The biggest hit was the Peanut Butter "Cheese Ball", adults and kids both enjoyed. Abigail enjoyed picking the chocolate chips off the ball the most. The other Pinterest winner of the night as the Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pulls. I probably could have made it much cheesier and I used Hormel's Peppered Bacon crumbles, it's my favorite pre-cooked bacon. I even flubbed the recipe by using an Italian dressing packet instead of Ranch (another oops) but no one complained! The Brown Sugar Fruit Dip was super tasty. It's a crazy mix of brown sugar, cream cheese, sour cream, cool whip, vanilla and Bailey's. Sadly enough, this sweet dip was next to carrots and celery so most seem turned off. It was definitely best with strawberries.

A few weeks back I made BBQ Crockpot Chicken and Oven Baked Brown Rice, both turned out excellent! I even made Brown Butter Pumpkin Spice Krispy Treats for Thanksgiving. They were tasty and everyone was a fan.

I even tried out a few new Christmas Cookie Recipes: Hot Chocolate Cookies, Peppermint Crunch Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Colorful Swirl Cookies. Overall, the Hot Chocolate Cookies seemed to be the overall favorite - they truly tasted like hot chocolate in the form of a cookie. Abigail's favorite was the Peppermint Crunch, although my version was really an Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie. Instead of the peppermint crunch I used crushed Andes mint (like the free dessert you get when you pay at Olive Garden). My favorite was the Colorful Swirls. It wasn't super sweet like a sugar cookie. The recipe didn't call for egg, so it seemed more shortbread to me. I had lots of fun making them and they looked fabulous when finished.

I have lots of fun ideas for the house and Abigail's room pinned too. I hope I'll be able to get to some ideas soon. I'm very excited, tomorrow I'm making Neverending Vanilla Extract!