Anyway, today my husband's Polish colleagues are celebrating Fat Thursday because Lent begins next week (this weekend the Carnival will begin). Apparently, you are supposed to eat sweet breads filled with jam. So even though we aren't Polish and are, in fact, Protestants, I baked this:
The recipe is a modified version of the one published in a 2006 issue of Taste of Home, an American cooking magazine.
To make 12, I used:
ab.1/4c soft butter
ab.1/4c of lard
4tbsp of sugar
2eggs
ab. 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
some lemon peel
1c white + ab. 3/4 c mixed rye + wholewheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
ab. 1/2 tsp baking soda
ab. 1/2 c creme fraiche (a bit like sour creme but with 30% fat)
For glaze you'll need lemon juice and powder sugar to taste.
Here I'd like to point your attention to how sugar is overused in modern baking, especially in American recipes since the original one called for 1c sugar and even reduced amount that I used made the muffins sweet enough.
Cream the butter, lard and sugar, add the eggs, the peel and extract, mix thoroughly. Add salt and baking soda, then the flours alternately with creme fraiche. Fill paper-lined muffin pan cups (or separate cups) approximately 3/4 full, bake at 200*C/400*F for ab. 20 minutes or until done, cool a bit, remove from the pan and drizzle the glaze all over. Serve warm or cold.
In the picture, my kitchen is dirty. I cleaned it afterwards and it took me more time than making the muffins which brings me to my next point. There are currently lots of homemaking videos on YouTube which is fine, I guess, but some of them give advice on how to clean your house in 30 minutes. My house isn't that big but I never could manage to really clean it in 30 minutes, in my opinion this time is just enough to maintain some semblance of order but to clean mine more or less thoroughly takes me about 3 hours.
What about you?
I am doing well to clean my kitchen in 30 minutes....how can an entire house be done in that time? People are obsessed with doing things quickly. We need to regain the idea that if it something is worth doing, it is worth doing well. But sadly , for moderns, that only applies to careers.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that even stay-at-home moms often will talk as if housework is beneath them, it's something to be done quickly so that one could move on to fun things. I don't think, of course, that the only meaning of one's life is scrubbing floors, it's just that the house needs to be cleaned once in a while and that simply can't be done well in a very short time.
ReplyDeleteI just made mochabrownies with my special recipe. That is, you make brownies where 1/3of flour is almond flour and then add 1 dl of instant coffee powder. Dark blend, that is. Delicious.
ReplyDeleteI can vacuum and swipe the floors in 30 minutes if I hurry a little. But cleaning the whole flat in 30 minutes? Unpossible. I would say that if I was to clean whole 68 sqm flat at once (which I never do) it would take me at least two hours and I would be exhausted.
I would say that in 30 minutes it is possible to make your house LOOK clean, if you are having unexpected visitors or something like that. Throw all the clutter in closets, swipe the toilets and kitchen, vacuum carpets and swipe the living room floor... But it is not really clean then.
ReplyDeleteOne more comment: we have been so much out and about lately that I am SO behind in my housework. Spring is coming and I have yet to clean my balcony after summer... I should have really really big deep cleaning, after that I could go with maintenance only forever. It is very problematic when one's health fluctuates a lot. I manage with the maintenance but I rarely have energy for deep cleaning.
ReplyDeleteWe should probaly move so I could get a fresh start. ;)
My house is a 100sqm plus a terrace and it is in 4 levels (unfortunately), so it's a thing to clean. I takes me about 1 hour just to vacuum it thoroughly from top to bottom (that's why I don't do it every day:).
ReplyDeleteYour brownies sound really tasty! Does your husband also have a sweet tooth?
I must say I sympathise with anyone who has health problems since 3 years ago my own health took a hit and since that time I've never been the same. Luckily, I have help.
I agree about 30 minutes, you could do a bit of vacuuming, do the kitchen floors and the wc quickly, but it's more maintaining than cleaning imo:)
Last week I cleaned the house all by myself in 3 hours for the first time in three years (without doing windows and thoroughly cleaning the bathroom, I should add). After this I pretty much collapsed and hardly could do anything the rest of the day. You learn to live with it, I guess, but I do wish I'd have more energy.
ReplyDelete