Blueberry Muffins

Hey ya’ll!

I’m all settled in at Oberlin. I’m interviewing for jobs (wish me luck!), and classes start Tuesday. I’ve been enjoying my free time here before classes start, but I’m pretty ready to get into a routine. There’s a lot of uncertainty in terms of the job situation and what my class schedule is going to be like. I’ve definitely talked about how uncertainty makes me anxious. It used to be pretty crippling, but now it’s just kind of an annoyance.

Today, in the midst of all this uncertainty, I found myself baking muffins. Baking is therapeutic in a multitude of ways. It’s physical. You can work through your anger by mixing, stirring, and measuring. It’s calculated and fail-proof; as long as you follow the directions of a trusted recipe, a handful of simple ingredients become something complex and amazing. It’s sensual in the smell of baking bread, the beauty of a frosted cake, the taste of a stolen spoonful of batter. Everything about baking makes me feel relaxed and at peace with myself.

Blueberry Muffins. They’re Charlie’s favorite, so I made them for him as kind of a welcome back to the United States and welcome back to Oberlin and welcome back into my life gift. He’s been in Peru for the last month, so I haven’t really had any contact with him aside from a couple emails.

This is a basic blueberry muffin recipe. It’s super easy and sure to please.

Blueberry Muffins

recipe courtesy of vegetarian.about.com

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preparation:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.Spray bottoms of 2 1/2-inch muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.Beat egg until foamy in a small mixing bowl. Beat in oil and milk. In a separate bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Stir in blueberries. Make a well in the center and pour in liquid ingredients. Mix together with a fork until dry ingredients are moistened; no more than 25 to 30 strokes. Batter will be lumpy.Using an ice-cream scoop, fill the cups in the muffin pan. This will measure your batter equally for each muffin. Fill each muffin cup slightly more than half full. (Try to scoop only once for each cup; muffins will be lighter.)Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and muffins test done with a toothpick. Loosen with spatula and turn out. Best served warm.

Servings: 12

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Well my darlings, I’m spending the rest of my evening with a lovely lady by the name of Carrie Bradshaw. I just purchased the first season of Sex and the City, and I’m totally hooked.

XOXO,

Jamie

Blueberry Tartlets

Every heart beats true for the red, white, and blue(berries)! Happy 4th of July everyone!

I made these blueberry tartlets for the 4th of July cook-out Emily’s family is hosting today.

They.Are.Divine.

They are a light(er) dessert, but they still taste totally decadent. I sampled the filling as I was baking these, and I couldn’t believe how good such a simple recipe tasted. Oh yes, these are simple to make, but they look very impressive. I was going to top them with a combination of strawberries and blueberries to be festive for the holiday, but strawberries were $3.99 a pint. Poor college student over here. Blueberries were buy one get one free. Bargain shopper! As my dad would say, “only buy things that are on sale!”

So cute! These tartlets are great for parties because they are small, handheld desserts. I find that handheld desserts go over a lot better at parties than whole pies/cakes/tarts that you have to slice.

Blueberry Tarlets

adapted from a combination of recipes from Eating Well and Hungry Girl

Ingredients:

15 wonton wrappers (can be found in most grocery stores near the tofu)

8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese

1/4 cup plain, non-fat yogurt

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

2 cups fresh blueberries

butter spray

non-stick spray

To prepare the crusts:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray, and set aside.

On a clean dry surface, set out 4 wonton wrappers. Spray each one with 2 sprays of butter, and use your fingers to spread butter evenly over each wonton; gently flip wontons and repeat. Carefully transfer wontons to muffin tin, placing each wonton in a muffin cup and pressing it in to form the cup shape. Repeat entire process with the rest of the wontons, and place tray in the oven.

Bake wonton cups in the oven for 10 minutes, or until they are firm and brown. Once cups are cool enough to handle, transfer them to a plate. Allow cups to cool completely.

To prepare the filling:

While the crusts are baking and cooling:  Beat cream cheese,  yogurt, and 1/4 cup maple syrup in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until smooth. When the crust is cool, spoon the filling into the wontons, being careful not to break up them. Arrange blueberries on the filling, pressing lightly so they set in. Chill for at least 1 hour to firm up.

I’m so excited to see how these go over at the party!

What are you excited to eat today!? I’m looking forward to having a hamburger! I’ve been craving one for a couple days now. And, of course, I’m excited to eat a tartlet

XOXO,

Jamie

Bittersweet

First of all, I want to say super big sorry for slacking on the blog front. I’ve been completely immersed in my finals and just life in general (which is great by the way!), and I haven’t been making time for my blog.

