Peanut Festival Weekend in Americus - photos by Caitlyn

Our dear friends, Bob and Ruth, brought their granddaughter, Caitlyn, to the Americus Garden Inn this weekend for them to enjoy the Plains Peanut Festival. They were here about a year and a half ago and we were excited to see them again. I tried a new recipe for their first breakfast, what I called an oatmeal cookie muffin. (I will post the recipe in the very near future.) I watched Caitlyn take the first photo of many and before they left this morning I asked if I could share her photos on my blog. All of these photos were taken by Caitlyn. This is a great photo of the main course I prepared Friday morning.

After watching the video "Briars in the Cotton Patch" by Faith Fuller, they decided to visit Koinonia, right here in Americus. They had an enjoyable visit including lunch.

Saturday, they attended the Plains Peanut Festival and met Mr. Peanut.

Mr. Peanut sure is tall!

Since there were no photos of Caitlyn at the Peanut Festival, here is an interesting self-portrait.

Did I mention that Caitlyn is a very talented artist?
A hibiscus in the garden.
Some black-eyed susans

An interesting view of the northwest corner of the Americus Garden Inn.
Some very colorful lantana

The Confederate rose is enormous but no flowers yet.

Several photos of the koi pond

A great photo of the sky

Another one

The tulip poplar has just turned yellow, seemingly overnight.

A fallen leaf

I was just wondering when autumn was coming to Americus. It looks like it started just in time for Caitlyn to catch it in her photos.

Thank you, Caitlyn, for allowing me to share your photos. Thank you Bob and Ruth for bringing Caitlyn to Americus.

I forgot to mention that Caitlyn is only 13 years old. She already has an incredible eye for detail, I am sure you agree.

Thanks for your visit to the Americus Garden Inn.

Almost Fall in Americus Georgia

It is hard to believe that September is almost over and Fall should be upon us. The temperatures here in Americus have been setting heat records in the 90s. I just took a stroll around the garden to see if there were any signs of autumn. (Remember to click on the photos for the larger image.)

As you can see, the water lilies are in bloom. Against the incredibly blue sky, the snowball bushes are displaying their "snowballs".
The sedum is flowering.
The salvia looks gorgeous.

The Mexican petunias have really filled out.

Amongst the oleander, I found lots of seed pods.

I found seeds in the Little Gem magnolias, too. Aren't they beautiful?

Kim just finished building this planter around the lantana. It looks great.

The brown turkey fig tree has a very peculiar aroma. Having never been around fig trees, I have no idea if that is normal. However, there are a lot of immature figs on the tree. We have yet to taste a fig from our trees...

I finally found a true sign of autumn. The dogwood trees are full of berries.

A closer look at the berries.

The Chinese Flame Tree is showing some color.

With the end of September upon us, this weekend is the Plains Peanut Festival which is a celebration of Plains, Peanuts and a President. It is an early birthday party for Jimmy Carter whose birthday is October 1, 1924. It's hard to believe that he is going to be 86 years old. We will be very busy as we already have every room reserved.

Next weekend, the first weekend of October, will be another local festival - The Andersonville Historic Fair. We still have rooms available if you want to join the festivities.

Thank you for visiting the Americus Garden Inn today. Wish you were here.

A Small Batch of Brownie Muffins at the Americus Garden Inn

Yesterday morning at the Americus Garden Inn Bed & Breakfast we started the day with brownie muffins with walnuts. There's nothing like a little chocolate to start your day. This is another great recipe when you only need a small batch of muffins as it only makes 6 small muffins. I promised to share the recipe and to show all of the steps. "Billy", this one's for you! The full recipe is at the bottom of this post. Does the muffin look yummy, or what?Here are the step by step directions for the brownie muffins, exactly as I made them.

Place butter and chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. I use a 32 ounce glass measuring cup.

Microwave on high for about 40 seconds. As you can see, the butter is melted, but, the chips still look like chips.

Stir until chips are totally melted into the butter.
While the chocolate-butter mixture is cooling, chop the nuts coarsely. Nuts are optional.

In a small mixing bowl, measure sugar and egg.

Blend thoroughly with a whisk.

Add egg mixture to the room temperature melted chocolate along with vanilla.

Stir until blended.

Add flour to chocolate mixture.

Stir until thoroughly blended.

Add nuts. You could use coconut, more chocolate chips, raisins, heath bar pieces, peanut butter chips...

Gently mix until blended.

Spoon into paper lined muffin cups. Of course, you could just spray the pan with Pam instead.

Bake until the tops begin to crack.

A closer look at the cracking.

You have to let them cool before you eat them or they are truly a gooey mess. Believe me, it is worth the wait!

BROWNIE MUFFINS
Yield: 6 muffins

¼ cup butter
¼ cup chocolate chips
1 egg
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp vanilla
¼ cup flour
¼ cup chopped nuts, optional

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 6 muffin cups with liners or spray with PAM.
In a microwavable bowl, place chocolate chips and butter. Microwave on high for 40 seconds. Stir for at least 30 seconds. If not completely melted, microwave for 10 second intervals until melted. Allow to cool to room temperature.
In a small bowl, whisk egg with sugar. Stir in vanilla and melted chocolate mixture stirring until combined.
Gradually add flour, stirring until blended. Fold in nuts, if desired.
Divide batter equally between muffin cups.
Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until tops begin to crack.

