Coffee Cake Muffins!

We made these Monday (I think) and they turned out OK but not quite as good as I hoped, because they were supposed to make 12 mini muffins and they only made 7 very large regular muffins(lets just say they were over the top;) At any rate that gives me some information to give you, don't over fill these ones!

Coffee Cake Muffins

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1-1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 egg
3/4 cup of milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, pecans and cinnamon; set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, beat the egg, milk and oil and stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened
Spoon 1 Tbs into paper-lined muffin cups. Top each with 1 tsp. of nut mixture and  about 2 Tbs. of batter. Sprinkle with remaining nut mixture. Bake at 400 for 22-24 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 min before removing from tray. Yield 12

Enjoy!!

Sam-Editor of Muffin Men Inc

Cappuccino Muffins

Well we made this AWESOME recipe Saturday and it turned out perfect(well, as much of perfection that can be achieved here on earth!).Although these are titled "Muffins" they are really more of a dessert then a breakfast! One bit of muffin making info that I found very useful to keep in mind is, NEVER over mix! If you over mix they will not turn out right and, unless you like eating muffins in "rock candy"  form you will not enjoy them!

Cappuccino Muffins with Espresso Spread

Espresso Spread:

4 ounces of cream cheese, cubed
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee granules
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

In a food processor or blender. combine the spread ingredients; cover and process until well blended. Transfer to a small bowl and refrigerate until serving. Note: I advise doing this the night before so that way you don't get warm espresso spread *gag*

Muffins:


2 cups all-purpose flour (you could use whole wheat, but I'm not quite sure how they would rise)
3/4 cup of sugar
2-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 tablespoons instant coffee granules
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg
1teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup of miniature semisweet chocolate chips (I used regular size and it worked fine)

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar,baking powder,cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, stir milk and coffee until the coffee is dissolved.Add butter, egg and vanilla; mix well. Stir in dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips.

Fill greased or paper lined(sometime paper lined works better) muffin cups 2/3 full(or to whatever extent you want!) Bake at 375 for 17-20 min. This batch supposedly make 14 muffins but for me it only made 12.

P.S.If you make the muffins the night before it really brings our the coffee flavoring


Sam for Muffin Men Inc.

French Toast!

Well, I know a picture is in order but..........I think someone(who shall remain nameless) deleted it off of Picasa!
Oh well, I can give you the delicious recipe we had last Saturday anyways!

3 Eggs (I think)
3 Teaspoons of cinnamon (I guess)
 1 tsp. nutmeg (maybe more;)
1 tsp. allspice (um, nearly)
3 cups milk (this is the only one that I know is right!)

Well, as you can see this recipe isn't exactly legal;) So heres the story, I wake up late (well sorta;) I am immediately followed by Jon (who is also exhausted from a hard nights rest;). So do to the fact that the Challah bread intended for Sunday is going stale, Hannah suggested that we make French Toast. Although overjoyed at the thought of such a great breakfast, I at this time in the morning am not quite myself(talk to me at midnight I operate better then!). So, do to the fact that I can't seem to find my way out of a paper bag, Hannah stepped in and saved the morning with these very accurate that are directions listed above!


Signing Off!

Samuel DeLadurantey for Muffin Men Inc.

P.S. Even though she gave the directions, me and Jon still all made the recipe!

Update

Well, I'm very sorry I didn't update but.........I kinda got busy;) Oh well, we haven't been doing a ton, just keeping up with school,  I'm trying not to die in math and all of us are trying are best to persevere through this fantastic yet hard writing course!! Oh, I also read through 'The Twelve Caesars' by Suetonius  and I just finished 'The Two Babylons' by Aron Hislop. Now what have you been reading?

Here ya go!!!

Institutes of Biblical Law by R.J. Rushdoony

Intro

“This Bible is for the government of the people, by the people, and for the

People,” this statement by Wyclif is one of the most direct of all quotes that supports the full centrality of the scriptures in all areas, but especially on the matter of Law. As we see Rushdoony gives us 5 key points on the influence of law on a culture.

First, the law in every culture is religious in origin, just look at the constitution of the United States, or even the Laws the of the Middle East, they all have a religious origin whether it be Biblical or Pagan.

Second, the source of law is the god of that society. For example if reason is the source of law for a culture then reason is the god of that culture whether we like it or not, As Mao Tse-Tung said “Our God is none other than the masses of the Chinese people.”

Third, in a society any change in the law is an explicit or implicit change in religion, so if the basis of law changes from Biblical foundations to Humanist foundations the society draws it source of power and truth from Humanism not Christian theism.

Fourth, no disestablishment of religion as such is possible in any society. Christianity can be replaced by Islam but it is not a disestablishment of religion merely a replacement, all law is ultimately religious and cannot operate unless that law system codifies with the morality of its religion.

Fifth, there can be no tolerance in the law- system for any other religion. All law systems cannot tolerate another religion, because no two religious law systems are the same and therefore will not coincide, thus this tolerance of other religions will do nothing but commit suicide for that nation.

Ultimately a nation either obeys the only true Law (i.e. Biblical Law) or else it follows it’s “own” religion, which in the end will bring it nothing but death, destruction, and decay on that nation. Thus all those who attempt to break the law of God and set up their “own”  religion will ultimately themselves be broken.

Soli Deo Gloria

Samuel DeLadurantey

2/17/2010

I did this paper on the intro of R.J Rushdoony's Institutes of Biblical Law enjoy and I would greatly appreciate your opinions!!

