Be it ever so humble . . . and a new Giveaway!

Home . . . home . . . we've all read the old quips about it, probably even used them from time to time . . . you know the ones . . . like

home is a place you hang your hat, or the place you sign up for the family car, or wait for the allowance dole . . . grab a snack.

We all have a tendancy to take our old abode for granted sometimes. It's there, it's familiar . . . it's just home, that's all.

But is that all it really is?



Have you ever been away somewhere and been struck with a devouring longing for that place you call "Home?" It is then that you truly begin to realize that a home is much more than a roof over your head . . . and that it quite honestly takes a whole heap of living to make a house a home for you or for anyone else.

Home is where you can loll about on the floor and read the newspaper or your comics . . . where the smell of fresh bread baking or a tempting stew bubbling on top of the stove tantalizes your tastebuds, promising pleasures to come . . . where your grade school masterpiece still resides and the scratches of your first puppies claws still mark the back door.



It's after-school-snacks of your own choosing and where your horde of childhood books, snapshots, report cards and all those other important momentos of your youth are still stashed . . . it's birthday cakes and family reunions . . . it's the remembrances of leaf raking in the autumn and digging in the garden in the spring.

It's praying together and singing together . . . and sometimes even arguing together . . . but you can do it and not be afraid of judgement, or ridicule, or the fear of people abandoning you . . . because you know that everyone there loves you . . . even when you don't love yourself.



It's agreeing to disagree with your mom on your form of dress . . . and the tender, loving care when you're sick . . . the heap of understanding when you're blue . . . it's the place where you are loved most by those who know you best and where you've been.

Home is the welcome mat you put out for your friends . . . where you can pay back all their kindnesses to you . . . where you can share . . . where you can give . . . where you can care . . .



It's not unlike anyone else's home, and yet . . . it's different than all the others, because your things, your loves, your happy memories reside there. Home is really where you hang your ♥ heart ♥



It's a lot of things . . . that's what a home is . . . and it's pretty special don't you think?



A friend of mine in church told me about this fabulous Muffin Cookbook. I looked it up on the internet and it did indeed sound wonderful and so I just had to have one for myself, only to discover after it arrived . . . doh!! I already had it. I didn't want to go to the trouble of sending it back so I thought to myself, this would make the perfect giveaway gift! So that is what I am doing in honor of passing the 200 mark on my followers list I am giving every follower of mine an opportunity to win this lovely Cookbook, "Mad About Muffins, by Dianna Bonaparte. Not only that, I am also throwing in a small set of kitchen scales as the recipes are all in British Measurements and I know you North Americans sometimes struggle with those! To be in on the fun you only have to sign up as one of my followers and leave a comment telling me you have done so, or that you are already on the list. I'll be picking a winner on March 1st. Good Luck Everyone!



Just to show you how very tasty the recipes are in this book, I baked the White Chocolate and Lavender Muffins from it's pages last night. Oh my, but they are very good! I was a bit afraid that the lavender would be somewhat overpowering, but it isn't. It's quite pleasant and so are the white chocolate chunks!!



*White chocolate and Lavender Muffins*
Makes 12
Printable Recipe

Deliciously different! The Lavender gives a subtle pleasant taste to these sweet muffins and goes so very well with the white chocolate.

For the batter
13 ounces flour
6 ounces caster sugar
1 TBS baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp dried lavender (or 1 TBS fresh lavender florets)
6 3/4 ounces milk
3 1/2 ounces sunflower oil
2 eggs
7 ounces white chocolate, chopped
to top:
1 1/2 ounces demerara sugar or lavender sugar if you have it



Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Grease and flour 12 medium muffin cups or line with paper liners.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and lavender together in a large bowl. Whisk together the milk, oil and eggs in a beaker. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients all at once. Fold in with a large metal spoon, just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in the chocolate chunks to evenly disperse.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, dividing it equally amongst them. Sprinkle the tops with the demerara sugar. (or lavender sugar if using)

Bake for 22 to 25 minutes until well risen and golden brown and the tops spring back when gently touched.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool a bit before eating.



If you like apples and blackberries, you'll love this delicious Apple and Blackberry Cobbler that I have posted today over on The English Kitchen.