We'll Sing In The Sunshine

Sunshine Muffins

The name of these muffins makes me want to sing all the sunshine songs! 

How many can you name or sing?

I am so aware that it's been a minute since I've posted. It seems like these posts get further and further apart. Let's just blame it on old age. And staying busy with all the things that "old people" do. But I want to catch up a bit and get this recipe in my "recipe box" here. That's in case I can't find the paper that it's written on. I know it will always be tucked away safely here.

Daddy-O and I were on grandparent duty about a week ago. Little Sister and Mommy were both away at the All-State Choral event. We spent a few days with Baby Girl—who is certainly no baby anymore. But she told me she liked the name. When they were here over the long Christmas break, she asked if we could make these muffins and we never did. She had made them here during Mimi Camp. 

The recipe came from good friend Joanne. She told me that her grandchildren love these. I can see why. And the recipe is easy enough for a 10-year-old to manage alone. Big thanks to Daddy-O who washed two sinks full of dirty bowls and pans when she was done. 😊

Seeing the handwriting of the one who shares a recipe makes it so personal. But handwritten recipes are nearly a thing of the past. I have mixed feelings about them. I love seeing recipes that my mother and even my grandmother wrote down. But my own handwriting is pretty awful and hard to read. And it's so much quicker to use a keyboard. Here is my legible version for you to copy and paste if you want to print it out.

SUNSHINE MUFFINS

1 box Lemon Supreme cake mix

1 (3-3/4 oz.) box instant lemon pudding mix

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

4 eggs

    Glaze: 2 tablespoon lemon juice

               6 tablespoons orange juice

               1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

               3-1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350º. Mix the muffin ingredients together, blending well. Spoon into greased mini-muffin tins. Bake about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. (Baby Girl filled hers really full, so they took longer to bake.)

While muffins are baking, mix the glaze. When muffins are done, remove from muffin tins. Dip the mini-muffins into glaze while warm and place them on a cooling rack. (I put wax paper under the rack to catch any drips.)

I'm not sure how many muffins Joanne gets from this recipe, but it's a lot. That makes it a good party recipe. Baby Girl made 2-1/2 dozen mini muffins and 6 regular size muffins. 

Things have changed on the farm since Hurricane Helene blew through months ago. It has changed our lives. Downed trees are everywhere.Too many to count. Barns are in the process of being repaired or rebuilt. Our lake house is nearly mended.

The trees fell on all the fences, so the remaining cows were all sold. And this is probably the last hay that will be baled by Daddy-O. We are no longer a working farm. The upside of that is that Daddy-O got to come stay with me and Baby Girl last week while the others were away. He has a little more freedom now.

We used to dread "hay season" because it's such hard work. Long hours in the field on a tractor. And often the weather would complicate things. It would be too dry or too wet to get a good cutting. Or it would rain on the cut hay before it was baled. But I'll miss seeing these bales in the field. 

See the downed trees at the edge of the woods? There is still so much visible damage around. Crushed houses in town. Bright blue tarps on roofs. Huge up rooted trees in yards. Piles of debris are still visible although crews have worked tirelessly hauling away tons and tons of it. And I still remind myself that we were on the edge of the bad damage. 

Trifle Wrap, pattern from Helen Stewart

Knitting! You haven't heard me mention knitting in ages. That's because I don't knit as much now, but I have not completely stopped. I enjoyed a long weekend at a knitting retreat last month. And I just finished this large wrap for a dear friend. It's huge and soft and squishy. I hope it will feel like a hug from me when she wears it.

Online Friends Can Be Real Friends

A zoom class with friends across the globe.

Goodness knows when the internet was unleashed it was a bit like Pandora's box. Yes, it can be a dark and murky and dangerous space. But there is also much good to be found there. I have learned how to do many things, like programming the garage door opener button in my car, by watching YouTube videos. There are plenty of recipes and music for me. But the single best thing the internet has given me are the friends I've made. Friends from so many places I have never been. Let me tell you about a few. 

