"Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned." -Mark Twain

i'm a fan of muffins or cupcakes versus breads or cakes. this is b/c of a few things-ease of storage, which includes being able to store for freshness(sometimes in a refrigerator-even though "i hate cold bread!") or away from cats who love to eat bread and steal frosting...which we have multiple of and the simplicity that is eating a cupcake, which can involve nothing more than your hands while a slice of cake very often involves things like plates and forks...who needs those things?

anyway, i've been dreaming about making raisin bread muffins for awhile but always forget. this morning when Jake was making his breakfast oatmeal before work, it smelled raisin-y and oat-y so it was on my mind all morning.

i couldn't find anywhere that "raisin bread muffins" were mentioned so i just found an adequate-sounding vegan raisin bread recipe and just figured i'd bake it a shorter time and make sure it was a wet enough mixture, which it was.

2 C flour
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 salt
2 t cinnamon
1 1/2 t baking powder
1t baking soda
1 C (sour) soymilk(+1T vinegar)
1/2 C maple syrup
1/2 C raisins
1/2 C pecans

bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes



i think they turned out pretty well. i wouldn't add the pecans again as they weren't necessary and i guess i don't appreciate that much "work" in my muffin. also, perhaps a little more spice, like more cinnamon? or clove? idk. i suppose a small amount of flax could be added if you want it to be that kind of day. as far as the sweetener being maple syrup, i like the way it works in this(as opposed to usually just using sugar that tastes like...sugar.) . it gives it a breakfast-y type flavor.

In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours. -Mark Twain

i guess one could say that i've been pretty dormant, like the weather, since i haven't updated this in months and months.

days ago we made (pineapple) chutney. were inspired by the samosas i made that i used the Moosewood cookbook recipe, for. the recipe for the samosa dough is SO GOOD. i've tried it before w/out the yogurt and the last few times i've made them w/the Silk plain(unsweetened) soy yogurt and it is so much better that way, go figure that using what the recipe actually calls for is a lot better than not...
we kind of just made up the chutney recipe...
samosas:

Filling

• 2 large potatoes, cooked and mashed
• 1 cup finely minced onion
• 2 medium garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh gingerroot
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds (I use dry mustard)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 cup diced carrot, cooked till just tender
• 1/2 cup cooked green peas
• cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 lemon, juice of
• 2-3 tablespoons butter

Pastry

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/3 cup yogurt
• water

there's still a few feet of snow...argh.

i'm finding conflicting information about the appropriate time of year to prune fruit trees. we have 3 fruit trees that didn't die and are more than a year old at this point. so, i think that the beginning of April is when it should happen...?

this year we plan to purchase a tiller b/c we did not borrow one last year and the results of trying to hand-till our land is frustrating and tiring. plus, time consuming.

also, we have so many seeds leftover from last year and we've tried to keep them stored pretty well, so i hope they work out even though it's highly predicted that "old seeds" don't work as well. if not, we'll just pick up some starts of the basics at a local garden store...

we'll also get to put to the test my ability to not kill dahlia bulbs over a winter...i hope i stored them okay b/c they really are gorgeous.

we have ONE catnip plant that is alive and well, despite getting knocked out of a window and chomped on no less than a dozen times. preventative measures have now been taken...this may or my not involve Jake bringing it w/him to work for his office...everyone has an office plant,right? and it's usually catnip,yes?

sage, dill and cilantro are the extent of my winter herb gardening...better than nothing?

there.