Blueberry muffins, hot chocolate and bird watching...

We woke up to even more snow this morning in New Jersey, and, even though it came over the top of my wellies, I was quite blase, declaring that, 'it's not too bad at all'... I guess I have been living here a while now. Nevertheless, the hubby got the day off work, and so, I had someone to share the parenting load with me.  While he cleared the snow outside, the girls and I whipped up a batch of blueberry muffins... a little mid-week treat to enjoy later in the day with a hot chocolate... I try to get the little ones really involved in the whole baking process... it makes it a bit more messy, but they get so much out of it... and, while the hubby was around to tag team with the kids, this endeavor appeared less daunting.

Anyhoo, early this morning, when the house was still, I brushed the sleep from eyes, pulled on my wellies, trekked across the snow in the garden, and cleared the bird bath so that I could add some much needed sustenance for the poor little birds that were sat in the trees with their little chests puffed out. By the time the girls woke up, the garden was alive with the chatter of birds. I managed to shoot these through the kitchen backdoor and I just had to share them with you...

As a child, my Mum would teach me the names of all the birds that frequented our garden... living here in the States, I've had to re-educate myself on the birds native to New Jersey, and it hasn't grown old... I still get just as much enjoyment out of watching these dart around our garden...

... but, best of all,  I think I've managed to pass this love of birds along to my little girls. They independently pushed a chair to the back door, just so they can watch our little visitors (although they still have to learn the art of being still and quiet, so as not to scare them off)... hopefully, this skill will come sooner rather than later...

Hope you are all having a great week.
Lx

Blueberry Muffin Recipe

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

1/2 cup of light brown sugar

1 tablespoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup of milk

1 stick butter  (1/2 cup), melted

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

oats for topping

Method

Preheat your oven to 400f and line 12 muffin pan cups with greaseproof muffin cases. In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

In a medium bowl or jug, using a fork, beat the milk, melted butter, egg and vanilla essence until blended. Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture; stir just until the flour is moistened (don't worry, the batter will look lumpy).

Spoon the batter mixture into the prepared muffin-pan cups. (I use an ice-cream scoop to ensure nice even sized muffins). Sprinkle the muffins with oats and a little brown sugar.

Bake until toothpick inserted in center of the muffin comes out clean. Approximately 20-25 minutes. Remove muffins from pan and cool on a wire rack...

I like to eat these why are still a little warm... Mmmmm...