Masala... and muffins!

I met this other mom at Kailea's pre-school a while back. She seemed different from most of the other moms there - different in a way that I can best describe only as "cooler" than the others - or atleast, perhaps - more like me. One of the better English speakers -that probably had something to do with it. Well, she's got a little girl Kailea's age. And now that it's summer vacation - we set a time up for our girls to play together. I noticed a lot of buddha's in the house. I asked if she practiced Buddhism. She said no - I practice Hinduism. Oh. Tell me about that. So she told me a little bit. She said we eat vegetarian once a week. I think she's not too into it because she loves fish and shrimp and stuff like that. But she gave me a bunch of vegetarian Indian products to try because I told her I was vegetarian - but Latter-day Saint. I'm really excited to try some of the stuff she gave me. The Chickpea curry mix looks so yummy - I'll have to see how it compares to my recipe. And she gave me some home-made masala - that her mother made and it smells so divine! I cannot wait to use that - tomorrow - a new day - I look forward to that :)

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A while back I was asked to make some cupcakes for a singles activity here in Eindhoven. Well, I thought about it and decided to make muffins instead - they are healthier - and easier to transport since they don't have frosting on top. I made 5 different kinds. Four from the VWAV cookbook and one I made up myself - it's one of my favies now :)

I made - Sunny Blueberry Corn Muffins (VWAV 50); a variation of Mocha Chip Muffins (VWAV 51); Apple Pie-Crumb Cake Muffins (VWAG 53) and one other kind - but now it's been so long I cannot remember... ha ha. The ones I made up though - are simply Banana with Blackberry and Chocolate chunks. Sooo goood!

Here is the recipe: BANANA with BLACKBERRIES and CHOCOLATE CHUNKS muffins
or Banana-choco chip-blackberry muffins :)

2 large bananas, very ripe
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup raw sugar
1 1/2 tsp banana extract (for extra banana fun)
1/4 cup sunflower oil
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cardamon
1/2 tsp salt
about 45 g dark chocolate chips (chopped up chocolate bar)
about 1 cup frozen blackberries

Preheat oven 175-C. Sift together Flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. In food processor fitted with metal blade, puree bananas - mix in sugars, extract and oil. Blend in flour mixture till well combined. Lastly, with dough hook blend in chocolate chips and blackberries. Divide mixture among 12 lined muffin cups. Bake at 175-C for 20 minutes. (If the dough mix is a bit dry - blend in some apple juice or apple sauce 1 Tbsp at a time before adding the chocolate and berries -- I've found that helps when the weather is more hot and dry).

So, those are really good muffins - I highly recommend them - and not just because I made them up - they really are GOOD.

Okay, I'm remembering the other muffins I made. I made the regular recipe Mocha Chip Muffins from VWAV and I also made a variation of them. I liked my variation way better. Here is what I did - it's similar to the recipe above. What I did was I added in chopped dark chocolate and raspberry bar in place of the chocolate chips. And I also added in frozen raspberries. Those also were delicious. I think chocolate and raspberries together are yummy - what a combination! Those rocked... and that's what led to my creation of the Banana-choco chip-Blackberry muffins.

Now some photos...



Choco-choco chip-raspberry muffins

Apple pie - Crumb Cake Muffins


Blueberry Corn Muffins

All of the muffins were really good. Mark's favorite were the Apple Pie Crumb Cake muffins. But I'm a girl - a typical girl - I like muffins best with chocolate chunks and berries - yummy!

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