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.