A Random Childhood Memory & Recipe

A few weeks ago Steve and I were discussing things that we remembered eating fairly regularly as children but that we have never had as adults or fed to our own children.  **Yes - I do realize that this is probably not a normal conversation line for most people but we are not 'most' people.**

One of the items in question was Boston Brown Bread in a can - he didn't remember the can part as he only ever saw said bread on the table but he did remember that it was round and he didn't quite know why.

About a week later J and I were in the grocery store and found it and were compelled to send a photo via text to him just for giggles.

The other day I was reading through a handful of blogs that I enjoy and stumbled on this post about muffins... and in particular THIS recipe.


An actual recipe for Boston Brown Bread muffins!  Yes - I was way too excited about this and vowed to make a batch as soon as I could remember to purchase some rye flour - as it is not something I normally stock in my pantry.
On Monday I finally remembered to purchase a small package of the needed flour and just this morning had the opportunity to bake a batch of the muffins.  I mixed them up according to the HM's directions and even the batter had the same aroma I remembered from my childhood.  Soon the kitchen smelled of molasses baking and even J agreed it smelled good.

After about 15 minutes they were done!

Warm with real butter and ... YUM!

A childhood memory memory made from scratch and so good!  J did try a half of a muffin but was unimpressed.  When Steve gets home from work, he can try them and see if they match his memory and then tomorrow I'll take a few down to my folks when I visit them and see if they remember... I'm sure they will.

Blessings,

Hot Cross Buns

I tried something new today!

Hot Cross Buns

I have never eaten a Hot Cross Bun before, but after seeing a post over at The Frugal Girl a few days ago, I decided to give it a go.  Of course in my typical style, I had to tweak it a bit. :-)
I doubled the cinnamon and skipped the cardamon (I don't even know what that spice is!).  I also left out the raisins because no one here likes them.

Actually I doubled the whole recipe and made 3 dozen of them!  So I have a some to give away to the neighbors or maybe I will take some to the Easter breakfast at church.
They are really yummy!  Of course we didn't eat them hot... had to wait for them to cool to put the frosting on them.  The kids all gave them 2 thumbs up!

I will definitely make these again!

NH Excitement - random family stuff

We've had a bit of weather-related excitement here of late.  All in all it has been a normal winter - snow, rain, nice days, etc.  It is New England and as they say "if you don't like the weather, wait a minute". :-)
Last Thursday we had rain, I mean RAIN.  It poured buckets and buckets all day and then the wind began.  When I say wind, I mean WIND!  It was gusting upwards of 50-60mph and given that we are an hour from the seacoast, that is really something.  Unfortunately it meant a LOT of downed trees and power lines.
We lost our electricity at around 10pm on Thursday evening and didn't have it return until 6:15 on Saturday morning.  In that time we played games, snuggled under blankets, talked by candle & lantern light and were chilly!  It got down to about 54 in our house by the time the lights (and the heat) came back on.  Thankfully we have a generator so the fridge & freezer were fine and were able to run some extension cords to keep a space heater running in J's room - all three kids camped out in there on Friday evening as it was toasty with the door closed. 
This is only our third major power outage in 14 years in this house and was the first one with the generator.  It made a big difference and now on Steve's "honey-do" list is installing a transfer switch so we'll be able to run the furnace from generator power should the need arise again.  We are praying for power to be restored to the many families still in the cold & dark here in NH.
Once the lights came back on we did a quick run-through to clean/tidy up the mess of living by candle/flashlight.  We were all up nice and early on Saturday!  I managed to get some baking done since I'd been several days with no bread made.  I made a batch of Cinnamon swirl bread - and took one loaf to a neighbor.  Then tried a new recipe from the lovely lady at Frugal Girl, English Muffin Bread.  Not a new one for her - but for me!  It came out marvelous and really did make the best toast.

Now that it is March 1st, Steve and I are beginning our 15th year of wedded bliss.  Our actual anniversary wasn't on the calendar this year as we are a "Leap Year" anniversary couple.  I love that it makes our story a bit more unique... well... I think so anyway. :0)
Yesterday the younger two kids and I went with Steve to a race out in Amherst, MA - he ran 10 miles and set a new personal best time.  He is so amazing!  It was a USATrack&Field championship race, so it was a FAST race on a tough course.  He had a great race and I was very proud.  This photo is with the two kids just after he finished.

Awesome bread!

Doesn't that look yummy?

I found yet another wonderful recipe over at Frugal Girl.  It's for Oatmeal Cinnamon Swirl Bread and it is FANTASTIC!  It makes awesome toast and a friend tells me that it's great for French Toast as well - but we ate the whole loaf before I could try that - guess I will have to make more!
The recipe makes 2 loaves, so I took one to a neighbor in an effort to keep us all from over-indulging. *Note - you have to do this one by hand at the end.  I have a Kitchen-Aid mixer and it couldn't handle that much dough.  I know my bread machine would have had a heart attack if I'd tried it in there.