Lately I’ve been itching to bake stuff. I mean, after all, it’s autumn. That’s when, arguably, it’s the most fun to turn the oven on, get toasty, and savor the delicious flavors of the season. My friends know that I love to find new recipes on the Internet. (My favorite website is AllRecipes.) In order to realize my baking aspirations, I surfed the Net and unearthed a good-lookin’ pumpkin muffin recipe. Please note (just so you really appreciate me), this recipe requires the slicing, hulling, baking, scooping, and pureeing of a pumpkin (yeah, you got it right - no canned puree allowed). At the outset of this venture, I felt very ambitious and adventurous about it. Okay, all of you seasoned cooks out there are probably thinking I’m being way too melodramatic about this. But, you have to understand, in all of my life I’ve never made pumpkin anything from scratch.
Last night was the night I decided to tackle this baking project. Earlier in the evening, shortly after dinner, we attended a local school board candidate forum, which was very interesting. Although I’m glad we went to this, it did put a damper on my grandeur baking plans – I wasn’t able to start my project until approximately 9 o’clock.
At this point of my “story,” I realize that I could drag it on and on . . . but why should I do that when I can simply summarize by saying: A BILLION HOURS LATER, WHEN THERE WAS YELLOW PUMPKIN MEAT, STRINGY PULPY STUFF, SEEDS, PUREE, AND QUASI-PUREE (stuff that didn’t blend quite so well) ALL OVER MY KITCHEN, I finally had the batter prepared and ready to go into the oven. Needless to say, I didn’t get to bed last night until well after midnight. After all that work, I’m starting to wonder if the canned approach isn’t the best idea after all. (So much for being the domestic diva!) I mean, the muffins turned out great and everything, but I’m not so sure they’re three-and-a-half-hours-of-my-life great. Sigh . . . And God bless Betty Crocker!
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4 comments:
Well, if it's any consolation, I thought they were GREAT! :)
I'm with you. I've been baking squash to feed Ben. Not only is it nearly impossible to cut, but those seeds get everywhere and just when you think the last one has been rooted out, there is another one. What a hassle!
I'm like you, Amy, Autumn gives me the urge to bake. I made an apple pie the other day and was quite proud of myself for not purchasing the pie crust. ;) But sometimes I do wonder if the extra time involved in these "from scratch" endeavors is really worth it! (Especially since my husband usually can't tell the difference and he is the only one I'm cooking for!) *grin*
And here I was all gung-ho to get one of those nice big pumpkins for two bucks and puree it all and put it in the freezer. Now I'm not sure want to. I would definitely start before 9, though.
On the other hand, one pumpkin ought to make more puree than is needed for a single batch of muffins, so the next batch would be as quick as if you used canned.
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