Just Desserts

 I have been happily working on the next Yarn Retreat mystery I'm calling KNOT A GAME.  The big surprise is that I got a head start on the recipe.  Usually I decide on it by seeing what Casey ends up baking, but this time due to having some overripe bananas, I decided that Casey will be making banana nut muffins and I made a batch.

It was a hot day for baking, but the end result was worth it and the muffins all disappeared before they had a chance to get stale.

I did a lot of cooking and baking during the shut down, but other than making big pots of spaghetti for my grandson, I've gone back to microwaving a bag of Trader Joe's broccoli and cauliflower and mixing it with a package of frozen macaroni and cheese and calling it a meal. The air fryer has been getting a vacation from use as well.

But making the muffins brought back memories of when I whipped up a batch of muffins on a regular basis.  There is such a satisfaction in making something delicious.  Thoughts of other muffins I could make danced through my mind.  And carrot cake and oatmeal cookies.  I'm a bit like Casey in that I am more excited about baking than making meals.  

I learned how to bake from my mother.  I was her sous chef, even though most of my job was licking out the bowl.  That was before anyone was concerned about raw eggs and such.  Before long I was making cookies on my own.  I always thought recipes were written in stone and it's only now that I see there is room to make changes.  If I have flour, sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla, I can make something out of what's in the refrigerator.

I was eyeing that jar of peanut butter in the pantry and thinking of making peanut butter cookies.  The ones I've bought are never as good as the homemade ones.  What about peanut butter muffins?  Is there even such a thing or maybe Casey with my help could create them.  What about using those wilted strawberries in muffins?

I'm up for the challenge.