Strawberries.......

Strawberries were on sale for $.89 at the veggie market so I grabbed some and had forgotten that I had ordered a flat for a fundraiser. Those strawberries showed up last night. Now I have around 12 pounds of yummy strawberries....and they are really ripe. Today I made about a 3month supply of freezer jam. Which I will use some of in this recipe:

LOW-FAT STRAWBERRY -CINNAMON MUFFINS
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup vanilla fat free yogurt
1/4 cup butter melted
3 TBSP. 1% milk
1 large egg beaten
Cooking Spray
1/4 cup strawberry jam
1 TBSP. Sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375
2.Combine flour through salt in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Combine yogurt, butter, milk, and egg in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add yogurt mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.
3.Place 12 cup liners in muffin cups; coat liners with cooking spray. Spoon 1 TBSP batter into each liner. Top each with 1 tsp. jam. Top evenly with remaining batter. Combine 1 TBSP sugar and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon; sprinkle over the batter. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes. Remove from pan. Enjoy!

The rest I think will be frozen for smoothies, and this recipe I have to try when it gets really warm...which won't be long here. I found it on this blog.

STRAWBERRY LEMONADE SLUSH

1 cup frozen lemon juice

5 frozen strawberries

water, ice

sugar to taste (it really depends on the sweetness of your lemons and strawberries)

Blend in your blender until smooth (I use my Bosch blender attachment)

Books..

All of a sudden my house is exploding with books. My boys have really gotten into reading and have not stopped. I love it. I do find that between the used book stores and the library , oh and scholastic, it can get a bit crazy. One of my boys has started reading The Hardy Boys so..
this has lead to..
Nothing like watching the Hardy Boys with their long feather hair and nylon short shorts running from the bad guys. Gotta love the '70's. My kids seem to.

Magic Bars...Original and Chocolate!

I completely spaced sending these recipes to a friend so I am blogging them. If you haven't had Magic Bars you are missing out. They are a favorite at my house and I have made them two ways. One with a graham cracker base and one with brownie as the base.

MAGIC BARS

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 can condensed milk (14 oz.)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 1/3 cups coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter in a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle graham crumbs over butter in pan. Carefully drizzle condensed milk over the top trying to get it as even as possible. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top, followed by butterscotch chips. Then sprinkle coconut followed by the nuts. With your hand , press down slightly all over. Bake at 350 for around 25 minutes or until lightly brown. Cut when cool. Enjoy!

The Chocolate Magic Bar
The recipe is the same except....instead of graham crackers you use a brownie mix(8x8 or 9x9 whatever). Melt butter in 9x13 pan sprinkle dry brownie mix evenly over the top. Follow the above recipe.

The Perfect Baked Potato

My kids LOVE baked potatoes. So when I came across this method of baking potatoes, I had to try it. This will give you the perfect baked potato...crunchy skin and a middle that is fluffy.

THE PERFECT BAKED POTATO
10 or more large Russet baking potatoes.

1. Preheat your oven 475.(I use a roaster oven in the summer)
2. Scrub the skins under cold water. Pat dry. Poke each potato twice with a fork. Bake, uncovered(No Foil!) directly on the oven rack. Bake for 1 hour.
3.Let cool a little and then load 'em up. We love the basic butter, sour cream, chives but also add anything from cheese and bacon to guacamole.
P.S. I like to bake a few extra for twice baked potatoes.Yum!

A Few Of My Favorite Things....

My favorite things(at this moment):

*Joy...

Congratulations Marcy!

*Unexpected Finds...

Lunch plates from the 40's/50's. Now I am on the lookout for the cups. The complete sets look like this.

My vintage 100% cashmere coat for ....$5!

*Books that make life easier:*Movies that make you think....
*Local escapes from Suburbia....

PORTLAND.....

We had decided to take a train from Seattle to Portland...here is what we learned from this experience:
1. Obviously, go during the day if you want scenery.
2. Upgrade to Business class so you can avoid sitting next to the young mom with a two year old, that she did not give a nap in hopes he would sleep and was drinking a screwdriver to take the edge off.
3. Be prepared for delays. In our case, the lady wiping out on the platform, and then having to follow a slow freight train.
We did eventually arrive in Oregon to see my sister and her family.

We loved Portland. The area is beautiful, the city is full of funky shops and places to eat. We spent time in the Pearl District...
Eating at Burgerville, as close to eco-friendly and natural fast food you can get.
Greg and I went to E. Burnside and to dinner at Doug Fir Lounge. The shops on the street were closed but I plan on checking out a few of the vintage ones next time I am up there.
We were also able to catch up with old friends that we had not seen in a long time.

We drove up to the coast in the rain, had dinner together at a great place and then one quick photo op by the ocean. It was freezing!
We left the next day but had a great trip. The area is just beautiful and it's winter..in the summer I can only imagine how gorgeous it would be.
Now, here is the random photo from the trip...loved this chandelier my friend had hanging in her house. Now we are home in very warm weather, but home.

Seattle...

Greg and I flew into Seattle to see my friend Amber and her family. After leaving 85 degree weather and waking up to this...beautiful. The rest of the day was sunny and we spent it checking out the city.The MarketThe fruit photo Greg made fun of me for taking!

The Ferry

After a day in the city we had to say our good-byes and head on the train....