REAL Lemonade

1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (10-12 lemons)
1 1/4 cups sugar
5 cups of water
In a 2-qt. pitcher, combine water and sugar; stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Stir in lemon juice. Chill well and serve over ice. Garnish with thinly sliced lemon, if desired.

See….isn’t that easy? And yes….you can use a good quality bottled lemon juice, if you must.

Want to take it up a notch? Make some Frozen Lemonade.
 
Enjoy!

Facing Mud Season

Before moving to Upstate NY, I had read a magazine article about “mud season”. I remember thinking…"interesting, but we all deal with mud.” At the time that I read that article I had lived in North Carolina my entire 28+ years. I never imagined living anywhere else. It was HOME…truth be told, it still is. But I digress. A little over 8 years after reading about mud season, I was on my way to live in New York. We arrived on May 5th. I think we missed mud season that year. I can’t be sure as I was deep in a self-pity party and  in a trance of sorts…..let’s just say that I REALLY did not want to move out of the south.

Now I have experienced mud season first hand. It is a season tucked between winter and spring.  Winter fights hard to keep its grip, but eventually the flakes stop falling. The snow slowly melts away, and in its place….MUD. Lots and lots of mud. You walk quickly to try to prevent yourself from sinking into it. It coats the bottoms of your shoes and boots (not just the sole). It is in your car…on your sidewalk…smeared on your welcome mat…and across your entry rug….Yes, across your floors. There is much vacuuming, sweeping, mopping during mud season.

 

Despite all the extra work (and my floors never ALL being clean at the same time…or for very long), I am glad when the mud appears. Like the robins, it is a sign that spring IS coming. It is getting the better of Old Man Winter….flowers and new leaves will be appearing.

 

Not as quickly as this southern chick would like, but still, there is hope. So I bravely face mud season with broom and mop in hand!

 

Blessings,

Cranberry-Orange Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

• 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped (I pulse them in the food processor)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1 tbsp. fresh orange zest
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 egg, slightly beaten

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add shortening and blend. (you can cut it in with a pastry blender or a fork, BUT I just used my mixer until the shortening was blended in…)
Add juice, orange zest, and egg.

Mix until dry and wet ingredients are just blended. Stir in the cranberries.

(Can’t believe I forgot to take a picture of the batter while it was still in the bowl!) Spoon into papered or greased muffin tin.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer your pan to a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from pan and place on cooling rack. If you have the patience you can let them cool for a few minutes. But personally, I like to break one open and spread some butter on it immediately!

YUMMY! I made the mistake of NOT doubling the recipe and they didn’t last one day. I had two for breakfast…then that afternoon I had one with my tea. The other 9? Boy Wonder ate them all before lunch!!! He’s a hard working farm boy….so I let him get away with it!
Enjoy!!!

A Beautiful and Tasty Day

It is a beautiful day here in the upstate of New York. The trees are frosted and gleaming at times when the sun can break the barrier of gray. Though the sun is fighting hard, the clouds seem to be winning. Tiny flakes of snow are slowly falling from the sky, falling so slowly that I am sure that they began falling sometime last week. Yes, it is beautiful.
 
It is also COLD….a nesting kind of day. So I made these:

SOMEWHERE in my vast collection of recipes, is my original recipe for these little jewels. Alas…I could not find it this morning. So I went online to search for it. I thought that would be quicker than searching through my files, notebooks, etc. I didn’t find the exact recipe, but with a few adjustments* this one turned out just fine.
*I used buttermilk instead of skim milk. I used BUTTER instead of margarine (don’t allow margarine in my house!). I used freshly ground nutmeg (it makes a HUGE difference). I also made a glaze from powdered sugar, cream, and a drop of vanilla extract (sorry…no exact measurements) for a few of them.
Yummy, yummy, good! And the same satisfaction as fresh donuts without all the work!!!
Have a wonderful and blessed day!!!