Special Teddy Bear Muffins

This morning we decided we wanted to bake something special. So, after putting on our aprons we headed down to the kitchen.

Our mom loves to bake and has all sorts of baking stuff but out of all of the stuff she has there is this one very special muffin pan that we are beary excited about. We think she must have gotten it to make muffins just for us.  It makes the most BEE-U-TEE-FULL muffins in the shape of eight little Teddy bears.  Each one of the bears is different, sort of like we all are. She told us it was made by the John Wright Company and that she has had it for nearly 30 years.

This is from the bottom side

And this is the top side. Isn't it just the sweetest pan you ever laid eyes on??? We asked our mom if she would help us use it to bake some muffins for our hug. We need her help lifting it because it weighs a ton.  Mom says it’s so heavy because it is made from something called cast iron. It looks really old and before we can use it mom says we have to season it. We guess that means we have to sprinkle salt on it.

Mom wanted to know what sort of muffins we are going to bake and when we told her we hadn’t decided yet she said she’d season the pan while we look through the recipe boxes and figure it out. We looked at the recipes but couldn't find one we both could settle on.

That's not a problem when you're experienced bakers like we are. We can invent a recipe for the best Teddy bear muffins that there ever was. It’s not all that hard to invent a recipe you know. You just need to start with a basic recipe for something and then get creative. Anyway, that’s what our mom told us.

So...After checking both pantries to see what we have to work with we put together a  recipe and we gathered together all of the things we are going to need for our muffins and then we start measuring and mixing. Here's the recipe and we're naming it:

Bellamine & Wendy’s Sweet Potato Teddy Bear Muffins

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup mashed canned sweet potatoes

1/4 cup melted butter

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Heat oven to 400 degrees F (204.4 degrees C) for ordinary muffin pans or if your pan is cast iron like ours 375 degrees F (190.5 degrees C) Spray muffin cups or teddy bears, the ones in the pan not each other with cooking spray.

In a medium sized bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg; set aside. In a larger bowl beat the egg slightly with whisk then stir in milk, mashed sweet potatoes, brown sugar and butter; stirring until thoroughly blended. Stir in dry ingredients just until flour is moistened. Batter should be lumpy. Spoon batter into the Teddy bears (or muffin cups) filling them 2/3 full. Sprinkle each bear with 1/4 teaspoon of sugar. We used this really big chunky sugar that we think is called Turbinado sugar or something like that. It’s supposed to be healthier than regular sugar but we used it anyway cause we think it will look good on the muffin bears. Hey Wendy, We're sugaring their back sides. heheheheheheheh

Put in oven and bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Ours went the 20 minutes and got really puffed up and are the perfect color of little Teddy bears.  

Remove from pan immediately and gobble them down while they’re still really warm with mugs of hot chocolate. Be beary careful you don’t burn yourself.

They're almost too cute to eat but we ate them anyway.

If you don’t have canned sweet potatoes you can use canned pumpkin instead. We wanted to make pumpkin muffins but we didn’t have any pumpkin cause Mom used it up baking bread and pies at Christmas and never got around to buying more. Don’t worry, we were very helpful and put it on her shopping list. We think that the next time we bake these muffins we’re going to use honey in the place of the sugar in the recipe. We didn’t try it this time cause that’s another thing Mom forgot to get at the market and we’re running dangerously low. As in we might run out if we’re not beary careful. We added that to her list as well. The hug was beary impressed with our baking skills or maybe it’s like our mom says and they just like sweets. Cocoa is one more thing we had to add to the shopping list. We’re starting to wonder if we should be worried about our mom’s forgetfulness. Forgetting to buy honey and cocoa? Really Mom what’s next? Are you going to forget the Peanut butter and miniature marsh mellows?

We’re thinking about making a batch of the Teddy muffins to give to Santa to see if he gives them the Santa Seal of Approval. It’s a special award that is reserved for only the beary best of whatever he decides to bestow the award on.

Now that we have filled our tummies we’re going to visit with our friends to see what they’ve been up to.

