Love those cheeks!

I think most newborns look like raisins for the most part, and Charlotte definitely has her dried fruit-like moments, but Sophie caught a great picture at the hospital. Thank you friend!

Charlotte Grace

Born Friday afternoon, February 19th, at 12:59 pm after a quick 5 1/2 hour delivery, Charlotte Grace entered the world. Our heads are still spinning, and trying to keep up on sleep while chasing our Sam is impossible, but three days into it, we are happy and content.

Amazing how much easier so many things are this second time around, breast feeding being one of them. It's all coming back, and seems more manageable. Ask me again though in three weeks and we'll see how things are then. Scott is off work this week, so I've got it pretty awesome. He was a champ through the entire experience, I felt completely spoiled and loved.

Sam is adjusting well, but then, she's only been home for two days. First time he held her, he exclaimed in his high, piping voice, "She gots little tiny toes!" "She gots little tiny ears!" and kissed her so so gently on the top of her head with a loud, smacking "Mmmmuhhh" sound. Thankfully we have it on video, too precious.

It is naptime now and I have 15 minutes to go lay down. Good thing these beginning weeks pass quickly, and that our neighborhood Starbucks is only blocks away. Thanks for all the prayers and support, we love you!

Waiting

And now we wait.

Went in for my 40 week doctor's appointment last night and was pleasantly surprised that he suggested inducing us on Friday morning, at 6 am. What a crazy thought, Thursday night we're a family of three, Friday we're four, Lord willing.

My brain is having a hard time comprehending the change, what will she be like? What will Sam think when we bring her home? I'm sure she'll be different then Sam as a baby, but how? Trying not to worry about things like colic, and feeding and sleeping at this point, but it's difficult to shut those thoughts out.

Dim memories of cozy, middle of the night feeds, the small sounds babies make when they're happy, the smell of a freshly washed baby hair and head, the first smile and teeny, tiny baby fingers and toes pass through my foggy brain. All that, again.

I am so thankful. Thankful to have a wonderfully empathetic husband who should win some type of award for putting up with my vocal complaining this pregnancy and is eager to sleep at the hospital BOTH nights, should I want him there. Thankful for my precious toddler who is so dear and fun, and will be waiting for us at home. Thankful that I won't be pregnant by Saturday. Thankful that the end of February is near and that means it's almost March and SPRING IS COMING. Thankful for the batch of frozen chocolate chip cookie dough that awaits my return in the garage freezer.

All at once I feel nervous, excited, preoccupied, emotional, and am desperately trying to restrain unnecessary nesting desires. Really, does the house need to be vacuumed again? Why do the closets need to be reorganized, the baby won't be looking at them. Seriously, someone tell me to just go lay down. Maybe tonight after Lost.

Thank you for your prayers as we head into this weekend, pictures, the name and updates to come!

Now That's Service

Happy Valentine's Day!

We played hooky from church thanks to a case of untimely (possible) case of pink eye in Sam and enjoyed a great family day. First stop, our local Starbucks where we were greeted by a favorite barista, Judd.

We sat at a large table, basking in the warm southern sun pouring through the window and played "pretend."

"Let's pretend we're in Florida right now, what would we be doing?" and nibbled on an apple strudel, warm out of the oven, compliments of Trader Joe's frozen aisle.

Then, we hear Judd say, "do you guys want some pumpkin loaf?" He gives us three hand-carved hearts, one for Scott, me and Sam.

A perfect start to a Hallmark holiday. Next stop, the Sports Center to swim and then to visit the animals at Cosley. We are making the most of whatever time we have left before Baby #2 arrives, no imminent signs as of yet.

Avatar 3D!

Huh. Interesting movie. Much could be said, but I don't have the energy. Suffice to say we were throughly entertained and my bladder hung in there for all three hours of the movie.

Sam enjoyed these glasses for days afterwards, the best part was when he wore them attempting to shoot basketballs with his little hoop.

Snow Day

My poor, optimistic son. We got something like 14 inches of snow dumped on us here in Illinois yesterday. The first thing Sam did upon getting his snow gear on was head to the shed where all our summer toys are stored. The child wanted to play baseball with white whiffle balls in the snow.

Spring and summer cannot come fast enough for us all.

Tums

Can you tell that I've had a lot of heartburn throughout this pregnancy? I have it now, as a matter of fact. Poor Sam has probably heard me say, "My stomach hurts Buddy, Momma needs a Tums," 12 times a day.

