Church Picnic

My DH and I attended one of the church's picnic benefits today.  All of the monies raised went to their food pantries - and all of the food served was donated and prepared by members of their congregation.

We had a great time talking with neighbors - it seemed like everyone was there.  The food was amazing!  I couldn't help but think it is because this is more of a farming community.  I think that everyone who cooked a dish knew how much effort went into raising the crop and bringing it to the table.  So when they prepared a meal, they did it right - really "respecting" the ingredients.

There was probably a bit of competition going on as well.  They had at least a dozen different types of cole slaw - each one fantastic.  From a plain coleslaw to one with dill and another with apple.  The chefs for the day outdid themselves.

We saved a bit of room for dessert.

Magnolia's had better watch out, because if this lady decides to go into the cupcake business they will have some serious competition.  The lemon cake was moist and light, the frosting was homemade - just the perfect balance of sugar and fat (I believe she used a butter and shortening blend) - and to top it off was a perfectly candied lemon rind.

I'm always looking for new cupcakes, so I tried the parts (cake, frosting and lemon peel) both separately and altogether.  Either way you sliced it, this was an incredibly good cupcake.

Of course, the best part of the day was raising funds for the food bank. But I'll put the cupcake in at a very close second place!

End of Summer Mystery

The end of summer brought not only a traffic jam, but also ... a mystery!  Who were these men with their cameras and sound equipment filming at the intersection of the train station?

I was curious.  Curious enough to go back down to the street and take a closer look.

It was a small camera group.  One guy was operating the camera.  Another one the sound boom - which he kept sticking up in the tree.  (Maybe he was listening to see if it needed water?)  One guy pointing at various things.  One guy carrying whatever the pointing guy said to carry.  And one woman on a cellphone nodding and waving disinterestedly.

So maybe they were just getting stock footage for filler in some production of whatever?  Then I ask you, why were there also cameras on every corner?  And not professional crews, but people with DSLR cameras - not smartphones.  That's 7 other people taking pictures of the same space today.

That's just plain strange.  Which makes it a mystery.  Which is a perfect thing to end the summer with, because in my opinion, it just isn't summer unless you get to read a good mystery (preferably on the beach while soaking in the sun).

I'll bet the butler did it.

Last Blast

Today on the train I noticed that the trees in the Great Swamp are turning - it's too soon, I tell ya!  So when I got home tonight I took a look through my summer photos and made myself a little "painting" that tells the best part of my summer.

My DH and I were sitting on the porch at our friend's house sipping on a lovely glass of wine.  It's an historic home, perfectly restored, overlooking the valley.  Her daylilies were just coming into bloom.  The air was that wonderful summery scent.  Birds flitted about the bushes and shrubs.

The conversation was all about the gardens, the birds and the ever persistent threat of deer.  So relaxing - so calm.  It's what I like about summer all rolled up into one perfect evening.  No clocks or schedules, just living.

So one last look at this past summer.  Too soon for it to go, but then again, without summer's end the fall harvest would not begin (or continue...).

Midnight Muffin Madness III

Round 3 of Midnight Muffin Madness was an unexpected surprise for my DH.  Tomorrow he won't be gifting them to the usual "Other People", so he didn't think that I would make them.  But I just couldn't help myself - it's the madness of the muffins that drove me to it.

These Orange Cinnamon Streusel muffins were super fast - and since I had almost all of the ingredients in the pantry, it was super easy too.

The wet:  2/3 cup melted butter, 1 cup melted orange juice concentrate, 1 cup buttermilk, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 4 eggs, the zest from 1 large orange.  Plus for the topping: 4 tablespoons butter, 1/2 cup sugar.  Plus for the filling:  6 Tablespoon brown sugar

The dry: 4 cup flour, 4 teaspoons baking powder, 3/4 cup sugar, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon salt.  Plus for the topping:  1/2 cup flour, 1 Tablespoon cinnamon.  Plus for the filling:  1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Filling, right!?  This has just got to be a good one.

