muffins and granola!

Yes, I said I was going to make scones, but I made muffins instead. (It was hard to turn away from the homemade mix that was "already ready already" in the freezer. They were in the oven in five minutes.) These will go in the cookbook, and I made an apple-cinnamon version using, yes, you guessed it . . . diced apple and ground cinnamon. Rocket science.

I also made granola -- after Jess was kind enough to test one recipe for me, I decided to change up the recipe a bit. My granola has always been a bit, em, heavy, if you will -- lots and lots and lots and lots of chewing. So I decided to lighten things up a bit by adding some brown rice puffs, and used walnuts and walnut oil, as well as maple syrup and some other "secret ingredients." Oh, if I had a camera . . . !

Before I started these cooking projects, I watched "Chasing Liberty." There is something I love to hate (or hate to love!!) about Mandy Moore movies. (She was pretty awesome in "Saved!" but her others have been silly but watchable.) It was as predictable as romantic comedies are, but I was hooked anyway. A pretty charming male lead (Matthew Goode) as well as hilarious secondary characters (played by Jeremy Piven and Annabella Sciorra) helped tremendously!

Until tomorrow . . . .