ritaLOVEStoWRITE

Thanks to Lynn for suggesting this funny a cappella  video that puts a new spin on the 12 Days of Christmas.

Here’s Straight No Chaser…

Happy Jane Austen’s Birthday to you!

Happy Jane Austen’s Birthday to you!

Happy Jane Austen’s Birthday to you- ooooh!

Happy Jane Austen’s Birthday to you!

(and 238 more!)

Jane Austen, Watercolour and pencil portrait by her sister Cassandra, 1810 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jane was born in Steve, England in 1775.

Despite what my nephew, Will, claims, she was an awesome writer. And although she died a really, really long time ago and only published 6 novels (well, 4, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey come out AFTER her death) she more than deserves an international fan club.

I’m lucky enough to be part of the Maryland chapter of the Jane Austen Society of North America and we had our Winter event and Birthday Party yesterday. It was held at The College of Notre Dame’s Doyle Room and attended by about 50 of our members. We had a wonderful lunch and birthday cake to celebrate the day. We also had a guest speaker, the witty and very entertaining writer Tracy Kiely.

English: Engraving of Steventon rectory, home of the Austen family during much of Jane Austen’s lifetime (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I wrote about Jane last year on her birthday, so you should go HERE to read more about her.
You can learn about the Austen collection at Goucher Library in my March 2103 article in Mason-Dixon Arrive Magazine HERE. Or click HERE to read my blog post on Jane Austen and Knitting.

There are lots of other Jane related blog post here. (Imagine THAT!) Just type in Jane Austen in the search field to the right and they’ll pop up.

Related articles

• Jane Austen’s England (highlife.ba.com)
• Some Jane Austen background info. (lauraturley97.wordpress.com)
• Jane Austen: Famous portrait of Pride and Prejudice author expected to fetch £200,000 at auction (mirror.co.uk)
• Jane Austen: Portrait featuring on new £10 note to go on sale at Sotheby’s London (london24.com)

OK all you haters, put away the preconceived notions and just listen to this nice little Christmas song from the Bieb’s… Justin Bieber’s Mistletoe.

This one goes out to all your Trekkies…

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups grated Unpeeled Apples
• 2 cups Flour
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon Ground Ginger
• 1/c cup Slivered Almonds
• 2/3 cup Sugar
• 2 large Eggs
• 1/4 cup Almond Milk (or 1% Milk)
• 1 stick softened Butter

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 18 muffin cups by spraying with cooking spray.

2.  Grate the Apples (I used a food processor, and it took 2 1/2 apples to get the 2 cups needed for this recipe — but this will vary depending on the size of your apples.)

3. Combine the Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Salt, Cinnamon, Ginger and Almonds in a bowl and stir until well mixed.

4. In a second bow combine the Sugar, Eggs, Almond Milk and Butter.

5. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry to make the muffin batter.

6. Add the grated Apples.

7. Divide batter evenly into the 18 muffin cups. Using the back of a wet spoon smooth out the tops  of the muffins.

8. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes until muffins are golden brown and pass the toothpick test.

9. Cool  for 5 minutes before enjoying.

I like that these muffins are on the dryer side. They’ll ship well (if I can ever get to the post office through all this snow.) They are a nice texture and just the right mix of sweet and spice.