Oatmeal Millet Cookies

These cookies are really good. I especially like the crunch from the millet.

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1-1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground ginger
Pinch cinnamon
1/3 cup hulled millet

In bowl, cream butter with sugar; beat in egg. Mix together oats, flour, baking powder and soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon; stir into creamed mixture. Mix in raisins and millet. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets; flatten slightly using floured fork. Bake in 325°F (160°C) convection oven or 350°F (180°C) conventional oven until golden, 10 or 11 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Having Fun

Ryan finally had a chance to go to Disneyland with us this past week. We had fun riding all of Hannah's favorite rides and managed to avoid a lot of the crowds. We got there right when the gates were opening and stayed until after dinner. Always wanting to get our money's worth, I wanted to stay until after the parade, but Ryan thought that 12+ hours of Disney fun was "borderline psychotic" so we left after a fun-filled dinner at The Rainforest Cafe.

The Accountant

The other night I was on the computer trying to get our federal taxes submitted and after awhile I looked over to see what Ryan was doing. He was watching Desperate Housewives. This made me laugh because most people would think it should be the other way around.

Blueberry Muffins

Makes 1 dozen
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously butter a standard 12-cup muffin pan and dust with flour, tapping out excess; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Working over the bowl, toss blueberries in a fine sieve with about 1 1/2 teaspoons flour mixture to lightly coat; set aside the flour mixture and the blueberries.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a handheld mixer, beat butter and 1 cup sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Mix in vanilla.
3. With the mixer on low speed, add reserved flour mixture, beating until just combined. Add milk, beating until just combined. Do not overmix. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the blueberries. Divide batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. If desired, in a small bowl, mix together remaining 1/4 cup sugar and nutmeg. Sprinkle sugar mixture on top of muffin batter.
4. Bake, rotating pan halfway though, until muffins are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of one muffin comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Turn muffins on their sides in their cups, and let cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

-From The Martha Stewart Baking Handbook

pysanky easter eggs

Ukranian and Polish folk art

easter cupcakes

lettuce

I love salad. Especially ones with a lot of "stuff" on them. I recently taught a class on salad greens to try and encourage people to get away from just buying iceberg and romaine. I bought 15 different kinds of lettuce and had the class try to identify them by sight only. See how well you would do:

Answers: Iceberg, Romaine, Green Leaf, Escarole, Radicchio, Arugula, Red Leaf, Watercress, Butter, Mache (Lamb's Tongue), Frisee, Spinach, Belgian Endive

Here are some interesting facts about lettuce:

The ancient Greeks believed that lettuce induced sleep, so they served it at the end of the meal. The Romans continued the custom. However, the dictatorial Emperor Domitian (81-96 AD) served it at the beginning of his feasts, so he could torture his guests by forcing them to stay awake in the presence of the Emperor.

Iceberg lettuce got it's name from the fact that California growers started shipping it covered with heaps of crushed ice in the 1920s. It had previously been called Crisphead lettuce.

And here is a great recipe using ones of my favorites, arugula:

Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Arugula and Chutney
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. black pepper
2 tablespoons light mayonnaise, divided
Cooking spray
6 tablespoons mango chutney, divided (I buy the Mango-Ginger kind from Trader Joe’s)
4 (1-oz) slices sourdough bread
2 cups arugula
1. Prepare grill
2. Sprinkle chicken with ½ tsp. salt and ½ tsp. pepper. Coat both sides of each chicken breast half with 1 ½ tsp mayonnaise. Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill for 3 minutes on each side or until done. Brush 1 ½ tsp chutney over each chicken breast half. Place bread slices on grill rack, and grill for 1 minute on each side or until golden. Spread 1 tablespoon chutney onto each of 4 bread slices, and top each serving with ½ cup arugula and 1 chicken breast half.
-If I don’t have a lot of time, sometimes I just toast my bread in the toaster, put on some rotisserie chicken or chicken slices from a previous meal, and then top with the chutney and arugula. It only takes a few minutes to make this way.