FLOUR

     You know how it is when you are in an exam room waiting for your doctor and you fiddle through a magazine trying to pass the time?  Well I found a recipe recently while in this precarious state, and was so sure I would like its outcome that I talked the nurse into letting me tear the recipe out of the book.  I never do that!  However, it did help that the magazine was four years old (LOL).  But anyway, as you can see from the photo below, these are Toasty Whole Grain Orange Muffins.  I really do like them.  Yes, they are an alternative from baking something really sweet, but anymore, that's okay with me.  I do like sweet.  My goodness, I grew up with plenty of sweet stuff.  But now, I am really interested in trying recipes that offer healthier options.  I hope you will try these and enjoy them.

Toasty Whole Grain Orange Muffins

     As always, I am only providing information and not gaining anything from anyone for doing so.  I typed the recipe name into the Internet and the same information came up that I read in Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  The link is below and I will comment on just a few things here about what, if anything, I did differently.
     This muffin recipe takes a little more time than most.  It has quinoa in it and unless you have one cup of it as a leftover, then you have to start anew as I did.  But that was okay with me.  I am unaccustomed to having quinoa all the time and did inadvertently make too much.  (Of course I did!)  But I ate the rest with dinner later!  When reading the recipe the first time, the quinoa caught my eye immediately.  I have eaten quinoa on only a few occasions and liked knowing this would be another way to enjoy it.
     After you make the quinoa and it has cooled, it must be baked with the chopped walnuts and rolled oats.  After 10-12 minutes, this mixture must cool slightly before adding to muffin batter.  Yes, you could probably just put everything in without baking the nutty mixture, but I believe your muffin product would be gummy and undesirable. This baked whole grain addition gives the muffins crunch and texture.
     You do need to have a medium size orange and a means to grate the orange peel.  The orange provides a mild but definite citrus flavor.  Most other ingredients are standard, except for buttermilk AND sour cream.  The day I made these I had no buttermilk and used cream that was near its expiration.  Three tablespoons of butter is listed as a wet ingredient.  I only had margarine and substituted that.
     My suggestion would be to make your quinoa the night before.  Then you would be ready to start your recipe by baking the grain mixture first.  The recipe in its entirety can be found with a click below and you will also see the start to finish time is 50 minutes.....and well worth your efforts!

  bhg.com/recipe/toasty-whole-grain-orange-muffins/    


     And... Do you know what would go well with those muffins?  When you click on the link for the recipe, the very last thing one would read is that the muffins can be served with orange marmalade.  Sounds good, right?  Especially since there is orange zest in the muffins.  I actually had seen a recipe for orange marmalade and contemplated making some BEFORE I found the quinoa muffin recipe.  So when I stumbled upon the BH&G article, I knew I would make the marmalade as well.  Here is the link below taken from one of the Barefoot Contessa shows on the Food Network.  Again, I am only sharing information...but like the muffins, this marmalade is scrumptious.

My stash of orange marmalade for the frig.

     I was a little leery at first, wondering if I could accomplish the task of making oranges, lemons and sugar actually taste like something since I do not preserve fruit often.  But I was pleasantly surprised.  My end result is sweet, even though I did cut the amount of sugar to about six and a half cups instead of eight.  I would rather taste the tartness of the orange and lemon with the sweet of the sugar instead of getting an all sweet bite.
    About the only thing I could say otherwise is that the recipe is time consuming.  I actually like that it begins on one day and ends on the next.  The cooking involved on the second day turned into about 4 hours for me, including the water bath processing I chose to do.  My added cooking time was probably due to my caution as to not boil or burn the fruit mixture.  But the marmalade finally passed the firmness test.  Like I said, I chose to process mine in a water bath and ended up with eight half pints.  However, there wasn't enough room for the near cup full that was left in my pan.  So...that orange deliciousness got stashed in my frig.  Besides, I had to have something to pair with my muffins, right?

www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/annas-orange-marmalade-recipe-1946762 

& FLOWER

     I was hesitant when I first decided to try growing an orchid.  I didn't know if I could wait patiently for it to bloom, much less keep it alive until it reached that stage.  I read about their care and do try to keep any orchid in an environment as close to its natural one as possible.  I only water them when they are dry, which in my house is once a week.  However, they do not like to sit in water and I drain their bottom tray if it becomes full.  I put orchids in my north window or my south window.  In winter I try to keep them from cold drafts.  In summer they go outside on my south facing porch with many of my other plants.  I position them back against the house and under some larger plants as much as possible.  Following these things, I have been able to enjoy blooms most every spring, unless an orchid as been newly potted the previous year.

   Even when it's still too cold to garden outside in the early spring, at least I  can enjoy my orchids in bloom.  This time of year is when they most often appear, even though I have had different plants bloom later.  The purple shaded orchid above is the Dendrobium.

This white one above was given to me by a dear friend last fall.  It is a Phalaenopsis and has displayed 13 beautiful blooms for the first time at my house. 

This is a Cattleya orchid.  I love that it has this peachy color with purple on the ruffle.