We met Andrew for a picnic today after our Tuesday morning play group. Amelie was excited to debut her silver sandals and pink summer dress. Still soaking up the sun while we can! I made a similar version of pasta salad inspired by this recipe:

Pasta Primavera

And for dessert, our family favorite:

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars

1 c butter

1 t vanilla

2 eggs

1 c sugar

1 c brown sugar

2 c flour

½ t baking soda

½ t baking powder

2 c quick cooking oatmeal

1 c semi sweet chocolate chips

½ c nuts, chopped

Mix together melted butter, vanilla, and eggs.  Stir in sugar.  Mix and add flour, baking soda, baking powder, oatmeal, chocolate chips, and nuts.  Bake in a greased 13x9 pan and bake for 20 minutes at 350°F. 

There is nothing like a sunny St Andrews!

Cambo Estate

Hallelujah we have sun! And we are taking full advantage of it. I was seriously sinking into a bout of depression because of this horribly cold and rainy Spring we've had, but after today I am feeling back to my old self. I am convinced that sun does wonders for a person. I am now perfectly content for this baby to hold on until next week because the forecast is sunny ALL week long!

A few miles from St Andrews is Cambo Estate. The land and several structures date back to the 13th century, while the main house is from the 19th. It has a beautiful Victorian Garden and surrounding forest. It's also next to one heck of a golf course, Kingsbarns (thanks for adding that in Andrew). We had heard about Cambo several times and have seen the entrance to the Estate driving around, but we finally made our way to it and it was one of my favorite things we have done near St Andrews. There was also a cute little cafe near the Garden area where we enjoyed a quick bite to eat after our walk. I highly recommend it to my "American living in Scotland friends" for a day out.

Garden Area

Kendall enjoying the weather

The beautiful flowers

Bridge in the Victorian Garden

The tulips smell good!

Lounging

Oink, oink

A sunny scene

The sea near the golf course

Blueberry Muffins

My favorite homemade blueberry muffins.

Cooks Illustrated

Makes 12 Muffins

Lemon Sugar Topping

1/3 c. (2 1/3 ounces) sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest from 1 lemon

Muffins

2 cups (about 10 ounces) fresh blueberries, picked over

1 1/8 cups (8 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon sugar

2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1/4 c. vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. For the topping: Stir together sugar and lemon zest in small bowl until combined; set aside.

Just FYI...I usually skip step 2 and use less blueberries for the rest of the batter, but that's just a personal preference...

2. For the muffins: Adjust oven rack to the upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to 1/4 cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10-15 minutes.

3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining 1 1/8 c. sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not overmix.)

4. Divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over muffins.

5. Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17-19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

Fife Show

Today we attended the Fife Show (similar to 4H I think). I was desperate to get out of the house so despite the freezing cold rainy weather, mud and admission price we went. It was a good outing and Amelie enjoyed it so it made for another fun Saturday. 

Allanhill Farm

The strawberry farm really close to home just opened yesterday for the season so we spent the first sunny morning we've seen in weeks enjoying the outdoors. The view is unbeatable and it's a great place for Amelie to play while we enjoy a coffee and homemade baking. There are also animals to feed...and my favorite - lambs! A perfect way to spend our Saturday morning. 

Greek 5 Layer Dip

This is our new favorite snack. We had it at a friend's house as an appetizer, but it also works great just to have whenever. Gotta love healthy snacks that the whole family enjoys!

Layer a pie plate with:

hummus

cucumber

red onion

red bell pepper

black olives

feta cheese

dill (opt)

Serve with toasted pita bread or pita chips.

Driving Range

Andrew & Amelie's new favorite activity together is playing golf. It's perfect for both of them and me as well as I find it sort of nice having the house all alone in the evenings every now and then. The weather was actually sunny today and since I felt like I could use a little fresh air I went along with them (although Amelie was fine to leave me at home). We told her we were going to play golf and she looked at me as she was trying to leave and said, "okay bye bye!" It's definitely their thing together, but I'm glad I got to go along with them tonight.

Jewish Coffee Cake

Jewish Coffee Cake = a yummy Saturday Morning breakfast

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x9 inch pan. Combine the flour, baking soda and baking powder; set aside.

 

In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar, butter and eggs until smooth.

 

Add the flour mixture and beat until smooth. Finally, stir in the sour cream and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the nuts, confectioners' sugar and cinnamon.

 

Spread half of the batter into the 9x9 inch pan. Sprinkle a layer of the nut mixture, then spread the remaining batter and top with the rest of the nut mixture. Spread the melted butter over the top.

 

Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, until cake springs back to the touch.

*Recipe from Allrecipes.com