Blueberry Muffins, Take Two and My Big Fat Greek Feast

     I had a ball cooking today. Started with an attempt to make the blueberry muffins from "Bubby's Brunch Cookbook," following the directions correctly this time, and they turned out great! With frozen blueberries, though, they have to go at least another 5 minutes in the oven. They have the lightest crumb, taste more like blueberry cupcakes than blueberry muffins. The recipe also makes 24, not 16 muffins, which is a bonus. An old friend of mine from elementary school sent me an autographed copy of this cookbook for Christmas and it is wonderful. I'm hoping to actually cook my way through this one since I love brunch but don't have much of a brunch repetoire. Tomorrow, I am making blueberry scones. They call for 2 cups of cream, so they should be amazing! I love a good scone, with a lovely cup of tea and a good book, a little bit of bliss in the afternoon.

My Big Fat Greek Feast!

     But after I made the muffins today, I started working on the my big fat Greek feast! I used three recipes from my favorite Greek cookbook to date, Jeff Smith's, "The Frugal Gourmet Cooks three Ancient Cuisines." Souvlaki (shish kebab), stuffed grape leaves (dolmas) and Greek tomato sauce are the three recipes I used from this book. I also made hummus, but I make it pretty often and wing it these days. But I do add a couple extra ingredients, a little tamari, cumin and paprika. The rice was just a simple white rice with olive oil and butter. The lovely pita bread came from the local food co-op, Oryana, it is the most authentic in town and I love it. We had company, so I made extra and I think my whole family was happy. Although it was hard for me to see my almost 11 year old "unwrap" the stuffed grape leaves after all the work my oldest daughter and I put into making them, lol. Oh well, at least she ate the filling. I had so much fun making this dinner, but it did require the washing of two loads of dishes (and we don't have a dishwasher), lol, I think I used every pot and dish in the kitchen. But it was worth it. Cooking is one of my favorite creative outlets. Although I do use recipes for many things, I am not above making changes when I have to or when I think something might be better with the addition of a certain spice, condiment or other ingredient. I love to feed people too. My family is the most convenient, but I also love to feed my friends whenever I get the chance. It brings me joy. I know when school starts up again next week, I won't have this kind of time for cooking, but I will have time to work on my journal, make beads and jewelry, so I'm just wallowing in the cooking medium right now, loving every minute and making messes all over the place!