Muffin Love

I'm not sure where the name originated, but we often call our youngest son "Muffin Love". It's not surprising I suppose that the little guy just loves muffins! I was thrilled to see the return of squash to our weekly box as this recipe is a favorite in our house. It makes a perfect afternoon snack with a glass of milk. The source for this recipe is a mystery to me. I have it jotted down on a crumpled sticky note and I'm thinking I did a little substituting here and there. They are most certainly not low in fat and sugar...but they sure are tasty. Hubby calls them ginger cookie muffins...yum!

Squash Muffins

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup mashed cooked squash
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1 cup white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
add nuts or raisins if you wish

Cream sugar, molasses, butter. Add eggs and then squash. Mix in dry ingredients.

Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes.

Happy Friday!

Soup Weather

It's here, we can all sigh, take a big breath of crisp fall air and make some soup. When I am sure the frost is immanent, I am going out to my tomato plants & collect the green stragglers & try out this recipe for Green Tomato Soup from the New York Times.

Planning Ahead...

These crisp, cool mornings have us all realizing that fall is just around the corner. This hint of autumn has me planning for the cooler months ahead, dreaming of the soups, stews, sauces and chilies I'll be serving for dinner to keep us warm from the inside out. So, this is not a recipe sharing, but a reminder that it might be a good idea to tuck away some of these bits of summer to pull out on those coldest of days. When I saw the opportunity to purchase 25 pounds of tasty tomatoes, I jumped. I've been busy blanching, peeling, chopping and freezing my tomatoes for the winter ahead.

Here's my little process:

- Place washed tomatoes in a pot of boiling water for 45-60 seconds.
- Remove and place immediately in a bowl of ice cold water.
- Peel the tomatoes - The skins slid off very easily for me.
- Quarter and remove any brown or tough spots.
- Chop to the desired size and pop in the freezer!

I measured mine out in increments of 28 fl oz which is the size of a standard can of tomatoes. I thought this would simplify things when following recipes.

Patricia also suggested freezing the tomatoes whole. Upon removing from the freezer, you can simply run them under hot water and the skins will fall off nicely. This sounds like an even simpler plan for this sleep deprived mommy! I may just give it a try.