Week 2: Kids' Summer Bible Lesson & Lemon Ricotta Muffins (SO GOOD!)

It's been a fast and furious day....we baked, we Bible studied, Daddy worked, we packed, we drove and now we're all tucked into our little hotel room in Austin and unwinding.

Since I have some time, I thought I would post our Bible lesson highlights along with our absolute favorite new muffin recipe....the Lemon Ricotta Muffins that I mentioned last week. I just love them....and I am not even all that into lemon!

I actually borrowed this recipe from Tommie (the originator of Muffin Mondays), who borrowed it from Giada De Laurentis....so you know it's a good one. Seriously, how does Giada stay so thin with all of the amazing food she creates?

Lemon Ricotta Muffins

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar or more as needed for sprinkling

(I actually used the decorative sugar sprinkles to add a little texture to mine...loved that!)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (from 2 lemons)

1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese

1 large egg

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/3 cup thinly sliced almonds

We doubled the recipe....hence the sheer magnitude of lemons you see here in our ingredient line-up. And doubling made even more than I dreamed. I thought we would come out with two dozen, instead I had 2 1/2 dozen plus 2 dozen mini muffins. We had muffins coming out of our ears today!

The E-LEMON-EATER.

This child has eaten (not just tasted or chewed on but actually eaten) lemons since he was a wee little tike. It's bizarre. We realize how bizarre it is when we go out to eat with people and he's bartering for lemons from our water to eat them (rind and all)....and our friends' look of shock is pretty apparent. I always figure there's a whole lot worse he could be eating. It is fruit.

Back to the recipe...

Directions:

Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners (again this made way more than what it was supposed to for me). Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat 1 cup sugar, butter, and lemon zest in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the ricotta. Beat in the egg, lemon juice, and almond extract. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended (the batter will be thick and fluffy-- see photo below).

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the almonds and then the remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar over the muffins. Bake until the muffins just become pale golden on top, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yes, the batter was thick alright. More like cookie dough. In fact, this is my cookie dough scooper I had to use to "pour" the batter in to the muffin cups.

They looked so stiff to me in the cups....but I figured they'd sort themselves out in the oven. And they did.

So yummy. With all that butter, they'd have to be, right?

We packed them up....this week we stepped up our presentation a bit. Sorry, Duggans, I know the cardboard Clementine box with Press-n-seal wrap didn't exactly scream Martha Stewart last week. I found some cute little baskets at DollarTree for, you know, a dollar.

Our recipients this week were a lady down the street who we still haven't met but we left them *safely* (or so we hope) with a teenage grandson at her home. He promised they'd make it on to her...uneaten. ; ) We've been wanting to meet this lady for sometime since she has a connection with David's parents' church out in Pecos. Still hoping to meet her one day.

Our other basket went to my brother who lives here in Austin. We left them on his doorstep and played ding-dong-ditch 'em. Nah....we called ahead and told them they'd be left there while he was out! ; )

And on to the Bible lesson for today...continuing the theme of Showing the Love of Christ to Others, we talked about how He loved us first....

our memory verse (which he learned lickety-split...may have to start lengthening these!):

Jonathan knows all about the love of Christ!

Our craft today was sun-catchers that had different words about God's love on them.

These were a bit of a mess....hoping they dry by the time we get home Friday! ; )

The boys really loved them though. I was just a bit nervous because of how much the directions stressed how "STAINFUL" the paint was. Rethinking trying the rest with the kindergarten Bible class next week.

That's all I've got for now! Hoping to have a little R&R this week and just spend some quality time together and with some good friends as well.

Side note: Julie asked for the Zucchini Bread sandwich recipe last week. Although I don't have Hickory Street Cafe's recipe....I think you could make it with mine from last week and use two loaf pans and increase your time in the oven. Then slice into bread pieces. Take two pieces and spread with the whipped cream cheese (they always used the Philly brand at HSC). Stick them together and voila! Sounds pretty rich? It WAS!!! ; )