Muffins, Mussels, and Decorated Sugar Cookies

This weekend I tried another recipe from The Art & Soul of Baking, this time from the quick breads section. The Feta, Roasted Red Pepper and Basil Muffins. I saw the picture of them in the book and the melty feta looked so yummy. My little girl ended up wanting to help me and it was perfect for her. I let her whisk the flour mixture, crumble the feta and mix the feta mixture, and mix the feta mixture into the batter. So, there was plenty for her to do. She was expecting more of a sweet muffin than a savory muffin so she didn't get to enjoy all her hard work. And because a four year old helped me that should tell you how easy this was to make. Whisk all the dry ingredients together, whisk all the wet ingredients together, mix the flavoring agents, pour the wet into the dry, then add the flavor. I've done easier but not much easier.

All these for me?!? Aww, you shouldn't have.

Mmmmmmmmmm....

And for dinner Saturday night we had seafood. My step dad had shrimp and I had Mussels a la Mariniere. And my mom nibbled on both. My daughter tried to be brave and try the mussels all during dinner. Finally, she tried one after she had already walked away from the table. And she liked it. But anyways, back to the actual dinner. It was so good. I like mussels on their own but the sauce was a nice compliment. It's white wine, shallots, parsley and butter. It calls for bread crumbs but I used buerre manie instead. I found the recipe online after I found the mussels at the store.

I got three requests for this upcoming week: one for my sticky buns from last week, decorated sugar cookies for a baby shower, and a birthday cake for my aunt Dianne. I really wanted to do the sticky buns but I was way too busy and the cookies are getting me money and the cake is way more important than the sticky buns. So, I'll do them again next weekend.

For the cookies I'm doing the same cookies I did for Valentine's Day. But this time they're cute little baby onesies with sayings like "It's Hard Being A Princess" and "Cutie Pie". I'll have pictures next week to show next week since I'm working on them all this week.

And as for my aunt Dianne's birthday cake I'm doing the Red Velvet Cake that my good friend at How To Eat a Cupcake did before back in February. I love red velvet and use a different recipe each time just to play around. I'm even trying the boiled frosting but can't get it straight. I'm thinking it's a combination of the pot I'm using and the awful electric stove I have. One day I will own a gas stove, I swear. And once again there will be pictures of the finished product next week.

Well, I'm busy busy busy and I'll probably disappear for awhile. For five weeks (maybe more) the only people that will see me will be my co-workers and classmates.

P.S. I'll post the recipe later when I get a breather.