Happy Birthday to Jim!

Today is Jim's birthday, and we've celebrated it as a family, with a nice, relaxing day together. Jim took today off from work, but he didn't really get to sleep in. Drew woke up at 7:15 this morning, crying and calling for me. I went ahead and got up with Drew, and Jim got up shortly after that since Drew had been so loud.

I made Apple Pie Muffins for breakfast, using a new recipe we found recently on the Tasty Kitchen website. They were very good!

Apple Pie Muffins

Crumb Topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup melted butter

1 tsp. cinnamon

Muffin Batter:

1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups peeled, diced apples

I also added 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1/4 tsp. nutmeg that was not called for in the original recipe.

Topping:

In a small bowl, toss together crumb topping ingredients until crumbly. You may need extra flour to get a good crumble. Set aside.

Muffins:

In a large bowl, mix together brown sugar and wet ingredients until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Mix dry ingredient mixture and liquid mixture together. Fold in apples. Mix until just combined.

Spoon into greased muffin tins, filling each cup 3/4 full. Sprinkle topping over batter evenly.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and tops spring back. Makes about 2 dozen.

Drew and I went to his story time at the library late this morning, while Jim stayed home to relax and work on his message for Youth Group tomorrow evening. This afternoon, Jim did a few car maintenance things, and I made a Target run while Drew napped.

We went out for dinner at Mongolian Barbecue this evening with Jim's mom. It was fabulous! Jim had requested Blackberry Cobbler for his birthday dessert, but we ended up having dessert at dinner, so I am planning to make Jim's cobbler tomorrow instead. I'll share that recipe later this week.