Margy's Multigrain Muffins

I'm not a big breakfast person (unless we go out), and that isn't healthy (either way).

I'm trying to do better. We have a fresh fruit bowl every other day and healthy muffins go nicely with that for a well rounded morning meal.

I researched bran muffins online, and came up with my own multigrain version.

Margy's Multigrain Muffins

2 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
2 tablespoons molasses
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 orange zested and juiced

Lightly beat eggs.  Add brown sugar and blend.  Add milk, oil, molasses, vanilla, orange juice and zest.

1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup oat bran
1/2 cup wheat bran
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup ground flax
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients and blend into wet ingredients.

1 apple with skin, grated
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Stir in grated apple, soaked cranberries, and chopped pecans to the muffin mix.


Coat muffin pans with cooking spray. Fill 3/4 full for expansion.  Bake f20 minutes at 350 degrees, or until lightly brown.  Remove from pans while still warm with knife. Makes 21 medium muffins.  Freeze extras.  Warm in a toaster oven for an easy breakfast.

What are some of your favourite easy breakfast foods? -- Margy

BC Ferries in the Fog

This time of year you don't know when you'll get a sunny day. You look at the weatherman's forecast and it says sunny. But if it's after a rainy spell, it just might mean fog instead.

Leaving Earl's Cove on the Sunshine Coast

After all, this is known as Foguary around these parts.

Good thing they have excellent navigation instruments on BC Ferries. Otherwise we would get stuck en-route. -- Margy

"Artemis" by Andy Weir

I'm best known for reading and reviewing books about Coastal British Columbia and off-the-grid living. But once in a while I break the mold and read science fiction (Wayne's favourite).

Several years ago we read The Martian by Andy Weir. At the time Weir was an upcoming independent self-published Kindle author, but was quickly picked up by a traditional publisher (Crown, 2014) and his book was transformed into a blockbuster movie.

The most recent novel by Andy Weir is Artemis (Crown, 2017). The setting is earth's moon in the not too distant future. Space exploration has resulted in a permanent colony near the Apollo 11 landing site at the Sea of Tranquility where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first touched down in 1969. Tourism is a large part of the moon's economy. Mining is another.

Jasmine (Jazz) is an entrepreneurial delivery person trying to break into the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Guild to offer high paying tourist trips on the lunar surface to the historic landing site. She fails her test, but has learned the specialized skills needed for surviving outside of the colony's protective structures.

Jazz was born on the moon and has transformed her delivery job into a profitable smuggling operation.

Links she has forged with the colony's business and political leaders draws her into a scheme that could either get her deported to earth (a sentence almost worse than death) or the savior of the fragile colony.

It was a fun, thrill packed read, especially on my Kindle with it's built-in light. That's the best way to read at the cabin during long, dark winter nights. Artemis is also available in hardcover, paperback and audible versions.

Do you read science fiction? What are some of your favourite books? -- Margy

Make Ahead Breakfast Enchiladas

I find lots of interesting recipes following blog parties and hops. Here's one from the Belly Full blog. It's a great site with lots of ideas for home cooking. Here's the recipe as it appeared on Belly Full.

Make Ahead Breakfast Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chopped deli ham
• 1/2 cup diced green onions
• 2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 10 (7-8 inch) flour tortillas
• 1 1/4 cups half-and-half
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon flour
• salsa, sour cream, and extra green onions or cilantro for serving

Directions:

1. Coat a 9×13 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Mix together ham, green onions and 2 cups cheese. Scoop 1/3 cup of the mixture onto each tortilla, roll and place seam side down in the baking dish.
3. Whisk together the half-and-half, eggs, salt and flour. Pour over rolled enchiladas. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
4. In the morning, preheat oven to 350º F. Bake covered for 35 minutes. Remove cover and sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of cheese over the enchiladas. Bake for 10 minutes or until tops are golden brown.
5. Serve with salsa, sour cream and green onions or cilantro.

My Modifications:

I followed the directions with the following modifications:

I made only four enchiladas. Two were with flour tortillas and two were corn. Both kinds were good.

I crumbled and cooked the meat from two chorizo sausages instead of ham. I also substituted diced yellow onion.

I used two eggs, a third of the half-and-half, 1 tsp flour and less salt.

The ingredients were easy to prepare, and having it ready to go in the oven the next morning made for a no fuss meal. We enjoyed the enchiladas and they were very filling.

A hot breakfast got us off to a good start to a full day of float cabin living and chores -- more wood for the stove and a batch of no-knead sourdough bread. -- Margy

Bellingham to Skagit Regional Airport

For Christmas, Wayne got me (us) a Garmin VIRB Ultra 30 action camera. Up until now I've used my pocket camera for iPhone to take video clips. Now we have something even better.

On New Years Day we went flying in our Piper Arrow.

Wayne mounted the Garmin camera on the dashboard and we let it run throughout our trip to Skagit Regional Airport about thirty minutes away.

After we got home, I edited the raw footage down to a short YouTube video. Click on the button above and you can fly with us from our home base at Bellingham International Airport to Skagit.

Do you have an action camera? What do you have and how do you use it? -- Margy

"A Tangled Web" by Mike Martin

One of my blogging friends, Crafty Gardener, occasionally writes book reviews on her site that primarily focuses on plants and artistic endeavors. One of Linda's favourite authors is Mike Martin. He's a Canadian who was born in Newfoundland, the location he has picked for his Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series. A recent review on Linda's blog led me to his newest book, A Tangled Web.

A Tangled Web is the sixth title in the series, but can be read as a stand-alone without difficulty.

Sgt. Winston Windflower is a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer of Cree heritage that is posted in Grand Bank, Newfoundland. The story opens with a missing five-year-old child, Sarah Quinlan. The plot quickly expands like the interconnected threads of a spider's web until the child is found, and the perpetrator is dealt with. After all, "The RCMP always gets their man."

Wayne and I visited Newfoundland in 2009 and again in 2014. It's an exciting destination to explore with small outport villages.

There's a real town called Grand Bank. It's a small coastal village of about 2,500 on the Burin Peninsula four hour's drive west of St. John's.

Not only does Mike Martin like to use his native province in his writing, I enjoy reading about places I've visited. Now, back to the story.

Life is usually calm in Grand Bank. Sgt. Winston Windflower is well known and respected. His wife, Sheila Hillier, is the mayor with a contentious council member. The web quickly expands to a solar panel factory that the city is depending on to wrestle the economy away from a dwindling fishing industry, a ferry crossing to Sydney, Nova Scotia, a long drive during a dangerous snow storm, and a surprise ending.


The author could have chosen any locale in which to set his story, but the Newfoundland setting is a perfect match.

Mike's writing style gave me a strong mental picture of the people and places. I was able to relate personally. Eveb if you've never been to Newfoundland, the plot and characters will make you feel right at home.


You can find out more about Mike Martin at:

Mike Martin on Crime Writers of Canada
Mike Martin on Twitter
Mike Martin's Author Page on Amazon
Mike Martin on !ndigo
Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series on Facebook
A Tangled Web review on the Crafty Gardener blog
Mike Martin book reviews on the Crafty Gardener blog

A Tangled Web is available in print and ebook formats. Online options include Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, !ndigo/Chapters, and Kobo. -- Margy