Tasty pear muffins

For breakfast this morning, I made a lovely batch of Cheesy Pear Muffins. The recipe was from an old Best Recipes magazine style muffin cookbook, just the kind that you pick up in the grocery store on the way through check out. I was really surprised to have the recipe turn out exceptionally well.



I followed the recipe exactly.

2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice(could add a bit more)
1 cup shredded colby cheese(loosely packed)
2 medium pears chopped
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter melted.

Combine dry ingredients, including cheese. Add pear, mix lightly. Mix in wet ingredients and bake in a preheated, 425 degree oven for 20-25 min.

Yum! Yum!



These little muffins really didn't even need butter or jam because the cheese makes them extremely moist. Honestly, I think there is plenty of fat in them already; I don't even want to guess at the nutrition content.

These have all the lovely flavors of fall.

little cheese ghost

Many people may dislike Whole Foods because they charge too much and are a big corporate chain, but I have to say, I do shop there fairly often. Now, I don't do the majority of my shopping there(it's too expensive for that) but I do pick up a few things now and again and I just love browsing their gourmet food sections (I always find the best treats). The other day, I happened upon some little cheeses that were dressed up for Halloween. So cute. This little bit of goat cheese is dressed up as a Ghost and his little friend is dressed up as a tombstone. Very clever little costumes, I must say.



I haven't tried the tasty creatures yet, but I have no doubt that they will be delicious. That's another advantage to Whole Foods. Everything I buy there is very good and fresh and tasty- I never have to wonder if I've wasted my money buying something inedible, I simply have to worry that I've wasted my money buying something that I could have bought cheaper elsewhere.



Here is the little Ghost flying down the hallway to scare me(in broad day light, who does he think he's kidding?)



Okay, I'll admit, with four pictures that look nearly identical, how could I be so silly as to post all four photos? It was a very difficult decision, and it was only when all four little ghosts looked up at me with the most imploring little faces that just begged to be posted for all the world to see, I realized that I couldn't say no to any of them. So, they all get a little shining spot in the post, whether it was necessary or not.

Sunday afternoon scones and other silliness

Last week I purchased a few persimmons and today I noticed the last two persimmons were getting rather aged. I needed to make them into a yummy treat asap, since Matthew realized the other morning that he Really doesn't like plain persimmon. No amount of coaxing can convince him that they, in fact, have a wonderful, unique flavor in their natural form. As a flavoring for baked goods, on the other hand, they please him immensely. Since I love persimmons raw or cooked, I figured I'd turn my last last two, extra ripe persimmons into scones so that Matthew could enjoyed them just as much as I do. I did this once before, with the sad little specimens that I dragged home last Christmas(of course, they weren't sad before they started on their 800 mile journey).



This time around, I used cinnamon sugar as the only spice, as I didn't have a tangerine on hand and I didn't feel like grinding up enough nutmeg to make it worth the effort. I also dusted the scone tops with cinnamon sugar.



They turned out very good, maybe a little denser than I prefer but then I never use a proper scone recipe so I shouldn't complain.



The color of the day is Orange! First Persimmons, then Pumpkins, I guess it's just that time of year.



What a difference between the pumpkins. They cost about the same but one is lovely and the other is cute. I can't help but adore them both.


Their little backsides =)

Happy little Halloween creatures

I'm just posting photos of some of the cutest little Halloween truffles that we ordered for the store. They are actually almost totally sold out but I made sure to buy one of each before that happened.


The owl, of course, is my favorite. Such a goofy little fellow.


Frankenstein's monstrous creature


An utterly adorable blood sucking batty bat


A creepy little eye ball


A darling little pumpky


And, just to prove that people are afraid of big words, the Pfeffernusse spice acorn truffle. As soon as people hear the word, Pfeffernusse, they look frightened and say "oh, no, not that one." The problem being that it is ultra cute and delicious.

I don't think this counts...

as a cutie souvenir. It's really just a regular souvenir, despite it's adorable appearance. This seems to be a handmade(since they were all different) jug, made for the York Brewery.



We stopped at the brewery on our walk around the old medieval city walls. it was just a block out of the way and honestly, it was one of the nicest stops we made on the entire vacation. Matthew and I are so glad we went on the little brewery tour and drank their delicious beer. We've decided that it was the best and friendliest brewery tour we've gone on(although Cantillon's was pretty good) and they brew up some truly excellent beer, award winning, in fact.



This little jug caught Matthew's and My fancy because it was so sweet and well made. We saw jugs for various breweries in Europe, such as at Cantillon. We aren't sure if they use them for the beer or just as a general purpose jug while they are drinking beer. I personally would use it to hold the cream that I put in my tea that I drink alongside my beer. I will often drink tea and beer or tea and wine or even tea and sake. Winning combinations! well, perhaps only to me =)

Just a couple more! that's all!

The last of my little cutie souvenirs! It's a good excuse to go back to the UK.


Matthew's Lucky Duck Lynnea's Lucky Duck




Is everything okay? yes, no argument here! maybe just a little flirting?


The two cuties together


In the garden, hopefully her thumb isn't as grey as Lynnea's.

We hadn't planned on buying a snake, but sometimes things don't go as planned!


We are very happy with him and his cheerful disposition.

addendum to the cuties

These little owls seem to be from a slightly different line of cuties but it all looked very closely related to me. The owls and the little forest creatures seem to know each other very well, if only from sitting in such close proximity to each other on the shelf.





These little cherries were just too cute!

The cuties (aka the primary reason I want to go back to the UK)

These little woodland creatures appear in many of the cutie shops around The UK. I regret not buying more of the little things from this line that I liked, but I was intently trying to prove that I could show some restraint(if only to myself).







The little accessories for this line included so many things: purses, hot water bottle cozies, bags in all shapes, fabrics and sizes, cupcake papers, figurines, and more.



I bought the hot water bottle and cozy



and the mini lunch bag



I took too, too many photos of the baby mushroom on the forest garland so this little mushy photo gets to sit at the end of this post.