A lot of it also has to do with my little boy who is turning into a toddler. I so wish she were here to see him, love on him, and spoil him. Admittedly, I also wish she were here to help us out from time to time.
As summer arrives, I begin seeing pictures of my friends and their kids joined by their parents on trips to the beach, and I am green with envy. I know my little Nation of Three will never have a lot of these same experiences that I see in the pictures, but I try tell myself that we are so lucky to have many, many people that love us. That the love of these people will at least, partially fill the hole that is left in our lives by the absence of both mine and Ryan's mothers.
I try not to let that ugly green monster take over, especially on weekends such as this one when I have been so blessed with gifts all around me. Although my little man is going through what seems to be the early onset of the terrible twos, I have received quite the bounty of happiness to distract me from little hitting hands and temper tantrums.
A new life has entered the world as one of my closest friends gave birth to her little peanut on Friday morning. When I went to visit, I held that new little life in my arms, and for the first time since I had my own baby, I knew I was looking into a face that I would look into for the rest of of my life. What a gift friendship can be. What a joyous gift.
My hubs
and I also spent time with some wonderful friends that just so happen to live
next door, and have awesome friends that we have adopted, and who have adopted
us. The fact that we live next door to
people that already feel like family to us after only three years in our
community is a huge blessing.
Another
gift I received this week was the gift of food.
After some slightly obvious hints on my part, a co-worker of mine
brought me the gift of fresh eggs from his chickens. I know it may sound silly to some, but to me,
it was such a cool gift because I had never tasted fresh eggs before. What else could I do on an emotional weekend like
this one, but to bake one of mom's recipes using some of the beautiful eggs
that were given to me? So, I pulled out
one of mom's recipes, dusted it off, and gave it a whirl.
It was perfect timing to find mom's Peach Muffin recipe because the first fresh peaches of the year have ripened and are on the shelves here in the Carolinas. I admit, I made a couple of alterations along the way, but for the most part, this is the same recipe that mom wrote down on that old card so many years ago.
Ingredients
& Instructions
Muffin
Mix:
1 ¾ C.
Flour
2 Tbsp.
Sugar
2 tsp.
Baking Powder
1 tsp.
Salt
1 tsp.
Cinnamon (½ tsp. for muffin mix, ½ tsp. for baking peaches)
1 tsp.
Fresh Grated Nutmeg (½ tsp. for muffin
mix, ½ tsp. for baking peaches)
2 tsp.
Lemon Zest
1 tsp.
Vanilla Extract
1 egg (beaten)
½ C.
Corn Oil
1/3 C. Milk
½ C.
Baked Pureed Peaches (approximately 3 peaches)
½ C.
Finely Diced Peaches (approximately 3 peaches)
Streusel
Topping:
½ C.
Flour
¼ C. Brown Sugar
½ tsp.
Cinnamon
3 Tbsp. Cold Butter
2-3
Tbsp. Pecans (chopped)
Preheat
oven to 350 degrees.
Slice
3-4 Fresh Peaches, sprinkle with ½ tsp cinnamon and ½ tsp nutmeg and bake for
10 minutes. Remove from oven and puree.
Spray
12 muffin pans or place baking cups in muffin tray. Combine dry ingredients (flour, sugar,
cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt.
In separate bowl, mix oil, milk, pureed peaches, lemon zest, vanilla extract, and
eggs. Add dry ingredients to wet and
blend until just mixed. Fold in diced
peaches.
Meanwhile,
combine streusel ingredients in another bowl using a pastry blender until it
has the consistency of wet sand.
Fill
muffin cups with muffin mix 2/3 full and top each with a generous spoonful of
streusel. Bake for 20 minutes, cool, and
enjoy. Refrigerate in airtight
container.
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