In the big bowl, measure out your dry ingredients - flour, salt, brown sugar, sugar, and baking powder.

In the first small bowl, measure out your filling:  brown sugar and cinnamon.

In the second small bowl, measure out the streusel topping:  butter, cinnamon, flour and brown sugar.

Zest a large orange into the bowl that you're going to put the wet ingredients into.  This way all of the oils from the orange zest will make their way into the muffins.

Make sure you wipe down all of the zest that gets on the back on the grater - all glistening and full of flavor.

Mash together the streusel topping with a fork until it is combined yet still chunky.

Mash together the filling with a fork until it is combined and looks like wet sand.  Except it won't be wet because there's no butter.  And it won't taste like sand.  Don't ask me how I know that.

Measure out your wet ingredients and whisk them together - eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, orange juice concentrate, orange zest, and vanilla.  This is going to be a little thick because of the combination of the orange concentrate and the buttermilk.

Add the wet to the dry and mix it together quickly.  There will be a few streaks of flour and a few lumps of sugar, but that's okay.

Put 1 scoop of the muffin mix in the muffin cup.  You can press down on it a bit to even it out on the bottom of the cup if you want to, but I like leaving it in a scoop so that when I put the filling in, it gets all over the inside of the muffin instead of just being a lump of filling in the middle of the muffin.

Sprinkle a generous teaspoon of the filling on top of the first scoop of muffin mix.  It's okay if it falls off of the mix and rests on the bottom of the muffin cup.  It will sort itself out when it bakes.

Top the filling with another scoop of the muffin mix.

Spread out the second scoop of the muffin mix gently on top of the filling.  Don't spend a lot of time, though.  Your baking powder is activated and you need to get these in the oven soon.  Besides - it will all sort itself out in the baking.

Top generously with the streusel topping - try to put it on a little lighter in the middle of the muffin so the weight of the topping doesn't stop the muffin from rising.

It's also okay to leave a few spaces of muffin mix showing through the topping.  Now just pop them in the oven at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

So.  What to do with all that wait time?  And some orange juice?  Hmmm...

Screwdriver, of course.  I love the citron flavored vodka with orange juice.  I think it cuts the sweetness of the orange a bit.  Oh - and the mason jar makes a good shaker for the orange juice.

Yum.  But the muffins are done.

I love the way the streusel melts and caramelized around the top of the muffin - and the filling spreads out in bits on the inside.

The best part was the look on my DH's face when he saw the muffins cooling on the rack in the kitchen.  He was so surprised!

I wonder how many of them will make it until morning?

Storm's a Comin'

There are a lot of old country sayings that tell you what to look for when a storm is coming.  Red sky in morning, sailors take warning...Cows facing west, rain coming fast...Sheep crowd together, here comes the bad weather.  Old sayings.

But what about if you're in the city?  So I took a look around to try to find a definitive way to tell that rain was coming.

Crane folded down...ummm...rain coming anon?  Nah.

Flag standing straight...ummm...weather not so great?  I don't think so.

Pigeons on the ground, rain coming down.  That's it!  The city version of how to tell if it is actually going to rain.  Pigeons.

Mooooooonday

I couldn't help but stop for a minute to just enjoy watching this herd of cows grazing in the field.  So calm and peaceful.  Quite the opposite of my Monday.

Ahhh - I am relaxed already.

Early Easter

Picking tomatos was like going on an Easter egg hunt today.  With the great weather we've been having, the vines have broken free of their carefully constructed cages and headed off to the lawn.

They're all snuggled down in the grass and the little cherry tomatoes are sitting in little nests.

When I first went out to the vegetable garden, I didn't think that we had many tomatoes this week, but once I realized that they were all hiding from me in the lawn, the hunt was on!

This is the best part of the tomato harvest.  I always think that there won't be any - then I find a whole basketful of them.

These are the ones that we'll eat in the winter - roasted or sundried, it will bring back the memory of today's little tomato hunt.