On the Homestead

So maybe it’s the warm weather, maybe it’s the lack of feline friend, or maybe it’s my body’s lack of timezone compliance. Whatever the reason, I’ve been super busy in the apartment.

I’ve finally donated away all of the clothing that no longer fits me. I had been holding onto it, to wear once I’ve lost weight. But I’ve decided that I’ll deserve a shopping trip as reward for taking that weight off. And then, once I’d cleaned out the closets and shelves, I moved onto the rest of my pad.

Sadly, this included cleaning up the litter box, toys, and food bowls. (If anyone wants/needs bowls for their pets (plastic or ceramic), please let me know. Likewise, I have a somewhat used snail-shaped scratching post and random cat and dog toys. Let me know if you can use any of them, otherwise they’ll be donated to the SPCA later this week.)

I talked on the phone with my parents today, and they put me on speaker phone so that I could talk with Moishe Pumpkin. I made his “call” (a specific whistle, followed by a clicking noise) - when I make that call, he comes to my side, or will follow me around. So in Seattle, I would make that call and he would follow me downstairs, or would hop onto the bed to sleep next to me. Anyway, I made the call over the phone, and he started looking around for me. Deb held the phone down and I called Moishe Pumpkin again; Deb reported that he came up to the phone, nudged it then started licking it. Aww… I miss the li’l bugger. (Oh, and he’s totally better and healthy again. He’s roaming around the house, stalking Thomas and Pumpkin, playing with Thomas and Pumpkin, eating, and being a cute brat again. The vet will still run tests on his stool to see what caused the obstruction in the first place, but for the meantime, he’s better.)

Finally, for those of you who aren’t in Montreal, aren’t experiencing the weirdness first hand somewhere on the east coast, you’re missing out on some oddly mild winter weather. Today it was 12ºC! I went for a nice afternoon walk - wearing shorts! Shorts, in Montreal, in January? Madness!

Muffins!

The best thing about making muffins is that they’re easy to make. And just as easy to make up a recipe for. The basic idea you want to work with is a 2:1 ratio of dry to wet ingredients. Aside from that, there’s plenty of room to play.

Today’s muffins shall be named Oatmeal Fruit Muffins, as they were inspired by my want to bake with the yummy dried fruit I bought at Trader Joe’s.

Preheat the over to 350ºF.

In a bowl, mix 4 cups of oat flour*, with 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, and a pinch of cinnamon. I also added 2-3 tbsp of flax seeds, plus another about 2 tbsp of ground flax seed.

Add a cup of dried blueberries, and another cup of orange flavoured cranberries. Mix into the flour mixture. (This will “dredge” the berries, so that they won’t clump together once the liquids are added to the batter.)

Make a well in the middle of your flour and fruit mixture. Beat an egg in a small bowl then pour it into the well. (I crack it directly into the well then mix it there.) Then add a cup of milk and 1 tbsp honey to the well. Mix the liquids into the flour. Don’t over mix!

Scoop the batter into a slightly greased muffin tin. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy!

*Oat flour is easy to make, if you don’t want to buy it. Simply put oat flakes/rolled oats in a blender, and whirl it up until it’s finely ground. I like baking with oat flour as it keeps the baked goods moist.