Carrot, Apple, and Pecan Muffins

I took this recipe from the website Joy of Baking, which I'm sure you already know very well. I simply substituted some of the ingredients according to our food intolerance, reduced the amount of sugar and oil, and added some milk in order to have a quite good amount of wet ingredients.

You might need to add a bit of flour if the batter will look too liquidy. I noticed that according to the size of the eggs the consistency of the batter might change. I normally use medium eggs, since it is impossible to find other sizes ─ I'm talking about organic eggs ─ but the eggs might be different from time to time and I often find myself adding or reducing the amount of flour every single time, even if I use the same recipe...odd, right? :)

Anyway, if you wish to take a look at the original recipe, just click here and you are good to go. :)

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup (60 ml) pecans or walnuts

1 1/3 cups (320 ml) grated raw carrot (about 2-3 peeled carrots)

1 small apple, peeled and grated

1 1/3 cups (175 grams) spelt flour

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup (120 ml) coconut (sweetened or unsweetened) (optional)

2 medium organic eggs

1/3 cup (85 ml) canola oil

1/3 cup goat milk, lactose-free,soy, splet, almond, or rice milk

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

Preheated oven: 350ºF/180ºC

Baking time: 20-25 Minutes

Quantity: about 12 Muffins

First roast the pecans for about 8 minutes. Let them cool and chop them. 

Then, peel and grate the apples and carrots, and put them aside.

In a medium bowl whisk the eggs with the oil and pure vanilla extract until the eggs become very fluffy.

In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and coconut (if you decided to use it) leaving the pecans out.

Fold the pecans into the wet ingredients.

Then, add the carrots and apples, and the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stir just until everything is moistened. Do not over mix or the muffins will come out very dry.

Pour the batter into the muffin cups and put the muffin tray in a preheated oven. Place the tray in the second rack and bake for about 20-25 minutes. I normally have to bake them at least 30 minutes (my oven is very old) and I have to place the tray in the third rack starting from the top and not in the middle because, if I put the muffin tray in the middle rack, the muffins tend to over cook on the top. Therefore, do what is the best to do according to your oven and have fun. :)

Visiting Creativa on March 19, 2015

I'm happy to shout energetically that, in the end, I was able to visit Creativa!!!

Since all the plans we had for our long weekend went down the drain thanks to another Lufthansa strike, I thought that it would have been very wise to visit the exhibition instead of staying home and ending up cleaning the house or doing something which could have been even worse. :)

With lot of enthusiasm, we woke up very early in the morning in order to arrive at the Westfallenhallen as soon as possible ─ last year we arrived around 11.00 am and it took us almost an hour to park! No way did I want the same to happen again this year! When we arrived at 10.00 am, we noticed, with great surprise, that the entrance was quite empty and my eyes started gleaming at the idea that I would have finally been able to visit my favorite stand without being pushed here and there or walked all over. :/

The situation inside the building was also very calm and this made my husband even happier ─ he's very loving and always takes me to these kinds of places, but he's not that much of a people person and he hates places that are too crowded. The only crowded place he can stand is the venue of a concert....who wouldn't...:) Anyway, while he went to get a coffee, I started moving around looking for the items I needed for my crafting, feeling a bit like Indiana Jones. :) I first stopped at Lüna Natural Buttons to look for some heart-shaped buttons, which I found and bought right away along with some wonderful coconut buttons that will fit perfectly with an old black coat I'd like to personalize a bit and “refresh” with a touch of color.

With a smile on my face and very happy about my first purchase, I decided to visit La Blanche a stand that always attracts me for the way the stand is decorated and the gorgeous things they sell. I rarely buy things there because the prices are quite high and I'm not that much of a decoupage person ─ even if they don't sell things that are only related to decoupage ─ but it is really interesting to see what they are up to and watch their demonstrations.

Anyway, still with a lot of time in my hands, quite empty building , and a happy husband who was sipping his coffee without spilling it or bumping into people, I couldn't help but go on with my hunting. And boy oh boy! Take a look at this store Hobbydee and tell me these teddy bears aren't adorable! I wanted to buy them all!

They are so well made, soft, and cute!!! And look at their dresses!!!! I was very tempted to buy some patterns and furry fabric to try to sew one myself, but I already have so many projects in my head that a life time won't be enough to bring them all to the end; therefore, I left the stand without buying anything ‒ but this can just be an excuse to go back next year. : D

Let's keep on going in our Dutch tour! Yes, Dutch, you got it right! There are quite a lot Dutch stands, actually most of the ones that sell paper, envelops, and scrap book accessories are from Holland. Interesting, right?! :) Last year, I bought some Christmas stamps and an block of papercrafting paper from the Dutch stand DeHobbytboerderij, which has the whole collection of Grafic 45, a name I hope you already now because their designs are incredibly awesome! Actually, also the greeting cards the Dutch lady makes ‒ owner of the stand I was previously talking about – are amazing! She even holds workshops in Holland and I really hope to be able to attend one of her courses any time soon! :)

It was a pleasure to meet that Dutch couple this year, too, and while my husband was entertaining himself with those two nice people, I peeked with curiosity at the stand next to theirs and I found these super funny felt monsters that I absolutely couldn't leave there! Needless to say, a kit on how to make them immediately ended up in my shopping bag! I can't wait to make them and I also hope that Petra will allow me to post the tutorial on how to make KummerLummer.