Sam

Water Skiing!!

Today being one of the warmer days we had we decided to take the boat out and do some fishing, but....... well we were out there I decided to be crazy and get on skies! Well the water was about 50 degrees but I had a blast. We didn't catch any fish:(  but we still had loads of fun drinking Dr. Pepper and eating Pringles!


Oh, by the way has anyone ever read "The Phantom of the Opera" I just finished it the other day and would love to hear from ya'll about what you thought about it! Also, feel free to give me feed back on the Article/School paper!!






Soli Deo Gloria!




Sam Del 

What is "Julius Caesar"?

A short commentary on the play by William Shakespeare.

London 1599: Just past the stroke of midnight, and a man sits alone in room…… writing feverishly by the sputtering light of a dying candle his goose quill pen scratching roughly against the parchment, at last he throws down his pen and with a cry says “ it is finished!” The man is none other than William Shakespeare, and he has just finished what is probably one of the most influential controversial, quoted, and disdained pieces of literature of all time………………”Julius Caesar”.

This play by Shakespeare is one of the most well known pieces of literature ever written in the English language. But besides the fact that is well known, what does is it mean to Christians? Well to find out prepare to take a short journey with me ad we find the “true” meaning of  “Julius Caesar”.

To start off I’m going to give you some historical context. The years in which this takes place ore from 44-53 B.C. and the characters we will deal with are Julius Caesar,(of course;) Marc Antony, Cassius, and Marcus Brutus. Now lets begin!

First I would like to address the behavior of Cassius and Marcus Brutus in scene II of the play. Cassius and Marcus Brutus show an absolute disgust for Caesar and have no qualms about voicing that disgust in the most blatant ways. But one of the things that greatly fascinated me was the way in which they could switch from being the most “sincere” helpers of Caesar, to the sniveling, backbiting, and envois men they truly were! Although Marcus Brutus says that it is for the good of Rome one must truly wonder of was not truly envy that drove them to this crime, even Cassius ask “Is Caesar greater then we?”.

Later on it is none other the Cassius and Caesars “best friend” Marcus Brutus who lead the attack against Caesar, after they have “finished him off”, comes one of the most gruesome parts of the play. Marcus Brutus proposes that the men besmear their daggers and arms with the blood of Caesar, this is just an example of the absolute vulgarity of this time in history.

Next Marc Antony comes onto the scene, but first you must understand that Cassius and Marcus Brutus feared Marc Antony because he was a direct relation of Caesar, but to their surprise he embraces them while at the same time he feels great sorrow at the sight of Caesar lying in a pool of his own blood. This confuses Cassius and Marcus Brutus, so much so that they specify what Marc Antony must say at the funeral.

At the funeral Marcus Brutus explains his reasons as to why he and others murdered Caesar, to which the crowd wildly agrees. After Marcus Brutus finishes Marc Antony begins his speech, he keeps to the chosen script for a little while, but then proceeds to bring forth his own reasons as to why these men are murderers. By this time the crowd has swayed and is now an angry mob calling for the blood of the murderers. This is yet another example of the fickleness we get when we do not use God’s law as an ultimate standard.

In conclusion, this play shows that without God and Gods Law man becomes as the Romans, vile, plotting simpering glutinous, murderers adulterers, sodomites, and all the rest listed in Romans 1:21-32. In the end, Julius Caesar is just another example of what man will do without Christ as our Leader and Lord.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Samuel DeLadurantey 

Update!!!

Well since its a new year and with that comes certain obligations................just kidding;) I was remembering the other day that we had a blog and thought to myself" I should probably update that" so here I 'am! I'm going to give you a bit of an update and a little "revision of how the posts will look.

I have been keeping up with my cello and just finished up a recital, I'm still in school and hope to start CLEPing in the near future and perhaps have a career in the medical realm. I'm also participating in "52 book challenge " and am working though some of the greatest books ever written! I'll be posting which ones I'm reading. I'm also in the "52 verse challenge" and so I'll post that as well!!

Books read so far:

The Biography of John Owen by Andrew Thompson

The Family by J.R. Miller

The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

And I'm working through The Taming of the Shrew By Shakespeare also.

Jon is working incredible hard on his violin and has made excellent progress in the last couple of months, and has also been keeping diligent in his school. His current hobbies include Drawing(waaaaaaaaaay better then me;) Cars(which he knows everything about:) and building incredible inventions!

Phillip just got a new piano teacher and is making excellent progress as well, and is becoming a great pianist, he is also keeping up on his school and surprises even me by what he knows!!! He is also doing a great job helping mom with anything that needs done around the house!!

Well thats all folks!

Sam

Peanut Butter Bars

No pictures for this one either :(

Ingredients

1 cup butter or margarine, melted

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 cup peanut cutter

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 tablespoons peanut butter

Directions

In a medium bowl, mix together the butter or margarine, graham cracker crumbs, confectioners' sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended. Press evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 pan.

In a metal bowl over simmering water, or in the microwave, melt the chocolate chips with the peanut butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Spread over the prepared crust. Refrigerate for at least 1 hr before cutting.

Enjoy!!

Sam

No Bake Cookies

Well, I don't have a picture but I do have the recipe!!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoapowder

1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter

3 cups quick-cooking oats

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa. Bring to boil, and cook for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in peanut butter, oats, and vanilla. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper. let cool until hardened.

Sam