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Sunday 25 February 2018

The Joy of Sourdough English Muffins



We all know its the simple things that bring joy to our lives, but what does that really mean?  Personally, I feel that joy hides out in the most unexpected places.  Joy is simple to miss, it’ll pass you by if you’re not looking for it.  I’ve missed it, many times; I have chosen to live in the negative.  I have focused on the bad behaviours, the messy kitchen, my kid’s bad choices, my bad choices.  Joy is a choice.  It’s the dancing in the kitchen; forgetting your chores for a few moments, giggling on the phone, hugging your kids, doing something that you love.  I love baking and crafting. There is joy in creativity. 

This week I found creativity and joy in my Sourdough English Muffins.  I make these often.  I love them, my kids love them.  They make the whole family happy.  They taste so much better than the store bought version. I call them my English Muffins, which is technically unfair, as they’re a recipe I found on Jonesin’ for Taste’s Blog. You can find the complete recipe at this link:



There is, however, significance in my ownership of this recipe. I have made it so many times that I use the blog post as a reference. I know what I need to add and when I need to add it; its simple.  It takes time and patience to complete.  I hit my “Flow” when I mix the ingredients together, as I roll the dough and sprinkle the cornmeal.  I don’t need to think, I just simply do, that’s the Flow I speak of, baking becomes a meditation of sorts. I take the joy; I eat it up! I ignore the frustrations of life, as I create something beautiful, I allow it to warm my soul.  That’s the trick to joy, you need to accept it.




The ingredients are simple, wholesome and I get to use my sourdough starter.  My starter, which I affectionately call Ramona, has received my love and care throughout the past two years.  I have personified Ramona, honestly, she has to be the most giving pet I have ever owned. If you don’t have a sourdough starter, I would totally recommend starting one of your own. I have added a link to my sourdough article here:



Sourdough English Muffins 

1/2 Cup Sourdough Starter
1 Cup of Milk
2 Cups of Organic All Purpose Flour

Mix these three ingredients together in a large bowl.  Once combined, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for at least 8 hours or overnight. 

Once your dough has rested overnight, add an additional:

3/4 Cup of Organic All Purpose Flour
1 Tbsp of Sugar 
3/4 Tbsp of Ground Sea Salt
1 Tsp of Baking Soda

Once your ingredients are fully combined, drop your dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 4-5 minutes.

Roll your dough out to 3/4 of an inch and begin cutting with either a wide mouth mason jar or a large glass.

Line a cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper.  Sprinkle the paper with cornmeal.  

As your English Muffins are cut, drop them onto the lined cookie sheets; flip to coat both sides with cornmeal. 

Make sure to space them properly on your cornmeal and parchment lined cookie sheet, as they will increase in size during your rise.

When your cookie sheet is full, cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm area to rise.

Allow your muffins to rise at least 45 minutes before cooking.

You can re-roll your scraps to cut additional English Muffins but the dough requires at least 10 minutes rise time between each cutting. 

I typically get 10-12 English Muffins out of this recipe; if you require more, the recipe doubles well and freezes beautifully.

To cook your English Muffins, lightly oil a frying pan, cook over medium heat for approximately 4 minutes per side.

Enjoy them toasted with jam, peanut butter, almond butter or as an “over-the-top” delicious egg sandwich.  

The greatest excitement I experience while making these Sourdough English Muffins is how amazing they look. The first time I made them, I pulled them off of the pan as I giggled hysterically.  They looked like English Muffins. Real English Muffins. I had made something that I could buy at a store. They looked Professional.  Who knew you could make English Muffins?  Preservative Free English Muffins.  It turns out you can make English Muffins. If you decide to make them; you too should enjoy every moment of the process. Once your soul is fed, gobble one up and feed your tummy too. 






Thanks for taking the time to read this article. Feel free to comment below with any questions, concerns or if you just liked this Big Idea!! 


Tuesday 13 February 2018

Eat Your Heart Out! Valentine Deliciousness!



Yet another Valentine’s Day and more homemade valentines for my son’s class.  He’s a happy boy again this year!  Drew and I made our famous sugar cookies for his friends and packaged them up with his Valentine wishes.  A classic wish from an 11 year old boy.... “From: Drew.”  One of these days I’m hoping he becomes more verbose, but for now this will do!! We very sensibly froze the left over red icing from his Mario Muffin Cupcakes, after his birthday; yesterday, we thawed it out to sandwich between two of our heart shaped cookies. 

The beauty of a classic Sugar Cookie recipe is it’s entirely versatile. Not only did I need to make treats for Drew’s class; I wanted to drop some goodies off to friends and prepare some treats for my thirteen year old daughter’s “Single Ladies Sleepover” on Valentine’s Day. Single Ladies Sleepover!?! Sometimes you just roll with your child’s requests.  This mama is rolling...and secretly very happy that she’s not sneaking out to see boys on Valentine’s Day. Girl time sounds perfect to me!!!






Mel and Drew’s Famous Sugar Cookies

1 Cup of Salted Butter
1 and a 1/2 Cups of Granulated Sugar
1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
2 Tsp of Baking Powder
3 and a 1/2 Cups of Flour
2 tbsp of Milk
1 tsp of Vanilla
1/2 tsp Salt


Cream wet ingredients.

Blend dry ingredients.  Slowly add dry ingredients to wet.  

Refrigerate for at least two hours.

When ready to start baking, preheat the oven to 350 F. 

Roll out dough to 1/8”, on a well floured surface.  

Use a cookie cutter to cut shapes and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown on edges.  

Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack.

If adding icing sugar to cookies, add after cookies have cooled on the pan for 2 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Makes approximately 48 cookies. 


After your cookies have cooled, ice the bottom of one of them, generously.


Press together and Voila!!  Cookie sandwich!!  You can also use jam between your cookies, I used my homemade cherry jelly on some of my goodies.  Please excuse my craft nails...I’ve painting green...lots of green...







Treat Toppers

If you’re making Treat Toppers, you can follow the following instructions. First of all, choose a reasealable bag that fits your treat.  Measure the width of your bag and map out your plan on a white piece of card stock.  I typically make toppers 3” tall, with a seam at 1.5”.  The bags I’m working with are 4” wide.


Next design your topper, if you’re writing on both sides, one side will be upside down as you’re creating a folding seam in the centre.


Once your toppers are complete, you may now photocopy onto any colour of card stock you choose.  


I photocopied onto grey card stock.  Next, I trimmed the excess off of the edges and then I used a scoring blade to mark the toppers at 1.5”.  I used my pre-drawn lines to cut them to 4” wide.


I adore inking, I love the dimension it adds to any project.  In order to ink, you simply drag the edges of your project across an ink pad.


Feel free to add colour!!  You can do this before or after photocopying.  I used a red glaze pen to roughly colour the hearts, after photocopying as I enjoy the added texture and interest it provides. A glaze pen looks similar to a gel pen, until you use it!!!  A glaze pen’s ink dries raised and shiny. Finally, fold toppers over the bags and staple.


I enjoy the staples from the Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher.  They’re tea bag sized and so super cute!!

Thanks for reading.  Feel free to comment below if you have any questions, concerns or just like this big idea!!  Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!