What’s the difference between a cupcake and a muffin?
Honestly, I don’t know. But I do know that I can eat a muffin for breakfast without anyone (aka my husband) giving me that “Oh-no-you-shouldn’t!” hairy eyeball. You get a free pass for breakfast with a muffin. You don’t get a free pass for breakfast with a cupcake.
But even if this WERE a cupcake—and I’m not saying it is—winter is here and I need some meat on my bones in case my car crashes into a snowy ravine in the country and I end up wasting away for days on end waiting for someone to notice I went to Wal-Mart.
Wait. I don’t need to rationalize. These are muffins, not cupcakes!
These are a wonderful, moist and a bit spicy muffins that will make your heart sing. A bit of ginger, some cinnamon and a handful of coconut make it a not-your-usual-morning-cupcake-muffin. So drag out those muffin tins and bake away.
Ginger Coconut Morning Muffins
1 1/3 cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/3 cup unsulferated molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup sweetened, flaked coconut
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 muffin tins with tulip liners or other muffin cups of butter and flour 15 muffin cups.
In a small bowl, mix together flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt.
In a mixer, beat together butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at a time and beat until smooth. Add molasses and beat until smooth.
Boil the water and add the baking soda. Gradually add this to the butter mixture. Slowly add the flour mixture and beat until blended. Stir in coconut.
Pour batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a knife inserted into one of the muffins comes out clean.
P.S.
Don’t forget You Need This Book. Leave a comment there by the end of the day tomorrow to be included in the drawing.
People garden for vegetables, herbs and fruits. Why not condiments?
This past spring I was surprised to find a horseradish plant at my local garden center. They only had one, but I grabbed it.
Horseradish is a perennial in zones 2 through 9. In fact, it’s so hearty than the underground roots can become invasive.
Since my horseradish was only planted in the spring, I was frugal in digging up just a few roots this fall. They didn’t smell of much until I processed them.
Processing horseradish in large quantities should be done outside to avoid burning of the eyes and nasal passages. It involves peeling and then grating the roots by hand or in a food processor, adding a vinegar and water mixture to preserve the horseradish. Fresh horseradish processed this way will keep for about six weeks in the refrigerator.
Since I only had a bit of horseradish, I threw caution to the wind and processed it indoors rather than hauling my Cuisinart to the back porch. I survived unscathed.
The fresh horseradish is amazingly brisk and pungent, with a much cleaner aroma than the horseradish I buy in the stores. So far I have made a sauce for crab cakes and horseradish deviled eggs—because God knows I have plenty of eggs.
The flavor is so fabulous, I’ll never be without horseradish in my garden again. I suppose that’s especially true if it turns out to be invasive.
My feeling is that if it’s going to be unbearably cold, it might as well snow. So I was thrilled to finally have a snow day. Even at the age of *hummmm*, I can still enjoy an unscheduled snow day.
Not everyone here was happy though.
The chickens were quite put out and protested by spending the day indoors near their panel heaters. Once in a while one of the chickens would mosey up to their exit window to poke his or her head out before trying to get back in. Of course, chickens being chickens, all the other chickens had followed the leader up the ramp to also go and look out the window. All day long there were a series of collisions with one chicken trying desperately to get back into the the warm chicken coop and all the other chickens trying to see what was so interesting outside.
Snow always manages to stoke my cooking instincts as well. I get the urge to bake breads, make cakes and bake cookies. I used the threat of the possible loss of power to roast a chicken and make biscuits early in the day. Then I made more bread–just in case we needed sandwiches, you see.
Many of you who know me know that food is as much an important part of my life as gardening. In my mind they go hand-in-hand. The fresh vegetables, herbs and fruits are an important part of the table. And the garden serves as a beautiful backdrop for our family al fresco family meals in the summertime.
In the coming months I’ll be writing not only about fresh food happenings and resources in the D.C. area, but also offering menus, recipes, tips and techniques for making meals as fresh and flavorful as possible.
It was nearly 100 degrees while I was working outside today. I have a sliver of wood in my big toe, poison ivy and am covered in bug bites. Sometimes I think I need an easier hobby.
Holy moly, it’s hot. I was just outside providing drought assistance to the suffering greenery. Now excuse me while I cower here in the air conditioning for a bit before making dinner.
It has been such a busy work week. I have been chained to the desk. I can’t wait until the weekend. I have tomatoes to stake, flowers to plant, garlic to harvest, strawberries to keep in control, some clipping and pruning and, who can forget, weeding!
My friend Helen Yoest, from Gardening With Confidence, will be here in about 10 days. I plan to pick her brain and get advice about some real problem areas here. I was hoping for more time to prepare for an esteemed guest, but that’s just not to be. She’ll have to take me as I am.
You can’t pick up the newspaper or turn on the television without hearing more about the Gulf Coast oil disaster.
The wildlife population will be devastated for years, perhaps decades, to come. You can help with the conservation, monitoring and aid to the birds by donating to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. This is the top school and science center for birds in the U.S. and sponsor of many, many programs, including citizen scientist-type programs. If you cannot afford to donate, it’s a great place to just be informed or to get involved through volunteer activities you can do in your own back yard.
Over dinner we were talking about blast-from-the-past music and then blast-from-the-past comedy. Harry and I explained how we would play stacks of 45s on the turntable to my 19-year-old son. And I remembered my parents’ Dick Newhart album and “Driving Instructor.” And while we were talking about old comedy, who can forget, George Carlin’s “Seven Dirty Words?” Ah, the things I am teaching my 19-year-old son! Yes, I taught him about seven dirty words!
I am also grateful that the chickens had walkabout time without destroying my garden this afternoon.
And I am grateful for that arms and shoulders P90X workout, although I will be sore again tomorrow.
