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p 12 the tribunej tuesday september 23 1997 stux drink caroline dewar correspondent tasty muffins you can enjoy fresh healthy muffins even on the busiest mornings with these easy recipes you can prepare the day before baking mmmmmm mmm mmmmm muffins muffins served hot straight from the oven are perfection they are one of the easiest tastiest treats you can make for you and your family muffins are perfect for breakfast lunch and din ner in fact they can be enjoyed at any time of the day or night they are ideal to snack on at home school or at work and can be easily transported on family hikes picnics or long car rides muffins can be baked in time for breakfast any day of the week by simply preparing your ingredi ents the night before measure your dry ingredients into a bowl and lightly stir measure the wet ingre dients together into a bowl and place in refrig erator in the morning mix the two bowls together and bake according to the recipe instructions youll have a delicious freshly baked muffin to enjoy with your morning cup of coffee v what a great way to start your day try one of the recipes below some time all are easy to make wonder- ful to freeze and sure to win great reviews among family friends and co workers muffin tips and variations most muffin recipes follow the basic propor tion of two parts of flour to one of liquid vary your favourite muffin recipe by substi tuting buttermilk for milk honey brown sugar molasses or maple syrup for the sugar instead of or along with raisins try adding other small or coarsely- chopped dried or candied fruits such as apricots apples cherries papaya or pineapple fresh or frozen blueberries or raspberries coarsely- chopped nuts of your choice a few tablespoons of wheat germ crumbled crisp bacon or even chocolate chips never over stir a muffin batter this over develops iiiiiiwiiiiiiirf morning glory muffins 1 cup allpurpose flour 12 cup whole wheat flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp cinnamon 12 tsp salt 14 tsp ginger 14 tsp allspice 34 cup brown sugar 1 egg large 12 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt 14 cup vegetable oil 1 tsp vanilla 34 cup crushed pineapple drained 34 cup carrots grated 12 cup raisins 12 cup lightlytoasted walnuts or pecans preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit grease 12 muffin cups in a large bowl com bine flour baking powder soda salt spices and sugar stir dry ingredients together with a fork in a medium bowl whisk egg with butter milk oil and vanilla stir in pineapple pour into flour mixture and stir until just combined stir in carrots raisins and nuts until evenly mixed spoon batter into muffin cups bake in centre of oven until golden and cake tester comes out clean about 15 to 17 min utes cool muffins in cups for 5 minutes then remove to cooling rack store in sealed bag or container yield 1 dozen large muffins ecipes refrigerator bran muffins 2 12 cups sugar granulated 4 eggs large 1 cup vegetable oil 1 tbsp salt 8 tsp baking soda 3 cups allpurpose flour 2 12 cups whole wheat flour 4 cups buttermilk 2 cups all bran or other bran bud cereal 3 cups bran flakes 2 cups raisins or dates beat sugar eggs oil and salt in a very large bowl or plastic pail until thick and creamy sift baking soda and flour into a separate bowl add half each of buttermilk flour mixture cereals and raisins to sugaregg mixture in plastic pail stir to combine add remaining halves of ingredients stir until just combined dont over mix batter for best results refrigerate one to two days before baking preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit lightly butter muffin tins or line with baking cups spoon in batter bake 2025 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean yield 4 dozen large muffins note batter will keep in fridge four to five weeks tightly covered orange date muffins 12 cup pitted dates chopped 1 orange unpeeled 12 cup butter cold cut in pieces 34 cup sugar granulated 12 cup orange juice 1 egg 1 cup allpurpose flour 12 cup whole wheat flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt chop dates in food processor fitted with steel blade remove from bowl wash orange and cut into four sections place orange in food processor and process until finely chopped add dates orange juice egg and butter to work bowl and process until mixed approx 5 seconds stir together flours sugars baking pow der baking soda and salt add to date mix ture and process until moistened but not over mixed spoon batter into large greased muffin cups filling 34 full bake in 400 degree fahrenheit oven for 12 to 20 minutes or until tops are firm to the touch yield 12 muffins the gluten in the flour resulting in tough muffins stir just long enough to make a slightly lumpy batter if you want a more festive pre sentation as well as easier cleanup line your muffin cups with paper or foil muffin liners to test muffins for doneness insert a toothpick into the centre of one it should come out clean its a perfect time of year to enjoy squash food for thought lisa cartwright there was frost on the ground when we woke up sunday morn ing on saturday i saw a group of canada geese in their beautiful vformation heading to warmer climates and all weekend i was wearing wool sweaters and drinking hot chocolate its fall and i am sure winter isnt too far away the change in season means that summer produce is slowly disappearing from grocery store shelves and winter produce is more prevalent including win ter squash while there are about pine dif ferent varieties of winter squash on the ontario market the main types are butternut acorn or pepper turban hubbard blue golden and green buttercup and delicata when purchasing the veg etable which is an excellent source of beta carotene potassi um and a source of vitamin c and folacin people need to look for a dry uniformlyhard surface that is free of soft spots and bruises according to a foodland ontario fact sheet despite the tough exterior the vegetable needs careful handling the season for winter squash starts in september and goes to november but can be purchased to midmarch because of the modern storage system for pro duce and squash like pumpkins and gourds have a variety of usages they can be creamed into veg etable soups pureed into a squash pie or cut into pieces and mashed it can also be cooked in its shell and served with brown sugar or maple syrup