They're EVERYWHERE

I had to look up what exactly these are. Dwight calls them "worms" but their official name is "catkins" (or tassels) and they are the spent male flower from oak trees. See, we all learned something new today. I had no clue. Well, one clue. Dwight and I figured they must have something to do with pollination or creating acorns and I guess we were kind of right. They DO contain pollen, and they ARE required to make acorns. Did you know acorns are the fruit of oak trees? Me, neither. At least I never thought of them that way, but I guess it makes sense. After all, acorns are what make new oak trees. (And by the way, we had a crap ton of them in the fall.)

Oak Trees — The tree that keeps on giving. (Don't even get me started on the leaves.)

Seriously, this stuff, these catkins, are everywhere: on the roof

(Thank goodness for gutter covers. And yes, all of those trees in the background—in my back yard—are oaks.)

in my flower pots...

On everything!

When we got home yesterday, the driveway was completely covered in them. This after having removed a driveway-full just a few days prior.

Dwight fired up the leaf blower, making giant catkins tumbleweeds. Needless to say, we both started sneezing and getting itchy. It was AWESOME.

Here's hoping these stupid things are about done. I honestly can't remember them ever being this bad before. If this is a predictor of how many acorns we'll have in the fall, someone is going to have to come dig us out of our house. For serious.

Ugliest. Flowers. Ever.

Toffee Mocha Blondies

If you want something sweet, quick and adaptable to whatever you have on hand, this is your recipe. You can even make it all in one bowl, depending on your preferences and flavor combo. I ended up using a small sauce pan and a bowl, because my theory is, if you're going to melt butter for a recipe, you might as well brown it. It means a longer prep time, though, so skip it if you're in a real time crunch. (The original recipe only calls for melted butter, not browned butter, so it's baker's choice.)

The first time I made these, I added macadamia nuts, mini chocolate chips and coconut — awesome. White chips would have been even better. I recently picked up some toffee bits, and since the browned butter adds a caramel-y flavor, I figured it would be a great add-in. I thought "toffee mocha" sounded divine, so I added semi-sweet chocolate chips and some espresso powder. Boom. Done.



Toffee Mocha Blondies
adapted from Smitten Kitchen who adapted it from Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything
Makes 16-25 or however big you decide to cut them!

Ingredients
1 stick (4oz) butter, browned*
1 cup (200g) light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract (homemade, if you've got it!)
1 cup (130g) all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp instant espresso
1/2 cup toffee bits
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 8" x 8" pan with cooking spray.

Cook butter in small sauce pan until fragrant and the solids at the bottom turn slightly tan. It's best to use a stainless pan so you can see the color! This will take about 5 minutes. Stir constantly. Cool 5 minutes then pour into heat resistant bowl. I use my large Pampered Chef batter bowl. Add brown sugar, stirring until all is incorporated into the butter. It will be gritty, not smooth. Add egg and vanilla and stir vigorously. Add flour, espresso, toffee bits and chocolate chips. Stir only until all dry flour is absorbed–don't over mix. Batter will be thick and greasy-looking. Spoon into prepared pan and spread evenly.



Bake 20-25 minutes depending on your oven and desired doneness. If you like gooey, go with a shorter bake time, but bake until center is set.  I baked these exactly 20 minutes. They were super gooey and seemed almost undone when warm but set up after completely cooling. If you just can't possibly wait, feel free to dig in after a brief cool-down, but I recommend waiting at least 30 minutes. The flavor will develop as they cool.



Remember, you can adapt this any way you want. Possible add-ins include coconut, cinnamon chips, peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, any kind of nut, dried fruit, even peanut butter cups, M&Ms or other candy. Substitute any flavor extract for the vanilla. Booze, even. GO WILD!

A quick shout-out to one of my most loyal readers, Ed Wynn. Sorry it's been so long since I've posted a recipe. :)

*browning the butter is completely optional, but I love the depth of flavor it adds.

EDITED 4-25
I made these last night with regular melted butter (Browned butter - I ain't got time for that), approx 3/4 cup finely chopped pecans and approx 3/4 cup cinnamon chips. I substituted the vanilla for maple flavoring. I served it still a bit warm with a scoop of butter pecan ice cream. Holy WOW, people. It was  freaking awesome.

It's Spring! Sort of.

I really hate to complain about the weather, but COME ON. I think we can all agree that this "spring" has been a bit of a let down. I suppose that once it finally warms up and stays warm I'll be all that much more appreciative. That's the silver lining I keep telling myself.

In the mean time, the flowers and trees are doing their best to make a go of it. The daffodils have been threatening to open for days, but they're still not quite ready.



And what a difference a year makes, eh? Here's that same area on March 23, 2012.



Granted, last year was an anomaly in the opposite extreme - ridiculously warm very early then a destructive freeze. I'll take a slow going spring over that any day.

Just look at the comparisons from this year to last (4/14/13 vs 3/23/12).

2013


2012


2013


2012



We have quite a bit of clean up to do as well.





It'll be beautiful once again... eventually!

(like this - from 5/20/11)

So this just happened

Looked out the kitchen window and saw this guy going to town on the newly refilled bird feeder. Don't tell me squirrels aren't at least a little bit clever.



And acrobatic.

p.s. Using my new-to-me 60mm Micro f/2.8 lens. Loving how sharp it is.