Happy Tuesday

One from last week at the library. People who are staring into the soul of

a computer monitor never notice you drawing them.

Convenient.

I think I'd like to get back into baking. Because I still lack the patience to even

read a recipe, let alone follow one, this will have to manifest itself in lots of

trial-and-error bowls of goo, and some eating of raw eggs. All good things.

This morning I had apple ginger muffins with my lovely friend Helen.

The key to improvisational baking is knowing what batter should taste like

(since I was once young (and maybe you were too) I have a fond and rather

good memory of that). Also, have a slight clue (but not more than that) of what

your ingredients will be doing as they warm up to your 350+ degrees in the

oven.

So for muffins, you'll want to throw together some combination of:

flour

sugar

baking powder

egg (or more baking powder, or tofu, or banana)

oil (or butter)

That's it! Take the skeleton of a muffin (the substance, the stuff that holds it

together, the stuff that sweetens it, and the stuff that makes it rise) and go

crazy! These muffins had apple slices and finely chopped ginger, with a bit of

cinnamon, vanilla extract, and cacao nibs, and the tail end of my yogurt for a

little moisture. I baked them at 400 until they puffed up and didn't collapse

back in when I poked them, somewhere between 8 and 20 minutes.