The first "online person" I got to know was Dr. Jim who has a ukulele site. When I was learning to play, I emailed him to ask a question about a song on his site. Little did I know then that he was a real physician who did this as a hobby and would answer my questions during his lunch time between seeing patients. He called me once because he said it would be easier to answer my question that way instead of email. When I answered his call, he paused for half a second and then sounded so surprised (he lives in New England)..."You sound southern!" Well, yes. Yes, I do.

When my ukulele skills were better, I started a ukulele band and wrote a blog about each performance. It was an easy way to keep our performance schedule public. Another ukulele player was starting SMUG (Saturday Morning Ukulele Group) a similar band and I became the one to answer his questions. Then after many, many email exchanges, daughter Jessica and I planned a vacation to Prince Edward Island, Canada where David lived. We got to meet him in person and had the loveliest dinner at his home with David and his wife. And play with his ukulele band.

Knitting Pipeline retreat in Georgia

The knitting world has a strong online presence. Like all of these people I've become friend with, it starts with an exchange of information. I "met" Mary on Ravelry, a knitting website. There were many friendly exchanges with knitters but for reasons we don't understand, Mary and I "connected." When I first learned that Mommy and J-Daddy were expecting a baby I was told "Don't tell anyone yet!" Well, to keep from exploding from excitement, I shared my news with Mary! She lives in New York and knew no one close to where I live. Thank goodness. Mary and I finally met years later at a knitting retreat in Maine.

Knitters in Ireland

Another knitter I met on Ravelry was Missy who talked me into coming to a knitting retreat with a bunch of people I didn't know and hosted by a podcaster I had never listened to. I met so many people there and we have stayed in touch for years now. I traveled to Ireland with some of those folks a few years ago. And some of them have visited with me here at the farm. And that first retreat lead to other retreats in other states. And more new friends.

And in the last few years (during the pandemic) I found online piano friends. This group, Piano With Jonny (PWJ) is the most global of all. I have not met any of these folks in person—yet— but people do get to meet in person while traveling. Like traveling from the Netherlands to Japan. We got to see videos of these pianists playing together. It's such a fun way for those of us who stay close to home to be part of the bigger world. Yesterday I was in a zoom group with a handful of people from Iran, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and several states in this country scattered from one coast to the other. 

(If you are interested in learning piano or dusting off rusty skills, it's a great platform. There are many free lessons on YouTube but to join and have full access there is a modest fee. Worth every penny!)

This all gets me back to the Christmas cookies I wrote about last time and my piano friend Joyce. (See the previous post.) She said she was happy to share her recipes. I'll share one today. More coming later.

I got these recipes in the mail—the actual mail—just before Christmas, too late to share for your holiday baking. Both cookies are equally delicious.  But the raspberry cookies especially would be a great Valentine treat.

RASPBERRY BARS

  For 1/2 sheet pan, yield up to 96 cookies (Joyce cut these into tiny bars)

3 cups all-purpose flour

2-1/2 cups quick or old fashioned oats (if old fashioned, pulse in processor about 10 times)

1 cup chopped nuts, pecans, almonds or walnuts (more fine than coarse)

2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

3 sticks butter, at room temp

1 (18-oz) jar seedless raspberry jam (not jelly)

Whisk all dry ingredients together, set aside.

Stir butter in bowl of KitchenAid mixer, using paddle attachment.

Add dry ingredients all at once, mix on low speed until texture of crumbs or pebbly sand.

(Do not mix into a cohesive mass—it needs to be loose.)

Preheat oven to 350º. Line a 1/2 sheet pan (18x13-inches) with parchment, waxed paper or foil. Spread 2/3 to 3/4 of crumb mixture into pan and pat down. Bake for 20 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Remove from oven.

Spread jam over top, spreading to 1/4 inch from pan borders. Sprinkle remaining crumbs over top. Return to oven and bake 30 minutes more.

Cool completely, then loosen edges and turn out entire sheet onto a cutting surface. Cut into bars or triangles. DO NOT CUT BARS IN THE PAN! It mars the pan surface.