Cool on rack for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

ENJOY!

Thank you for your visit to the Americus Garden Inn Bed & Breakfast. Wish you were here enjoying these muffins and some conversation in person. Hope you will visit again soon.

Small Batch Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

Guests ask me frequently about how I adjust recipes for small batch baking. I believe that one of those childhood memories that fills most adults with joy is the aroma of fresh baked goodies. So, every morning, it doesn't matter if we have 1 guest or 20 guests, I bake fresh bread, muffins, scones or biscuits so that their morning begins with a smile.

This morning, for example, we only had 3 people for breakfast. I decided to make Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins. This recipe is great as it only makes 6 muffins. Today, I decided to invite you into my kitchen to bake with me. After preheating the oven, I mixed the wet ingredients together in a small bowl (the recipe is below). Jif peanut butter is made with peanuts from Plains, Georgia - where Jimmy Carter lives - just a few miles down the road from Americus. I always use Jif.In a medium mixing bowl, I whisked the dry ingredients together.
Before combining wet with dry, I prepared my muffin tin with liners.

Using a spatula, I mixed the wet ingredients into the flour mixture.

You've got to be careful not to overmix, just until the flour is all incorporated.

I scooped some batter into each muffin liner to about 1/3 full making sure that the bottom of the liner was covered with batter. Then, I spooned the jelly (I used strawberry preserves) into the center of each muffin.

Then, covered the jelly with the remaining batter.

In the oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick stuck into a muffin comes out clean.

I let them cool on a wire rack for about 5 minutes before removing from the pan.

The muffins needed to cool just a little longer.

Time for Kim to assume his taste tester role!

PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY MUFFINS RECIPE

3/8 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky)

1 TBS honey

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup corn meal

4 1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt
2 TBS jelly or preserves

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 6 muffin cups with liners or spray with PAM.
2. Stir peanut butter with honey until blended. Add egg and mix until blended. Add milk.
3. Whisk dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
4. Combine peanut butter mixture with dry ingredients, stir just until moistened.
5. Fill muffin cups about 1/3 - 1/2 full. Spoon 1 tsp jelly in center of each.
6. Divide remaining batter evenly covering jelly.
7. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Place pan on wire rack to cool, about 5 minutes. Remove muffins to rack and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes.
9. Enjoy with a little additional jelly and/or peanut butter.

Hope you enjoyed following along with me in the Americus Garden Inn kitchen. Wish you were here to enjoy the muffins in person. If you like the recipe, let me know. Hope you have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend.

Gluten Free Banana Muffin Recipe and Blueberry German Pancake Recipe

We had a wonderful visit this morning with a couple of women who became our friends when they stayed at the Americus Garden Inn Bed & Breakfast last year. Patricia and I had been dealing with similar health issues and I suggested that she try going without gluten on a trial basis. Well, it turns out that gluten was definitely making her very ill. Since I am gluten and soy intolerant, I understand how difficult it can be. I really make an effort to accommodate other people who have health issues related to food. So, this morning, I made a new recipe I had found for gluten free banana nut muffins.

As you can see, they looked beautiful. The recipe made 8 muffins. We all agreed that they tasted just as good as regular wheat-based muffins. I thought there might be someone else looking for a perfect small batch gluten free muffin recipe. Here it is:

GLUTEN FREE BANANA NUT MUFFINS RECIPE

1 large very ripe banana, mashed

3/8 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/8 cup oil (I used canola)

5/8 cup rice flour (I used organic white)

2 TBS chopped walnuts + 1 TBS for garnish

3/8 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp xanthan gum (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 8 muffin cups with liners or spray with PAM.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the banana, sugar, vanilla, egg and oil until very well mixed.
3. In another medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients, including 2 TBS nuts.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients until all is well incorporated.
5. Scoop evenly into 8 muffin cups and sprinkle tops with reserved nuts.
6. Bake at 350 for approximately 30 minutes.
7. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan.
8. Enjoy!

Yesterday morning, I tried another new recipe for Baked German Pancakes, which are sometimes called a Dutch Baby. I used some beautiful blueberries that I had on hand and this is how the finished product looked before I cut it to serve. It looks delicious, doesn't it? I am certain that this recipe could also be modified to be gluten free although I did make it the traditional way with wheat flour. As my official "taste tester", Kim compared it to a crepe in flavor and texture. That means the recipe could easily be adapted for sweet or savory ingredients. One of our guests suggested smoked salmon, spinach and cream cheese with chives. Next time, I'll try something a little different. For now, here is the recipe for a Blueberry German Pancake or a Blueberry Dutch Baby:

BLUEBERRY GERMAN PANCAKE (baked)

aka BLUEBERRY DUTCH BABY

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 TBS melted butter

1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Butter a 12" skillet or 4 - 6" skillets.
3. Whisk eggs, milk and vanilla. Whisk in melted butter.
4. Combine flour, salt and cinnamon.
5. Sift dry ingredients into egg mixture.
6. Pour batter into buttered pan(s). (I used the small pans.)
7. Arrange blueberries on top of batter.
8. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. The edges will puff up and become a golden brown and the center should be set. If not quite done, turn oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake up to 10 minutes longer.
9. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar and serve.
10. ENJOY!

Thank you so much for visiting us at the Americus Garden Inn Blog. If you try the recipes, please let me know how you like them. Until next time, have a wonderful day.