Weekend Delights

We had a lot of fun this weekend! It started off with Survivor: Small Group on Friday night where Hubby T and I ran around our church grounds with our small group competing in a scavenger hunt, a clothespin throwing contest, a bible trivia test, and s'mores around a fire, all on our first fall evening of the year. It was fantastic to be outside on such a beautiful night, relaxing and playing with wonderful friends.

On Saturday I got a much needed haircut and Hubby T's parents rolled into town to visit us for the weekend (and by us, I really mean Baby B, because they are totally and completely addicted to their first grandchild). As I've said before, I love spending time with our family. It's also fun to hear their observations of how Baby B has changed and grown, since they only see him once a month or so. Their conclusion is that he's still a fantastic and wonderful baby boy:) It's good to know I'm not the only one who thinks so!

Oh, and did I mention it was the first weekend of fall? Fall is my favorite season and I am sooo tired of summer by this point in the year. I love dressing Baby B in actual pajamas instead of the lightest, coolest onesie I can find. I love needing to pull the blanket up over the sheet when I wake up a little chilly in the middle of the night. I love needing to wear my slippers. I could go on and on but for now I will spare you. Needless to say, I am ready for summer to die - bring on the fall!!

And finally, I made absolutely delicious blueberry muffins. These have a couple more ingredients than your standard blueberry muffin recipe, but it's all worth it. Did I mention they are delicious? Don't just take my word for it - make them for your family! They will love them too.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins from the Barefoot Contessa's Back to Basics

3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
4 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 c. buttermilk, shaken
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest
2 extra-large eggs
2 c. fresh blueberries (2 half-pints)

For the streusel topping
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners.

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and blend with your hands. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, butter, lemon zest, and eggs. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture with a fork, mixing until just blended. Fold the blueberries into the batter. Don't overmix! With a standard ice-cream scoop or large spoon, scoop the batter into the prepared cups, filling them almost full.

For the topping, place all the ingredients in the bowl os a food processor fitting with the steel blade and pulse until the butter is in very small pieces. Pour into a bowl and rub with your fingers until crumbly. Spoon about 1 Tbs. of the streusel on top of each muffin. Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

** My notes on this recipe: I used frozen blueberries; fresh would probably make these muffins even better but they still tasted pretty darn good with frozen. Also, according to the cookbook, it makes 20 muffins, but I got 30 muffins out of the batter.