Fresh from the wood fired stove’s oven.

It has been cold today… Cold and wet… The grey, cloudy sky dropped water that the wind thrashed all around… The chickens, wandered eating the bugs rising up from the earth to meet the rain. The goats, stayed inside their shed looking out in horrified rage that once again the sky had decided to pour water down upon us. The garden accepted the wet gifts the sky dropped. In the house, I did what I often do during storms. I baked. I am not sure why I always seem to bake in bad weather… But for some reason I seem to… Maybe I do it because I am bored forced indoors by the bad weather… Maybe it is the smell of the wet earth that inspires productivity…. Or the sound of the rain hitting the roof of the goat shed. I really don’t know… But when taking the dog out is a squishy, muddy business, and the grey clouds eat the light, and there is a chill in my bones due to the damp and wind, I tend to bake.

My life, probably seems small, and slow to most… Perhaps it is. Out here, we tend to have to create our own entertainment and activities… The fun others take for granted is a ways away… Not always available for us to engage with… But I have learned to love the slow. I find the slow feeds my creative nature and makes me somehow a better person. It often stops the loops happening in my brain. I became very aware of those loops in the beginning of being here. Now I have beyond them most of the time. But this was one of the hardest parts of moving to a homestead. The mind, took time to create new pathways and healthier behavior. Took time to quiet…. Took time to get used to the world moving on without me…

Muffin Dough

But some things never change. As my muffins hit their peak aroma as they baked in the old wood fired stove’s oven, some old friends let themselves in. They have been part of my life for longer than I can remember. Every week, they show up to play board games and cards for a few hours. So we played and I waited for my muffins to finish baking.While outside, the clouds blocked out the light and the rain came down… Outside, the flowers drank up the water the sky dropped. The wild birds hid in spaces that stayed dry, the deer too sought out areas offering protection from the bad weather, and the forest stood it’s ground against the wind and rain…. Until, it didn’t. We heard a sudden crack, a mighty tree fell back in the woods, landing on the earth. The earth, cradled it’s fallen child in the debris of the forest floor…

Inside, my muffins were served hot and fresh. The aroma, lit the house up in the dreary weather. It stood out against the smell of cold, damp.

You will need:

2 bowls
measuring cups
measuring spoons
muffin papers
muffin tins
Wooden spoon
Scraper optional
Metal spoon for filling the holes of the muffin tin with batter
Another standard metal spoon 
Small bowl to mix cinnamon and sugar to be sprinkled on top
Oven
timer optional

I tend to bake using self milled flour. So this recipe is designed for that but I will also try to convert it for those usine more conventional methods and materials.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups soft white wheat berry flour Or 2 cups all purpose for those who do not mill their own.
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten (omit if not milling your own flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted goat butter, or standard butter, or olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup maple sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup fresh pasteurized goat milk, or standard store bought cow milk, almond milk, or soy milk
3/4 cup of finely chopped strawberries
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
sugar and cinnamon to be mixed in a small bowl to taste for a sprinkle for the muffin top.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 F if using a standard oven. If using an old wood fired stove try heat to around 400 F. In your first big mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients. In your next big mixing bowl mix the wet ingredients. Add one to the other, mix well. Add in the strawberries and chocolate chips, mix them in. Fill the muffin tins. In a small bowl mix sugar and a little cinnamon to taste and sprinkle it on top of each muffin. Bake for about 20-30 minutes. Allow to cool and serve fresh and hot. It will pair well with bacon, or scrambled eggs, or any number of other breakfast foods.

Muffins

These brought us so much joy on this dreary, stormy day. I hope you enjoy this gift from my slow little homestead life.

Rainy Day Muffins

Thank you for reading
Amanda Of Wildflower Farm