The fruits of labor

Blueberry muffins to be exact. Sunday morning began with Randolph's request for pancakes, but I had been delaying the desire for muffins. I won. Despite the loss, he did a happy dance and quickly gobbled down more than I should relay.

Lady Joy is shedding her puppy coat. As a result, she has been mostly banned from the kitchen but she still likes to participate in the food preparation.


Recipe
Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup milk

2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries--this is what the original recipe calls for, but I use a whole pint

Ingredients for the topping:

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar

Directions:

Heat oven to 375°.

Grease 18 regular-size muffin cups (or 12 large size muffins).

In bowl, mix butter until creamy. Add sugar and beat until pale and fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time, beating after each.

Beat in vanilla, baking powder and salt.

With spoon, fold in half of flour then half of milk into batter; repeat.

Fold in blueberries.

Spoon into muffin cups and sprinkle topping onto each muffin.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown and springy to touch.

A warm weekend...

with a hint of spring and full of dates! The weather has been delightful the last few days. Sixty-five degrees in the evening, Randolph and I left the babe at home and ventured into the night for Indian food. Bombay Bistro is quite the find! The service is great, the food comparable to the best of DC, and it is a mere five minute drive from our home. We concluded the date with a quick stop for yarn so I could begin another new project. My husband totally wins at this date thing!

Randolph has become Amish

Years ago my mother purchased from the Amish market a wooden encasement for the trash can. We always had dogs (and small children) that did their best to invade the garbage so this provided the best barrier. Having recently discovered that we eat, Lady Joy has become a bit of a nuisance in the kitchen. Randolph to the rescue! He constructed a cover for a trash can much like my mother's.

Pine needles

We have so much media for this man to work with!

The weekend in mobile photographs

The hamlet in the woods

Upon arrival in Fayetteville Randolph and I heard of the wonders of Southern Pines. Apparently it was a real town with places to eat and live. That seemed average enough and not especially worthy of our traveling time. Well, Southern Pines you have certainly proved us wrong. A quick venture to UNC Pembroke left Alison and me without a plan for the remainder of Friday. Already south of Fayetteville we decided to venture to the mysterious village and were smitten at once.



Spring's imminent arrival was the greatest discovery of the day. After a poor excuse for winter, both of us are ready to embrace the smell of freshly cut grass, the blooming flowers, the temperate rain, and all of the sneezes that will accompany the season.

Lady Joy Birsch: Puppy Destructor

LJ has a high aptitude for creating messes and covering herself in yard. She loves paper, attacks anything left on the stairs, brings pine cone remnants inside our home, digs up tree roots, locates hidden skeins of yarn, and destroys cardboard boxes. Yes, I acknowledge that these are standard puppy traits, but why the yarn? It is bad enough that we have two wardrobes (one with holes and one without) but now she is prohibiting the construction of new garments.
Lady Joy does her best to will the opening of the bathroom door. In order to cleanse her of the messes (and the yard bits attached to her) we shower the little girl. This is not her favorite activity and yet she always returns to the scene of the crime to lap up water.

A sunny credenza day

Wednesday began with the arrival of the fruits of Saturday's shopping expedition. Thanks to the Birsch parents we are now armed with proper storage for our nice things: crystal, fine china, and the crock pot! We hope to utilize the extra space better in the future but for now having a home for kitchen overflow (even the contents of still packed boxes!) could not be greater appreciated.

Whilst her daddy man worked LJ assisted in the making of soups the last few days. We enjoyed miso and egg drop a la Ching Ching Cha of Georgetown.

In the afternoon we ventured outdoors and hoped that Randolph would be home soon. After a couple hours of running, hide & seek, playing with the frisbee, and digging we had a surprise visit from our Captain America! (*we acknowledge the nerdy statement but the captured running stance requires such a title)


The hours of play thankfully took their toll on the little lady. Mocking her near death exhaustion, Randolph slouched on the sofa...and my phone was at the ready.