Hugs,

Bellamine & Wendy

OUR TREE HAS A NEW LOOK

Do you remember when we decorated our little tree for Christmas last year and then when we decorated it for Valentine’s Day and then St. Patrick’s Day and then again for Easter? Remember that little tree? Well, we’ve decorated it again this time for Halloween and we think it turned out really scary. We had some help from our friends Wednesday and Pugsley. It was their idea to put the skulls on it and we all thought the ghosts were a great idea and easy and fun to make. Bellamine is the one who came up with the sparkly bats and we wanted to make more of them but ran out of black pipe cleaners. We made some pointy witch hats but decided they were too big for the tree and after standing back and taking a good look at what we had we decided it was enough.

Isn't it BEE-U-TEE-FULL?

We took the photos yesterday morning and since then Mom has made some additions  that she will show you in a few days. Now that the days are shorter and cooler she is finally in the mood to decorate for fall and the holiday that we'll be celebrating at the end of the month.

We have been thinking about what we want to be for Halloween. Do you get dressed up in a costume? Mom is making our costumes and she took us shopping to buy fabric for them. We aren't going to tell you what we're going to dress up as because it's supposed to be a surprize.

Once the witches saw how great our Halloween tree turned out they're considering giving the enchanted tree a new look.

"What do you think Belladonna? Maybe a few bats and a crow?"

If they do decorate the enchanted tree we'll take some photos to share with you. We'll also take photos once Mom finishes decorating. 

We're going to go get some hot chocolate and then we're going to see what our friends have been doing.

Have a wonderful day.

Hugs,

Bellamine & Wendy 

ANOTHER LETTER FROM CAMP

Dear Mom,

I am so happy I decided to come to Camp Good Bear with Wendy and Bellamine. If I had stayed at home I would have never met my best friend Blossom. We are so much alike we could be twins. We don't look alike although we are both beautiful. Her fur is almost as amazing as mine. Hers is the prettiest color and is so fluffy. Wait until you see her. Prudence took a picture of us. See, I'm staying in the shade so my fur doesn't get sun damaged.

We talk for hours about everything. Next to me she's the prettiest girl here at camp and certainly the nicest. That yellow flower she's holding she picked for me to wear in my fur.

I really like her brother Sweet Pea. He's so nice and handsome and I can tell he likes me too. Remember when you told me that when boys tease you it means they like you? Well, yesterday he chased me with a frog. I pretended to be scared and screamed and ran away and called him a meanie and he laughed in the cutest way. Oh Mom, wait until you meet him.

Prudence is my favorite bearcelor and she's really pretty too. Blossom has a sister named Sissy and she and Prudence look a lot alike.

This is where we are going to be this afternoon.

We've got to practice paddling our canoe for the big race tomorrow. It's the girls against the boys and I think the girls are going to win.

Bellamine and Wendy spend a lot of time making crafts. They're going to need another suit case to bring it all home. I made you a button necklace and a braided key holder. You're going to think I did a wonderful job because they really are the best ever.

Every night the bearcelors tell us scary stories around the camp fire and then we get to have a special treat. They're really yummy and they have a funny name.

They're called smores, and almost as good as honey. I think we need to start making them at home.

Bellamine and Wendy said to say hi and they miss you and to remind you to bring money when you come tomorrow. You are coming tomorrow aren't you?

Hugs and kisses from your little princess,
Clarissa

LETTER FROM CAMP

Dear Mom,

We are having a splendid time here at Camp Good Bear. We have made so many new friends and have finally met our blogging friends in the fur.

On our first night at camp we had our first camp fire and it was so much fun. We learned some new songs that we’re going to teach everyone when we get back home. Bellamine’s favorite is the one that starts out “The ants go marching one by one” and she learned the whole thing the first night and wants to sing it all of the time. She even marches while she sings it. One of the bearcelors told us a really scary ghost story and we all screamed and then laughed and it was so much fun. Wilbur showed us how to make Damper on a Stick and when we get home we’re going to show you how to make them because they are so good and easy to make too.

Us listening to the scary story with one of our new friends. He brought marshmellows to snack on and said we could share. Wilbur is cooking us a Damper and when it's ready we're going to pour honey in the hole. We'll show you how it's done when we get home.

