Jessica’s been hounding me for a while now to whip up something as a breakfast alternative to the usual bowl of cereal she has every morning. I make bran muffins quite a bit already, which are delicious, but can be pretty heavy. So, for a change, I thought I’d try some low-fat blueberry muffins from the Joy of Cooking.

It’s a simple recipe, and only takes about 30 minutes from start to finish. You can use a stand mixer for this recipe, but I’d recommend doing it by hand, as overmixing can make the muffins tough. Here we go.

Preheat the oven to 400. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper cups or just grease the pan.

The ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (you can substitute whole-wheat pastry flour)
• 1/2 cup sugar (you can substitute brown sugar)
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (this is only if you use yogurt instead of milk)
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)

Whisk these ingredients together in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk together:

• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or 3 1/2 tablespoons warm melted unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup nonfat milk or nonfat yogurt

Add this to the dry ingredients and fold together with just a few strokes just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Be sure not to overmix – the finished batter will not be smooth.

Fold in:

• 1 1/2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen, but you can guess which one is better)

Spoon the mixture into the pan, and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. I used the decorative white sugar sprinkles to get a better look.

Bake for about 14-15 minutes. The best way to know if they’re done is to insert a toothpick into a couple of the muffins – if it comes out clean, they’re done.

Let them cool for about 3 minutes, and then eat EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM because they’re that good.

I guess that would cancel out the low-fat aspect, though.

Enjoy!

This was a project like that and I feel strongly that it is a lovely and inviting design because of the positive and productive collaboration. Thank goodness, because having people tell you over and over again you’re wrong really sucks.

Now – happy, pretty picture time.

Living Room

The young couple had so many amazing photos from their travels that we decided to use them as a focal point above the couch. The color scheme of pink, orange, gray, and green ties the room together.

Overall view of the long living room

To break up the space and make it more user-friendly, we created two seating areas. One for more lounging and television watching and the other as extra seating for parties and a landing point before heading into the four seasons room.

Cozy Fireplace (that chair used to look like this)

Extra seating area

Original screenprints

Four Seasons Room/Library

There was a cute room leading to their backyard that became an extra spot for possible dining in a big party, and a great place to add a small library without cutting into their main living space.

Home Office for a Graphic Designer

We wanted bold colors and patterns to help inspire a graphic designer in his office/studio. Those chairs were recovered and initially a gray color.

Seating area in case clients stop by

We’re busy working on the beginning stages of a large commercial project now. We can’t wait to make a huge space feel as comfortable as this residential space.

Well, we could, but that just makes me think of Wilford Brimley saying “diabeetus”.

So to give our figures and health a break, I’m going to start doing some more baking for the world’s best food critic.

Who else?

I’d like to give her an alternative to the big brands’ snacks, which tend to contain too many preservatives and artificial garbage. I mean, do we really need preservatives for dog snacks? The stuff shouldn’t stay around that long anyway.

She loved the last batch of treats I made for her (click through if you dare), so I’m thinking even if I screw them up, she’s going to be in heaven.

Stay tuned to see what I can whip up.

I do have at least one tasty, but healthy, recipe in my bag of tricks. (Actually it comes from a healthy kids cookbook that I taught from when I taught cooking classes and nutrition education for after-school programs. Yes, I did that. It had its perks.)

Chocolate French Toast (the healthy version)

Grab:

4 slices whole grain bread
1/2 cup low-fat chocolate milk (or soy milk)
1 egg
powdered sugar
raspberries

Do:

1. Beat the egg and then add it to the milk, mix

2. Dunk the bread in the milk and egg mixture

3. Spray skillet with non-stick cooking spray

4. Put bread in medium heated skillet

5. Cook about 3 min on each side

6. Plate, and sprinkle with powdered sugar and raspberries. (Add a little syrup if you want)

Eat and enjoy. Happy V-day.

About Love

The Landing at HOME. My Words, Your Words, and Let Things Go So You Can Have What You Want

Family Room (totally our basement)

Kitchen

Living Room (that chair used to have a floral pattern on it)

Dog (Lisey)

Thanks so much to Catherine Bosley for the lovely images. She really got Lisey to pose which makes me happy, because I lurve that dog.

We will share the rest of the “tour” later.

Owned and operated by Kelly Galvin Robson, High Street Market, is a great place to find traditional-with-a-twist housewares. Prices are pretty reasonable for what you are purchasing, and in our experience you will receive quality pieces. Plus, vintage items are added daily!

Tell me this antique pendant light isn’t radtastic?

That’s just one option.

Cute accessories are available too. Boom.

You kind of want to have a tea party now, don’t you?

All I can say is, we like it, we use it, we bought lots o’ stuff for HOME from there and people oohed and ahhed.

The most indispensable piece I have is my Kitchenaid stand mixer. I’m sure there are some purists out there who think mixing by hand is the only way to do things, but since doing it that way makes my arm want to fall off, I resort to this bad boy. We have the standard attachments, but our next upgrade is going to be the pasta arm, so we can make our own fresh at home.

A silicone spatula. Everyone has to have one of these. You’ll never want to use a rubber one again.

I use a mason jar for my sourdough starter. It’s the perfect size, and allows room for the starter to grow each day without overflowing.

Parchment paper for everything. Seriously, this stuff is gold. Nothing sticks to it, and it keeps you from having to wash a baking sheet every time.

An oven thermometer. You should have one of these even if you don’t bake very often. Most ovens aren’t accurate. I found out that mine was off by 25 degrees after getting one of these. When you’re baking delicate things like macarons, which bake at a very low temperature, with a very specific time, a few degrees can completely ruin a batch.

A baking stone. It regulates the temperature of your oven and provides even heating throughout, preventing certain pockets of the oven from being hotter or cooler than others. Just don’t ever stick it in a hot oven without preheating it, trust me.

Pretty self-explanatory. For killing time while your goods are baking.

So there are a few of the most important things I use when baking all kinds of good stuff. I’ll share some ingredients that I like another time. Good luck!

*This has not actually ever happened.

Spider mums.

Adorable salt and pepper shakers by Esther Coombs

A little nook in our kitchen. Those are issues of Martha Stewart Living, Saveur, and Bon Appetit.

We picked up that photograph from the folks at Minorwhite Studios.

We will go through those tomatoes like there is no tomorrow. They may be my favorite food.

Vintage Decanter Set

Gerry the giraffe hanging out with some dessert plates and a vintage snack bowl in our dining room.

I’ll share soon where you can find our “house tour”.