Happy New Year!

I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!  I had a great New Year's Eve and this morning is moving right along. 

Last night Mama, The Fosters (Gary, Emily, Jack and Matilda) and I went to see the Zoo Lights at the Oregon Zoo.  It is becoming a yearly tradition for the Fosters and we like to tag along when we can.  I missed last year and it rained.  This year was cold.  I mean super cold.  Around 32 degrees with a feel like temp of 25.  Add to it some wind and have mercy!  Then we were off to Russell Street BBQ for some dinner.  This is on of my favorite BBQ spots in Portland.  Their greens are made from kale instead of collards and they are awesome, their mac & cheese is creamy and their sauces are great.  I really like their pulled pork but I love their fried pies.  Last night I had the Fried Pie Duet (one chocolate and one fruit which was blackberry).  Happy Sunya!  Happy Sunya!

Right before the goat gave Jack a kiss.

 

 

 

This morning I am working on my Annual New Year's Day Clean-out.  I will post this tomorrow as it is an all day event.

But as I was going through the kitchen this morning and doing some organizing I found some less than half bags of cookie and muffin mixes from Bob's Red Mill.  I really like their products.  So since I did not have enough of either to make the full batches and they had similar ingredients I just combined them together, added some extra goodies and away I went.

These yummy ingredients along w/ a little oil, egg and brown sugar...

...turned into these delicious muffins.

These muffins were great with my morning coffee and some egg whites with cheese.  I think they will be even better through out the week crumbled over my morning oatmeal.

Tip of the day: I get asked a lot how do you not have muffins stick to the pan or stick to the liners.  If you are not using liners then make sure and grease the pan.  I don't want the extra oil so I use liners but I make sure they are made of parchment paper.  Mine are made by a company called If You Care.  I use a lot of their products and love them all.  Regardless of if you grease or if you paper the big secret is....(drum roll please)...let them cool on a baking rack for 5 to 10 minutes.  It is that simple.  Hot muffins, cupcakes, cakes and quick breads will fall apart or stick to the surface if you do not let them cool and the air needs to reach the bottom surface of the pan.  It is really that simple.

Have a wonderful day!  And I will see y'all tomorrow with my clean-out results.

New Year, New Start!
Sunya