Baking With Edith & The Kids

Wednesday afternoon we spent in the kitchen. We were supposed to be out playing in the pool but it got cloudy and word on the street was that a storm was heading our way. So instead...we bake.

The kids have been wanting me to bake them some chocolate chip muffins because according to the little man,  "You never, ever make them anymore." In reality I just made some last month and if you are new around here you may not know that a few months ago we baked hundreds and hundreds (literally) of muffins and for that this recipe is forever burned into my brain. More on our muffin project here.

So I picked up these super-cute cupcake liners and we baked cupcakes. A double batch. We are going to have to find someone to deliver some to tomorrow, Lord knows we don't need all of these muffins.

So I am in my kitchen listening to Edith Piaf, wearing my new red apron I just got for fifty cents, baking chocolate chip muffins. The kids alternate between helping, eating way too many chocolate chips and dipping their hands in the flour, pretending they are magicians and clapping their hands to make smoke.

For some reason, for about a year now, I have had the urge to have some old French music to listen to. So I told Eric because he is good at finding stuff and he knows what I like, sometimes before I do.
Just a female singing in French, just old crackly music from the 30's, 40's.....something that sounds good while baking in the kitchen, something completely different than anything I ever listen to. That's what I wanted and he found it for me.

I feel like I should be wearing pearls, black pumps and deep red lipstick with my apron and smoking one of those really long cigarettes while in the kitchen listening to this music. Barefoot in yoga pants, with my hair pulled up wearing my red apron will just have to do for today though.

And if you're really craving a fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip muffin right now, my easy little recipe is here.

WE DID IT!

We really did it. Just one month ago we started our little project, Muffins For Haiti, you can read the original post here to see how it all came about. In one month we have baked hundreds and hundreds of muffins, delivered them, decorated our bags and kept track of it all on a chart. I think I dreamed of chocolate chip muffins at night and the recipe is forever burned into my brain. Originally, I thought this would be a wonderful learning experience for the kids but never dreamed how far it would go. I also must admit that immediately after my initial conversation with Wyatt my first thought was that nothing we did could really help a disaster of such magnificent proportions...so should we really even bother? And the answer was; YES, we have to. Many, many of our friends and family ordered muffins and then after the article appeared in the paper many strangers ordered muffins from us as well. This was not something I expected. We received donations for supplies, we got cards and checks in the mail and sweet emails from people thanking us for what we were doing. So much support and kindness in our little world. I am so proud of what we accomplished with this project and by we I mean every single person that supported us. I think the most important lessons I learned through this is that we all really can do something to help, people are very generous and kind and on a personal note I have come to realize that I really can accomplish anything I set my mind to.

The End.

Today I baked the last of the muffins for our little project, Muffins For Haiti. Six dozen muffins today and now I am done. Wow. I can't believe I did it, that I really baked that many muffins, kept track of it all, bagged them, delivered them, answered so many emails and phone calls.....wow. I have one last delivery and then I will calculate the total profits. I'm really excited to see what the final number is and how close we are to our goal of $500.00 for UNICEF. I think we started this little project 3 long weeks ago and today I can say that I am really proud of what we accomplished, whether we meet our goal or not. And don't worry, this won't be the last Muffin Post, I will let you know what our final donation ends up being. Now, Bu-bye chocolate chip muffins...I've had enough of you for a while!

Is She Really Still Talking About Muffins?

Yes, she is. Maybe I should take this opportunity to apologize to my five (6?) readers for this right now. I promise the muffin talk won't go on forever, really. Please don't abandon me just yet.
Anyway, the baking has really slowed down, I baked about 5 dozen batches yesterday and none today. Tomorrow morning we meet with the reporter from the newspaper and my last post reminded me that maybe I should be a little nervous about what the kids will say. Hmmmm...wish me luck on that one, I might need it.  I am  guessing that by now we have raised around $275 in just seven days. Just me and the kids. And I'm proud of us, if I do say so myself.

A friend sent us a check in the mail for her muffins last week and with it was this little card above. I think we get credit for showing kindness because of what we are doing but without everyone else's kindness and support we wouldn't be able to help in this little, tiny way at all. Everyone has been so great; ordering from us, making donations and just asking about our muffin project. People really are good and want to help and that is a very important lesson I have learned through this. And I think that makes it all worth it.

Muffin Mania

Muffins, muffins everywhere. Our (my) lives have been consumed by muffins since we began MuffinsFor Haiti just this past Monday. Baking, packaging, running to the store for supplies, answering emails, delivering, running to the store again for more supplies.... Wow, what a week!
Wyatt's preschool found out about our little project and ordered a few dozen for snack this past Thursday and then asked Wyatt to bring in our chart and explain it to his classmates. His teacher said he did a great job explaining what our project is all about and told them his job responsibilities as well as his sister's. We are so proud of him. One of the best things so far has been everyone's generosity--we have had so many people order muffins, offer to help, donate money for supplies and so on. We got a few checks in the mail this week addressed to Wyatt and he was so excited about that. I have had two days free of baking and now I think I'm ready to get back on it in the morning.  And....I have a house to clean and a kitchen to scrub because we have a date tomorrow morning right here in our kitchen with a photographer from the newspaper. Such excitement in our little lives!

My Wednesday To-Do LIst:

Take Wyatt to school, try my best not to fall on ice.
Bake Muffins.
Bake Muffins.
Bake Muffins.
Bake Muffins.
Bake Muffins.
Bake Muffins.
Bake Muffins.
Bake Muffins.
Deliver Muffins (depending on road conditions).
Deliver Muffins.
Deliver Muffins.
Drink Lots of coffee.

Here We Go.....

So I sent out a mass email this morning letting everyone know about our little project; Muffins For Haiti. I am both nervous (what have I done?) and excited to see where this takes us. We decided that all of our profits will go to UNICEF. Initially I had a hard time deciding where to donate but after a little research I saw that UNICEF provides clean drinking water and much needed baby formula for babies, among many other things. Decision made. Within a matter of minutes of sending my email I received responses from people already placing their order for muffins. I am on my fourth batch so far today and have a LONG way to go....as I type Wyatt is working on his poster that we are going to hang in the kitchen recording our orders. Here we go...... Chocolate chip muffins, anyone?