At least the Robins are happy.

It's a rainy and cool day, the robins are singing, the worms are in danger, and so it was perfect for baking.
We had Pat over for tea, and baked some muffins to go along...they were scrumptious! Even though I didn't follow the recipe.

I have a compulsion to tweak...just a wee bit, enough to make them mine.

This is the recipe in it's original state:

Banana Almond Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour
3 Tbsp wheat germ
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup toasted, chopped almonds


2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
2 mashed, ripe bananas (1 cup)

2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Heat oven to 400 F.

Sift first 6 ingredients. In bowl, blend next 3. Stir wet and dry ingredients together just till moistened. Scoop it into greased muffin pans, (I use paper liners) and mix the last two ingredients to sprinkle over top of unbaked muffins. Bake 20 minutes.


Well, in my version I replaced 1/4 cup of the white flour with ground flax seed, and replaced all the wheat germ with the flax as well. I didn't have enough banana to equal one cup so I substituted apple sauce for the 1/4 cup banana I was short. I added about a tsp of almond extract. I upped the quantity of almonds by a bit, and didn't measure the topping ingredients at all, just mixed lots of cinnamon with about an equal amount of sugar.
Mmm-mmmm. They smelled divine, and tasted wonderful, with a nice flecky interior from the flax.

Good rainy day treat!

Thanks for the idea to post the recipe Kathleen, yours sound great too!


We also had another Robin fly in this week! I'm so happy that my niece Robin is home from her globe hopping. She's been gone for about a year and a half. She traveled all over south east Asia, and ended up in Australia working for the last six months or so...and she met a boy, and brought him home with her!
Jun is a Brit, and he too was traveling and working Down Under. They were here for a late dinner on their way to Slave Lake after a hard trip halfway 'round the globe that lasted about three days. They arrived here a day earlier than they left Thailand, and Jun said he felt like it was a day he's really not live over again!

Jun immediately won my heart as he felt enough at home here to ask to borrow some books. I think he took Plato's "Symposium", and "Life of Pi".

I love Book People! Robin borrowed a couple too..."7 Habits" by Stephen Covey, and Peal's "How To Win Friends and Influence People".
I really have a problem with that book, ("How to Win Friends..", not "7 Habits") as the whole premise is to manipulate others to gain what you want. Jun's read it, and agreed, it is Machiavellian, and he said that the whole point is that it did work, so from a sales standpoint, it is a classic.

I find it really disturbing that the book is considered a classic with a lot of Christians I know. In my opinion it goes against every true intention of Christ's example of laying down our life for others, for their sake, not ours.

It's great to have Robin close, and I know she'll find lots to keep her busy while she hangs out at Mom and Dad's.