I found this vintage photo on ebay. It brings new meaning to the phrase “buttoned up.” Honestly, though, after the recent holidays, I can’t talk. But — I’m sure as heck not buttoning up my sweater.
That mighty muffin top inspires me to make — you guessed it — muffins! Which also gives me the perfect reason to use the thoughtful gift I received from my daughter for Christmas — a beautiful ceramic muffin pan, with a matching tea towel and oven mitt from Anthropologie (I pretty much covet everything in their kitchen section):
Almost too pretty to use
She even picked out a recipe for me to try. And she picked a good one. These muffins make good use of the bounty of apples available right now. They’re very dense and moist, and were especially good warm (like most muffins).
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners (12 muffin cups).
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Place egg and brown sugar in a large bowl, and beat together using an electric mixer, until well blended. Gradually beat in the butter and sour cream. Stir in half of the flour mixture, add the milk, and then add the remaining flour mixture, stirring just until combined. Fold in the diced apples.
Divide batter between muffin cups. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until muffins are light golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in pans briefly, then remove to a rack.
When muffins are cool enough to handle, pour melted butter into a small bowl. Mix sugar and cinnamon together in another small bowl. Dip the top of each muffin in butter and then press it into the cinnamon sugar mixture until generously coated. (Because I used very tall muffin liners, I didn't dip the muffins, but instead, brushed the tops with melted butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.)
I found these vintage Czech spice jars on ebay. I love the clean lines and neat lettering. I actually have quite a little collection of black and white Czech pottery, which I started collecting unintentionally about 15 years ago. I’ll share it with you one of these days. But today, three of these spice jars have my full attention:
These, along with cinnamon, are the spices that make up pumpkin pie spice, and are the inspiration for today’s recipe.
What’s that? August is too early to be posting a recipe for pumpkin bread or thinking about fall? Oh silly you, have you been living under a rock? Here’s a photo I took at Michael’s on July 5:
Pumpkins, pumpkins, and more pumpkins
Alright, I can cut Michael’s a little slack for jumping the gun. After all, it is a craft store, and crafters do need to get working if they are going to have their creations ready for fall. (You haven’t started? What are you waiting for?)
But how do you explain this photo taken at Randall’s grocery store on July 29?
Scary to see jack o’ lanterns in July
Yes, like a cheap pair of underwear, pumpkin spice season is slowly creeping up on us. I’ve already seen articles about how we will be introduced to pumpkin spice Peeps this season, and Starbucks is going to use — wait for it — REAL pumpkin in its Pumpkin Spice Lattes, along with removing the caramel coloring and artificial flavors. (Starbucks is largely credited with creating the pumpkin spice craze when it introduced the now-famous pumpkin spice latte, or PSL, in 2003). In fact, it was pretty much a full-blown assault at the grocery stores this weekend, where I saw everything from pumpkin spice room freshener to pumpkin spice whipped cream in a can.
Last year my friends (real and virtual) got a laugh out of poking fun at pumpkin spice mania, and they sent me lots of photos of products — some intriguing, some gross. Hunting down pumpkin spice flavored or scented things became almost like sport. This year, starting in September, Tag Sale Tastes is going to have its own Pumpkinpalooza, with reviews of pumpkin spice products, recipes, and other pumpkin-related things. I’ll be trying out the products on friends, family, and co-workers. So be on the lookout — let me know if you see something that merits review or mockery.
Maybe you’re wondering how I have the audacity to post a recipe for pumpkin spice bread, after making fun of all things pumpkin spice. Because I want to be FIRST!! You know what I mean, right? Urban Dictionary defines “first” as a word that is said when you are the first one to post a comment on a video, picture, or article on the internet. I want to be like all those obnoxious people on Facebook who wish you happy birthday the day before your birthday, just so they can be FIRST! So here’s to beating out all the other bloggers in the whole world this year with what I hope is the FIRST! pumpkin spice bread recipe of Fall 2015.
Inspired by the Czech ginger, cloves, and nutmeg jars, here is a great recipe for Pumpkin Ginger Bread. This is a favorite recipe of my family’s — moist, dense, and spicy. Although I usually disregard the advice from people like Martha Stewart who say to replace your spices every 6 months (what am I, made out of money?), this time of year you would do yourself a favor to buy, if nothing else, a fresh jar of ginger and cinnamon — it really makes a difference in your holiday baking. Your house will smell amazing as the loaves bake.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a Bundt pan, or two loaf pans.
Place eggs and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. Slowly add oil and continue beating until combined. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. Add dry mixture to egg mixture alternately with water. Beat in pumpkin. Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and bake approximately 1 hour, until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool in pan at least 15 minutes before removing from pan. (If necessary, run a knife between the edge of the bread and the pan, in order to loosen it.)
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Mmmmm — the house smells just like pumpkin spice candles, or is it air freshener?
I found this vintage photo on ebay. It brings new meaning to the phrase “buttoned up.” Honestly, though, after the recent holidays, I can’t talk. But — I’m sure as heck not buttoning up my sweater.
