Muffins!

 After moving out on my own I discovered a lover for baking.  I'm not sure why.  Growing up I never had a desire to bake, cook or do anything in the kitchen except sneak crackers when nobody was looking.  I found that food always tasted better when prepared by the loving hands of my mother.
  But when you move out, you don't come home to the smell of fresh made brownies, or leftovers in the fridge without having to prepare it in the first place. You don't have the opportunity to bat your eyelashes and say,
              "...but you’re my favorite mommy, and you make it so good!" I tried urging my mother.
But nope! You just have yourself, or Starbucks pastries when the occasion calls for it.  So I took on muffins. I started with a simple Banana muffin first. Turned out ok. Then I tried again.  I got better.  Then my confidence started growing and began tip-toeing out of my comfort zone.  I did Pumpkin Pancakes with an Apple Cider Syrup! I even did Pot Roast!  But my most recent experiment was so that I could take something to "Iron Chef Secret Ingredient: Almonds" Day.  I scoured Allrecipes.com and found one that sounded delightful!!  Pumpkin Cream Cheese filled Muffins with a Butter Pecan and Almond Crumble topping. Yeah! That's right! I choose that!! 
   Now, pretty much everything I've been baking with has involved Pumpkin. Some may think it's because I like Pumpkin, but not. In fact, I'm really not the biggest fan of it.  But to me, Pumpkin means Holidays! It means the seasons changing, the weather cooling off and the wind kicking up...blowing reddish yellow leaves around.  It means holiday movies full of family values; The Walton marathons; Miracle on

34th Street

on Thanksgiving night and Family Channel classics like The Christmas list. It means tradition; my family coming together.  And as my family knows...these things are very important to me.  I must be in the spirit.
   Not only does my baking help prepare me for the holidays, it relaxes me. And I enjoy it!! Who knows...maybe one day I'll be a famous Muffin Maker!!