carrot cake muffins

The return of the muffin! Anna and I made these Saturday morning after she found this recipe featured on the NY Times. This particular recipe is great for breakfast-- I truly think that this is the healthiest muffin I've ever made. The whole wheat flour and the grated carrots make the muffin very wholesome and perfect with a morning cup of tea.

carrot cake muffins
from the new york times

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups grated carrots

Combine flour, powder, soda, and spices. In a separate bowl, mix eggs, brown sugar, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in carrots. Evenly disperse in greased muffin tins* and bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

*This recipe is very wholesome, so if you'd like to add a little extra sweetness, I recommend sprinkling brown sugar on top of the muffins before they bake.

weekend

After turning in two of my final papers in last week, this weekend was a lot more enjoyable. On Friday night our apartment was filled with people- there was Sarah's amazing Indian feast, Jenna's legendary cocktails, and more noise than our apartment has seen in months. David came to visit again so we had another fun game night (except this time we didn't end at 4am).

Come Saturday the weather was beautiful. Anna and I made carrot cake muffins (coming soon), David surprised me by bringing my beloved spaetzle (which I cooked with lots of cheese then served with polenta), and I lay on the couch enjoying the sunshine and warm breeze. We took a quick trip home to visit my nieces (see below), have a pizza night, and enjoy being home and being together.

Please note Raiza's adorable face below. I firmly believe that this is the most hilarious face that an 18-month-old baby has ever made. With Elmo.

Sunday was a little disorienting with the time change-- I accidentally adjusted my cell phone after it had already automatically changed. I was two hours off for most of the day, but Panera honey-oat toast for breakfast and midday drives along beautiful 280 set things right.

salzburg revisited

Just revisiting my beloved Salzburg. This city was unexpectedly my favorite when David and I spent two weeks taking trains around Western Europe. I won't ever get over how much I love the Mirabell Gardens. I miss the dainty European streets, the Alps in view at any point, and cinnamon sugar pretzels as big as our heads. Now that I'm almost done with school and not sure what I'm doing after I graduate, I feel a lot of signs directing me back. Or at least on the same continent.

Can you blame me?

a polo match

On Saturday, David and I went to our first polo match ever. Within the first two minutes of the game, a ball whizzed right by our heads. But after that there were no other close calls. Our good friend, Mark, came up with his Cal Poly polo team to play against my school, but I still rooted for Cal Poly.

Interesting things about polo:

1. They call their quarters "chuckers."
2. Each player goes through 4 horses per game (one per chucker).
3. We got really good seats.
4. All of the horses' tails were braided up.
5. I would really like a pair of equestrian boots.
6. The game looks terrifying.
7. Imagine riding a horse with a stampede around you.
8. All while chasing a ball.
9. When I was little I was terrified of horses.
10. Not so much anymore. They're kind of cute.

mardi gras dinner

Maybe I should have a whole section of my blog dedicated to the delicious things Jenna makes/ brings to the dinner table. I've certainly accumulated a lot: pad thai, tuna casserole, japanese desserts, mille crêpes... the list is endless.

Last night was another amazing Jenna-meal. In honor of Mardi Gras she made shrimp jambalaya, healthy fried chicken (you'll have to ask her about that), and brought adorable Mardi Gras chocolate cupcakes from Whole Foods. I had one-too-many servings, per usual. And it was completely worth it. I love this apartment.