Moreover, I also found something very new to me. Did you know that a 3D varnish exists? I had no idea about that!!!! Basically, if you use it on a flat surface when it dries up it makes the surface “pop up” a bit. It's so cool!!! I can't wait to try it! I saw some dinosaur-shaped buttons painted with that varnish and they looked very nice. I'm really looking forward to using it! :)

After buying some Springer  paint brushes ─ which I hope are as good as they look – we headed to the Gardenland to grab a bite in the organic food section and end our visit in this way.

To be honest with you, I was hoping to learn more about new materials and techniques...but all in all, it was a very nice day. :) I found what I needed and my husband had some vary tasty Bavarian sausages...so we simply couldn't ask for more! :)

CREATIVA EXHIBITION March 18-22, 2015

Tomorrow, the Wesfalenhallen in Dortmund  will  open  its doors to Creativa, one of the biggest European exhibitions of creative handcrafts.

You won't believe me if I tell you that the exhibitors will place their stands on an area of 40,000 square meters, where every kind of art and handcraft will be presented by artisans or big companies. What I love the most are all the workshops that take place each day, where everyone is invited to try out new materials or techniques. Shining pearls, colorful fabrics, all sorts of paper, funny stamps, puppets & bears (especially on March 21 and 22), strange hats and clothes, nail art, paint brushes, accessories for the garden, home decorations, inspiring ideas for the DIY lovers and much much more can be found at this amazing exhibition. Doesn't it sound extraordinarily awesome?!?!?!

I'm sure that your heart will start beating from joy and your eyes hurting from all the smashing accessories you'll see there. And trust me, you'll get lost (and maybe not just in time ;) in this wonderful world. My husband and I literally got lost last year and it took us two hours to find the exit that would have led us to our car. :) But this won't happen to you, too, if you are smart enough to go around with a map, something we obviously didn't do. >_<

Anyway, our getting lost wasn't such a bad experience   considering that we ended up in organic food section (which I didn't even know was there) and I still remember  the taste of the freshly baked nut and apple cookies we bought there. :)

I always wait in suspense for this moment of the year and I normally come home with a huge and quite satisfying loot.   I'm very sorry not to be able to visit the exhibition this year, but I hope that many of you will do it and have fun for   me, too.

See you next year!!!

CAPPUCCINO BREAK... I couldn't have found a better moment to start blogging!

Today is a gray day, my husband is fully immersed in his job, a couple of hours ago a friend left after a short visit and now he's probably halfway to Munich, and I need a break from my thoughts … “What can I do that can also distract my husband a bit, too?”       

  

“Yes! A cappuccino is definitely what we need!!!” I thought, and when I placed the the hot cup on the table next to my computer, a light bulb turned on and I heard a little voice say, “Why don't use this break to finally start blogging?” Oh yes! What a great idea! :)              

I have been wanting to write on my blog since the very day I opened it, but for one reason or another, I always had to postpone my wish and do what was more necessary at that moment. To tell you the truth, I almost thought that this moment would never have come. But I 'm happy to announce that I was totally wrong! :) I need to open a little parenthesis here because every time I use the word “totally,” I think of the movie “The Lorax,” which I highly recommend watching if you haven't done it yet, and the protagonist of the animated movie who utters firmly, “No, I totally did it!” when he gives his birthday present to the girl he's in love with. I love the way he pronounces “totally” and I'm sure that if you watch that movie, the adverb “totally” (wow, I said “adverb” I sure my husband, whom I call Aunt Josephine and I'll explain you why in another moment, is going to be very proud of me) will never have the same sound for you, too. :)

Anyway, going back to this blog, I plan to write and post so many things here that I don't even know where to start. Most of all, I have to admit that I don't know much of the whole world about blogs, I have zero experience in this field and probably a lot to learn, but this is what makes the whole thing so exciting! :)

Many friends of mine have been pushing me in this direction for so many years that I simply lost count. Some of them kept on saying that I should have opened a blog where I talk about my passion for cooking and baking and share all my recipes with the web community.

Others friends were more interested in trying to convince me to open a blog about my creations and drawings and maybe to upload some pictures of what I create and write about the “behind the scenes” of the whole process. And then, a third group of friends was constantly asking me to give them some advice about good books to read.

Therefore, I decided to combine all my friends' wishes and open a blog in which I would have talked about the above mentioned topics, plus my thousands other interests. :)

It will surely take me a while to give a consistent and interesting shape to my blog, but I'll work hard on it and I hope to finally fulfill my friends' requests and hope you'll have a nice time reading my posts and maybe trying out some of the recipes/ideas/etc... I'll share here.

x

x