That's what a Damper looks like. The bear sitting next to Wilbur couldn't get his fill of them and wanted more.

Prudence is just as we thought she would be and although she is a camp bearcelor and has loads of responsibilities she always has time for her friends.

Believe it or not, Clarissa has made some friends. She and Blossom have become besties and spend lots of time telling each other and everyone who will listen how beautiful and special they are. Sissy looks so much like Prudence but they are so different from one another. Both are a lot of fun and such wonderful tales to tell.

Sweet Pea and Wilbur have become best mates and you’d think they’ve known each other for ever.

One day some of us went hiking on one of the trails and climbed some rocks and found a bird’s nest but the birds weren’t there anymore. We gathered all sorts of neat things to use making some craft things.

They encourage us to make crafts and since we like making crafts we work on something every day. Mom, we’ve already spent our camp money so please bring more when you come to visit next weekend on Bearents Day.

We’re having fun and we miss you and the hug.

Love and kisses from your girls,

Bellamine, Clarissa and Wendy

WE'RE PACKING OUR BAGS

We've been making lists and checking off the sleeps on our calendar and now we're packing our bags. It won't be long now and we'll be off to see all of our friends at.....

Wendy, I don't think it's all going to fit. We still have a lot of things to get in here and there's only a little more room.

Here, let me see if I can wiggle around in here and open up some more space for you.

Uhh...Bellamine, I think my foot is stuck.

We've packed and repacked and we don't think there's enough room for everything we want to take. We're going to check the list to see if there's anything we can leave at home.

"Mom...I changed my mind. I wanna go to camp too. Can I? Pleeeeeease...?"

"I don't know Clarrisa. I had to send the paperwork for Bellamine & Wendy in months ago. I'll make some phone calls and see if it's too late. You might have to wait until next year to go."

Well, Mom is going to see if Clarrisa can come to camp with us and we're going to look for another suit case.

See everybear next weekend.

Hugs,
Bellamine & Wendy

Baking with Bellamine & Wendy

It's Bellamine and Wendy here with our Friday post. We didn't post last Friday cause we didn't have a single thing to write about. It's been a very boring time for us cause we have been shut-ins. A shut-in is someone who nevers gets to go outside and play.

For more than a week it rained nearly every day and we even had thunder bumpers. That’s what Robbie, Rudy and Bartholomew call thunder storms. One day when the storm was really bad we couldn't find Oakley cause he was hiding in the bottom of the linen closet cause he doesn't like the thunder. Mom won’t let us outside, even on the porch wearing full rain gear and carrying umbrellas when it rains. She’s afraid well get wet and then get moldy and lumpy or something we’re not even going to guess at. She is one big worry wart so we were stuck inside for days and days with hardly anything to do. It wouldn’t have been so bad if she hadn’t been busy with her dumb experiment.  

On Wednesday it cleared up for most of the day and we took our camera outside and took some pictures of our bushes that had some pretty flowers before the rain made a mess of things. Maybe Mom is right about going outside in the rain. Just look what happened to some of our pretty flowering bushes. The ones that are out in the open really got messed up.

Almost all of the flowers are on the ground.

The poor little things look pretty sad because they lost most of their flowers. The ones with trees protecting them didn’t get as badly damaged.

There were some really, really big bumble bees in Mom’s herb garden and we tried taking some pictures of them but they kept moving and when we looked at the pictures we couldn’t find them. Mom says they’re as big as humming birds.

Tuesday evening Santa and Mrs. Claus came to our house for Spaghetti Super night and we asked Mom if we could make the dessert. She did some hemming and hawing and finally gave us the go ahead but only after we promised to clean up our mess. You’d think she’d have learned not to ask us to clean up after what happened the last time but apparently not.

Once we got permission to make the dessert we weren't sure what we wanted to make. We got out the recipe box and some cook books and looked for something but couldn’t find a recipe that we could both agree on. Wendy suggested we make up our own recipe. Like an experiment.