So it didn't really surprise me when he told us that HE needed a Tums, it was coming eventually I suppose.

Days left until Baby #2, the doctor thinks I'll go next week sometime, "or sooner." Thanks. That's helpful.

A Few More Pictures

Thank You Sophie!

My dear friend Sophie came over and shot some pictures of Sam the other day, playing inside our house. She has an amazing eye and I thought they turned out great. Here are a few of my favorites, and yes, that is a fruit snack balanced on Sam's nose...just like a puppy.

Great With Child

Grace sent me this fantastic, thoughtful book by Debra Rienstra, I'd highly recommend it to any woman, but especially so if you are pregnant right now. I am too incoherent to even summarize this beautiful book right now, but wanted to share a quote out of her chapter on "Joying in the Body" that struck me.

She is talking about belonging to Jesus Christ, body and soul, and how even though the idea strikes many people as repulsive, reeking of ownership or control, it's actually filled with freedom:

"If God cares for my body as well as my soul, then I can surrender its pain and failure to the One who made it: like taking a damaged violin back to one who carefully carved and sanded its every curve and plane."

I love this idea, and it would have been a helpful picture to hang on to through the hormonal ups and downs of puberty. Belonging to Him, being cared for by Him, and knowing that He loves me as I am is a huge self image boost, don't you think?

I'll try and remember that the next time I view my huge, white belly in the mirror. :)

French Breakfast Muffins

This is one of those recipes you may or may not thank me for. It goes way back in my family, appearing at many a bridal or baby shower, because they can be made entirely ahead, frozen and then defrosted the morning of with no discernible difference.

They are also addictivly delicious, being rolled in butter and cinnamon sugar and tasting much like a delicious little donut. Don't ask me why they are called French, or Breakfast, I just know that they are my FAVORITE MUFFIN. That's right, I said it. My favorite, out of all the muffin recipes I've posted.

2/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup milk

-Approximately 1 cup cinnamon sugar, I like mine nice and dark with good cinnamon
-a stick (or probably two, don't hate me!) of melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 4 dozen mini muffin tins (These can absolutely be made with normal size tins, I just like them better small, the ratio of cinnamon goodness to cake is higher. It does take longer though to roll all the little ones...) In a mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and mix well. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture, alternating with milk. Start and end with the dry ingredients, mixing on low just until combined.

Fill muffin tins 2/3's full (as if that's possible in a mini tin, good luck) and bake 15-20 min, or until toothpick comes out clean. These muffins won't really brown, so don't look for color on them.

When cool, remove from tins and roll first in melted butter, then cinnamon sugar. At this point they can be frozen or eaten or refrigerated. I even like them cold out of the fridge.

Keeping a Short List

I've been nesting lately. Staying busy with needless, out-of-control home projects, my brain distracts so easily I feel like a hamster or some other sort of small rodent.

There is this urgency within me to keep up with my chores/bills/grocery shopping/cooking/laundry/communicating etc. because who knows when the baby is coming! God forbid she gets here when there are two pairs of dirty undershirts in the laundry basket and some dishtowels un-ironed! Or that the pillow protectors didn't get washed! Or that we didn't have SEVEN packages of Dole raisins in storage (Sam's favorite and once you've tried them you'll never go back to any other type), OR that the family room paint didn't get touched up! OR that I didn't get 4 dozen mini french breakfast muffins baked and frozen for those drop in guests to munch on...devastation!

Anyways, I was ironing two handkerchiefs (don't even ask, might have been a deal breaker if I'd known Scott used them pre-marriage) and four linen napkins from a dinner on Thursday, thinking over this urgency that I feel to GET. THINGS. DONE. To not leave whatever piling up around me because goodness knows I won't feel like doing much of anything once this little nugget arrives. It crossed my mind that this is what God wants for us, too.

To keep a short list of accounts, both with Him and with those around us. It was a good reminder to me about making sure that I'm talking to God, confessing and praising Him throughout my day. Not letting things between He and I build up around me, sitting forgotten and abandoned.

Anyways, just a random thought from a very pregnant, distractible me. Time to go eat something.

Disappointment

All these little Cowboy fans were letdown last night big time. I think Sam (over on the far right) is over it by now. His daddy, on the other hand, is not.

