Orange and Almond Muffins

Apr 23, 2012 by lovelypantry

Muffins are so simple, and tasty to make. I mean, who doesn’t love a good muffin, right? I pulled out my little muffin recipe book called “100 Muffins from 1 Easy Recipe” and found another nice recipe. The last muffins I made from this book were the Easter Muffins and they were great. These were just as light and just as simple. They could easily be a quick breakfast on the go, or a snack. What I love is that there’s not too much sugar but it has a lovely citrus flavour. Really nice! The kids loved them, but they started to slow down once they hit the middle. I guess there’s no sugar in the middle! They also asked where the frosting was….

 

 

 

 

Even before it is baked, it smells really good!

 

 

I like the coarse grittiness of the Turbinado Sugar. It gives a nice crunch at the end.

 

 

The house smells great right about now!

 

 

I used Navel Oranges for this recipe. I find them to be sweet and very juicy.

 

 

Such a great little muffin. Bake, grab, go!

 

 

Happy Monday my dear friends! Have an awesome week!

~Lyn

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Spicy Thai Tuna & Fennel Salad

Apr 16, 2012 by lovelypantry

I’ve been doing a lot of eating over the past week. I think its time to slow it down and get back into my usual eating habits. I was looking through my recipes and realized that I really don’t post enough salads. That is not to say that I don’t eat salads ~I just haven’t posted. I made a dressing that I adapted from Everyday Food over a year ago. I don’t fancy store bought dressings that much. Generally I have my salad naked – sans dressing. I adore crunchy romaine with garden vegetables. But I also like warm salads that include Quinoa, Zucchini and other root vegetables.

Today’s recipe is a quick and easy, nutritious salad. I usually serve the dressing on the side so that I pour what I desire. For the Tuna, I added only to the plate because it was too spicy for my son so I could not mix it into the main bowl. I find regular tuna to be one of my least favourite things when its plain, so the Spicy Thai version is the one I prefer. It is quite spicy for me, so I don’t eat more than half a can at a time. A little goes a very long way for me. Regular tuna can certainly be substituted and you can use as much as you would like from the can. You can also choose to omit the tuna and serve the salad along with dinner. I am also using Fennel for the first time in a very long time. I forgot how much I liked it. I’m happy I was able to incorporate it in this freestyle salad. I believe the Fennel and Tuna are the unusual suspects and so, I named the salad for them 🙂

 

 

 

The dressing before I shook it. Not sure why, but it looked like a flower to me. I see beauty in weird places, I guess. OK, don’t stare at it! lol

 

 

I almost omitted the tuna when I saw how attractive the salad looked. Way to go tomatoes!

 

 

So here was my turning point. Do I add the Tuna? Or have it on its own, this gorgeous salad.

 

 

I added the dressing to the salad, followed by the tuna.

 

 

I feel much better about all that eating during Easter. Much better.

 

~Lyn

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Sweet Potato Bun

Apr 15, 2012 by lovelypantry

I had to share this recipe. It tastes too good to keep to myself. I will also say that this is the last bun recipe I will post until next Easter. Seriously.

However, I will not classify this bun as an Easter Bun even though I found it in The Gleaner’s Easter Cookbook 2012 (Page 26). No, not this bun. This bun can be prepared at any time throughout the year. There are many recipes in the cookbook that I will be trying very soon. I have the best Dad. He mailed me the booklet so that I could have a resource for my posts. He knows how much I like to flip though pages. Isn’t he great? I’m sure you guys remember one of my most favourite things is sending and receiving mail. My dad put a really big smile on my face! Thank you Dad!

The first time I made this bun, and it was a hot mess. I’m not a baker so I had no idea what I did wrong. The batter was thin and after baking it for more than the suggested time, it still came out like a pudding. My husband described the texture of the outside of the bun felt like leather. I was so disappointed because the flavour was quite pleasant but the texture was not good at all. This was my very first baking flop. I decided to look through the ingredients again and compare with all the other bun recipes. I realized that there was probably too much liquid and not enough flour. I made some changes to the original recipe and got it right! Success!!! This is the bun that I will be making next year! I only used raisins and there’s no mixed peel to pick out.

The only way I’ll be making this bun again this year, is if someone specifically asks me to make it or places an order ($$).

 

 

 

 

I was watching the consistency so closely the second time around.

 

 

I like the contrast in colours here.

 

 

In go the raisins. The batter at this point is fairly firm and has a thick consistency. Exactly what I want.

 

 

Ready for the oven!

 

 

Fresh out  the oven, looking good, smelling great and not feeling like leather on the outside 🙂

 

 

Checking for the consistency – looks perfect. And then I realized I had cut my bun before I glazed it.  So anxious!

 

 

Now this is more like it!

 

 

This bun was so nice, I had to double up on the cheese. It was moist and dense, as it should be. I think that’s totally acceptable since I’m not having this bun again until next year.

 

 

I feel great about this bun. Have you had any baking triumphs? I’d love to hear about it.

Have a wonderful Sunday and an awesome week!