Well, now exams are over, and things are about to change! On the plus side I will have a lot more time for blogging, and I’m really looking forward to my research assistant-ship this summer. I don’t think I told ya’ll about it, but I’ll be working with professors at Boston University on a research project examining attitudes and perceptions of eating disorders on college campuses. This summer I’ll also be applying for medical school, and continuing training for the half marathon I’m running August 19th! Needless to say, I’m looking forward to a fun-filled and rewarding summer.

On the flip side, summer brings change and change makes me anxious. I love the routine that school gives me. I have an entire week left at home, and frankly, I don’t know what I am going to do with myself. It drives me crazy to not have a million things to do and deadlines to worry about. I’m already getting anxious about how I’ll spend the entire month of August at home!

I have some serious thinking, relaxing, meditating, and planning to do. I should value my free time as a blessing instead of seeing it as a burden. There are plenty of things I would love to do with my free time. I could spend an entire day baking and decorating a five tier wedding cake. But then what would I do with a five tier wedding cake? Hmm…I wonder if I could talk my dad into storing it in his walk in freezer. A frozen cake can last for years…

okay now I’m just rambling.

Look at the pretty cupcakes I made!

Nothing fancy. Just boxed funfetti cake mix with store-bought frosting. I really just wanted to decorate them.

XOXO,

Jamie

You Won’t Believe It’s Not a Milkshake

Okay, I have to get to a chem review session in 20 minutes, so this post is going to be super quick.

I present to you The White Chocolate “Milkshake” that is SO DAMN GOOD You Won’t Believe It’s Actually NOT a Milkshake and is Actually Super Healthy.

Whew…that’s quite a mouthful, but no other name would do this creamy, frozen beverage justice. When I brainstormed this gem, I had super high hopes for it. I LOVE white chocolate. The outcome completely exceeded even my wildest expectations.

It all started a couple weeks ago when I was browsing the internet for new smoothie ideas. I kept reading about how a pinch of xanthan gum makes smoothies super thick and creamy…so I made a super major impulse buy and spent $10 for xanthan gum on Amazon. TOTALLY WORTH IT!

Today I got my xanthan gum in the mail, and I made this. I must warn you, the ingredient list is a little scary. Trust me on this one though!

White Chocolate “Milkshake”

1/2 cup cottage cheese

6-8 ice cubes

3 tsp stevia (or other sweetener of choice)

2 tsp Jello Brand Sugar Free White Chocolate Pudding Mix

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

enough soy milk (or milk of choice) to blend everything together (probably about a cup)

Put it all in a blender and blend. Enjoy bliss.

XOXO,

Jamie

 

Nothing is Better than Red Velvet on Valentine’s Day

My wonderful Aunt is hosting a Valentine’s Day party tonight for all the girls in the family. I was excited when she asked me to make my red velvet cupcakes. These are seriously my favorite cupcakes I’ve ever made. If you recall, I made them for my mom’s birthday about 8 months ago. I thought I would quickly post a few pictures of the cupcakes and then go get ready for the partayyyy!

Big shout out to sissy Taylor for making the cupcake toppers! PS- ignore the black band at the bottom of this photo. I’m clearly an expert at cropping!

Click here to see the recipe!

Happy Friday everyone!

XOXO,

Jamie

Butterscotch Cookies

Last night I was bored at home with nothing to do, so I did what I always do when I’m bored at home with nothing to do. I baked cookies. Yummy oatmeal butterscotch cookies.

These cookies are sure to please just about everyone. Usually sweets without chocolate don’t go over too well with my chocolate-obsessed family. However, everyone raved over these cookies. My dad ate 4 within about 3 minutes.

Butterscotch Cookies

via milkncookiezzz
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) butter, softened
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats, and butterscotch chips
4. Place rounded tablespoons on a cookie sheet
5. Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly browned

 

These cookies are perfect if you’re looking for something a little different than your basic chocolate chip or basic oatmeal cookie. Hmmm…now I’m bored again. More baking?  Possibly…

XOXO,

Jamie

Happy Birthday to Me!

It’s my birthday, and I’m 21 years old today! I can’t believe I’m a real adult now. Since I’m not a huge cake fan, I made myself a birthday pie.

The crust is a pre-made graham crust.

The filling is a recipe very heavily inspired from this recipe by Chocolate Covered Katie.

Chocolate Fudge Pie

• 1 package firm tofu (12-14 oz)
• 2 tbs cocoa powder
• 3 T milk
• scant 1/8 tsp salt
• 8 to 10 oz chocolate chips (a little over 1 and 1/3c or more)
• 1/4 C sugar

Melt the chocolate by putting it in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time then stirring.  Then put everything into a food processor/blender and blend until super-smooth. Pour into a pie crust if desired. Fridge until chilled. The pie gets firmer the longer it is in the fridge (I had mine in overnight). Decorate your pie however you’d like! I decorated mine with chocolate dipped strawberries.

Have a good day friends!