A Hobby Turned Obsession

So we visited Best Buy over Christmas break, along with 3 million other people. I'd forgotten about the music room in the back right hand corner of our neighborhood store, it ended up being a pinnacle experience for my 2 and 1/2 year old. Filled with drums, cymbals, guitars and keyboards, he spent 45 minutes glued to a stool, playing one electronic kit after another.

45 minutes later, we had to literally PRY him away, kicking and screaming, with promises that we'll "come back to play the booms, buddy!"

Happy Birthday to Jesus

First Present on Christmas Morning!

Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Ok, I realize it's been almost FOUR months since I've last posted. Is anyone still reading? Probably not. But, I made this coffeecake this morning for Bible Study and there were requests for the recipe. It's just too good not to share. The only downside is I don't think it's the type of thing you could make a day in advance. No idea where it came from, found it in my box and took a chance.

Apple Spice Coffee Cake

1 & 3/4 cup flour

1 & 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3 tart apples, peeled and chopped (I used Braeburn)

2 TBs. lemon juice

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 stick of butter, softened

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 & 1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

Glaze: 3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 TB. skim milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

pinch of salt, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, if using a glass pan 325. Grease either a 9 inch springform pan or square pan. If you double the recipe it'll fill a 10X15 inch pan. Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Toss the apples in another bowl with lemon juice, cinnamon and brown sugar. In a mixer, beat butter, sugar, and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs. Gently mix in dry ingredients. Fold in apples. Bake 60-70 minutes, until top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Whisk the glaze ingredients together and drizzle over top.

Over the Top

So these two items put me over the edge. The friend that made these doesn't know that I will be calling her as soon as Sam hits school age and I need to bring in themed treats to his classroom.

This cake was for a "water party" for her son Aaron, I thought it was utterly hilarious. Look at the powdered donut life preservers!
Thanks for sharing Julie, you are amazing!

What I've Been Doing Lately

Watching a lot of Sesame Street, baking, and eating. Like this towering piece of carrot cake from Gibson's Steakhouse a couple weeks ago. The thing was seriously 9 inches tall.

And no, I did not eat it all by myself.

Autumn Day Muffins

I wish you were at my house right now, enjoying the scent of these muffins wafting by your nose. They are for my Bible Study ladies tomorrow, and will hopefully also feed Scott, his office and other special people this week (Sophie and Kathy, they have your name on them!)

I got this recipe from a roomate in college, more years ago then would be lady-like to mention, and have used it annually ever since. One recipe makes 24 muffins, and it's one of those awesome muffins that is BETTER made the day before. They'll keep two days in fact, wrapped well and kept cool. I serve them with a dollap of cinnamon sugar butter smeared over each half.

Autumn Day Muffins

3 1/3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 TBS. pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

4 large eggs

1 lb. can plain pumpkin

1 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly

2 cups ghirardelli chocolate chips

raw sugar, for sprinkling on top (optional)

Thoroughly mix the first six ingredients in a large bowl. Break eggs into a small bowl and whisk, add melted butter and pumpkin. Mix well. Pour wet ingredients over dry and fold in with a rubber spatula, mixing only until moistened. Gently stir in chocolate chips. Scoop batter evenly into greased muffin tins and bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30-40 min. Check doneness at 25 minutes, muffins will be puffed and springy to the touch in the center. Can be wrapped when cool and kept for 1-2 days. Best when made the day before.

Cinnamon Sugar Butter

Soften two sticks of unsalted butter to room temperature. Use a hand mixer to mix in enough cinnamon sugar and salt to taste. That's it.

Who needs Krispy Kremes?

For the past two years, I have been mourning the loss of our local Krispy Kreme Donuts shop. Where's a girl to go for her hot, freshly made donut fix? You know, where your tongue tastes the remnants of the oil for the rest of the day?

Then, this morning, walking to the market with Scott and Sam, I smelled it. My pregnant nose picked up the scent of hot, sweet oil frying SOMETHING four blocks away. Something familiar. And friends, I have urgent, need-to-know information for you who live in and around my town.

There are three guys making donuts from scratch at the French Market this morning. First time ever. They bought the machine back in June and have been developing their recipe and techniques ever since, this week was the trial run. Unfortunately they haven't quite worked out the logistics yet, no on had thought to get change when the first lady handed them a $20 bill.

