Time Out: Taking Little Breaks, With Students, On My Teaching Days (Muffins!)

Way way WAY back at my ol' Tremont Spot - and again/later, in our Ohio City Home - I taught kids of ALL ages some basic sewing & drawing skills. What started as "little breaks" throughout each instruction day (some class days are over eight hours long!) became part of the classes, themselves: sometimes we'd take a short walk, or watch a short fashion video, but most often we'd make something to eat.

The recipes always had to be adjustable/adaptable and open to creative interpretation/personal tastes. One such recipe is for Blueberry Muffins (the abridged original, below, is from AllRecipes). This one has been modified by students 'n' me, many many MANY times (edits follow) and is usually a big hit for a small break (and we can draw or sew or just chat while the muffins are in the oven).

"To Die For" Blueberry Muffins:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated white sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 large egg, slightly beaten

1/3 cup milk, or more as needed

1 cup fresh blueberries

Crumb Topping:

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease 8 large (16 small) muffin cups, or line with parchment.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

Pour oil into a small liquid measuring cup. Add egg and just enough milk to reach the 1-cup mark; stir. Pour this mixture into the large bowl and mix until the batter is combined well. Fold in blueberries.

In a separate bowl, use a fork to mix together the Crumb Topping ingredients until it's "crumbly."

Pour the batter into the greased cups, all the way to the top! Sprinkle the Crumb Topping on, well, the top.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Makes 8 large or 16 small muffins (the latter of which takes less time to bake).

Here's Where It Gets Fun! Options Include:

 - try a teaspoon of vanilla or lemon oil in the batter!

 - add a cream cheese filling to the centers (1 8-oz. brick + 1/4 cup white sugar, blended by hand)!

 - swap out 1/2 of the white sugar for brown sugar!

 - substitute chopped honeycrisp apples for the blueberries!

 - throw in some chopped walnuts!

 - add lemon curd to the centers (also great with the aforementioned lemon oil - this became the favorite)!

Happy 2026! I Resolve To Update This Sh*t More Often.

 

I VERY Much LOVE being back in School. 

Thank you to my Professors at

The New School & Parsons this year, all the years, and the next.

Above & Below, some Digital Classroom Fun from 2025

My Insta (I vow to put more sh*t on there, too): @stephaniefralick

I do this, too: @artistsoftowerpress

From The Artists of Tower Press: Thank You, Cleveland!

Your Support Means Everything!

There are SOOOO many People, Patrons, to Thank, Bless & Appreciate

for a great 2025!

See Our Instagram, where we often try to list you all,

and kindly follow us there, My Children:

@artistsoftowerpress

(MY Instagram remains, as @stephaniefralick)

We hope to see you at our next Big Open Studios Event:

Sunday, May 17th, 2026

AMEN.

******

(PS - I really did make t-shirts of this - "sold out" but Yeah, I can get you one)

They Say That Breaking Down Is Hard To Do.

So I'll think of it as Setting Up for a great 2025. 

Happy New Year, Everyone! from Stephanie, Pinky's, Tower Press; its in-house, historic Wooltex Gallery (just a little taste of our Holiday Show there, below), more.

My building hosts biannual Open House/Studios Events wherein outside/

non-resident Artists can also exhibit/sell their work, let me know if you're interested!

Here is my Insta: @stephaniefralick

Here is the Insta for Tower Press: @artistsoftowerpress

Thanks, Neil Sedaka.

Time Out: Snacks For This Month's Group Meeting - Chocolate Chip Cookies & Snacks From Asiatown

So...what DID I do over the past few years, during the Pandemic, you may ask? Entertaining. Lots and Lots and LOTS of Entertaining. For roughly six months during 2020-21, every Sunday evening, a group of the same 3-6 of us, all very different in both personality and style. How did we all get along? Well, how does anyone? Shared Love - and a small collection of recipes that anyone (almost) will enjoy.

Here's one such recipe, which I made for our building/group meeting tonight (Above, and see the previous post - it's in that room). Just great ol' chocolate chip cookies (then the plates were dressed up with some treats from the nearby Asian market). The recipe is from a long beat-up booklet my mom gave me, correctly called "Cookies!" and it's edited by Marian Levine from The American Cooking Guild, 1989. It's one of maybe ten things I make for others that people request or get excited about. And, it's been nice to prepare these semi-fancy set-ups again, I gotta admit. 

Here Goes - exactly as written; edits follow:

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter

1 tablespoon vanilla extract*

2 eggs, slightly beaten

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips*

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the white and brown sugars. Add butter and cream together with the sugar. Add vanilla and eggs, mixing well.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda and salt together. Add dry mixture to the creamed mixture. Mix well; the dough will be stiff. Add the chocolate chips. Add nuts, if desired.

Line cookie sheets with baking parchment or wax paper. Using a small ice cream scoop, drop dough onto the cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes.** Remove from oven and cool on wire racks.

Yield: 2-3 dozen.

* I like Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract...Sandy Says to use Ghirardelli chocolate chips, only.

** It really takes @20 minutes. 

Lastly - this recipe BEGS for variation and experimentation, a few of which the booklet also includes. Try butterscotch, Raisinettes, Reese's Pieces (Butterfinger does NOT work).

Hand-made pottery is from Tower Press Resident Artist John Davis.

Back...Long Time Ago When We Was Fab.

It's True: Pinky's Daily Planner is happily back in our OG Retail & Showroom Building, in Cleveland, O's Historic Tower Press Building. What happens in seven years? Or, twenty? A lot...but it's Good to be Back Home with Stories to Tell. 

Background: setting up some dress forms for the Tower Press Artists' Group Show 2023 (next Party is Closing Night, October 28th). 

Foreground: New work from building Resident Artist (and an OG himself), painter John Davis of Davis Gallery.

Follow Me, Instagrammers: @stephaniefralick

Follow Us: @artistsoftowerpress

Thanks to George Harrison whose sentiment I've borrowed.

It's True:

We'll see you at our new location - a pink house! - later this year.