We figured we’d make cookies since we’ve made cookies before and they turned out really good. We went to the pantry and started taking ingredients from the shelves. We knew we needed to have sugar in the cookies but couldn’t make up our minds about which kind to use so we brought out two different kinds. We both wanted chocolate chips. Walnuts are always good in cookies and we like coconut too so why not use both? Then we found some pumpkin in the fridge left over from the muffins that Mom made and we thought, why not? It was good in the muffins.

We measured and poured and stirred and whipped and blended and folded and scooped and chopped. Then we dropped spoons full of cookie dough onto the baking sheets and stuck them in the oven.

We had plenty of volunteers when the first batch had cooled. Every bear said they were good. When we asked Mom to try one to see what she thought and she said, “These are wonderful. Where did you find the recipe?”

When we told her it was our own recipe she asked us what we were going to call them and at first we were stumped. They weren’t chocolate chip cookies like Mom makes and they weren’t oatmeal cookies either. We had used some of this and some of that and then we decided that was just as good a name as any so they are our “This & That Cookies”.

After dinner that night we were helping clear the table when Santa said to Mrs. Claus, “See if the girls will give you the recipe for these cookies.”

Talk about being thrilled!! We were smiling ear to ear. Mom gave us one the recipe cards she uses and we wrote down everything we did and gave it to Mrs. Claus when they were ready to leave. We decided that since Santa likes these cookies so much that he wants Mrs. Claus to make them you might want to make them so we’re going to give you the recipe too. If you make them and like the way they turn out let us know. With some positive comments we might get more kitchen time and who knows, maybe someday we’ll have enough recipes that Mom can make them into a book. We can see it now. How about “Cooking with Bellamine & Wendy”? Or maybe something like, “Bellamine & Wendy’s Best Recipes”. We have plenty of time to come up with the perfect title since we’ve only one recipe so far.

This & That Cookies

Place the following in a large bowl…

1 stick softened butter

½ c. softened coconut oil

1 ¼ c. brown sugar, packed

¾ c. granulated sugar

Beat together until creamy. Then add the following and beat until fluffy:

2 large eggs

2 t. vanilla extract

1 c. canned pumpkin

Add the following and mix until thoroughly blended:

1½ c. flour

½ t. baking power

½ t. salt

2 t. cinnamon

Fold in:

3 c. old fashioned rolled oats

1 c. flaked coconut

1 c. chopped walnuts

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Using soup spoons drop spoonful’s on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake at 350 degrees F or about 180 degrees C for 14 - 16 minutes. Leave cookies on baking sheets for 2 minutes after removing from oven then transfer to cooling rack or paper toweling. Once completely cooled store in covered container. We suggest storing them in a Snowman cookie jar but that’s just our preference although we wouldn't mind if Mom would get a teddy bear cookie jar. This recipe makes 5 dozen delicious cookies.

Mom has put a photo of us on the side bar and would like to put photos of our bear friends there as well. We already got permission to put a picture of Prudence there and would love to include the rest of our bear friends so let Mom know if it's alright to put your photo there too.

Speaking of bear friends, we'll be seeing many of you at camp after only 42 more sleeps. It won't be long now.

We're going to go visit our friends' blogs now so see ya later.

Hugs,

Bellamine & Wendy

WENDY'S PROJECT

 Wendy has been working on a special project and hasn’t wanted to share what it is until now. Our mom won some wonderful origami papers and a book on making origami figures in a giveaway from Orchid’s Daily Voice . Wendy wanted to see if she could teach herself origami so she has been working at it a few hours each day for the past two weeks.

You have no idea how hard it is for a polar bear to do something like this. Polar bears have rather large paws and making the folds takes a lot of patience and practice. It took lots and lots of practice, every day, and tons of patience. There were times when Wendy wanted to give up and admit defeat, but that’s not our Wendy. Nope, not our Wendy, she stuck with it.

First she used plain paper so she wouldn’t waste Mom’s special paper.

Once she had mastered a few of the figures she tried making a figure using the pretty paper.

And then she made more figures..

  Here she is making a turtle.

Here she is finishing up a cute little kitty.

