Our Terribly Exciting Life: October 2012 Edition

I haven't blogged about our terribly exciting life for awhile now, and I feel like I owe my readership (Hi, Mama!) some photos plus commentary plus opinions plus recipes. So, here you go. By absolutely no demand other than my mother:

 

 

 

The above photos are from this week and accurately depict my children holding dinosaur/ Eiffel tower/ toothpick art, drinking water while smiling, and posing with milk cups. In other news: Sammy started preschool! He goes twice a week for three hours and seems to like it. While he's there, Milka and I do "girly" things like walk down South Congress while eating blueberries or sit at coffee shops while nursing (VERY GIRLY).

"What has Milka been up to?" asks everyone. Well, she's really into eating Fritos (the corn chip), screaming, and saying "owl" and "balloon." She loves other children and other children's toys. Sometimes she barks like a dog.

"What has Will been up to?" asks no one. Obvious answer: not barking like a dog. Not as obvious answer: planting our fall garden! In addition, working on computer things and making/drinking coffee. He's also now entrenched in our house's plumbing problems which require, among other things, that he dig a trench.

"What have you been up to, Heidi?" asks, again, no one. Oh, you know, sleeping and not sleeping. Also, baking* and reading! I finally finished Infinite Jest (thoughts: very good, very long) and am now rereading Gilead. I feel like there are four types of people in the world: people to whom I'd recommend Infinite Jest, people to whom I'd recommend Gilead, people to whom I'd recommend both, and people who think Atlas Shrugged is a good book. Is that mean? I don't mean it to be mean. It's just that, well, yeah, I guess I do mean it to be mean. Today I saw a billboard for Atlas Shrugged and wept for America. Here. A short litany from me shouted to you:

AMERICA, AYN RAND IS A TERRIBLE WRITER.
AMERICA, GO READ NABOKOV.

*Baking!
This is a good recipe. Unless you don't like pumpkin muffins. In that case, this is a terrible recipe.

I tweaked the ingredient list a little to make it gluten-free friendly. Here's the revised recipe:

1 1/2 cups quinoa flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon xantham gum
small handful of flax meal
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15 ounce can)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/4 cups sugar 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Put liners in muffin cups. Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, cinnamon, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture (quinoa flour, baking powder, xantham gum, and flax meal) until just combined. Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about three-fourths full). Bake until puffed and golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan on rack for five minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to room temperature. Eat.

Next post: A grain-free pizza crust recipe (WITH PICTURES) plus Milka's thoughts on stickers as interpreted by Sammy! Yes!