Summertime Baking

So many of my very useful tools are ones my Mom gave me. This great little outdoor oven is one of the most useful appliances. It is perfect for those hot summer days when you just don’t want to add any extra heat to your house, yet still want to bake or cook.

Over the years I have hosted numerous summertime parties, celebrations, family dinners and this little Toastmaster oven has been at the centre of it all! There have been turkeys and hams roasted, muffins, breads, scones and biscuits baked, veggies roasted, so much yummy food prepared.

This summer there have been whole cut up chickens cooked in fresh springs of rosemary (14) and garlic cloves (I used 28, but the recommended is 40) and pans of blueberry muffins and banana chocolate muffins. There have been loaves of zucchini breads and sheets of biscuits, quite a few batches actually, as I search for the recipe that works for me.

With the recent cool temperatures and heavy rain we are experiencing, I suspect those hot, sultry days are soon behind us. I am hoping there are still a few more days where I have an excuse to sit on my deck basking in the sun while fresh basil scones bake, or a lovely medley of fresh garden veggies roasts.

Non-commital Piecing and Baked Goods

Here are some glimpses at a couple of projects I have on the go right now. 

The finished (yippee!) quilt top is called Garden Fence and is a quick, easy top to put together. I am not usually a repeat, multiple block kind of sewer, but this top really appealed to me for the person I intend it. I think Bali Batiks suit it very well, I had just enough of the sashing fabric, and the backing I picked up in Maine last summer will be perfect. Now, to decide how I want to quilt it..

The other project is an easy 2.5 inch strip project. So far I have cut a selection of green fabrics into this width strip and now I am sewing them together in groups of 3 and 5. It is non-commital sewing and just right for breaks from my other work. And playing with placement of the strips and the resulting blocks I cut from the sewn strips will be downright fun.

I quit the kitchen once my kids left for University and Rejean willingly picked up the slack, with great style I might add! He hasn’t expresses any interest as yet in baking, so every once in a while I indulge and that usually means muffins.

My well loved copy of Mom’s blueberry muffins

Today I made these super delicious blueberry muffins from my Mom’s tried and true recipe, using lovely New Brunswick blueberries picked by my sweet and talented sister-in-law, Pauline.

Today I am linking to the Needle and Thread Network.

Baking up some solutions

Today was an unexpected day at home. I don’t know about you, but I seem to have an incredible number of ideas bouncing around in my head before I am awake. This morning I decided to let them all go, go, go and just take the day as it came, without jumping into any one project. I think I needed to do that for myself.

I love baked goods. And I love them fresh and warm. But, I am fussy about my baked goods. If I am going to eat calories, I want them to be worth it. So, first up was whipping up a batch of my Mom’s banana muffins. I added some raisins and dried cranberries and then some chocolate chips to a few as well, to keep my hubby happy.

Muffins have long been a favorite in our family and we have made our fair share of them over the years. I calculated once that I made 40 dozen in one basketball season because I always showed up to the game with a snack for the kids. Eventually even the referees and coaches were digging in as well! When my daughter was born in Goose Bay, Labrador my Mom baked 14 dozen different kinds and made up a beautiful basket for the mid-wives who had assisted in my labor and delivery. That was hilarious because she went door to door borrowing muffin tins in order to bake them all in one day! The house smelled amazing!! Another time I made 3 different kinds for my husband when he was travelling to Newfoundland for a two week work trip. He forgot to tell the boys I made “healthy” muffins as they stuffed themselves, and I guess some of them weren’t used to all that bran. Opps.

I realize I could keep on telling muffin stories, but perhaps it is only me that is amused and entertained. Suffice now to say, this batch is delicious and was a happy way to start my day!

It was a rainy day in our part of New Brunswick but the sun shone just long enough for a walk and some photos. Our yard is bursting with the welcome greens of spring and I love taking photos of fresh growth.

My saucer magnolia is slowly filling with colour although most of the blooms are at the top of the tree where I can’t reach without a very high ladder. This one should be bursting with color soon.

For eight years this tree was covered with the healthiest green leaves, but absolutely no blooms! Finally two years ago there were 7! Last year it was full of beautiful soft pink flowers! Good thing, because we were thinking that maybe it wasn’t a magnolia tree at all!

I love how the maple leaves unfurl from within. When they first appear, they hang like bent hands wrapped around each other and gradually increase in strength and stand on their own.

Our side yard is full of fiddlehead ferns. They are so amazing to watch unfurl!

I could - actually I do - take a LOT of photos of these ferns every year.

In-between these activities, I did make some headway on other projects. I had come to a standstill on one and by letting it go for the day and focusing on anything but it, I suddenly realized how to complete the next step! Of course, the solution seems so obvious now, but for some reason I just wasn’t reaching back into my skills and resources to seek it out. Turns out an old sign writing technique was just what I needed for my most recent fabric project. And that is  just what I will work on tomorrow. After I eat a muffin, of course!