Then she started teaching some of the rest of us to make origami cranes and frogs and turtles and after many failures a few pieces actually turned out looking like the pictures in the book.

Here's Bartholomew with his puppy that he is rather proud of.

Robbie and his pink bunny. It doesn't stand up by itself but it almost looks like the picture in the book.

Look at the cute beetle or whatever it is. Mom said she thought it was a beetle or a June bug.  Wendy likes the way the blue kitty turned out so she's going to give it to Mom for Mother's Day.

Even Mom got in on the fun and tried making a crane and then she made a turtle. Wendy said it was easier for Mom since she doesn’t have large paws. You should see the shelf above our TV. There are dozens of origami animals and birds.

Now we have another fun thing to do when we can’t go outside and play. It’s always a good thing to have plenty of options for having fun don’t you agree?

Since it is Friday some of our bear friends are posting so we’re going to spend an hour or so visiting with them. There are still 63 more sleeps until we’re going to be seeing everyone at camp. You all know we’re ticking off the sleeps on our calendar and wishing it wasn’t such a long time but Mom says that the time will fly by once the weather get nice enough for us to play outside.

See you soon.

Hugs,

Bellamine & Wendy

THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVES DOWN THE LANE

Yesterday my mom said, “Bellamine, there is a new family who has moved in the house down the lane and they have a daughter your age and I thought it would be a nice thing for you to pay her a visit and welcome her to the neighborhood so I arranged a play date for you this afternoon.”

She didn’t even ask me if I wanted to meet this new girl or anything, she just went ahead and arranged a play date. I had a good mind to tell her I didn’t want to go. Since I didn’t have anything to do and Wendy was busy with some secret project I figured I’d make Mom happy and go meet this dumb girl. The things we kids do to make our bearents happy. Am I right?

So, just before it was 1:00 I got on my bike and rode down the street to the little green house that used to have the for rent sign in the window.

No sooner had I knocked on the door when it was opened by this human girl who looked very happy to see me.

“Welcome, welcome, come on in, don’t be shy little bear.”  The girl said. “My name is Dory O’Dell.  We just moved here because my daddy got a job working at the toy factory for Santa. Can you believe it? He’s going to be working for THE SANTA!! He says it’s his lifelong dream to be working for the big man himself.”

“Huh? Shy? Who, me? I’m not shy. Nobody ever calls me shy. My mom didn’t tell me that you were a human girl. Cool! I don’t know very many human girls. My mom works for Santa too and he and Mrs. Claus come to our house for dinner at least once a month. You’re going to really like him, he’s super nice. Oh, I nearly forgot, my name is Bellamine.”

“Wow!! You can talk! I didn’t know you would be able to talk. I never heard a teddy bear talk before.”

“Well, of course I can talk. All of us bears can talk because teddy bears almost always live with humans. Haven’t you ever had a teddy bear live with you?”

“Nope, I’ve never had a bear. I’ve got a clown doll and he never talks but I never have had a bear.”

“Do you want a bear? I know this girl bear named Clarissa that you might like to have come live with you. Only problem with her is you have to call her ‘Your Highness’ because she thinks she’s a princess. Ask your mom, I’m sure my mom will say it’s okay if your mom says it’s okay.”

“Okay, I’ll ask my mama if Clarissa can live with us. Come on, I’ll show you my new bedroom. Do you have your own room?”

“No, I have to share a room with my brothers, sisters and my cousins, who live with us, but it’s a big room and we have lots of neat stuff. We have our own TV and DVD player and movies. We have books and games and puzzles and lots of toys and a computer. We have a rocking horse named Woody and we have a puppy named Vinnie.  Do you have those things in your room?”

“Nope, I don’t have a TV or computer or movies in my room. My mama and daddy have a computer and we have a TV and DVD player in the den.  I’ve got toys and books and puzzles and my mama gave me some flowers for my room and I have my very own watering can to water them with. I’ve got a rocking chair. Do you have one of those?”

“We got a rocking chair but there’s this dumb old doll who’s always sitting in it. Oh, I see your clown is sitting in yours. Hey clown, why don't you talk?”

