eat! craft! live!

:: photo friday :: Maine in medium format

I love film...and I love Maine! I'm so glad we're moving back north soon...happy Friday everyone!

big changes!

Excuse the long absence...there's been a lot going on at the crafty house lately. After much discussion and, finally, the decision to just do it, we're going to be eating, crafting and, most importantly, living somewhere new! That's right folks, we're moving! To Maine! It's been a dream of mine for a long, long time to finally get back to my home state and with our current (and pending) employment situations, it seems like there's no time like the present to get started on our new northern life. So out of the south we come, away from the most brutal of Texas summers, and into the north! Exciting times!

:: photo friday :: b & w

maple blueberry muffins

Through a long series of events including sales, free berries and our Greenling delivery, we recently ended up with more blueberries than anyone should ever own at once. *ahem* Which is not to say that I don't love blueberries - I do. As a kid, we had a giant blueberry bush in the front yard and when it was time to make muffins, my sister and I traipsed outdoors and picked blueberries until our fingers (and our mouths!) were stained with the sweet juices of summer.

This muffin recipe reminds me of home - maple-flavored muffins studded with sweet, bursting berries. As if I didn't long to return to Maine already, now my nostalgia and desire to escape from this hot, southern place are even stronger! Until that becomes a reality, I will have to tide myself over with these summery Maine muffins.

Maple Blueberry Muffins
adapted from The Muffin Book

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup milk
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 400° and grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, maple syrup, milk and melted butter. Add to flour mixture and stir until just combined. Carefully fold in berries.

Spoon into 12 muffin cups and bake until golder brown, about 15-18 minutes.

I found that these muffins are so deliciously buttery to begin with, they don't need to be buttered...it's like holding a little portable pancake in your hand! But by all means, butter them if you want to...

:: photo friday :: blissful light

August love

Well! It's been a crazy whirlwind around here lately...I hope you are all doing beautifully! Please excuse me for being a little late doling out the love this month...

This month I've decided to share a bunch of tutorials, patterns, recipes and whatnot that I either have made or would like to make! If you've been following along for any length of time, you'll know that I'm all about the homemade "stuff" - whether it's food, knitting or anything else.

First up is something that probably most knitters have at one time or another created: a dishcloth. Most of the time, I just wing it and if you really need a pattern, there are about a million free ones! The one I linked to just looks like a nice, simple, bumpy cloth. It's those little bumps that make all the difference!

As my last tube of Burt's Bees lip balm is nearing empty, I'm starting to think about making my own lip balm too. It's so simple and inexpensive, how could I not?

So...if we're making lip balm, we might as well make homemade deodorant and soap too, right? The deodorant looks to be about on par, difficulty-wise, with the lip balm, though the soap might take a little doing... Until I take the plunge, I'll probably just keep buying homemade soap from one of last month's love recipients - Birch Bark Handmade Soap. (The tutorial is by her too.)

Last, but certainly not least, we all have to stay warm. Right now that's not taking a lot of effort, in fact it's taking loads of effort to stay cool! But eventually I hope know that it will get cool again and for that reason, I'm currently knitting a wrap from some scrumptious single ply silky wool yarn. The pattern is simple enough that I have no problem taking it on the bus and putting it down at a moment's notice. I never have any trouble picking it back up again. The lace pattern is lovely and sort of geometric and I'm looking forward to cool weather that will necessitate the use of a wrap!

Happy August all!