Well Sunday was one of those perfect days. It was fairly warm and my son responds like a butterfly – the first hint of spring’s warmth sends him and the neighborhood boys outside to spread their wings. It was not all that warm though, because the wind was so strong, but my son put on shorts and then I caught my daughter outside barefoot! It was like a great force pushed them outside to discard their winter clothing and celebrate the warmer air. I guess they call that Spring Fever.
The day consisted of a hike in the woods with each boy having a plastic weapon of choice in hand, metal detecting, digging holes and doing their boyhood best to discover as much buried treasure as can be found in one sunny Sunday afternoon. This was followed by a cooking contest, of all things, that the boys conjured up on their hike.
Anthony and his friend Caleb came running into the house and informed me that they needed to make a salad for the said contest. Noah had made muffins, Khean had made soup, Sam had made “a fruit mixture” and later in the evening Micah made shortbread.
Caleb and Anthony were not going to be outdone, so I supervised closely as those two wild Indians used knives to cut up fruit. I then suggested they add a bit of yogurt and Mmmmm, it was tasty. My neighbor Martha judged these culinary creations and the word on the street is that the winner of the contest was Noah with his fabulous muffins – but there are no losers on a day such as this! So here are Noah’s Winning Muffins – give them a try and eat one in the warm sunshine with a slap of butter and your favorite drink!
3 mashed bananas (approximately 1 cup)
1 cup sugar
¼ cup melted butter or oil
Grated orange peel
¾ orange juice or milk
½ tsp. salt
1 tbs. baking powder
2 ½ cup flour
1 cup of nuts or chocolate chips
-Mash bananas until smooth, no lumps.
-Add sugar and oil, mix until smooth.
-Add orange peel to bananas
-Add liquid (OJ or milk) to mixture.
-Beat batter until smooth
-Add salt, baking powder, mix, then add flour.
-Stir in nuts or chips.
-Pour into well oiled muffin pans.
-Bake in 350 oven for 25 minutes or when toothpick comes out clean.