I got these pretty little snowdrops from my friend Kathy Purdy of Cold Climate Gardening. Kathy has had a blog longer than anyone I know of, and if you are looking for info on gardening, you should check out her place. I had admired snowdrops for a long time, but had never planted any until Kathy gave me these. I always imagine though, that they were put together by a group – a committee – each with their own idea of what ought to be included.
“I think they should be snowy white.”
“But not all white – lets put some faint lines on the petals.”
“You never see green on the petals of a flower – lets put some green here at the tips of these inner parts.”
“I like the idea of a little cap sort of thing at the top – like a finial.”
“And lets make it hang upside down – we are going to call it a “drop” after all – it should be upside down like a drop.”
“But give the stem right there at the curve a little fancy thing, to balance the flower.”
“And lets make them bloom really early, just when people are beginning to think spring will never come.”
“Ok – what do you think everyone? Are we done?”
“Perfect!”
Yeah yeah – I know what you are thinking. That Donalyn – she thinks she can just show up here any old time she feels like it. Ok, so I DO kind of think that I guess – it is my blog after all. But I am not away from here so much by design, as by everything catching up with me at once. You have heard me mention [who hasn’t, by now?], how much time it is taking to get 
So anyway – these muffins. Whoah, are they good. I was going to make fruit cake last fall, and I ordered all of this awesome dried fruit. Then I never made the fruit cake, so I have to use the fruit in something before it gets too dry. I chose the cranberries for these, and instead of the traditional orange that is so often paired with them, I decided to go with lemon. And I like a little something interesting on top, so how about some crunchy, nutty stuff? They are easy and totally scrumpticious.
You can thank Larry for the name of these yummy little treats. After one bite, he said, “they taste just like those no-bake things the girls used to make.” And he is right – I have inadvertantly created a more complicated version of that recipe we all made when we were teenagers. So, why even bother? First of all, there is the natural peanut butter, which you can’t use in the old recipe, because the fat content is too low compared to Jif and Skippy. For the most part though, it is just because they are better – the taste is very similar, but the texture is nicer and since you use old fashioned oats, they have a bit more chewiness. All in all, they are very satisfying, and quite easy to make. Maybe the next step in cookie making for a beginning baker?
