Muffins - Its Been A Journey

Dish – Morn'ting Glory Muffins

Themes - Gracious and Good, Just Good Food, Level Up

Food/Tech Tie In – Baking

Homage – From the Box to the Bowl and Beyond

Yessss, Umm mmmn, Yup….what ever the current colloquial expression of acknowledgement is…I own…that it’s been a minute since my last blog. 

This one is about Muffins or more appropriately a Muffin.

But first…about my lag time between BLOGS.

We often invite in what can begin to drive our day, and to some degree control how we move and groove in life.  It’s crucial to acknowledge this and make a conscious choice about whether to allow it to continue and if so, to what extent. Now, I’m referring to blogging, posting, liking and following as it relates to growing a brand via the social media game, but I get this could be applied to anything.😉

For those who have never read one of my BLOGS, know, I decided that chasing algorithms was not what floated my boat. While it established presence and to some degree was a way for folks to verify that I and/or my brands were “legit”…it’ just wasn’t and still is not, “my jam”. I appreciate that for growth, it holds significance and there are those who are masters at it that I applaud.

What is “my jam”, is hearth and home. You know, making sure that, food, shelter, clothing & essential needs are covered. Check, check, check & check! Not bragging, but sharing, so you know what my baseline is or what: “from the jump, door or giddy up” is, for ME.

These days, my time is my own. Other than moving from North Carolina (love the weather) to Ohio (not as much, but Cincinatti has a lot of great things going on that Im happily discovering on the regular) and getting settled (smaller kitchen that needed Reno - I would ask y’all to pray for me, but at the time of this BLOG post, its done and I survived) all is well and life is progressing. As such, recipes that have been in work, are surfacing with my “appropriately sized” MORN’ting Glory Muffins having been recently published.

Why a muffin recipe? Lemme give you the backstory.

In the days of living in Brooklyn with an amazing group of neighbors in Clinton Hill, I became a big fan of muffins. Two to three times a month I would try a new recipe from various cookbooks, eventually blending different parts of those, to come up with something new (to me). An aside: know...in culinary, short of molecular gastronomy, it is challenging to truly create something new. Creating a new combination of things, yes. Creating a new execution of something via various techniques, yes…but brand spanking new.…ehhhh. 

Back to the story.

In comparison to cakes, I really vibed making muffins as it felt easier, simpler and faster. Most recipes had makers combine all the things in one bowl (okay…maybe two), and then pour or spoon the batter into muffin tins (I like to use pleated liners, but going “naked” is an option, just make sure to oil those tins appropriately aka “grease ‘em down"). The combinations were endless . My favs always had more of a healthier bend incorporating, carrots, nuts, and fruit, elevated with warm spices, That said, know...‘er now and again, a more indulgent version made the cut, usually with chocolate, frosting (yes on a muffin), and the like.

There is also the back-back story.

Never was I ever interested in knowing “The Muffin Man”, cause minimally twice a month, with a little oil, eggs, and milk added in…the"Muffin Woman" aka “Ma” would bust open a couple of boxes and bust out a dozen or so ”Northern Cornbread” aka "sweet" tasting wonders that defined that genre for me. Yup, as kid growing up in the last century, (if/when you read some of my other BLOG’s, what follows will be  clear)...a lot of stuff in our home came boxed, pre sliced or frozen cause…we were a modern family that was uber hip (it was the space age y’all)...and in need of fast, easy to prepare meals especially with the adults in the house working, keeping track of us kids and trying to eek out a social life. If the food wasn’t prepared by Ma, it was an older sibling…hence the directions needed to be straight forward and not require a lot of attention other than temperature and cook time cause there was homework to be done, TV shows to be watched and the real deal... boyfriends and girlfriends to call.🤭

It didn’t cross my mind that I was missing out knowing just one flavor profile, but fast forward to living and working in NY, my muffin world expanded exponentially as I was introduced to muffins that were twice the size, came in various flavors, and along with your coffee in the quintessential NY blue, white and gold paper cup complete with the greek fret, it could be sliced, abundantly buttered, toasted on the flattop and wrapped in deli paper that somehow let the butter seep through and onto the bag, hence you had to make sure the bag didn’t touch anything you didn’t want greasy until you arrived at your work desk/space. Sometimes only the top of the muffin was consumed as it made us all feel better about eating a gigantic sugar laden, butter adorned…thing that even then, we knew, wasn’t healthy. It was the equivalent of eating a large slice of cake…for breakfast and it was GOOD. Unhealthy, but GOOD

Through many iterations over the years, cooking for friends and family, adding in a lil sumpin’ sumpin’ from Culinary school and culinary efforts with not for profits, there was one muffin profile that stuck with me. It was along the path of a carrot cake or spice cake from an ingredient perspective with those warm spices I mentioned earlier, showing up and performing beautifully here. As I evolved the recipe, I found that it could be gussied up with additional fruit (raisins, bananas etc..), made nutty with well...chopped nuts, or become that 'er once in while indulgent treat by adorning it with infused cream cheese semi sweet frosting, piped or  smeared “old school style" on top.

The MORN'TING GLORY MUFFIN Recipe, I recently published, allows for all of that. While I like it as is, I often add a little shaved coconut to the batter. Be they just baked (and of course cooled for @20), room temp or toasted in a saute pan, this muffin recipe is my "go to", that all seem to enjoy. It will give your spice cabinet, flavoring stash, and produce bin an opportunity to be appreciated, and its so worth it.

To wrap this up, know...HereInMyKitchen there will be be no muffin tops abandoning there other half as they are...appropriately sized, and thats the whole muffin truth👩🏽‍🍳