Author Archives: Cynthia

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

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Ingredients

2  extra ripe bananas                                         2  eggs

1 cup packed brown sugar                                1/2  cup melted butter

1 tsp vanilla                                                        2 1/4  cups  flour

2 tsp baking powder                                          1.2 cup walnuts  chopped ( optional)

1 tsp  cinnamon                                                 1/2  tsp salt

1 cup  mini  chocolate chips  (  sometimes use normal or  large ones )

Instructions

Preheat  oven to  350  degrees

Peel bananas and  mash to make one cup. (The riper the  bananas , the better the flavor.)

in a bowl  , beat the mashed bananas, egg, sugar , butter and  vanilla until well blended .

In a  larger bowl , combine  flour , baking powder, cinnamon  and salt.

Stir in chocolate chips  and nuts.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.  Pour in the  banana mixture.

Mix until just blended.  Spoon into greased  and  floured  muffin pans.
Bake for 25-30 minutes

Makes  12- nice large  muffins.

Auntie Cynthia’s cranberry orange bread

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Ingredients

1 orange
2  Tbs cold butter
1 large egg
1 cup chopped cranberries
1 large egg
1/2  tsp salt
2 cups flour
1-1/2  tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 cup chopped pecans (if you desire)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using a sharp knife scrape the colored rind from the orange and mix it with the cranberries. Squeeze the juice of the orange into a measuring cup and add enough water to make 3/4 cup. Beat the egg and add it to the juice. Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, soda and sugar in a large bowl. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients , mixing with two knives until crumbly.

Pour the juice into the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Gently fold in the cranberries and nut. Pour the batter into a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan.bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes in the pan and then remove from the pan and cool completely.

serves 6-8

XOXO

Love Auntie Cynthia

Great Grandma Mabel’s English Scones

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Ingredients:

1/2 tsp salt                               2 tsp baking powder
2 cups  flour                             4 Tbs sugar
6 Tbs butter                             2 eggs
1/2  cup  sour cream              1/2 tsp vanilla

Instructions:

Preheat  oven to  375  degrees. Lightly butter a baking sheet. Sift flour into a bowl with sugar, salt and baking powder. Add the  butter and work your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Combine the eggs, cream  and vanilla in a bowl. Add to the flour mixture and  stir until moistened,  Flour  your hands well. Working quickly , lightly pat the  dough into a 8′ round. With a  sharp knife , score the round into eight wedges. (Dough can also be rolled and cut into  biscuit shapes.)  Place on the baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes until  the top is browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. remove scones to a wire rack and cool for a few minutes. Cut along the  score marks and  serve warm with  butter,  preserves or clotted  cream.

makes 8  scones

The last time I  made scones I was in a rush to  serve them so  I  cut them  before  baking and they turned out  fine. For those of who want to make clotted  cream for your scones here you  go. http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Clotted-Cream

Irish Scones

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irishscones1n

3 cups flour                      ¾ cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder       1 tsp salt
1 1/3 cup milk                  1 egg slightly beaten
¾ cup butter melted        1 1/2 cup  raisins        

irish scone2_n

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together.  Very slowly pour in milk, egg and cooled butter. Fold in raisins.  Bake in a greased and floured 9 x 5  x  2  baking dish.  Cut into squares and serve with butter, cream cheese or preserves.

I used a small  round pan and  cut them into triangles . bake for 50 minutes, you can use a toothpick to check if done.

Rhubarb Nut Bread

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Ingredients:
1-1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup vegetable Oil
1 egg, beaten
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 cup rhubarb cut into small pieces
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Topping
1 Tbs butter 1/3 cup sugar

Instructions

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. combine brown sugar, oil, and beaten egg . In a small bowl mix together milk,baking soda,salt and vanilla. Add milk mixture to sugar mixture alternately with flour,beating well after each addition Fold in rhubarb and nuts turn into 2 greased and floured 8x4x3 loaf pans. Mix topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of loaves, Bake about one hour or until toothpick inserted in center of bread comes out clean. Serves 10-12

a moment of reflection

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Today has accidentally become a morning of reflection. It started when I received a photo that reminded me of a past that I had stuffed deep in the attic of my brain. Things I really did not want to remember but things that have also been keeping me from being able to enjoy some beautiful aspects of life. It was just minutes after seeing a photo when things clicked and fit together. Finally, I was able to understand what needed to be done. Today I shall focus on forgiveness. I shall forgive someone of the pain they caused me almost 40 years ago. This is a difficult task as the torment went on for years. I have spent 40 years avoiding sunsets as they reminded me of what came after.

confession of a 50 year old crime

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When I was around 6 I heard that witches needed crystals to cast spells. My great grandmother Mabel had lots of lovely chandeliers with what I thought were crystals hanging from them so I decided to take /borrow a couple to do magic with. I am sure she wondered what happened to them or maybe she knew.

