Signs of life return

Sam emailed me last week to ask if I was still blogging here, and in doing so maybe roused me to a tad of action. As we start to see signs of spring, maybe you'll start to see signs of blogs, too! I do think, though, that if this blog is to prosper, it will take a village. So, if you happen to be reading here, and in your goings-on come across a recipe or a quote or an idea that you think would be well shared here, please -- please -- comment it to me or otherwise send it my way!

In the meantime, prepare yourself for mostly sporadic recipes. I haven't been in the garden mind lately, but it's time to start getting myself there, isn't it?!

I'll start easy today, as there are three to get ready and out the door (not to mention myself). I make muffins once a week to feed to the flock here at my house, and to freeze if there are leftovers. My go-to is some variation of banana, since we so often have ripening ones. Last week I did a Moosewood base with the addition of a generous scoop of peanut butter. I also halved the oil and subbed in applesauce. I usually add either some flax seed meal or some chia seeds.

Enjoy!

Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home's Muffin Madness

Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home's Muffin Madness

  -- Basic Wet Ingredients --
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 - 1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

  -- Basic Dry Ingredients --
2 cup unbleached flour (I use whole wheat)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Choose one of the following combos to add to basic ingredients (the above is NOT a plain muffin recipe, but the base for the following)

Apple muffins: Add 2 cups of grated apple and 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel to wet ingredients and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to dry ingredients.
Banana muffins: Add 1 1/2 cups of mashed banana to wet ingredients and 1 cup chopped nuts and/or 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to batter.
Blueberry - lemon muffins: Add 1 1/2 cups of blueberries and 1 tablespoon of grated lemon peel to wet ingredients.
Zucchini muffins: Add 2 cups of grated zucchini to wet ingredients and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom to the dry ingredients. Fold in 1/2 cup of raisins or currants and 3/4 cup of chopped nuts to batter.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine wet ingredients, combine dry ingredients. Add two mixtures together and take care not to overmix. Spoon batter into oiled standard muffins tins and bake for 20-25 minutes (10-15 minutes for mini muffins...that will be eaten by the monsters!) Insert knife into center to check for done-ness.