Month: February 2013

Cranberry Nut Crumb Muffins

Sadie1 Comment

So I keep meaning to make cranberry nut bread, but I can’t think of an occasion or a purpose for it.  I’m usually not one to bake without a purpose because I live by myself so there is a good chance that I will end up eating it all myself.

Recently though I had an occasion to make muffins so I thought I would turn my need to make cranberry nut bread, into a need to make cranberry nut muffins. I looked around on some of my favorite sites to find recipes, and found the one below on the Food Network website.

I did, however, make one smart swap. The recipe called for sour cream, and to be honest, I’ve never been a fan. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t by it for a specific recipe, but I thought a better alternative would be greek yogurt.  So I swapped out the sour cream for greek yogurt and even added a little orange zest for brightness the muffins turned out great!yogurt

One of the great things about these muffins is the fabulous streusel topping.  It’s like coffee cake meets muffin. You should definitely give these a try the next time you are in need of a breakfast/brunch treat!

Cranberry Nut Crumb Muffins

Yields about 24 muffins, adapted from Food Network

Ingredients

  • 8 Tbs unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup plain greek yogurt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • zest of one orange
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries, cherries, or raisins

Topping

  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 Tbs flour
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 Tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 350 and line cupcake pans with liners.
  2. In one bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
  3. In a different bowl cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs one at a time., then vanilla and orange zest.
  4. Alternate adding dry mixture and yogurt to the wet mixture.  Begin and end with the dry.
  5. Fold in the dried cranberries, and try not to over mix the batter.
  6. To make the topping combine all of the ingredients in a bowl, and smush together with hands or pastry cutter to get to a sandy consistency.
  7. Fill cupcake tins about two thirds full with batter then sprinkle each with the crumb topping.
  8. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and tester comes out clean.Yummy topping

Top 3 Sophie Kinsella Books

CarrieLeave a comment

One of my favorite authors is Sophie Kinsella.  She also writes under another name, Madeline Wickham.  My fascination with this author all started back in 2003 when a co-worker at the golf club told me that I should read the Shopaholic Series.  I took her recommendation and started my summer reading list out with the first book in the series.  After reading the first chapter, I was hooked.  Her writing is witty and clever and always has a romantic plot line.  It’s the perfect recipe for a fantastic read.  Here are my top three favorites.

1. The Undomestic Goddess – This is a story about a lawyer who has to start a new career as a housekeeper.

2. Confessions of a Shopaholic – You might know this one as the movie where Isla Fisher plays Rebecca Bloomwood, a shopaholic who writes a finance column about how to manage money even though she can’t manage any money of her own.

3. I’ve Got Your Number – Her most recent novel about a recently engaged Poppy who finds out that her fiancé might not be the one she was meant to live the rest of her life with.

Her new novel, Wedding Night,  comes out in April.  Check any one of her books out for yourself.  I guarantee you will enjoy it if you life chic lit!

 

Running Link Love

SadieLeave a comment

Happy Monday!  This week I am in taper mode for my second half marathon on Sunday.  Since I’m in a running mode right now, I thought I would share some things that have helped me out recently.

I would not consider myself an experienced or a very serious runner, because I’ve never been very fast, and my interest has varied over the past few years.  Sometimes I will run multiple times a week for a few months and sign up for charity races, and then other times I will only run when I’m out of other workout options.  I don’t think that my body was particularly made for running, I’m definitely working against the laws of physics.  But I keep trying to bend those laws and convince my body to run and run faster.

In the past few months there have been a few blog posts/articles that I have come across that have given me some great insight and tips into the running world.

  1. Teri over at A Foodie Stays Fit, posted about her methods for increasing her running speed. I found this post very helpful, and while I’ve dabbled with running intervals in the past, it has inspired me to do it more regularly, and I have been seeing results on my longer steady state runs.
  2. I saw a link for this article about the golden rules for runners. It has a lot of great guidelines and suggestions that are so helpful for less experienced runners. It definitely helped me cut some corners rather than learning some lessons the hard way.  Things like how to dress for the weather, or how long to use your shoes, and many more.
  3. And even though I hate the treadmill, I do spend some time on it during the week because it’s a great training tool, especially to build speed.  The Skinny Runner, who I find hilarious, posted a link to this chart that does a little conversion for the incline on the treadmill.  When you run on an incline it obviously adds intensity so this chart shows you how the incline and pace you choose translates to a faster past without an incline. It’s hard to explain, just look at the chart.
  4. And lastly, if you’re in the Williamsburg area and you like running, you should sign up for the Yorktown Victory Run. It’s an 8 mile run from Newport News Park to the Yorktown Victory Monument and I’m the race director!  It’s a race that my business school organizes every year, and all of the proceeds go to Kidz’NGrief, a local charity that specializes in counseling children whole have lost a loved one.

The groundhog said Spring is coming so lace up those sneakers and get outside! And when you get back from your run, you should probably make yourself one of these…