Apple Cider Muffins

Produce never tastes as good as when it's freshly picked.  I live in Upstate New York where apple orchards are plentiful, so I tend to cook & bake with a lot of apples at this time of year.  I don't just bake with the typical Granny Smith of apple pie fame.  Whatever is in my kitchen at any given time is fair game.  These Cortland apples are what's in my kitchen today.

So today, I was feeling muffinish.  I know that nutritionally a muffin might as well be a cupcake or a doughnut, but I like the halo of health that they pretend to have.  And with real fruit and apple cider to boost, these must be good for me.  Cough, cough, wink, wink.

Most days I bake from scratch, making up my own gluten-free flour mix, but some days I cheat a bit.  Today was a cheating day.  Say Hello to my best girl, Pamela.

Pamela's baking mix mix makes the best gluten-free pancakes bar none.  I had almost given up on the idea of ever having fluffy pancakes again before finding her.  She also makes a great muffin, cookie, etc.  This recipe is based on the muffin recipe on the back of the package with a few additions and a substitution of apple cider for the water. 

Start with 2 1/2 cups of baking mix in a large bowl.  Add 2tsps cinnamon, 1/2 tsp allspice, 1/4 tsp nutmeg.  Whisk all together.

In a separate bowl beat 2 eggs, 1/2 cup cider, 1/3 cup honey, and 1 tbsp vanilla.  I use local honey because the boys all have wicked bad seasonal allergies and using local honey is supposed to innoculate them against some of those allergies.  The science behind it is that local bees sip on local nectar and therefore your body becomes used to those substances that previously would cause a reaction.

Add 1 chopped up apple to the wet ingredients. 

Am I the only one who uses a paring knife to peel my apples?  A few years back, we made apple crisps in school with Whirling Dervish's class and all of the other moms used a potato peeler.  I've never had luck with a peeler on the slippery peel of an apple.  Using a knife has always been easier for me.  Except of course for this vice like tabletop thing, but there's no point in pulling that out for just one apple.

Then mix wet into dry until combined.  Drop batter into a greased muffin tin and place into a 350 oven.  You can sprinkle a little granulated sugar on top for a little crunch or not.  I did on this batch.

Pull them out after 20 minutes.  Let the muffins cool before turning them out of the pan.

One of my absolute favorite things about my renovated kitchen is my soapstone countertops.  I love being able to just drop piping hot things on my counters without having to search around for a trivet.  Hugely handy come party time when I have trays and trays of stuff coming out of my oven in a short period of time.  I'll try to remember to snap a pic of my counters in action next week at party time.

Thanks for popping in.  I'm linking up to Gluten Free Homemaker's Gluten Free Wednesdays, Someday Crafts' Whatever Goes Wednesday, Lisa's Gluten Free Health Food Carnival, Get Healthy Cheap's Family Food Fridays, and Talking Dollars & Sense's Muffin Mondays.

Inspiration - The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

I love to decorate.  For those of you following my blog, you may be thinking, "Well, we know you like to decorate for Halloween."  And it's true, but I love to decorate my home even when there is no holiday on the horizon.  For that reason, I tend to haunt the decor blogs and flip through decor mags while sipping coffee at the Barnes & Noble cafe.  Another place for decor inspiration is a showhouse and one of the biggest out there is the Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse.  I realize that showhouses are like runway couture in fashion.  They're more about ideas and concepts rather than direct translation, but I felt like this was a combo of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

First The Good

This gorgeous staircase was decorated by Rod Winterrowd.  I think it's such a beautiful entry to the showhouse.  I have a whole file of gorgeous staircase inspiration even though my current home only has a basement stair.  Next home, maybe.

This Dining Room, by Cullman Kravis, is one I could draw inspiration from.  I love the enormous artwork over the fireplace.  The herringbone floors are a favorite of mine.  I love the greek-key trim on the drapes and the large round pedestal table.  I feel like the accessories are a bit over-stylized i.e. the bookcases feel contrived.  Really, how many sky blue foo dogs could one person own?  I say this as an asian girl who actually likes foo dogs.  Still this room squarely fits into The Good category.

This Bedroom, by Noel Jeffrey, has a lot of nice things going on in it.  It's calming without being colorless.  I'm going to have to pass on the little girl underpants fabric on the windows and the UFO ceiling fixture, but I like the easily DIYed artwork and the patterned carpet.  I love upholstered beds and currently have an upholstered headbord.  I'd like to see a bit more of the yellow in this room maybe over on a bedside table and I'd definitely nix the matching lamps.  I like asymmetry.

The Bad

I want to start with letting you all know that I loooooove this wallpaper.  So how could this room, by Elizabeth Pyne, be Bad?  Because I can see my breath as I type this.  Even Narnia's Snow Queen would need an extra sweater in this room.   What this wallpaper needs is some wood to warm it up.  And no the little tree stump pseudo coffee table is not cutting it.  Why are all of the accessories a high gloss white?  Even the little tree sculpture says come back in spring, there is no life here.  The little girl's picture isn't exactly life, either.  She looks like one of those scary, expressionless, alien kids in the movie The Village of the Damned.