They looked at each other and said, "Wait, how are we going to do this?" One guy ran down to the Great Harvest Bread stand and came back with a stack of singles, luckily. The chocolate frosting wasn't melted enough to use yet, but none of that mattered in light of the sublime TASTE of freshly made donut about slide down my throat.
Friends, the smell alone is enough to draw you in. I'm assuming they'll be back next week, offering donuts by the dozen, half dozen and singles. We bought half a dozen for $4 and I'm afraid I'm going to eat them all myself. They dissolve away in your mouth, so so good.

Fun times at Great Grandma's and Grandpa's

My dear grandparents are endlessly patient with my energetic son, Grandma frequently utters, "Ohhh, he can't hurt anything!" I beg to differ, but appreciate her sentiment none the less. He knows where the 40 year old toys are kept, and runs to that closet as soon as we get there. I remember playing with this grocery cart and the funny shape thing when I was 2.

Sam decides to do a little work in his "office." I can only hope he didn't mess up any of my grandpa's files.

Fourth of July

We were lucky enough to be included on a fun weekend up at Gull Lake, MI with two other couples and their kids, a fabulous time was had by all. Great food, swimming, fireworks, reading in the hammock during nap time and Sam was totally enthralled with the two older boys by the end of the weekend.

A favorite pastime for the boys, gathering rocks from the lake into buckets and throwing them back in. For hours.
All tuckered out, time for nap!

See? I WASN'T jumping the gun...

I'm actually behind the seasonal eight ball, according to Costco.

Unbelievable, Christmas trees and decorating items at Costco on September 2nd.

"Where's Sammy?"

Hiding in Daddy's closet one day after work.

Hello Again

Well Scott has informed me he's sick of looking at that cupcake recipe post and that it was high time I got around to blogging again.

Admittedly, it's been at the bottom of my list these days, dealing with the natural exhaustion a 2 year old boy generates, combined with being 4 months pregnant and all that goes with that. We are happy though, and I have many war stories from the past few months involving markers on our rugs and walls, Aquaphor spread everywhere in Sam's bedroom and on his person and other highjinks that we won't talk about here involving poop.

All that being said, where'd the summer go? September is my favorite month of the year and I am full throttle into all it entails: over 65 pumpkin/gourd related products strewn around the house, a freezer full of homemade stock for stews and soups, Diana Krall and Nat King Cole in the iPod and a fire built in the fireplace ready to go.

It's good to be back, I'll post some pictures of our summer next...

Guess Who's Going to be a Big Brother?

Most of you (my few readers who may still check once in a while) know this already, the rest of you probably don't care. It's big news in our house though, due in February.

Sam is very excited, when we asked him what we should name the baby he cocked his head, stared off into space and responded, "Rick."
Hilarious, because we don't KNOW any Ricks. I have no idea where he even heard the name.

My Favorite Person in my Favorite City

Happy Birthday honey! I cannot imagine life without you.

P.S. Nice hat.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Well hello there! I have been basically non-existent on the blog this summer, busy with my two year old who has been coloring walls and carpet with dry erase markers and yesterday discovered what happened when he emptied an entire tub of Aquaphor onto himself, his walls, comforter and most of his toys.

Everything glistened wetly in the morning light. Yuck.

Anyways, I've made these cupcakes five times this summer. They travel GREAT, freeze well and are still good three days after they've been made. I like 'em cold, my aunt likes them at room temp, you can't really do these wrong.

Black Bottom Cupcakes, makes 20 large cupcakes

Sift together in a large bowl:

1 & 1/2 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa (the richer and darker the better, Penzey's or Valrhona are great)

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

Mix in an electric mixer:

1 cup cold water

1/3 cup oil

1 TB. vinegar

1 tsp. vanilla

Add dry ingredients slowly to wet in the mixer, mix on medium until blended. Line a muffin tin with liners. Fill cups about 1/3 full with chocolate batter. Put 1 TB. of filling (beat together 8 oz. softened cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 egg then add 1 cup ghiradelli chocolate chips) on top in the middle. Bake at 350 for 20 min. Let cool in the pan about 15 min.

Whipped Cream

I thought I'd share a weekly outing with you that Sam and I enjoy together.

Our neighborhood Dominick's grocery store has a Starbucks in it, praise the Lord, and when we go, sometimes I'll treat myself to one as we shop. Months ago, we started getting to know a barista named Kathy, a woman a little younger then my mom with six children of her own. She took a shine to Sam, loving little boys, and decided he needed his own "coffee."

