Pumpkin Espresso Muffins · Monday July 2, 2007 by colin newell
I wanted to make my Kitchen Sink muffins tonight but I did not do a weekend shop and I had little to no Whole Wheat flour…
I did have 1/2 of a can of Organic pumpkin from a previous muffin experiment; Pumpkin & Praline muffins… Yea, they were good. I will write up those bad-boys when I get a moment.
click on the image at left for a slightly larger view
Anyway – here are the ingredients.
Note – the pulverized Pecan meal is totally DIY – I used the business end of a K-Bar hunting knife and a big-ass stoneware mug in place of a mortar and pestle – you know, to help maintain the manly-man aspect of this recipe.
1 cup White Flour – 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 TSP Baking Soda – 1 TSP Baking powder
Pinch Salt
1/2 TSP ea. – Nutmeg, Cinnamon and ground Ginger
1/2 cup pulverized pecans
1 Egg – 1/4 cup sugar – 1/3 cup Veg.Oil –
1 cup pre-cooked pumpkin
1/2 cup Milk
Instant espresso powder
Combine first 8 ingredients in large bowl.
Pulverize 1/2 cup whole or chopped Pecans into powder or meal.
Add to dry mix.
Make a well in center of dry mix.
Beat egg in bowl. Add sugar, cooking oil, pumpkin and milk.
Pour into center of dry mix well
Stir long enough to just moisten everything. Do not over mix.
Divide batter between 12 muffin tins.
Sprinkle tops of uncooked muffin batter with espresso powder.
Bake at 400 degrees (F) for 15 minutes.
Let stand 5 minutes. Serve warm, with butter and lots of hot coffee!
Monday night at the Flood... · Tuesday April 10, 2007 by colin newell
Get this:
My wife and I are sitting watching TV at close to 11PM
last night —
actually… she had just switched the TV off
and she said (and I quote…):
“Can you hear that? That sounds like water running?”
From the living room I could not hear anything…
As we moved into the hall, I could just hear the
shimmering sound of a torrent of water..
We darted into the master BR and the on-suite bathroom
was filling with water via the exhaust fan!
It was a horrifying torrent of water — probably
coming in at a rate of 1 gallon per minute.
I grabbed a dozen beach towels and threw them on the
floor… within seconds I darted upstairs to the
neighbors (a slightly younger couple…)
The upstairs neighbor answered the door
and from the look on her face she knew something
was amiss:
“Hi Colin…. whats… up? “
I said: “Have you looked in your bathroom recently?”
She shrieked: “Oh my god! Oh my god! “
and then darted into her bedroom with her husband not
far behind….
I came in after them.
Their onsuite had several inches of water and water creeping into
the master BR.
Apparently the water-closet in the toilet failed and was overflowing.
I think they were in the living room “working out” or “exercising”
based on what they were wearing and did not hear the event unfolding.
Anyway – got everything mopped up and sanitized
by about 1 AM.
The ceiling will probably need to be replaced.
Thank god for beach towels!
Do yourselves a favor folks – if you do not have one of these inexpensive water alarms, get one.
We did not suffer any extensive damage – but an alarm would have saved us some time cleaning up.
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ATM - Banks: they get you with the fees · Tuesday March 6, 2007 by colin newell
At a time when the federal finance minister is asking Canada’s big banks to justify a raft of ATM banking fees, Canada’s second-largest bank is reporting its first quarterly profit of more than $1 billion.
Bank of Nova Scotia reported Tuesday morning a first quarter profit that smashed all expectations at $1.01 billion, or $1.01 a share, up almost 20 per cent from $844 million, or 84 cents a share, a year ago.
Ok. On a more personal note, I do not generally pay ATM fees.
How!? Why!?
Well. I never use ATMs other than the ones my native financial institution offers. Ever. Never, ever, ever.
I speak up for the millions of Canadians that are getting reamed up the wazoo by Canadian banks.
Make no mistake about it. Canadian (and American) banks are evil as Satan. They profit from you. They profit from your misery (read – hold your mortgages…)
Your money? It aint your money according to the banks.
The banks feel they are doing you a favor by handling your money.
It is more theirs than yours.
Or so the story goes. And ATM fees. Well. While they have you bent over the Maytag, it is just an extra reminder of who is in charge.
So like oil companies, banks rule. They always will.
They screw you today. And they will tomorrow.
How can you fight back? Stop using non-native ATMs.
Poll time · Monday March 5, 2007 by colin newell
I can see the visitor stats on this web site – they look pretty good. Generally on the increase. Last time I checked, this blog has about 5000 unique visits per month. Pretty modest stuff and it gives me hope. I tend to get a 2-3 % increase in visitors every month.
But am I on the right track?
Please take a moment and place your vote below. I need a bit of feedback. Do you read this blog regularly? Is there anything of interest here? Is my writing compelling in any way.
Now is the time to speak out. Thanks.
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