~Lyn

 

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Easter Muffins

Apr 7, 2012 by lovelypantry

It has been a busy few days and I’m just getting to post this now. The kids were tugging at my legs to get at these little treats. I did not decorate all the muffins because, well… my kids do a really cute thing. They eat the frosting and then say “Mommy! I’m finished!” – and they literally leave the muffin behind. Seriously. If there is frosting, more than likely, they will not eat the cake. Maybe this little thing they do isn’t so cute after all.

I found this recipe in a little book called “100 Muffins From 1 Easy Recipe”. Chances are, I’m going to make every muffin in this book. What caught my eye about this recipe was not necessarily the theme, even though I was certainly looking for an Easter recipe. The cupcakes were adorable! Very simple, compared to what I’ve seen out there, but adorable none the less. I will be the first to say it out loud that I’m not the best at decorating cakes. I only just started a few months ago (barely). I’m teaching myself so that I can at least do something, if needed. Practice makes perfect. I did my best so here’s my first Easter Muffin 🙂

 

 

 

 

I found these a few weeks ago. So perfect! I love that they are reusable and colourful too.

 

 

I wore my apron to do this. I’ve been powdered up by Cocoa one time too many! 🙂

 

 

So this recipe called for only 1/2 Cup of brown sugar. The muffins were not overly sweet so I can see myself adding chocolate chips to this recipe in the future. No frosting needed, of course.

 

 

 

 

These came out quite wonky to me 🙂 The photograph in the book looked waaaaaay better than mine. A+ for effort though, right? 🙂

 

 

And then my Diva daughter decided that she did not want the cupcake with the mini chocolate eggs. Actually, she said that they were not in fact cupcakes because they had no sprinkles on them. She pointed to where I keep the sprinkles and requested that I make “real” cupcakes for her so that she could eat it.

Well excuse me.

The sprinkle princess had her way.

 

 

Take good care of you

~Lyn

 

 

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Jamaican Easter Bun

Apr 5, 2012 by lovelypantry

I wanted to make something Jamaican for Easter. I couldn’t think of anything more appropriate than Bun and Cheese. It’s a Jamaican tradition! I’ll be cooking all this weekend so this is the first of interesting things to come. I remember as a child living in England, my parents made Easter Bun and it made our home smell so fragrant. I was super excited when my Mom found the recipe that she had used all those years ago. I’m using some of the ingredients for the first time with this recipe. I’m glad I now have things like Anise Seeds in my pantry for future recipes. And I would have never guessed that I would be cooking with Dragon Stout again so soon!

This Bun smelt good in a traditional way. I personally prefer my bun with just raisins and not the mixed peel. But I really wanted to make it as traditional as possible. After looking at a few other recipes, this particular recipe uses Anise Seeds which is not included in modern Bun recipes. I’m fine with that. That means my recipe is special.

In Jamaica, Bun is a big deal. It is generally available throughout the year. If you usually buy Bun at the store, and have not yet purchased some by now – you may very well have missed out. Good thing I have this here recipe for you to actually MAKE Bun 🙂 That way, you won’t miss out. 🙂

I was asking some friends and family about the origins of Jamaican Easter Bun… it’s a tradition that not too many people are familiar with. Thanks to my Bestie for sending me the info as to how Jamaican Bun came about. The British traditionally had Hot Crossed Buns on Good Friday. This same custom was brought to Jamaica and transformed into what we know today as Easter Bun. Jamaicans spiced it up!

“Jamaica’s version is made with molasses, while the buns from England were made with honey. In Jamaica, you eat the bun with cheese, a combination that has become ingrained in island culture. British custom has waned when it comes to eating hot cross buns as fasting food on Good Friday, but in Jamaica the practice is as prevalent as ever. Today the custom is seen as more Jamaican than British. And eating cheese is now a year-round practice, while the bun and cheese dish is prevalent primarily during the Easter holiday.” – An excerpt from an article found on Jamaicans.com

 

 

 

 

This is the one cheese I have a severe weakness for. I’ll eat it any day of the week! It’s so terribly expensive here in Canada though. If it wasn’t for this post, I would have left it right there on the shelf. I’ve been delaying my cheese fix for when I visit Jamaica.

 

 

Dragon Stout, Guinness or Red Stripe Beer can all be used to make Bun.

 

 

Stout mixture reduced to a simmer.

 

 

 

Flour, Mixed Fruits, Raisins and Anise Seeds

 

 

 

 

Stout mixture combined with flour mixture

 

 

 

Ready for the oven.

 

 

The house smelled wonderful!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making this for the first time was great. The kids loved it. My husband was appreciative. He LOVES this stuff. I bet you next year, he’s going to be looking out for his Easter Bun.

 

Shout out to my Mom! Thanks for keeping this recipe safe so that I could do the unexpected and actually use it!!! *hugs*

I love my Mom.

 

For those that celebrate, have a happy and blessed Easter.

~Lyn

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Other Buns you may like to try:

Sweet Potato Bun

Jamaican Easter Spiced Bun

Zucchini Spiced Bun

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