It’s Hot Toddy Season!

I love autumn! I love the abundant harvest, colors changing, brisk cool nights and my husband bringing home delicious fruit and freshly made apple cider, which is the perfect reason to start drinking one of my favorite drinks – the Hot Toddy. It is ideal after an invigorating fall hike, or when it is simply grey and raining out. This is my favorite drink that I start enjoying during autumn and throughout the winter. Grab a mug, next time you’re snuggling up next to the wood stove. hot toddy

Debbie’s Hot Toddy Recipe

(makes 1 serving)

  •  1 mug full of Red Jacket Apple Cider (if you cannot find it, ask your local grocer to stock it or use another local apple cider)
  • 2 oz. of rum (the darker the better)
  • 1/2 inch of fresh ginger root

Peel and chop ginger root, add all the ingredients to a saucepan, simmer for 5 minutes. If you are lazy, like I can be from time to time, put the mug full of ingredients into the microwave for 2 minutes.

I also find this drink wonderful and very soothing when I feel like my body is fighting some invading germs. It always seems to make me feel much better.

Enjoy!

 

Traveling with Muffins

Our Midwest Road Trip

Our Midwest Road Trip

When Mathew was turning one year old, we decided to introduce him to all our relatives and friends in the Midwest. During those 3 weeks, we traveled over 5,000 miles from New York to Minnesota down to Oklahoma then on to Virginia and back to New York. We spent Mathew’s 1st birthday, in Chicago at the Shedd Aquarium. Before we left, I wanted to stock up on nutritious unprocessed snacks for the ride. I had never been much of a baker but I thought muffins were a good choice. I could pack them full of nutritious ingredients and they would travel well. After a great deal of searching, I found this amazing woman, Cathe Olson; she wrote cookbooks with delicious recipes using basic ingredients. I actually started to correspond with her via email and she emailed me several recipes to choose from and has since then sent me several more. Most of her recipes were for loafs but they easily converted into muffins. After the trip, I started to make different types of muffins each week and froze half the batch. After a month, I had a freezer full of a variety of muffins. This kept snacks fresh and from getting too boring.

YUM!

YUM!

Here’s one of Mathew’s favorite muffin recipe:

Apricot-Nut Muffins

This moist, delicious bread supplies vitamin A and iron. You can omit the nuts, of course.

1 cup chopped dried apricots

1 1/2 cups boiling water

1/4 cup maple syrup, brown rice syrup, agave nectar, or honey (always used maple syrup)

1/4 cup oil

1 cup apricot soak water

1/4 cup orange juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup wheat germ

1 cup walnuts, chopped

Place apricots in a heatproof bowl. Pour boiling water over apricots and let sit about 15 minutes. Drain apricots, reserving 1 cup of the soak water.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Oil a muffin pan. Beat together sweetener, oil, apricot soak water, orange juice, and vanilla. In separate bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Stir in wheat germ. Stir in liquid ingredients until just mixed. Gently fold in apricots and nuts. Pour into prepared muffin pan. Bake about 20 minutes, or until tester inserted in center comes out dry. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

If you bake this in an 8 or 9-inch square baking pan or loaf pan, it will be like a cake. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out dry.