satisfying monday

For the first time in several weeks, I awakened this morning with some energy. The antibiotics that I started about 6 days ago are working. I mixed up a Christmas molasses cranberry steamed pudding. I want to have everything done before Christmas day for the perhaps 15 to 20 family members who may be eating here. The cranberries were starting to go soft, so I then made a quick batch of cranberry oatmeal muffins.

A friend gave me this simple recipe:

2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup molasses
pinch of salt
1/2 cup boiling water
1 1/3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup cranberries, dusted with flour

Combine the baking soda, molasses, and salt. Pour in the boiling water and mix. Add the flour and baking powder. Gently fold in the cranberries. Put in greased tins and steam for 50 minutes to 2 hours. You cover the tins with foil but you can take it off to check with a bamboo skewer. I used 2 - 540 ml cans and it took 50 minutes. This is a little lighter than the usual pudding with all the candied fruit. It can be served with any sauce. It calls for a butterscotch sauce.
It was such a beautiful day today that I went for a walk down my favorite trail after lunch. I took my little bag of seeds to hand feed the birds. That is such balm to my soul. The chickadees landed today but I couldn't entice the nuthatch. There was a thin blanket of snow all through the woods, and the sun was sparkling through the branches.
Here is a picture of my new shelves that my husband put up next to my kitchen sink. I will decorate with some snowmen maybe this week. The green is really a nice soft green, not as bright as it appears on my screen.