BEST BLUEBERRY MUFFINS EVER

This is a PSA to share the recipe for the best blueberry muffins ever! I know about these because of my friend Mignon, who is a baker extraordinaire.  Since she introduced me to them, I have made these about four times and have loved it every time. Here is the recipe from Mignon below, it is slightly adapted from Jordan Marsh's recipe first published on The New York Times Cooking blog. You guys, it's so good! 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

2 cups unsifted flour

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2-1/2 cups large fresh blueberries

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons sugar (for top of muffins)

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy; add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

In a second bowl, combine all dry ingredients. (You can use an electric mixer to combine the dry ingredients thoroughly at this point so that you won't need to overmix once the wet and dry ingredients are combined.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter and sugar mixture along with the milk and vanilla.

Spray a 12 muffin baking pan with Baker's Joy (or other non-stick spray). Fill greased muffin cups.

Sprinkle sugar on top of unbaked muffins.

Bake at 375°F for 25-30 minutes. Cool in pan. Run a knife around the edge of each muffin after several minutes to free it from the pan and cool on wire racks. Muffins may be brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with sugar, if desired.

FRIENDS AT FOREST HILL PARK

This was the first week in what feels like many weeks where I didn't awful!  There is still this sinus thing that is lingering but I feel restored for the most part. I even went to our crossfit gym two weekdays in a row and would have gone for a triple except I opted to take a long family walk instead on Thursday (Lola is obsessed with family walks). I really do love feeling of health and ability in my body and the warm weather only helps me feel more in tune with my body. I even feel happy to be sweating.

Speaking of sweating! Here are some more photos from our afternoon at Forest Hill Park, this time of the kids. It was hot and muggy but the kids didn't seem to mind one bit and they were just so stinking cute together Laura and I had a hard time tearing ourselves away.

Photo by Laura! Sloane wore that dress (from Old Navy) for three days straight. 

I love these next series of photos. I love these girls!

WHAT I'M READING V. 24

The Vanishing Velaquez by Laura Cumming

I LOVED this book. Laura Cumming, an art critic in London, tells the story of a man named John Snare in 1845 who comes across a painting that he suspects might be a long-lost Valazquez, and becomes totally obsessed with trying to verify it's history and authenticity. This was intriguing because I do love his painting, "Las Meninas" and Cumming really made me feel why someone might be obsessed to this level. I loved all the detail and story-telling, and although the ending is not entirely a satisfying one, the read was very satisfying. Also, now I badly want to go Madrid to see some Velaquez paintings in real life! If you're interested, here is a great article by Laura Cumming explaining how she came to write this book in the first place. 

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

I had been on the waist list for this one for a while and it was worth the wait. It's a 1963 book by Baldwin containing two essays: ""My Dungeon Shook — Letter to my Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of Emancipation," and "Down At The Cross — Letter from a Region of My Mind." I was totally captivated by his writing (I love his clear, precise, yet moving style), and also stunned and saddened by how relevant so much of his words are to our society today. 

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

This is another one by a Korean author (the other recent one I read was Nowhere to be Found) that was a fast read. Throughout the first half of the book I was thoroughly creeped out, and I attribute that to the skill of the author depicting this woman's plight. I wish I had gobbled this all up in one sitting; I read the first half quickly and then had to put it down for several weeks and by the time I picked it up again, some of the spell had dissipated. I'm still thinking about it though and looking forward to discussing it with my brother-in-law (who lent it to me). Also, for some reason, I get chills when I think about reading this particular one in Korean. I think that would make a different and deeper sort of impact.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion 

This was a largely popular book and it seems very suitable for a beach read - fun, easy, and sometimes funny. At first, I was a little too wary of how it seemed sort of gimmicky - a genetics professor who has Asperger-like symptoms (obsessed with organization and schedules, poor social skills, highly intellectual) finds himself in a romantic comedy situation, so all usual plot points get an easy twist. And admittedly, I sort of trudged through the first half, but the second half picked up speed and I got swept up by the momentum. There is apparently talk of turning this into a movie, if that tells you anything about it, and I'm sort of hoping it does get made into one.

THE AGABAS - FOREST HILL EDITION

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  We tried to slow down the pace these past few days and it was exactly what I needed. Before heading back into the work week I want to share these photos of the Agabas that I took on Saturday. We met them at Forest Hill Park, one of my favorites because of the trails and lushness, and Laura and I took turns taking photos for each other's family. It was so much fun and I really like how these turned out. Little Etta Mae keeps blowing me away these days with how quickly she is growing and changing so I loved getting the chance to capture her exactly as she is right now. 

  

PIPER & SCOOT AT HOME

Things might have seemed a tad quiet over here on the blog. I had gotten sick a couple of weeks ago, felt better, and then somehow gotten sick again this past week. I am on the mend I'm sure, and I'm looking forward to being back at full functioning capacity! For that reason, and for being able to spend some down time with the girls, I am really looking forward to this upcoming long weekend, I'm planning in some time to not do anything at all, and I'm excited about it. 

Before we head off to the weekend, here's a quick post sharing some lovely things from Piper & Scoot's new home line. There are so many lovely things and I've included some of my favorites here, staring with those dreamy foil edged marble coasters & cotton and linen napkins in rose above. 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

11" round marble board & marble base brass arch lamp

wool chunky knit pillow & woven linen throw in black 

copper canister with marble lid & brass round metal wall shelf

whale bookends & seagrass basket with handles 

dotted bowl in black & brass measuring spoon set 

STRAWBERRY PICKING 2017

Here we are again! Strawberry picking season is back and this time we got to go with a bunch of friends. It was a hot day, everybody was sweaty, and the strawberries were sweet - it was glorious. This post here is a photo dump of all all the morning's photos!

And because this is so fun, this is our first strawberry picking trip (back when Sloane was almost 2 years old, the age Logan is now) This is the year after,when I was pregnant with Lola, and this is last year when Lola was a few months under one. We do love ourselves some fruit picking.

Their third year strawberry picking together!