Kathy turned back from the register, grabbed a tall cup and filled it to the brim with whipped cream. On a good day, she or her other partner Lucy will drizzle it with chocolate or caramel sauce, pushing it towards Sam with a spoon tucked into it.

Sam thought he had died and gone to heaven. At barely 18 months he'd say "Coffee? Coffee? Whipped cream?" when we even DROVE by a Dominicks and quickly realized that stand alone Starbucks offer the same benefits.
So this morning, we'd just walked into the store, chosen a cart and rounded the corner when Kathy popped out from behind the counter and handed Sam his "coffee" with a huge smile.
Such a little thing makes us both so happy.

Easy Meals

I'll admit it, I've been lazy.

Like, really lazy when it comes to our week night meals. I wanted to quickly share a few that took less then 30 minutes to pull together and really were no trouble at all. All of these rated a "I'd eat that again," from Scott.

1) Chicken Chili Verde (mexican frozen section at Trader Joes), cooked until reduced by half on the stove top, then add a cup of frozen corn and a cup (or less) of shredded cheese, stir until melted

-Serve on warmed tortillas with with shredded lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream

2) Trader Joe's Marinated Mahi Mahi filets, grilled, I added fresh lime juice and kosher salt

-served with white rice (I made it with half pineapple juice and half water, added shredded pineapple and the juice and zest from one lime after it was cooked)

-steamed green beans in their bag, also from Trader Joe's, tossed with lemon juice

3) Good pasta tossed with pesto, sun dried tomatoes and peas

-I'm sauteing chicken apple sausage to throw in there too tonight, almost all these ingredients are also from Trader Joes...are you sensing a theme?

Marmalade Emergency!

Mildly funny story.

I decided to make my dad some homemade marmalade for Father's Day this year, seeing as it's a favorite thing of his. Canning is not my forte, let me preface with. I've done a recipe or three of the famous Loibner salsa and that's about it. Maybe an unsuccessful batch of Ina Garten's strawberry jam a year ago as well.

So Anna Pump's Orange Marmalade was entirely new territory.

Most of my ten half pint mason jars were already tied up with the formerly mentioned salsa, but I was betting that the two I had remaining and several other small ones would be enough for the 3 pint recipe.

Wrong.

Making this marmalade is a two day process, and the second day requires about 3 hours of watching, stirring and skimming to make sure that all goes well. After finally coming to the end of the recipe and pouring it into my two jars, I still had a least half the pan left.

Of course. Because I am an idiot about math and have been since we hit long division in fourth grade. (Ironically I was bond trader, but I always told people that I only work with numbers in the "millions.")

So what to do, what to do with the quickly cooling jam in my pot?? I threw a protesting Sam in the carseat, jumped in my car and drove to our nearest Williams-Sonoma in hopes that the utterly fabulous and infamous Dana Williams (no relation to Chuck, at least I don't think so...) would be working and be able to direct me to some new jars within the hour. (I was lucky enough to get to know her during our wedding registry process...five full pages long and I got every item on it. Knew and loved almost everyone in the store by the end of that year.)

Walking into the store, I announce "Marmalade emergency Dana!" and she runs me over to the wall with the plethora of gourmet jams. I proceeded to explain that I was attempting to make it on my own and had run out of jars.

Her face fell, eyes flickering behind her funky black glasses as she thought out loud rapidly, "Nope, not a jar in sight. We carried canning items about five years ago or so, there was a huge display right there." She glanced over towards the checkout and then looked back at me, a smile coming to her face.

"ACTUALLY", (her voice rising and words coming quickly as she became more excited). "I bought a bunch of canning equipment when it went on clearance way back then and I think IT'S STILL IN THE BAG IN MY BASEMENT!!!"

She raced over to the phone behind the desk and says, "Stay right there, can you wait two minutes while my son Max checks to see if it's still down there?"

Sure enough, Max dug around their basement, by the "Fourth of July chairs, over in the corner" and there it was.

Two gorgeous Williams-Sonoma bags, full of $100 worth of beautiful german canning jars and canning equipment that she bought for something like $9 five years ago.

Thanks to the adorable Max, and a quick trip to their house, all the marmalade is now in it's new home and I am utterly grateful for my friend's generosity.

