Flashback Friday: Father's Day Edition

Friday, June 18, 2010


So, I don't know if y'all have noticed or not, but I am a huuuuge Daddy's girl. For as long as I can remember, my Dad has been my knight in shining armor. While growing up, nothing could ever harm me, as long as he was there.

I'll never forget when the 1989 earthquake hit San Fransisco, we lived in Hayward at the time. With one big rushing movement, my Dad came from out of nowhere and swooped me up from the chair where I sat and somehow gently tossed me into the rolling doorway, while at the same time, he turned around to catch the TV just before it hit the ground. ...and I was amazed. For being so little when it happened, I remember it as if I just got finished watching it in a video.

The memories that I have of my Dad are nothing less than heroic. Hes a far from perfect man, but somehow he managed to keep his imperfections out of my line of sight, another way of protecting me I'm sure (which I'm grateful for), and all of my memories of him are imprinted with his heart of hard earned gold.

I could tell you stories forever, if given the chance. I could go on and on about all of our adventures, all of our inside jokes, all of the everythings that I hold so near and dear to my heart. But- the more I re visit my memories, the more emotional I get. And unless I want to flood you all out with a sea of I-love-My-Daddy tears, I had maybe better just leave it at whats already been said.




I came across these pictures last week, when I was looking for something to scan. The backs of the photographs are unmarked- I have no idea as to where they were taken. My guess is, that I was right around 3 or 4 years old, though.

The pictures aren't very clear, they were taken from far away. But I love them.

I wish I could remember being there with him, as he tossed me through the air. I wish I could hear the 80's music and smell the sunblock. Usually, pictures like this trigger something for me, and bring it all back, but this time I just can't seem to find it. I have a sort of idea, a scene created by my imagination, of what it must have been like- and it makes me smile. I guess thats what photographs are for though, right? To help fill in the blanks?

This year, for Father's Day, I baked my Dad some chocolate espresso biscotti, boxed it up all pretty, wrote him a letter, and sent it off to Washington State, where hopefully he'll be able to enjoy it with a nice hot mug of coffee. I hear the weather there is still pretty dreary.

Actually, I had to do all of that twice. See, the first batch I made, sat packaged up in the 150 degree car for two days, because my husband was too lazy to take it to the post office for me like he promised- so I had to completely re bake it, re box it, and send it at the very last minute. But all is said and done now, and the chances of the biscotti still getting to my Dad on time are good. So, nobody got hurt, and hubby is forgiven (although if his brain continues to fail, I might have to sell that new motorcycle of his).

What are you doing for your Dad, this Father's Day?


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Grab a photo and flashback with us! Upload or scan any ol' picture from your collection, or maybe just pull one from your Flickr acct if you're feeling lazy (we've all been there, haha). Write a little bit to go with your image, grab out button and toss it into the mix, and then come back here and add your link to the list below. Easy as pie. I do my best to go and read each and every flashback, like a good host- as do a lot of the participants. We're quite the friendly group, so please feel welcomed rather than shy.


Gluten Free Jumbo Blueberry Muffin Recipe

Thursday, June 17, 2010


I know, I'm a little obsessed with muffins lately, aren't I? My arguably (un)healthy love for the wrapped-in-paper fluffy breakfast pastries is somewhat slowing though, as I've started taking on a new baking challenge- biscotti. Thats not saying that this will be my last recipe post about muffins (although I'm sure some of you wish it was), I'm just not quite as enthusiastic about the things as I was a month ago. We all go through phases, right?



A couple of mornings ago, we brought our breakfast out onto the back porch with us. Blueberry muffins. I don't know what we were thinking, since this ended up attracting 9,000 flies (seriously, how did they find us so quickly??), but at the time, it seemed like a nice idea



Whats better to eat on a Saturday morning, than an over sized handful of crumbly blueberry bliss?

Thats right, nothing.

And really, blueberry muffins are kind of the all-season delight, ya know? It doesn't matter if its spring or fall, they always fit in with whatever.

Now- think of the theme music to Jaws, and start humming it softly to yourself, and don't stop...



Heeeeeeeee.

Kinda funny, right?

Hopefully you just cracked at least a little bit of a smile, with that one.

My kids love eating these muffins for breakfast. For awhile there, we were having them every single morning. Maybe not the blueberry specifically, but some type of jumbo muffin (banana, chocolate chip, etc). And the first morning we went without them? My daughter pouted all the way through her cereal, as if I had just broken her cake loving heart. Oh poor baby, right? But really- I was kinda bummed too.



But not this morning, because I had a big ol' muffin to love, all to myself.

And um, ahem- I know you've all been wondering what I look like when I've freshly rolled out of bed. So-

...well now that mystery has been solved.

Next riddle: what doesn't my husband understand about the very detailed directions of: "make sure none of my cleavage is in the shot, ok?".

Fail.



I made him pull weeds for that.

(Ooh! Ooh! See my new bird bath??!)

Alright alright, enough chit chat. Lets get to the recipe posting part...


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GF Jumbo Sized Blueberry Muffin Recipe




Ingredients:
-2 1/2 cups gf baking mix (I prefer to use this homemade mix)
-2 tablespoons flax meal
-3/4 cup sugar
-1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

-1/2 cup melted smart balance
-2 or 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
-1/2 teaspoon almond extract
-2 eggs, beaten
-1 cup soy milk

-1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries


And then, mixing them is super simple, of course. Two separate bowls, one for wet ingredients, one for dry ingredients. After everything is mixed separately, then mix them together. Fold in the blueberries at the last minute, and then load up the muffin papers. This should be enough to fill an entire pan.

Keep in mind, these are jumbo muffins, not standard size. You can probably use this recipe for standard sized muffins too, and maybe just cut the baking time in half? Maybe not quite half, though.

For the jumbo kind, bake these at 350 degrees, for 35-40 minutes.



And don't forget your sippy of milk :)