Seattle, Weeding, and my new Compost Bin

It is Saturday morning and the hubby just left for work. My off-days are Sat/Sun and his are Sun/Mon. I've come to appreciate this, as we have an off-day together and one on our own. On Saturday it gives me plenty of time to clean house in the morning, garden mid-day, and then grocery shop and cook in the afternoon. If I have time in the evening, I'll make a muffin or scone for Sunday morning breakfast or some baked good to enjoy throughout the week.

One of my favorite baking cookbooks is by Leslie Mackie. She owns Macrina Bakery and Cafe in Seattle that was featured on the Food Network's Road Tasted show with Jamie and Bobby Deen. I've made many things from her recipe collection, including the Angel Thumbprint cookies I posted back before Valentine's Day. While I was in Seattle, on Friday morning I had some time to explore the city before my flight. I headed out to Macrina's Belltown location at about 7:15 AM. It was thirteen blocks from my hotel room at the W to Macrina Belltown, and a nice walk the entire way. 20 minutes later I was perched in front of a beautiful pastry case filled to the brim with mouthwatering selections. I ordered a Morning Glory muffin. I've made the Macrina recipe a few times, and I wanted to see how my version compared to the real thing. Their's was so much better than mine! Now I know what a real muffin should be like. The muffin bread was so moist and fluffy it just melted in my mouth. When I make the muffins, I usually leave out the raisins because I'm not a big fan. Well, not anymore. The mix of golden raisins in the bread was just perfect. Tonight I plan to bake something from the cookbook. I'll post an update later about what I decied to bake.

In gardening news, we got some rain this week (finally!), and the weeds popped up fiercely while I was away. My Earth Engine compost bin came in this week so I plan to put that together today. I'm off to the garden to sharpen up the hoe and weed the beds. We're supposed to get thunderstorms this afternoon, so I better get to it!