It is now 8:48pm and the 2 hr 30 min (yeah right Ina,) project is finally at a close.

Dana, check your mailbox tomorrow. It'd be really good on your homemade french bread. Love you.

Anna Pump's Orange Marmalade (totally worth the hassle)

4 large seedless oranges

2 lemons

8 cups sugar

8 cups water

Cut the oranges and lemons in half crosswise, then into very thin half-moon slices. (You can use a mandoline if you wish.) Discard any seeds. Place the sliced fruit and their juices into a stainless-steel pot. Add 8 cups of water and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar until it dissolves. Cover and allow to stand overnight at room temperature.

The next day, bring the mixture back to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for about 2 hours. Turn the heat up to medium and boil gently, stirring often, for another 30 minutes. Skim off any foam that forms on the top. Cook the marmalade until it reaches 220 degrees F on a candy thermometer. (Unfortunately very necessary for this recipe, but only a $5-$10 purchase.) If you want to be doubly sure it's ready, place a small amount on a plate and refrigerate it until it's cool but not cold. If it's firm, neither runny nor too hard, it's done. It will be a golden orange color. If the marmalade is runny, continue cooking it and if it's too hard, add more water.

Pour the marmalade into clean, hot Mason jars; wipe the rims throughly with a clean damp paper towel and seal with the lids. Store in the pantry for up to a year. (Ina didn't call for you to boil the jars in order to create the vacuum, but I did anyways, just to be safe.)

Yield: 3-4 pints (hint, you will need MORE then 2 half pint jars. Ahem.)

The World-Is-Ending Blueberry Muffin

I'm not even kidding you, if I knew the world was ending I'd flip through our wedding photos one more time, make a few phone calls involving words of love to family and friends and eat as many of these muffins as I could.
Seriously, I've made my second batch in a week and they are heavenly, only involving two more steps then your average blueberry muffin recipe. With much credit and love to Cooks Illustrated.

Best Blueberry Muffins

Lemon Sugar Topping

1/3 cup sugar

1 and 1/2 teaspoons finely grated zest from one lemon

Muffins

3 cups fresh blueberries, picked over

1 & 1/8 cups sugar, plus 2 teaspoons

2 & 1/2 cups flour

2 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon table salt

2 extra large eggs

1/2 stick (4 TB) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

For the topping: stir together sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl until combined, set aside.

For the muffins: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Bring 1 & 1/2 cups blueberries and 2 tsp. of sugar to simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to about 1/3 cup, about 6 minutes. Cool to room temp, 10-15 min.

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining sugar and eggs together in a medium bowl, add butter and oil until combined. Add buttermilk and vanilla to egg mixture until combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining 1 & 1/2 cups of blueberries into the flour mixture just until moistened. Do not overmix.

Divide the batter evenly among about 14 muffin cups. Spoon one teaspoon of blueberry jam into the center of each and swirl slightly with a toothpick. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over muffins.

Bake until muffin tops are golden brown and just firm, 17-19 minutes. Cool in tins for 5 minutes, the finish cooling on a rack. They freeze well and can be reheated in the oven for a freshly baked texture.

Back at last

I apologize for missing the entire month of May!  Between being sick on and off with random colds and flu's, and entertaining half the town at our house for birthday's/dinners/pool parties, blogging has been at the low end of my list of things to do.

New recipes coming up, pictures of Sam's birthday and more coming.  

"Big-Bed"

Somebody moved out of his crib last night and is loving life in his "big-bed."  

That phrase is usually whispered in my ear as I'm putting him down in his crib, "Momma, lay in the big-bed?"  We finally pulled the trigger and let him spend the night in it.

Didn't hear a peep until 6:30 am this morning when I heard his door open, then the sound of little feet pattering towards our room, and finally saw his blonde head sticking up at the foot of our bed.  Scott and I leaned up and said "Good Morning littl budd..." and were interrupted by something soft and round flying towards our heads.  It hit me squarely in the forehead.  I looked at Scott in the darkness and he said, "I think that's a dia..." and another one came shooting towards us.

Sam starts cackling manically and says "I throw skinky pee-you's at your head!"  Lucky for us we throw the truly stinky ones immediately into the garage garbage, there were only two wet ones left in his waste basket.  Tightly rolled too....phew.

He's been giggling out loud randomly throughout the day today, whispering, "Stinky pee-you's at Momma's head."