Monday Musings

I do a lot in my every day life to express my creative side.  The obvious being is my knitting, but I have also developed a love of baking.  Thank goodness for the internet because thousands of recipes and ideas are right at my fingertips.  I recently came upon the Brown Eyed Baker when I was looking for new and interesting recipes.  I will definitely be venturing back there when I need some inspiration for future creations.  For cinco de mayo I made the margarita cupcakes.  These adult only tasty looking little treats were  something I could handle and I was not to be disappointed.  For a less mature audience the tequila can be left out of the frosting and you could skip brushing the warm cupcakes with tequila.  Seriously it's only two tablespoons used in the frosting for all 12.  But I can proudly say I finished off a bottle while putting these together.  Thanks to a few friends who have a serious love for margaritas I had two additional bottles waiting in the wings.  However, John doctored them a little and added a rim of salt like you would to a margarita glass...next time we will skip the salt and use sugar instead.

My favorite kitchen appliance is my Kitchen Aid mixer.  This is hands down the best kitchen gift I have ever received.  The only other appliance that gets more use is my food processor.  Now that I have had my mixer for a few years I want some of the attachments like the pasta maker.  The whisk and the dough hook came with it and those are great additions.  But who wouldn't want the taste of homemade pastas?!  Ahh the night before the Big Lake would really become an event!

Got up and early on my Sunday morning thanks to my pager activating as John's alarm clock started to ring.  He was heading with his little dog to do the Hancocks and I was going to sleep in just a bit.  Then the pager went off a second time and I was up for good.  It was a beautiful morning along the Suncook River with the fog hanging down in the valley and the sky a mix of high clouds and blue sky.  Finally a return to nicer weather even if it is only for a few days.  Overall it was a wonderful morning to get in my last long run.  I took a very scenic route that had nice views of the Belknaps and then I followed a small river through the woods on my way back home.