XOXO,

Jamie

 

Christmas Cookies!

What do I love most about Christmas!?

BEING WITH MY FAMILY!

[photo courtesy of my sister Taylor!]

This photograph was taken after I opened a box of 5 beers during the white elephant gift exchange at my family’s Christmas party. Needless to say, I was not thrilled. Luckily I ended up with a chocolate bar and a $25 walmart gift card! Much better

But besides family time, what do I love most about Christmas?

COOKIES!

I LOVE sugar cookies, and I found the most amazing recipe this year! The cookies are so soft and fluffy just like the lofthouse holiday cookies you can buy at the store.

Sour Cream Cut-Out Cookies

via One Good Thing by Jillee

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening (not butter!)
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the shortening and sugar together on medium-high speed until soft and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the sour cream and vanilla and blend together until creamy.
With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients (I add it 1/3 at a time) mixing just until incorporated and evenly mixed.  You will have a very sticky dough at this point so it is very important to CHILL THE DOUGH FOR AT LEAST 1-2 HOURS. Divide the dough into two portions.  Roll out one section at a time. Bake the cookies for between 10 and 12 minutes at 350 degrees.

As you can see, I had absolutely no patience for rolling out the dough and doing cutouts. I simply rolled the dough into balls like you would a normal cookies, and they turned out great! To achieve the look I gave my cookies, draw horizontal lines across the cookie. Then drag a toothpick vertically though the lines. It’s so easy, and it looks great! Also, you’ll notice the color of my frosting is very vibrant. To achieve these deep, true colors instead of pastels, use gel food coloring. I normally use Wilton brand gel food coloring which is available in the cake decorating section of wal-mart.

Speaking of frosting…

I used this recipe via Alton Brown:

Ingredients

• 3 ounces pasteurized egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar

Directions

In large bowl of stand mixer combine the egg whites and vanilla and beat until frothy. Add confectioners’ sugar gradually and mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated and mixture is shiny. Turn speed up to high and beat until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks. This should take approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Add food coloring, if desired. For immediate use, transfer icing to pastry bag or heavy duty storage bag and pipe as desired. If using storage bag, clip corner. Store in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

And this guy helped me decorate!

And eat…

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Or Happy Hanukkah! Or lovely whatever holiday you celebrate!

XOXO,

Jamie

Sugar, Sugar!

There’s no place like home for the holidays….

but decorating sugar cookies with your roomies at school is a close second!!

Me and Emma’s sweatshirts say “Be naughty, save Santa a trip.”  She just had to pose with the “Ho!” cookie for this picture. Coincidence? I think not…

So…prior to all this cookie decorating fun, I went to wal-mart to get cookie decorating supplies. I have plenty of decorating tools at home, but NONE here at school! So….I went a little bit overboard and bought tons of new Wilton goodies!

New tips, couplers, and piping bags along with the other cookie decorating essentials. I love using royal icing for decorating sugar cookies, but I’m going to wait to do that until I’m at home where I have all my supplies (and a dishwasher).

We used store bought cookie dough and icing. *Gasp!* I know….but to my defense, it is finals time and we are short on both time and motivation!

That’s right Emma! You show that piping bag what you’re made of!

These are my cookies! My favorite is probably the Christmas tree. I also like the Santa Claus though! Can you tell it’s a Santa? He’s kind of pitiful..

Emma’s cookies before they were all done! My favorite is the one with all the star-tipped piped circles.

These are Anna’s cookies. I love her holly cookie!

And for the grand finale…

We ended up with about 3 burnt cookies and we turned it into a cookie cake for my friend Joe. It might taste…..okay. Most likely, it will taste burnt. That’s right people…accept food from me at your own risk. I’m not afraid to play a practical joke

Happy Holidays Friends!

XOXO,

Jamie

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Darren is in Oberlin visiting me this weekend!

He arrived Friday night around 9 pm. Since he hadn’t eaten dinner yet, I treated him to a pita pizza, apple, and yogurt. Then, like any totally normal long distance couple, the first thing we did was make cookies!

 

These oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are totally delicious. Darren even approves of them. I only told him after he’d eaten two cookies that they were “healthified”. He didn’t even seem to notice. The cookies are crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside like any oatmeal chocolate chip cookies should be, in my opinion.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

via Skinnytaste

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature (I used Brummel and Brown)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unpacked brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups quick oats
• 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)

Now I am trying to spend the day studying while Darren works on his senior project paper. I’m obviously doing a terrible job staying focused since I’m here writing this blog. Darren seems to be pretty productive though, and I enjoy scolding him when he gets distracted We are planning on going out to dinner tonight and seeing a show I bought tickets to. The show is a surprise though, so I can’t talk about it until after the fact!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

XOXO,

Jamie