Brunch and Sunshine

Reading Days (noun):
1. The time in between the last day of classes and the first day of finals reserved for review sessions, studying and general stress
2. Two days with no class during which one can hold a delicious brunch and have an excuse to make Lemony Sunshine Muffins

Lemony Sunshine Muffins (I just made the name up, you can call it whatever you want)- adapted from Pampered Chef.

Muffins:

1 cup flour (all-purpose)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 stick softened butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp orange zest
2 tsp lemon zest
Glaze:
1 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Prepare mini muffin pan by lightly spraying with cooking spray or by lining with miniature liners.
Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, or your mixer bowl, mix the softened stick of butter and sugar together well.
Add the egg and mix until smooth.
Add sour cream, vanilla and zest and mix in. (Note on the zest: I kind of just grated the zest straight into the mixture until it looked like enough. Add more or less depending on how citrusy you want the muffins to be)
Add your flour mixture and mix until it is moistened, being careful not to overmix, which will ruin your muffins.
Divide the batter between the 24 muffin cups.
Bake for 12-13 minutes. Muffins should be light golden brown.
Remove from oven and cool in pan 3 minutes. Remove from pan and place on serving platter.
Mix together lemon juice and powdered sugar to create glaze. Add more sugar or lemon juice to taste. Drizzle glaze over muffins and serve!

Today's fiction is an exciting tale of fairies and gnomes and little talking birds...


Fairy Princess Tale
Once upon a time in a magical far away land lived a fairy king and a queen. They had a large family with 6 boys and 5 girls. The youngest daughter was named Sherlyn. Sherlyn was the most beautiful of all the fairies and had the sweetest disposition. She loved to walk through the giant blades of grass behind the tree house castle and ride on the butterflies and bluebirds. As Sherlyn grew older she was tutored by great fairy masters in the kingdom and she learned magic, basket weaving, mathematics, organization, reading and writing. Sherlyn was very clever and very fair to look upon but she never lost her sweet disposition and her willingness to serve. She looked for ways to help her many siblings or serve her mother and father, the king and queen. One day Sherlyn was taking a walk through the castle rose gardens when a giant bird landed next to her.

“Hello Sherlyn!” chirped the bird.

“Why hello little bird” said Sherlyn as she looked up at the bird.

“Would you like to go on a wonderful adventure?” asked the bird.

“Why yes! That sounds just grand”

“We will travel to a far away land, and it may be very difficult sometimes” warned the bird, “this is a land with no fairies, no gnomes and no talking birds”

“Oh dear” said Sherlyn with a frown “but with no gnomes how do gardens get weeded?”

“Well” the little bird explained, “They just weed it with their own hands. And the weirdest part? They put fake gnomes in their gardens!”

“Well that is very silly” said Sherlyn with a laugh.

“Indeed” said the bird, “but back to business, do you want to go on this adventure?”

Sherlyn thought for a moment. She was happy in her tree house kingdom but there was little to do here but pick flowers and chat with birds.

“I will go!” Sherlyn said with assurance

“Ok. Then you just need to pick that rose by your feet, close your eyes and say “There’s no place like Utah””.

Sherlyn did exactly as she was told and when she opened her eyes she was staring at a massive mountain that had an odd symbol written on it. Sherlyn looked at the ground and almost fainted. It was so far away! She must have grown 5 feet! She was as tall as a tree! And her skin was no longer green, it was a weird pink color. And her wings were gone! What a cruel trick of that bird to play on her! Sherlyn marched up to the next bird she saw and tried talking to it. But the bird just cocked his head and flew away.

Sherlyn could have been grumpy and upset but as always she was sweet and happy. She started walking down the street and soon came to a large village. On the entrance to the village were the words BYU. Sherlyn walked into the first building and asked if she could help. Well the first building happened to be the Counseling Center and they happened to be in dire need of an office manager so Sherlyn took the job. Over time she grew accustomed to the odd ways of the new world but she never lost her sweet disposition and she went on to lived a full and happy life. She shortened her name to Sheri and became the world's best manager.

The End