Recipe: Cinnamon Muffins

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I just made these for the first time today, and oh...man. They're my new favorite muffin. [I based it on another recipe, but that blog that hosted it has since been taken down.]

Cinnamon Muffins

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (I always add a little more, so...probably more like 3/4 teaspoon.)
1 1/4 cups flour
2 t baking powder
dash salt
1/4 teaspoon (heaping) ground cinnamon
1/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375*. In a bowl, cream sugar and butter together. Add vanilla and egg. Mix well, then add flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and milk. Mix only until blended. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins (greased or lined). Bake for 15 minutes.

**Note: This recipe only came out to about six muffins for me. I don't know if I just make huge muffins, but you might want to double the recipe.

To Counter All Troubles in All Times

{image source} "Love. Healing. Help. Hope. The power of Christ to counter all troubles in all times—including the end of times. That is the safe harbor God wants for us in personal or public days of despair. That is the message with which the Book of Mormon begins, and that is the message with which it ends, calling all to 'come unto Christ, and be perfected in him' (Moroni 10:32)."

--Jeffrey R. Holland

Hello? Anybody There?

I'm just checking in--wanted to let you all know that I'm still alive, heh. We finally got a new camera (yay!), and things I could be blogging about, but blogging has been low on my priority list lately. Anyway, I'm still around, still reading, still commenting occasionally...and I'll be back here eventually. I promise.

Let Love Abound

{image source} "Let us lower our voices in our homes. Let love abound and find expression in our actions. May we walk the quiet ways of the Lord, and may prosperity crown our labors." -Gordon B. Hinckley

Busted!

Our camera's broken. Real broken. It won't even turn on. Now, we could by a new battery to see if that's the problem. Or we could have a professional look at it. Or we could figure out some other way to spend money fixing it. OR we could spend less money buying a new camera than we spent when we bought this one. And this one was used when we bought it. I vote for that option. Anyway, I find it hard to blog when I don't have pictures to go along with my posts. I know I could use stock photos, or...gulp...no photos. Or maybe I'll do a whole bunch of "blast from the past" type posts...but I have a feeling that wouldn't be very interesting to anyone. So we'll see. Maybe I'll blog, maybe not. But when we get a new camera, there WILL be blogging! Be prepared.

A Reputation For Excellence

{image source} "Work is an antidote for anxiety, an ointment for sorrow, and a doorway to possibility. Whatever our circumstances in life, my dear brethren, let us do the best we can and cultivate a reputation for excellence in all that we do. Let us set our minds and bodies to the glorious opportunity for work that each new day presents." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Recipe: Cowboy Cookies

{image source} I've eaten a lot of cookies in my life. (Who hasn't?!) And most of them were good, but only a few of them were REALLY good. And I want you guys to know that I wouldn't share a cookie recipe with you unless it was REALLY good. And this one is. This is Isaac's Aunt Dawn's recipe (hi Dawn!), and I don't know where she got it. The instructions before the recipe are hers, too. Cowboy Cookies The secret to making these taste SUPER good is to use ½ cup real butter and ½ cup margarine (a trick I learned from my nephew Ben) and use 1 cup of all-purpose flour and 1 cup of freshly ground whole wheat flour (a trick I made up myself). Then? Perfection! And don’t leave out the pecans. That would be a BIG mistake, baby! 1 cup butter or margarine, melted 1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 2 cups quick-cooking oats 1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips ¾ cup chopped pecans Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until smooth. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture, stir until a soft dough forms. Stir in oats, chocolate chips, and pecans. Drop tablespoonfuls of dough 2 inches apart onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Store in a airtight container. Yield: about 5 1/2 dozen cookies Giddyup!