What a Muffin

And here's the recipe to go with it.....These are very tasty. My daughter likes them - Kyle ate it but then threw the last bite away saying he was full. The same boy who would eat 4 waffles for breakfast every morning if I let him. At first he was full of praise....Then in the last bit of conversation he threw in that he liked the chocolate chip part but wherever the zucchini was he didn't like that part.....hmm........I giggled with that one! Funny guy!

Zucchini Muffins

3 cups shredded zucchini (3 medium)
1-2/3 cups sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 large eggs
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (approx) mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Put muffin papers in muffin tins.

Mix zucchini, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients except chocolate chips. Add chocolate chips last after all other ingredients are well stirred.

Pour mixture into muffin cups about 1/2 to 3/4 full. Bake 12-15 minutes. Use a toothpick to check if done; should pull out clean. Cool completely.

Store at room temperature for 4 days or refrigerate up to 10 days.

Makes about 2 dozen depending on fullness.

Media Clip

I saw this link on another blog I was reading and clicked on it not realizing that in not more than 90 seconds or less of watching this clip I'd be in tears. Wow! Very powerful.... I guess having a 6 year old it hit me hard. It makes me very thankful for the people who serve in our armed forces. It's too bad we don't have more people stepping up to the plate to eliminate the burden that to few families suffer with. I'm not interested in weighing in on this debate other than to say how sad it is that children have to suffer this way. And this little boy is one of the lucky ones - he's parent came home! And thank goodness for that....

Camellia's!

Picture of the house from 1966

This I know is a full double
As is this one....

This is the only one (above) that I know the name of - It's called Mother of Pearl and it is absolutely my favorite of all the 60+ we have in the yard....
And this would be a speckled one

When we moved here 12 years ago we had over 100 Camellia's and Azalea's - we've lost a couple of the Camellia's and a good portion of the Azalea's over the years. We had these two great big Azalea's by the front door - someone once told me they were bigger than ones you see at Chico State. There were and still are very old plants in our yard. We have the good fortune to live in the house that Kevin's mom grew up in. The yard is so established with so much greenery. I have a picture from 1966 and you can see when the Magnolia tree was only about 20 to 25 feet high and all the Camellia's lined up along the south side of the house, they are still there. It's pretty amazing - there really are not that many changes from the picture. Here I'll scan it and download it..... Oops! They don't go where you want them to, do they. Well there you go. I guess now I'll have to stand in that spot or there about I suppose, because in 1966 I was not born but I bet I could get pretty close.....And give you the same shot as it is today. I love the awnings on the windows. From the picture you can't tell the house was a great yellow and not our boring gray. My mistake. But since the house needs to be painted, I'm thinking it needs a happy yellow again! Well I guess I've gotten my fill of spring and the yard. I'm not much of a green thumb. I leave that to my sister. But I do love the camellia's. I guess because they come out when it's still winter. They are the first inkling that spring is coming. I can stand at the kitchen sink and see color everywhere. They do brave the cold too. And this year we had a very good and long season with them. We've had them since Christmas time and some are still going. And the Camellia's are so much less work than the roses - and I've noticed they are coming out in full bloom too!

A Belated Spring Post

This tree is truly a treasure in our yard! It's a Japanese Magnolia -

or sometimes called a Tulip tree - at least from what I'm told

I took these pictures the first week of March because I was so excited to have the opportunity to enjoy the blooms - and then it just got a little crazy! We had the school auction where I helped on the committee. Then Omega Nu had there big luncheon with Biba the following weekend. And then the next weekend I was out of town in Modesto for a luncheon - Omega Nu again. I came home that Saturday and started packing for our week up at the lake. I went with the kids to the cabin for there Easter Break. We had a very relaxing time - lots of walks along the beach, a little bowling and so forth. It was so peaceful and quite. There wasn't a single boat on the lake until Thursday. Kevin was able to come up on Friday - but he brought the rain with him. Which was just crazy as we'd had such wonderful weather the whole time! So now we're back once again in the thick of it. We have baseball 3 times a week and Karlee has reading 2 times a week. 'Tis the season....

I've had thoughts of posts but haven't taken the time to make them. But I did clean out the linen cupboard in the hallway, cleaned Karlee's room, cleaned out the big hall closet by the front door and cleaned up the laundry room. All very good things for me these days. I made another trip to the thrift store for a deposit today and have another bag for some friends. I guess you could say I've been hit with the Spring Cleaning bug. Though I can't say my house is any cleaner - just purging some! It seems it's always a work in progress these day - but I'm making some noticeable changes - at least for me! And that's what really matters right... I've had a mental list of things to do recently and have been disciplining myself with computer time. It just didn't seem right to spend the few hours each day that I have lurking around the blog world - when I still had my taxes to do, needing to balance my checkbook that I hadn't done since Aug - what's that like, 8 months - yikes! But they are all done as of Thursday - and we filed our taxes today! No biggie! Procrastination at it's worst I tell you! But I do see the light at the end of the tunnel! I'm going to try and upload some other photos I took earlier in the month from our yard. And I'll try to update my other blog - since I've read a few more books as well.