Peel Me a Grape

There are times in the kitchen where experimentation fails in a colossal way (note to self: stay away from the curry) and other times where a little 'why not?' turns into 'why have I never?' With a pile of Coronation grapes being snubbed by The Monster I needed that why not.

Why not put grapes in muffins? We put raspberries, peaches, apples, and even pineapple in muffins, so why not grapes? You really don't see it much though. And I'm not sure why.

Hopefully, after you see these muffins you will change your mind. There was some Twitter chatter about this a day after I made the muffins, with Jennie going all out to seed her Concord grapes.  I am far too lazy for that, so thank goodness the Coronation grapes are seedless. 

The base for this recipe is my basic muffin recipe (find it here) with some grapes and roasted, skinned, and chopped hazelnuts added in. With the the girls I have much better luck with muffins when I bake the mini kind. Mama doesn't like that because I eat a lot more that way! This recipe will make 12 regular sized muffins or 24 mini muffins.

Grape and Hazelnut Muffins

1 cup hazelnuts

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup small grapes (I used Coronation)

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray or grease with butter.

2. Roast the hazelnuts (unless already roasted) in the oven on a cookie sheet.  Roast for 10-15 minutes, giving the pan a shake every now and then. Be careful not to burn them. Pour them into a clean kitchen towel. Wrap it up loosely and rub the nuts with the towel. The skins should come off easily. Don't worry if not every bit of skin comes off. Aim for most of it. Le the hazelnuts cool while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.

3. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Combine the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla in another bowl.

4. Chop the hazelnuts coarsely, on the smaller side, but don't worry about any larger chunks.

5. Toss the chopped hazelnuts and grapes with the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.

6. Scoop into prepared muffin tin and bake for 15-20 minutes, until tops are rounded and golden.

Sneak Peak

I know I go on and on about process and even criticize folks who wait for finished projects for a reveal.  But I can't help myself on this one.  I am so excited by it.  It deserves a proper unveiling when the time is right.

This is a tiny sneak peak of my all organic quilt, showcasing the Geo Grand fabric by Daisy Janie. I was completely inspired by the fabric when it came to the design.  But the full effect isn't there yet, that's why I want to wait to reveal it.

To complement the Geo Grand I picked up some Robert Kaufman Organic solids from Pink Chalk. And I picked up some yardage of Geo Grand and organic thread from Plum Project. (Thanks Holly, for that recommendation!)

Yesterday I cut and finished the top.  This whole being home thing is kind of nice when the creative juices hit! Of course, there was little in the way of home maintenance done yesterday and I stayed up way too late to finish. I'm paying for that today. But nothing that tea in a Bunnykins mug can't mend.

Running (on Fumes)

Oh to have the energy.

My first week as a freelancer/stay-at-home mom/housewife/lazybones/artist and I'm sick as a dog. So much for much in the creating, cooking, and fun department. Shh, don't anyone, but the girls watched a lot of TV this week. And ate graham crackers for breakfast. In my defense, they were homemade.

Somewhere in there I did manage to finish my little quilt top. I had grand plans to make this bigger so it was at least a good nap size for an adult. But to do so would have necessitated buying more fabric and I already have that habit down pat. I didn't want to buy anything more for this quilt; I even used stash for the backing.

So it ended up at 48 inches on all sides. I really do prefer to make larger quilts, but I'm fine with it. This was one of those quilts that just had to be made. I'll tell you why another day.

Now to find the time and space to baste it because I already know how I'm going to quilt it. But for now, it must be added to the pile of UFOs. At least it is a pretty pile.

Dirt in my Freezer

It might be the Ukrainian in me, but I am incapable of throwing away good food. And I feel inordinate guilt if I forget about leftovers or a head of lettuce in the fridge. That would also be the Ukrainian in me.

With a really good haul from our CSA this year I've been forced to face these issues head on. It's one thing to throw away grocery store produce that you paid pennies for and was grown and picked by a random stranger in Mexico. It's another thing entirely when you get the lettuce in your hands was placed there by a man with permanent dirt under his fingernails.  The same dirt that still graces your carrots, your onions, your greens.

* Aside - As I read that last paragraph it occurs to me that is just as bad to throw away the grocery store lettuce because there is still a person there with dirt under his fingernails. *

Our farmers, Jon and Andrea are such committed people. We light up when we see them at the market, where we pick up our weekly haul. The girls go running and asking after the horses and roosters, all while ripping greens with their teeth. We shoot the shit about the weather and yuppies and our egg man. And food passes hands.

Then we come home and I am forced to deal all that food. On a day when I'm just so damn tired I really don't feel like finding room in the fridge, grating zucchini, or freezing chard I sometimes leave the bag on the counter for hours, even a day. Then I remember the dirt. The dirt I'm invested in.  The dirt our farmers are invested in.  The dirt this food was grown in. So I sharpen my knives and set too. Far better to have trimmings in the compost pile than real food.

We clean, we store, we cook, we freeze, we eat. And so we will eat for another week, thanks to the phenomenally hard work of Jon, Andrea, their family, and their WOOFers. And in January, I will make another loaf of this zucchini bread, some swiss chard fricos, or a bowl of gingered carrot soup and be thankful for that dirt.

But now? Now I need to head back in the kitchen and make some beet leaf cabbage rolls.