I use to love all the rainbows in her house from the lamps and stained glass windows. I am going find a way to hang these so I can have her rainbows in my house! I have had these 50 years and they have made every move I have made.

Childhood fun

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As a kid I was often told to go play outside. For fun I used to put an old purse on a fishing pole, toss it out by the road and then hide in the woods across the street from our house.

When people would stop to pick up the purse I would reel it in, trying hard not to laugh.

My life is a script from a Korean Drama! Part 2

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BIG flashback to 1986. I was freshly divorced, and broke. A friend told me about an ad she saw in the paper which might be a way for me to earn some quick money. I called the number and was told to come in and fill out some paperwork, schedule some lab work and an interview . If I passed everything I would get a call. Just two weeks later I got a call to go in for the procedure. It was a rather horrible experience but I left with $8000 which was plenty to pay my rent for a few months and figure out what was next for me.

I had a few years of accounting under my belt so the Army seemed like a great way to get out of town on someone else’s dime so I signed up to be a finance specialist.I could go in with some rank and I could get away , far away from where I was.

So much has happened in between 1986 and 2016 I won’t bore you.
2016 however, is the year my youngest offspring asked me to sign up for 23 & me. Peter had signed up a year earlier and the offspring wanted to know what part of their DNA make up was from Dad vs Mom. I hesitated as I knew I had a secret but then I caved on the 23 & me topic and the kiddo got the results and answers to the questions he had.

A few months later I got a surprise, I got an email from 23 & me and the subject line was: You have a new DNA relative
The rest of the email was simple. Relationship : Daughter
We predict that Jane Doe is your daughter. ( I am not listing her name here as it has been almost 2 years and I am just now finally coming around to been open to considering what comes next. )
DNA match 51.9 ( the offspring that requested that I do 23 & me is a 49.9 match? )

You might have guessed the procedure I did back in 1986 was egg donation. I had gone on with my life not ever thinking about it again. I never dreamed that I could be contacted 30 some years later about having a daughter that would want to meet a biological mother. It’s not like I had given up a child for adoption I just gave some eggs.

Here I am in 2018 being asked to go and meet a family that wants to thank me for my gift, A 32 year old girl waits for me to decide if I want to meet her and I can’t seem to figure out what I am afraid of.

Some days I really think my life is a script from a Korean Drama. Part 1

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Some days I really think my life is a script from a Korean Drama. Today I visited my past. I went to say goodbye to my very first boyfriend. He was just one year older than me and we met only because he dialed a wrong number back in 1979. When I picked up the phone the voice on the other end said , “Hey there can I talk to Ray? I responded rather cheerfully , “No Ray here how can I help you? ” He said, “I just need someone to talk to.” I said, “Well you can call me Ray today if that helps.” We talked for 3 or 4 hours and then he asked me what number he had dialed and if it was okay to call me back. I think we talked every day for weeks before we ever shared our names. Months went by before I got up the courage to tell him where I lived.

It was a short coming of age romance and we parted on good terms. I only bumped into him once more about 20 years ago. Him and a girlfriend where going to build a house across the street from where Peter and I were living. His girlfriend at the time had a fit . She was not going to live 5 houses from his old girlfriend.

He is in Hospice care and his sister called me yesterday and asked if I would come visit. At first I did not want to go.I wanted to remember the 19 year old boy that I fell head over heels for or even the 31 year old that I had bumped into while walking through empty partially built homes in my neighborhood.

I am glad I went. When I walked in he smiled at me and said, “hey Ray, I needed someone to talk to and I thought of you. Thank you for coming. ” I was surprised at how nice it was to visit and to share some funny stories with him and his wife and daughter. Once you have loved someone they really do always have a part of your heart. I told him that he would always have a spot in my heart and that I have only fond memories of him. Well almost only fond memories. There was that one time…. We laughed and cried and hugged and I am happy that I was able to say goodbye to someone who taught me a lot about love.