A special shoutout to Priscilla of www.shescookin.com for gifting us with a bag of these beauties!
Let me tell you a story about my dog.
I have a beautiful dog. She’s sweet, tender, kind, and… famous. Friday comes from a pedigree of outstanding Weimaraner dogs and Weimaraner people. When she was a puppy, William Wegman photographed her for the cover of the Weimaraner Puppies Calendar. At six months old, she obtained her Junior Hunter title. And now, I’m working with her to add “Champion” to her list of accomplishments.
So over the weekend I packed up my Volvo, and with my good friend and dog mentor, Anne, we drove Friday three and a half hours to the middle of nowhere. To prepare for the Black Mountain Kennel Club AKC Dog Show, we clipped her nails, brushed her teeth, bribed her with treats and rubbed her ears. Then we prayed like hell she’d win.
Me and my gal Friday on Saturday afternoon in Primm, Nevada.
Unfortunately, Friday had a different plan. When it came time to getting in the ring, she pulled a big fat, “I don’t wanna!!!” In dog speak, she practically begged us to get her out of there. When we didn’t, she sulked. Then she pouted in front of the judge. Not unlike a four-year-old child when you pull her out of the sandbox and tell her it’s time to go home.
Friday didn’t win.
Now here’s the part where I should have been upset, disappointed, cross, etc. “How could she not win?! She’s gorgeous, can’t you see she’s the best dog there?!”
No. She was not the best dog in the ring that weekend. And that’s okay, because we can’t all be winners all the time, right?! Mr. RGBistro laughed when I called home and said, “Friday came in third… out of three dogs.” He then added “you know they also give out trophies for tenth place, right?”
Yep. Me and my last-place-trophy-dog had a spankin’ terrific weekend… and we’ll go get ‘em next time!
Friday much preferred playing with her giraffe on the hotel bed...
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Apples are like dogs or anything else; they’re not all going to be winners. Some are bruised. Some have scratches; others are dented. Maybe they’re old. Maybe they fell. No matter why, they can still serve a purpose. Cut ‘em up and make a batch of muffins. When they hook up with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, no one will care. And after your first bite, you’ll think they were perfect all along.
[K]
Apple Cinnamon Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel
Apple Cinnamon Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel
Autumn apples diced and added into a cinnamon scented batter, then topped with a brown sugar and cinnamon streusel.
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~ Makes 12 ~
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~ Ingredients ~
- 2 small or 1 large apple, yield 1 ½ cups diced
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar (I used organic cane sugar)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1tablespoon cold unsalted butter
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~ Preparation ~
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
- Preheat oven to 375˚F. Line a muffin pan with 12 paper cups.
- Cut and chop enough apples (¼-inch cubes) to yield no more than 1 ½ cups diced apples. Eat the extra apple while you’re prepping the batter; too many apples will overfill the muffin pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon.
- In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar and eggs with a fork until smooth. Mix in vanilla extract. With a silicon spatula, stir in apples, and gradually fold in the flour mixture. Be careful not to over mix. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan.
- In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over tops of mixture in muffin pan.
- Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to sit 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan. Cool on a wire rack.
Source: Adapted from www.allrecipes.com (modified to add cinnamon to batter and provide additional instructions).
Apple Cinnamon Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel
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Looks like a muffin we would love!
Friday’s the apple and you’re the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon – a perfect combo!
That last Friday photo is begging for the I Can Haz Cheeseburger treatment (aka LOLCAT/DOG speak). She is so cute!!!
She’s beautiful and oh so sweet in that last picture.
OK, I was already on board before Friday. Lovely.
Kim -I loved your story, and can definitely relate. I’ve been in that show ring many times with Dooley. The championship will come, and it will be a very exciting moment! In the meantime, enjoy the precious time with her. Let me know if you come to the Silver Bay KC show in February! And if you haven’t seen the movie Best in Show, you absolutely must! And those muffins look amazingly yummy!
Denise – thank you for the kind words!!! We’ll have fun “no matter what,” and I agree… the Championship will come in time. We ARE planning to get to the Silver Bay show in February, will you be there too?! Best in Show is a FANTASTIC movie. There’s even a weim in it.
Hope to see you soon!
[K]
Love! She is adorable. (And the muffins look delicious!) xo, Dawn
That dog is a winner, so is the apple muffin. Next time bring some muffins to the judge and your set.
Okay, if you two girls (Denise, that includes you) are going to watch Best in Show, we soo need a girl’s night for that and some great food and wine.
Can we do it via Skype?! My pup wasn’t show dog material either (apparently), but all our pups are gorgeous!
Well, I don’t care what the judges say “Friday” is a winner in my book – one look at that beautiful face is all it took!!! As to the muffins… well, there is simply no question about those!!!
She’s a complete winner in my book. I don’t know if I’ve seen a prettier dog. I’m making my husband come over for a look…he agrees! And then of course, these muffins look yummy! Thanks for sharing. I hope you have a beautiful Wednesday full of laughter and love.
That’s the spirit! Friday’s the top dog in your house and heart and that’s all that matters! Great story – and I’m glad the apples could provide a clever transition and some gorgeous muffins – thanks for the shout-out
Wait a minute, I know I don’t stop by often enough these days, but when did you add another Weim to your pack? As for the show ring, Milo doesn’t usually win either unless he’s the only one in there:) We haven’t visited the show ring in a few years now but we might still give that CH title a go at some point in time.