I have been spending a lot of time in this here corner of loveliness...it houses my baking corner and my bulk goodies. I have longed for a space like this forever...and oh how grateful I am to finally have it.

There is just something so wonderful about having everything I need right at my fingertips...and yet not cluttering up the kitchen. It's inspiring to see them all on display and it makes assembling recipes so easy!

And so...we have been baking up a storm...in the snow storms :) We love baking something warm and delicious inside while the snow is falling outside.

Bella is an excellent helper and always offers to help with any baking task...we've been learning a lot about numbers and measuring through this.

I like to call this beauty "My Precious". I LOVE having a full size oven again. Love love love. And it's gas. Which makes me insanely happy. I think I would rather cook over a fire than an electric stove!

Our muffins must always be eaten with hot tea! I recently re-stocked my favorite tea, Rishi's Citron Oolong...so I'm a happy girl. The muffin that we tend to make the most around here is the Delightful Banana Nut Muffins from The Garden of Vegan. It's one of my most requested recipes from from friends and family...so I thought I would post it here!

Delightful Banana Nut Muffins Cookbook: The Garden of Vegan By Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard

1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour ½ cup dry sweetener (I like rapadura or turbinado) 1 t baking powder 1 t baking soda ½ t salt ¾ cup ground flax seed ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional) 2 bananas, mashed 1/3 cup olive oil 1 t vanilla extract 2/3 cup soy, rice, or almond milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sweetener, baking powder, baking soda, salt, flax, and walnuts. In a small bowl, combine the bananas, oil, vanilla and soy milk. Pour the liquid ingredients with the dry and mix together gently until “just mixed”. Spoon into a lightly oiled muffin pan and bake for 15-20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

On the day of our big snow, Bella decided that we simply must have a muffin picnic in front of the fire, and so we did! Such sweet memories I have with my girls.

And lastly, my friend Ellen gave me a yummy recipe for Sunflower Seed Cookies...and of course we made them right away! They were SO GOOD. Although, I think it had something to do with the copious amount of sugar in them :) You can always cut back or add alternative sweeteners if you're so inclined. They can also easily be made vegan.

Sunflower Seed Cookies Serves/Makes: 4 dozen

Ingredients: Cream together: 1 cup butter or Earth Balance 1 cup sugar 1 cup brown sugar 2 eggs or egg substitute 1 teaspoon vanilla

Blend in: 1 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 3 cups oatmeal 1 cup sunflower seeds

Directions: Mix together well. Drop onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 F for 8-9 minutes.

For more yummy muffin recipes, check out my food blog, Happy Foody, under the muffin category. If you're a fellow muffin lover, be sure to check out this great article on "How To Make the Best Muffins Ever". It's a goody.

Next I'd like to get into baking homemade bread. I've done it before...but I would especially like to make sourdough and english muffins, along with some crusty, hearty soup breads.