The Apple of My... Stomach

Today has been such a great day: there was that extra hour of sleep (Thanks, DST!), I got to gchat with John for an absurdly long time this morning, and I met my wonderful friend, Jehan, for lunch. So, this evening, I decided to top it off and try a Pinterest recipe for my lovely English Department colleagues. (I've been planning making them for a bit since I actually had to go home to Pennsylvania to find apple butter for the recipe.)

I love doughnuts, but I don't eat them often because I'm a bit paranoid about fried foods (exception: my Mickey D's french fry addiction). The great thing about this recipe is that it's pretty darn healthy. There's only one egg, the butter is optional, and there's no frying involved! 

You can find the original recipe at Feastie. I'm copying it below with my notes, changes, and suggestions, but please know that the original recipe is not my original content. 

You'll need:

Dry ingredients (in one bowl):

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Wet ingredients (in another bowl):

• 1 large egg
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup apple butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (I omitted because we were out.)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup apple cider
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt (I used non-fat, generic vanilla yogurt.)
• 2 Tbsp canola oil

Topping:

• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. 
3. In another large bowl, whisk together the egg, brown sugar, apple butter, vanilla extract, honey, apple cider, yogurt, and canola oil. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient mixture and whisk until just incorporated. Don't over-mix - a few lumps are okay. 
4. Using a tablespoon or cookie scoop, fill a 24-hole mini muffin pan with the batter; fill each hole only 3/4 of the way, or you'll end up with huge mini muffins (maxi muffins?). Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes and cool on a wire rack. 
5. While donut holes are still warm, melt butter in a microwave safe dish. Combine cinnamon and sugar in another dish. Using a pastry brush, very lightly brush a tiny bit of melted butter onto the top of each donut hole, then dip the top of the muffin in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll the donut hole in the cinnamon sugar to coat the sides and top. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note about baking: I don't have a mini-muffin pan, so I used a regular cupcake/muffin pan, filled each about 3/4 full, and baked for 15 minutes instead of 10. Instead of the texture of a cake-y doughnut, they have, more or less, the texture of a muffin. I only rolled the top in cinnamon sugar. I think coating the sides and bottom would have been sugar overkill (if there is such a thing).  Still delicious, still autumnal and fantastic!

Getting Phone Banked

Happy November! The best month has finally arrived (no other month can compete with turkey, pumpkin pie, my mom's PA Dutch potato filling, and a minimum of three days off of work), and I'm stoked. Despite being out of work for three days because of Hurricane Sandy, it's been a tiring week.

Even so in the past week or so, I was able to knock a few more things off of my list of 100 things to do this year. I got back down to my high school weight, I made another Christmas present, I met one of my dear friends from work for sushi, and a piece I wrote was published on The Sisterhood of the Camo Pants' blog.

And, I crossed #99 off my list: I volunteered with President Obama's campaign. My friend, Shannon, and I decided we'd try our hand at phone banking. And let me tell you, we got banked.

In Baltimore, the term "banked" means to get jumped and beaten up. (I learned this my first year of teaching here when I thought it had something to do with snow banks. Rookie mistakes.)  Honestly, I had no illusions about phone banking. I didn't think it would be rainbows and sunflowers. I figured there would be a lot of hang-ups and rude people. I was not execting to make about 200 calls in 2 1/2 hours and only speak to (maybe) 15 people.

It was terribly apparent that so close to the election, most people weren't picking up their phones anymore. I can't say I blame them at all. It must be frustrating and tiring to be a swing state voter. And it's sad that our democracy has been reduced to scrambling to persuade a handful of voters in just a handful of states. But that's the system we currently have.

I digress. Here are a few moments from Shannon and my adventure:

• Baltimore became Smalltimore as I saw someone at the HQ that I knew (who also used to teach under my current principal) and someone who knew someone I work with. I also sat next to a woman who graduated from the high school I teach at in 1969. That was nifty. 
• The only time I got through my whole script was... when I called my mom (from my cell, of course, not the HQ phone). She insisted that I read through the whole thing and ask her all of the questions.
• One of the other volunteers had someone tell him that they "wouldn't vote for a n-----."  While I don't think anyone would argue that racism isn't a factor in current American culture and society, it still is jarring to hear someone espouse that viewpoint so bluntly.
• On the other hand, another volunteer had someone tell him that they were voting for Pedro in this election. In all fairness, Pedro will make all of your wildest dreams come true. 

 

I've decided that phone banking isn't my thing, but I really do like campaigning. I think canvasing might be more my speed.  Even though I didn't feel particularly useful today, I'm glad for the new experience! And it's definitely something to cross of my list!

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Signed, Sealed, Delivered...

Originally, I saw this idea on Pinterest (isn't that where everyone sees all of their new ideas?) and, after picking up a pack of 5x7 envelopes at Michael's on crazy sale, I made a Surprise a Day mini care package for John. A few days ago, John told me it finally got to him, so I can post this without ruining anything!



You need:

• 7 envelopes
• glue
• 7 different items that fit into envelopes
• stickers/markers 

Directions:

• Spread glue on the inside flap of one of your envelopes and glue it to the bottom of the front of another envelope. Repeat process until you have 7 envelopes  
• Decorate the envelopes. 
• Stuff each envelope with fun stuff! 

 Here's what I put in John's... 

• Monday- a wallet-size photo of the two of us
• Tuesday- a print out of a world map with a dotted line connecting Maryland and Afghanistan (Dorky, I know. That's just how I roll.)
• Wednesday-  a photobooth sticker from a date we went on a year ago
• Thursday- I redeemed a coupon that John gave me before he left. Well, I didn't actually redeem it yet. It's a request for redemption. If I remember correctly, it's for dinner at the first place we went on a date.
• Friday- a Penn State Blue Band postcard
• Saturday-I printed out Scrabble pieces, cut them out, and sent John a goofy, secret message.

 Before you try this out for yourself, go here and like Jo, My Gosh! on Facebook! You know you want to!