A Christmas wish list....

Lots of Winter plants which I think would survive a West of Scotland winter, and cheer up the grey drab garden throughout the darker days.....

Scabiosa japonica 'Blue Diamonds' (Pincushion 'Blue Diamonds')

Anemone de Caen 

Christmas Rose 

Winter Aconite 

Winter Jasmine 

Edelweiss 

This window bird feeder

Confused garden?!

Just what season does my garden think it is?  If you thought I was mad when I said before that my garden shows little regard for the time of year and how is ought to be behaving, then read on.

Bit late for Gladioli isn't it?  Only bloomed this week.  And in my bedroom my extraordinary hibiscus burst into one solitary bloom this morning - usually a good omen.  Let's hope so as I could certainly do with it this month.

Should I tell this Aster that November is a bit late to consider blooming?

I rarely get to my strawberries before the creature features do, maybe this will be even harder in winter months?

And I am still doubtful that I'll harvest much sprouts from this poor half eaten alive creature!

Does your garden display any oddities or stubbornness?  Is it perhaps a sign of the changes in climate that only my garden is willing to show - none of my neighbours gardens are so bonkers!

Pumpkin Muffins

I kept it simple and just carved the one pumpkin this year, I think I was too overwhelmed by the choices and dazzling designs on my previous post!  In the end there wasn't much time left over to go wild with Halloween displays, and I knew that ultimately with it falling on a wet and cold Monday this year, there would be few Trick or Treaters calling by.  Hence I am also left with too many sweets leftover from a poor turn out this year!

I just treated myself to Ed Roth's 'Stencil 101' book after lusting after it for some time and so used one of his stencils to make a more contemporary pumpkin this year.  I think my carving skills need a lot more practice, maybe next year Baby Wild can paint them instead.

Bad carving aside, I now had a reason to bake.  I've been in a bit of a fug the past few days, and generally been moping around the house seemingly unable to achieve anything.  I like baking on dark evenings so set about whipping up a storm in the kitchen last night to cheer myself up.  I got a bit carried away and made a few batches of meals for the rest of the week, with the excuse of maximising the oven whilst it was switched on.

I used this recipe from The Curvy Carrot as my starting point for the Pumpkin Muffins, but strayed far and wide as the original states American measurements rather than grams and ounces.  It was the healthiest and least complicated recipe I could find in my warped and miserable state.  At the best of times I'm not very technical when it comes to measuring ingredients so it's always a bit hit or miss!  Here's my interpretation using Daddy Native's Granny's china tea cups to measure the dry ingrediants...

1. Cream 100g butter with 1/2 cup normal (or half & half in this case) sugar with 1/4 cup soft brown sugar.
2. One by one slowly add 2 eggs, a generous drop of vanilla essence, then continue to whisk or beat for a few minutes before adding pureed or mashed & roasted pumpkin, about 200 mls.  This will provide the moisture and negate the need for adding any further oil or butter to the mixture.
3. Sift together 2 cups of flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, some freshly grated nutmeg, & a pinch of allspice for good measure; and gently mix it all into the creamed butter.
4. Stir in a handful of raisins, and either pumpkin seeds or walnuts depending on what's open in the cupboard and divide the mixture into muffins cases (already lining the muffin tin of course).  Alternatively you could pour the mixture into a greased and lined loaf tin.  I did both, and got 6 muffins and a small loaf with these measurements.  Muffins to give away to family and a wee loaf that slices well to fit into lunch boxes. 
5. Sprinkle the top of the mixture with pumpkin or sunflower seeds, before baking for about 20 minutes at something like 180 degrees with fan oven.  Like I said, I was cooking 3 separate meals in the oven at this stage so I'm guessing with the temperature.  Best to follow your usual muffin recipe temperature!

Voila! Yummy scrummy healthy muffins that I don't feel guilty about giving to the toddler.  Following her behaviour after staying over night at her cousins and eating a pile of sweets, I am adamant she'll not be seeing much more sugar for a long time!  #terribletwos

Zombie family

PS - for an even easier and cheaper dark evening baking session, check out my wild apple tart recipe on the other blog.