orange carrot muffins and daughter.

One of my favourite parts of Brazil was all of their amazing fruit.  Mangos, pineapples, watermelon, mangosteen and multiple other fruits that I cannot pronounce but were equally delicious.  Everywhere you went there was "suco" stands, which made fresh fruit juice.  For like two dollars.  That is what I survived on most days.

So, having experienced this amazing variety of fruit I went grocery shopping.  For yogurt.  I was so excited, imagining the most epic, wondrous flavours lining the shelves. 

Nope.

They had six varieties.  Plain, low-fat plain, honey, honey-granola, prune...and carrot orange.  How thrilling.

I went home with the last kind, not expecting very much, and perhaps it was the fact that I was in yogurt withdrawal, but it was surprisingly good.  It was a slightly weird consistency (we quickly learned that everything in Brazil is always "slightly weird") but it was good.

I came home from Brazil no longer in yogurt withdrawal, but missing muffins (I have a weird relationship with food, I become attached to strange things - like muffins.) 

Oranges are finally in season here, so it seemed only natural that I would make carrot orange muffins - like Winnipeg and Brazil baked into one.

Or not.  You can pretend I didn't just say that.  Its been a long day.

Anyways, here you go.  It may sound like a weird combination, but it isn't.  They mostly just taste like orange, the carrot just makes them more moist...and provides you with an unexpected source of vegetables.

1.  soak the rolled oats in the orange juice.  Looks weird, but trust me on this.

Citrus reamers are my favourite kitchen item  Everyone should own one because they're lovely.

2. Mix all the dry ingredients, then add the orange juice mixture and the carrot.

3. spoon batter in your lovely little reusable baking cups, or a greased muffin tin.

Carrot Orange Muffins.

Loosely based on a recipe from More of We Recommend:  Favourite Recipes from the Ready School Family.  (One of those weird cookbooks from the late 80's that has strange recipes like ketchup sandwiches and licorice ice cream muffins from people named Mr. Hiller and T.J Loewen.)

1/2 C. rolled oats

3/4 C. orange juice

1 1/2 C. flour

1/2 C. sugar

1 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 C. oil

1 egg

2 medium carrots, grated

Pour the orange juice over the oats and put to the side.  Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda.  Add the oil and egg.  Mix in the orange juice/oat mixture and finally stir in the grated carrot.

Spoon into a prepared muffin tin and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Makes 12.

And while you're making these you should listen to this:

Daughter - Candles (taken from the 'His Young Heart' EP)

Daughter - Landfill (taken from the 'His Young Heart' EP)

along with the rest of her tracks on soundcloud.  This is all I've listened to all weekend, it's beautiful.

xo.

chairs.

January has been an absolute whirlwind.

New years on the beach in Rio with 2 million people and David Guetta.  Two more weeks in Brazil.  Then coming home to a 60 degree temperature change and spending 14 hour days cutting out pieces from a large piece of foam.  But it's wondeful to be home....except for having to wear 12 layers everytime I leave the house.  I didn't miss that.

Brazil was amazing, the beach, the density, the little shops, the fruit juices, the crazy buildings with their intense ramps and weird, uneven staircases.  Being warm all the time, even when it rains.

I've begun to sort through my photos, but there are literally a 1000, so some serious editing is required.  However I've gone through a few.

One of my favourite parts of Brazil was being able to walk everywhere and look at things.  We walked so much, like all day, for eight hours.  And it was wonderful.  So much colour, so many neat buildings and neighbourhoods.  There is constantly something to look at.

The streets are filled with market stalls, little booths selling purses, watches and ipod cases, stands covered in belts and an assortment of objects.  The street in Brazil is an incredibly public space that is always used.  Bar stools and tables spill out onto the boulevard at night, security guards set up chairs on street corners and old men sit in lawn chairs outside shops and watch people.  If you look carefully enough you constantly encounter objects that people have placed on the street for later use, and no one moves them, its incredible.

My favourite objects were the chairs.  So many chairs everywhere, often unoccupied at the moment waiting for the specific time when their owner would come back to use them.  I loved it.

This first chair is my favourite.



There is something so wonderfully odd about finding furniture in use on the street.  xo.