Archive for Month: November, 2011
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
We were sitting, reading books, when Davey looked up at me and said, “Mama, can we make some cupcakes?!”
“How about we make some pumpkin muffins with chocolate chips?”
“Yeah, let’s make pumpkin muffins with chocolate chips. That’s a great idea!” he retorted, and off we went into the kitchen where he became the boy who makes muffins without a shirt.
They were gone in a day (no kidding.) I imagine that these will become a staple much like my *LFF Banana Bread!
+++++++
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup brown sugar (I very rarely use white)
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 can of canned pumpkin
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (or more, that’s your call!)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and grease and flour muffin pan or use paper liners.
- Mix sugar, oil, eggs. Add pumpkin and water. In a separate bowl mix together the baking flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt. Add wet mixture. Then, stir in chocolate chips.
- Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.
Lazy Break Haikus
Break week swiftly passed
Days filled with lazy and still
Cheer spilled from my cup
Leaves fell to the ground
Swirling and twirling, they danced
As trees stood watching
Sunlight in Autumn
Weaves through the weeds uniquely
Whispering, still here
Bokehful
How to Create Your Own Bokehful Picutres:
- Choose the lens that can give you the largest aperture possible. You want your lens wide open, so dial down to a low aperture number like f/1.4 – f/2.8. These pictures were shot with my 85mm f/1.8 lens
- If it’s bokeh circles you want, you need your lens to be at it’s widest or most open, or you’ll get a more octagonal shape.
- The size of your bokeh cirlces (for lack of a better term) will be dependent up on how far your subject is from the background that will create the *bokehfullness in your photo.
Now that Thanksgiving is over, and Christmas is quickly approaching, my focus will shift from nature bokeh to Chirstmas light bokeh. All I have to say to that is: Let the fun begin!
*bokehfullness is TOTALLY a word!
Today, I am Thankful for…
I am thankful that Michael is not here. (Yes, I really am because) That means he 
has job and is working. Not to mention that after this week he will be training for his promotion. That’ll be “Captain Lane” to you, thankyouverymuch!
I am thankful for Skype and Facebook. While it would be wonderful to have a million cars parked in the cul de sac, and family and friends around our table, Skype and Facebook keep us connected, and for that I am forever grateful.
I am thankful that each of our children are so totally different from one another, because, really, variety is the spice of life. This includes the puppy, because we all know that fur babies are just as much our children as the ones that were housed in our belly.
I am thankful that I am not crazy enough to hit the stores on Black Friday. Now can someone please stop the insanity with the Crazy Target Lady and the Kohl’s Rebecca Black ditty?!
I am thankful for my ability to cook (FINALLY!) I mean, just the other day I was talking to Michael about how I once made him creamed spinach when we lived in Cheektowaga. He then reminded me that I didn’t cook in Cheektowaga (blank stare). And, then I reminded him that he threw up after that creamed spinach endeavor. I guess that we were living in Cheektowaga when I started to step out of my comfort zone, and stop cooking out of the box. It’s been one foot in front of the other, over the years, and now I actually enjoy cooking.
I am thankful that I had food to cook for my children today, and I’m thankful that I 
roasted our 12 pound bird breast side down. One word: Juicy. Oh, and, cornbread dressing. There’s something to be said for being a southern transplant.
I am thankful for my old Food Saver because it allowed me to freeze Michael’s Thanksgiving dinner so that he can enjoy it when he gets home.
I am thankful that we have not one, but two Redboxes close to our house. Even if one of your kids (ehem, Benny) picks a horrible movie that starts with Judy and ends with Moody.
(Bonus gratitude: Davey actually sat through a whole movie. Maybe we can actually go see that movie with the Penguins that he’s been talking about.)
I am thankful for the gym I joined in October. I feel that I’m becoming slightly obsessed with working out, but there are way worse things to be obsessed with. Like, pie, I could totally be obsessed with pie. Maybe I am, but in that case I am SUPER grateful for my new gym obsession.
I am thankful that I am who I am, even if I’m whiny about how I want my new iPhone, like, yesterday.
I am thankful for so much that I can’t put it all done in one post or condense it all in one day.
I am thankful, that much is true.
“It was so easy, and the words so sweet…”
It’s like forgetting the words to your favorite song/ You can’t believe it/ You were always singing along/ It was so easy, and the words so sweet/ You can’t remember/ You try to feel the beat
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