The Ugly

Warning!  The next image may cause retinal bleeding and night terrors.  What in the world was Brett Beldock thinking?  Strike that.  I don't want to know.  Why, why?  I can't think of anything to say about the wallpaper that you aren't already saying yourself.  The carpet is that extra long kind that hides army men and cookie crumbs and is the color of baby poop.  And what is it doing behind the leather chair?  It's eating the chair!  Why hide an arched window behind a shapeless window mistreatment?  Why?

You can pull your hands away from your face, now.   After that trauma, I think I need some comfort food.  Off to bake something.  I'll try to remember to take pictures before I've gorged myself.

Thanks for popping in and listening to my madness.

Autumn Wreaths

There's nothing like a wreath to add a pop of color to a door, mantel, or tablescape.  Autumn's colors and textures beg to be used in wreathmaking.  There are so many different kinds of wreaths that it's hard to choose just one to make.  You can choose from the bounty outside and use leaves, twigs, fruit, berries, hydrangeas, and straw.  Here's a few.

{Local Floral Shop}

Dressing up a Mantle



{via Country Living}

Autumn Berries



{via Haute Apple Pie}



Grapevine, Foliage, and Fruit.

{via ehow}

Feathers

{via Crafty Cuppa Coffee}

Burlap(Love the Texture)

{via Where the Heart is}

I loooove this scrabble tile one.

{via Out of the Crayon Box}

Fabric Rag Wreaths

{via A Little Bit of Everything}

I love all of these wreaths for one reason or another, but there was one that I could make without buying anything and that's the fabric rag wreath.  All it takes is a wire hanger and scraps of fabric.  I'm one of those girls who can't bear to throw out her fabric scraps when a project is completed, so I have bags of random fabric.  I decided to make a Halloween wreath vs an Autumn one since I have a ton of black fabric.  I chose a black gabardine(band uniform costume,) black velveteen(I don't even know what it was used for,) and embroidered copper taffeta(great room drapes.)  Here it is.  Sorry about the overexposed photo.

I love how simple this was to make and how quickly it came together, not to mention the $0 price tag can't be beat.  If you'd like a step-by-step tutorial with better pictures than I would have taken, check out Tanya's fantastic tutorial at A Little Bit of Everything.

Thanks for popping in.  I'm linking up to Someday Crafts' Whatever Goes Wednesday and Me and My Bucket's Show us What You're Working on Party.

Snorting and Tearing Up

This is a quick post with no pictures just for the mommy crowd.  Doing my morning blog read and came across the most hilarious thing ever.  Jump on over to Silly Little Sparrow and watch the Mommy Rhapsody video.  It's a youtube video and I could have sent you there, but I'm a firm believer in giving credit to other blogs so check it out over at Silly Little Sparrow.  It's sung to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, but even if you don't know the song(really, who doesn't,) you'll find it hilarious.  I may have peed myself a little watching it. 

Haunted Cavern

I promised a tour of my basement  Haunted Cavern.  This is where many of the games for the kids party are played.  You all saw the Haunted Cavern sign on the kitchen tour pointing it's way down the stairs.  In the staircase is a low hanging, bloody chandelier.  Taller adults will need to duck or risk grazing their heads.

One of my friends pulled this brass '80's fixture out of her home, and just knew that I'd find a use for it.  A little black spray paint, some red sharpie, and some flicker candle bulbs and we're in business.

Below the chandelier is a witch that lights up, pops off of the wall, cackles, and warns you to "Be afraid, be very afraid."

At the base of the stairs you turn right into the Haunted Cavern.  The family room is wrapped in black plastic with glow in the dark sprayed items everywhere.  The effect is a bit difficult to capture on film with my meager photography skills.  Some of these were taken with the flash off, some with it on.

There are glowing stalactites hanging from the ceiling of the cave.  They are made from packing foam, shaped with a bread knife, and sprayed in glow-in-the-dark spray paint.  We hang them from the drop ceiling cross members with paper clips.

Straight ahead is a tablescape with mini glowing skeletons hanging from a tree branch.

There are skulls in every room of the house.  Many of these skulls work double duty as skulls are key in pirate decorating and with two boys, there's ample reason for a pirate party.

Pivoting to the left, you see the glowing footprints left from some phantom wall walker.

And further to the left is this cheerful partier.

It's a little frightening how much of our everyday decor works so well at Halloween.  And that layer of dust on the deadhead?  Let's just pretend that's for Halloween and not my lackluster cleaning skills.

Keep turning and you'll see one of the many carnival style party games that will occur in the cavern.

The kids love to win the little spider rings, whistles, and lick-n-stick tattoos playing simple games like bean bag throw, ring toss, and plinko.

As you round the black plastic wall towards the powder room, you pass by our fish tank smeared in blood spatter.

And if that didn't scare you from continuing down the dark hall, maybe this werewolf will turn you away.

Time to exit the cavern, don't let this guy get you on the way out.

So that's all it takes to turn a basic basement family room into a Haunted Cavern.

Thanks for popping in for the Haunted Cavern tour.  Enjoy all the other fun links at Between Naps on the Porch's Metamorphasis Monday, My Romantic Home's Show and Tell Friday, Fireflies and Jellybeans Show Your Stuff party, and All Thingz Related's Anything Related Party.

Also check out all the Halloween stuff at the CSI project.