The Cat Came Back...Pumpkin Muffins

Remember the Awesome Banana Muffins from a couple of weeks ago?

Awesome Banana Muffins
from Cat Can Cook

Catherine (Cat Can Cook) pointed out that you can make a number of versions, including carrot, oatmeal, applesauce, pumpkin and cranberry.  She also explained how to prep and store the dry ingredients as a Basic Dry Muffin Mix.  (Handy!!)

Yesterday, I tried her pumpkin version (scroll down to bottom of post)...

Pumpkin Muffins
from Cat Can Cook

Again, great results!  Moist, easy and quick to whip up.

Both versions would be a good choice if you have to make muffins ahead of time.  

Happy Baking!

Maggie

Smile!! It's Saturday!!

Here's a smile (or two) to start your morning!

First, from Newfoundland, a short clip of a goat... on top of a horse.  I gather there are four horses on the farm and they all love doing this.  Go figure!

Next up, Nancy Rose, a professional photographer, has a slide show of some of her favourite shots of the American Red Squirrels that live in her backyard.  

Last, but not least, Naheed Nenshi, Calgary's Mayor, reading aloud Pete the Cat - I Love My White Shoes - a great book presented with style and flair!!  If I could have one of those dinner parties where you get to pick your guests, Mayor Nenshi would definitely be invited.  He seems like quite a character!

Have a great Saturday!

Maggie

Life is Good!!

Canada's 30x30 Nature Challenge

If you check out David Suzuki's website, you'll find information on Canada's 30x30 Nature Challenge.  

Basically, it's a challenge during the month of May to spend 30 minutes a day for 30 days OUTSIDE...

...experiencing and enjoying NATURE.

That's a good thing.

From the website, here are some reasons how and why a little "up close and personal" time spent with Mother Nature can contribute to our good health.

See you outside,

Maggie

Unscented Honey Creme

Empty!

Hopefully...

sometime soon...

before too long...

I'll have a chance to visit Calgary.

To be more specific, I'll have a chance to revisit The Beehive, a neat little store in Kensington where I can buy some more Unscented Honey Creme.

   

This is seriously good stuff!  If you have dry skin, if your legs, feet, hands, elbows are flaky and itchy, try this product.  It'll make a difference.

In my humble (totally unsolicited) opinion,

Maggie

The Beehive, CALGARY

Translator required...

Weighing in...

Tucked in my basement is a box of my mother's British cookbooks from the late forties and early fifties. For someone who enjoys reading through old cookbooks just as much as reading a novel, these books have provided good entertainment.  

I'm a bit hesitant to try some of the recipes, however.  

Believe me, I'm tempted!  

In the biscuit section alone, there are choices I've never heard of or tried before... Shrewsbury, Grantham and Parkin.

BUT...

It's a language issue.

"A knob of dripping added during cooking..."

"After draining, add a nut of margarine..."

"Add one gill cold water..."

A knob of dripping?  A nut of margarine?  A gill of water?

"Add three shell eggs."

Don't all eggs have shells?

"Top and tail the young beans, and string if necessary, 

but do not cut them up."

Excuse me, but if I'm topping, tailing and stringing, those beans are bound to get cut up a little!

"Self-raising flour may be used for Short Crust, 

especially when fats are short weight."

Short crust?  Short weight?  

Translator needed.  Please apply!

If you're in the kitchen today, happy cooking!

Maggie

Life in a Canadian prairie garden...plant, bush and tree suggestions

Hot, windy and dry...that's typical for us.  Here on the Canadian prairie, we've gone straight from winter to summer.  I think we had spring, but I must have blinked.

Last weekend was our first real chance to get out in the garden.  It's a wild place...voles, deer, porcupine, bush bunnies.  And we live in the middle of a city!!  

Flowering Almond

To live in our garden, a plant needs to be tough, able to fend off wildlife and willing to accept a certain amount of neglect that comes with living in a garden owned by two busy people.

Right now our Flowering Almonds are showing off.  The blooms come first before they leaf out. These bushes grow quickly to about 6-8 feet high but can be trimmed back to either a small bush or turned into a wild hedge along a fence line.   A neighbour planted some around his fence line over 25 years ago and they still look great.  

Dwarf Korean Lilac, Spirea and Day Lilies

Next month our Dwarf Korean Lilacs will shine.  This picture is from a couple of years ago.  The variety we have has very tiny leaves and delicate flowers that don't look messy like a regular lilac.  The three lilacs here have been allowed to grow and seem to have reached their maximum size of about 8 feet high by 8 feet wide.  We have another one in a planter that has been trimmed into a round ball - totally different effect, but equally nice.

Did you notice the Day Lilies in front of the lilacs?  I love the contrast their leaves provide and enjoy the flowers during the summer.  They get going early, fill in quickly and are easy to separate and move around to other parts of the garden.

Bleeding Hearts

Bleeding Hearts are another personal favourite.  We have both pink and white.  With so much shade in our garden now, they do very well.  They seem to pop up everywhere, but they transplant easily and don't need any attention.

What will we add to our garden this year?  Our local garden centre had three good suggestions!

1.  Muckle Plum:  blooms early (pink blossoms), hardy, rarely needs pruning and grows to about 12-15 feet.

2.  Spring Snow Ornamental Crabapple:  fast growing with white blooms but no apples!  (That's a bonus - we have a crabapple already that leaves a real mess all over our patio!)

3.  Robin Hill Serviceberry: pretty white blooms with fruit in July.

Happy Planting!

Maggie