"Why should I? Nobody really cares what I have to say."

"I'll listen to you." Dory told the sad little clown. "I would have listened sooner if I knew you talked."

                                    

This is how our afternoon went. We talked about everything. I told her about my brothers and sisters, especially Wendy and I told her about going to camp this summer. I told her how my sister and I made things and how our mom taught us how to make cookies and ornaments to decorate our little tree.  I told her about feeding the reindeer and about visiting the toy factory and the elves. I told her that my mom has the secret recipe for the best hot chocolate just like the hot chocolate that Santa loves. I told her my favorite foods are honey and peanut butter and she said she likes honey and peanut butter and she had her mom make us a snack of honey and peanut butter on crackers.  I told her how my mom lets us post on her blog on Friday when we have something to blog about and told her that I was going to do a post on the blog about our visit. We had so much fun talking that the time just flew by and in no time at all Dory’s mom was saying it was time for me to go because my mom had called to say dinner was nearly ready.

As I was getting ready to leave, Dory did the most wonderful thing. She hugged me and told me we were going to be the best of friends. Isn’t that great? I have a new friend and she is a human girl and her name is Dory O’Dell.

When I got home I started telling Mom and Wendy about Dory and her mom and their house and how much fun I had there.  Mom said she knows what a good time I had because Mrs. O’Dell sent pictures to her phone of us she took with their phone. She said I could use them in my post. She also said she didn’t think it was very funny that I offered to have Clarissa go live at the O’Dell’s. Oh well, I gave it a try and that’s what counts. You never know, maybe one day Mom will say yes.

Today is Friday and some of my bear friends are going to be posting so I’m going to say so long for now so I can go visit their blogs.  Have a happy weekend.

Hugs,

Bellamine

PS

Mom just now saw the title of my post and said that it was a name of a movie from 1974 or 1976 starring Jodie Foster. I asked her why we didn’t have it. She said she didn’t think we’d like it. She says that a lot. 

FRIDAY IS BEARS POST DAY

Here it is Friday again and time for another post from yours truly Bellamine & Wendy. It’s also the Friday before Easter and we were getting so excited that Mom said we are driving her to distraction. We told her that we can’t be driving her anywhere cause none of us can drive. Teehee!!!

Franklin said, “We ain’t  got  nothin’ to do. We’re tired of playing our games and we don’t want to color in our coloring books and we don’t want to watch a movie or read a book.”

Mom said we were getting up too early and that's why we keep running out of things to do so she  told Franklin he should go find Oakley and Bartholomew and play tag or hide and go seek. So, Franklin went and found Bartholomew and Oakley and soon all three of them were complaining about having nothing to do. That’s when Mom brought out a surprise for us.

She told us his name is Woody Flowing Mane.

We took turns petting him and combing his mane and tail and got a pretty blue ribbon and tied it in his mane. When Mom came in to see if we would be wanting breakfast anytime soon and she said, “So, little ones how do you like riding your new rocking horse?”

We hadn’t thought about riding him but he does have a seat so I guess Woody won’t mind if we climb up on his back.  

Yippee!!! This is fun! Go faster Woody. Go faster.

"Okay Bartholomew, you had a really long ride let me have a turn."

"Hey Woody, is it okay if I hold on to your mane? I don't want to fall off. Not so fast!"

"Don't hog the horsey Franklin, I want a turn."

"Steady big boy. It's a long way down and I don't have much padding.  Bellamine, do you want a turn? I think I've had enough."

"Woody you're such a good boy. I'm not pulling your hair too hard am I? Wendy, you've got to try this."

"Not now Bellamine. I'm going to go see if Mom has breakfast ready, I'm starved. Then I'm going to finish our post so we can go see what our friends are up to."

As soon as we finish breakfast we'll be back to visit all of our bear friends. We hope you liked seeing our new rocking horse and you'll be back on Sunday so we can tell you how the Easter Egg hunt goes. We're hoping the weather will be nice but Mom said we shouldn't worry cause we can always have it indoors.

Thanks for visiting.

Hugs,
Bellamine & Wendy