Busy cooking in the kitchen

I like to try new recipes for guests.  Wisdom would suggest that I try the recipe out once before I serve it to those who enter my home, but usually I am not very wise.  Well, this past week it has served me to be a fool and to try two new recipes.  One is a semi-original Pickett recipe and another one is out of a recipe book I checked out of the library.  Hope you will try these and enjoy!

Blueberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

I made these when Sarah swung by to pay a visit to Noah and I.  She wanted to go out for ice cream, but since it was only 10:30 in the morning I decided sweet, sugary muffins might be more appropriate for the time of day.  I found a recipe in one of my wedding gift recipe books for blueberry muffins and decided that chocolate chips were a must-add.  The recipe book I used, How To Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food, is an awesome resource and  I would recommend it to anyone.  The book really does cover how to cook just about anything.    
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons melted butter or a neutral oil ( I used veggie oil)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk, plus more if needed
1 cup blueberries
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease muffin tin.
Mix dry ingredients in bowl and in a separate bowl beat the egg, milk, and butter/oil.  Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients into it.  Use a large spoon to combine the ingredients quickly- folding rather than beating-batter will be moist but still lumpy (add a little more liquid if dry, should be moist). 
Spoon batter into muffin tins, filling them two-thirds full.  Bake 20-30 minutes (mine only needed 22 minutes).  Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before removing from tin.  Serve warm. 

Cream Cheese Pound Cake (serves 10-12)

Kara, Collin, and Annie Sunshine are staying with us this week.  They needed to come to Pittsburgh for a conference, so we were more than happy to have them into our home.  I decided that I would test out a new recipe on them for after dinner since it is too big to make for just the Pickett household.  We all enjoyed it and although I did not make it to perfection, I can now see my errors and am confident that the next time I make it, this pound cake will be even more delicious.  There is absolutely nothing original about this recipe from my side.  I took it from Southern Living: 40 Years of Our Best Recipes: Over 250 Great-Tasting, Tried-and-True Southern Recipes

Ingredients:

1.5 cups butter, softened

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened

3 cups sugar

6 large eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.  Gradually add sugar, beating well.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just as yellow disappears.

Combine flour and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at a low speed until blended.  Stir in vanilla.  Spoon batter into a greased and floured 10-inch bundt or tube pan.

Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour and 45 minutes.  Cool in pan for 15 minutes and then cool completely on a wire rack.