The photos were taken by Scott Umstattd. 
The article was written by Mandy Flynn.
An interesting view through the stone arch.
Special thanks to Kate DeLoach, the editor/publisher of Vintage Magazine for printing the article and sharing the photos with us.
Back to the original intent of this post, the gluten free muffins. It is really difficult to satisfy a chocolate craving when you have to avoid gluten and soy. I have found the most delicious way to solve this by making a very small batch of gluten free brownie muffins. Can you see how yummy this is? This recipe is easy and quick. You can make them with regular flour if gluten is not a problem for you. This recipe only makes 4 muffins.
Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees and place 4 liners in your muffin pan. I always fill the extra cups halfway with water for even baking.
Measure 1/4 cup of oil and 1/2 cup of sugar (I use a little less sugar)
Pour the sugar into the oil
Mix thoroughly (I used a fork)
Crack an egg into the same bowl or measuring cup
Mix well (I was still using a fork)
Add 1/2 tsp vanilla
to the same bowl or cup
Stir to combine
Measure 1/4 cup rice flour into a small bowl
Add 3 TBS baking cocoa powder
to the dry ingredients
Add 1/8 tsp of baking powder (eyeball 1/2 of a 1/4 tsp measure)
same amount of salt
Whisk the dry ingredients to combine.
Make sure there are no lumps of cocoa.
Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients
Mix well.
Divide the batter evenly (I use a scoop measure)
into the 4 lined muffin cups
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes (toothpick inserted will be almost clean)
Let them cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 5 minutes. Remove muffins from pan.
Enjoy these fabulous muffins.
The December (January) project continues. When the work crew left yesterday around 4:00pm, the moon was shining in the sky.
Here's the recap of the last few days of work on the house. They came after lunch on Thursday and started on the siding of the living room.
Two hours later, this is all that was done.
Friday, there was a little more of a work groove going on.
Kim was also working outside, scraping the window trim outside of the Veranda Suite.
When the workers left Friday, this is what they had finished.
Since we had no guests Friday night, Kim asked if the workers would work on Saturday so that we could move this project along. Three men came to work. They were not able to move the scaffolding, so, they worked on the corner of the Jacuzzi Suite wall and the upstairs front porch.
You can see that some of the siding of the exterior of the porch has been removed. Remember, you can click on the photos for a larger view.
Kim finished scraping the window trim.
Safety is a priority when the men are working on the second story.
By the end of the day, you can see some progress.
The porch has been stripped and is wrapped in Tyvek.
That wraps up where we are as of today. The project is moving slower than expected due to the weather and we are very anxious for completion. I keep reminding myself that "patience is a virtue" and "good things come to those who wait". The house will look gorgeous when we are done.
This photo is of the parking area near the pond looking down the driveway. It is one big slushy mess.
All of the trees are covered in icicles.
Without the sun to melt the ice, it has been gloomy all day.
The holly bushes have little icicles dripping from almost every leaf.
The magnolia trees look very much like the holly today.
One of the trees out on the street in front of the house.
The mailbox was picture-perfect.
Walking towards the back porch entrance
The persimmon tree
One of the planters along the path with the weeping cherry and the ruby lorapetalum
The bench facing into the garden near the camellia and bamboo
All of the bamboo is leaning over from the weight of the ice
The oleander is not taking the cold weather well.
The view from the back porch shows that although the pond pump is still circulating the water (look to the right at the running water) the left side of the pond is frozen over.
Glad you could stop by without going out in the cold! Hope you are staying nice and warm wherever you are. We hope you will visit the Americus Garden Inn blog again soon.