Muffins and a Dessert

Good evening, ya'll. Come on in and have a cup of coffee or glass of sweet iced tea. I hope you had a great weekend and are now enjoying another week. Now I remember that Mondays could be a hassle but just thank the good Lord you are here and I thank Him that I could get out of bed. When you get my age and Arthritis and Bursitis visit right regularly, you are just glad to be able to get out of bed and walk to the coffee pot.

Being able to walk to the coffee pot is the most important task to accomplish in the morning for without that first taste of caffeine nectar from the gods I am not worth killing. After all, I am Burt Williamson's first and only granddaughter so coffee is the first joy of the day and all day. I have enjoyed coffee that was absolutely wonderful and I have had some that was absolutely horrible, but coffee is coffee and with enough cream and sugar most of it is drinkable. There is one coffee that I cannot drink and that is instant coffee. I have tried every brand and prepared it every way that is known to man, but I can still tell you it is instant and is good for nothing except to pour down the sink. So please, if instant is all you've got just give me a glass of tea.

Now I am saying this with a smile and being polite so mama and the "Mama Police" won't get their panties all in a wad. You know that even from heaven, looking down, they can still lay a guilt trip on you if you are impolite. That little niggling voice in the back of your mind is not your conscious but your sweet Southern Mama and the town's "Mama Police." Remember their responsibility is to make sure you mind your manners and be polite whether you want to or not. It's a Southern thing.

On Sundays it our family custom to have muffins for breakfast. Now it's not a big deal for I have always used muffin mixes to do this. That makes it quick and easy and while they are baking I could get the children up and begin to get ready for church. I have continued to do it even now that is just Roy and me. It still takes me awhile to get ready for church and we just like muffins.

Now that I have a little more time and watch Food TV all day, I have become a little more discriminating and I now change the mixes somehow. Some really delicious recipes have resulted from my experimenting and some not so good. I have posted several and I have another one I want to share. I baked this one yesterday and they are very good. So enjoy.

ORANGE BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

• 1 14 oz. box Blueberry Muffin Mix (I used the Dollar Tree brand - Harvest Hill and it is good)
• 1/3 cup quick oatmeal
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 egg
• zest of 1 orange
• optional - 1/2 cup frozen or fresh blueberries (I used frozen for I have my own bushes)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin

Mix the orange juice and egg in small bowl. Combine the mix, oatmeal and orange juice mixture in large mixing bowl and stir until smooth. Do not beat. Add orange zest and mix. Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full. I found that an ice cream scoop is great for this. 1 scoop is enough for each cup. Serve warm with sweet butter. The leftovers are great to split, butter the halves and toast lightly - if there are leftovers. These would be good served with orange marmalade or blueberry jam.

Bake for 20-30 minutes.

Oranges are in season and not too expensive right now and today I used one and made a good dessert I dreamed up. I have pears that I peeled, sliced and froze this summer and this is what I used for this quick and easy dish. You could use fresh and you would need about 4. Not sure it would work with canned.

POACHED PEARS WITH ORANGE JUICE

• 2-3 cups frozen pears or 3-4 fresh pears, peeled and sliced
• juice and zest of 1 orange

Place the pears in small saucepan and pour the fresh, squeezed orange juice over the pears. Sprinkle the zest over the pears and orange juice, bring to a slow simmer and simmer until pears are tender. Don't cook until mushy. You want them to hold the shape of the slice.

Take a small dessert dish, coarsely crumble a shortbread cookie in each dish. Spoon the warm pears over the cookie and crumble 1/2 cookie on top of pears. You could top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and sprinkle the cookie crumbs over the ice cream. You can use whatever cookie you have and today I used and almond cookie I get from the Dollar Tree. The almond taste was good witht the pears.

This is quick, easy and sugar free. Pears have a lot of sugar in them and orange juice adds just enough sweet.

Hope you enjoy these and please comment if you do. Click on the small envelope at the end of the posting and let me know how you liked them or ask any questions.

Remember to be polite and mind your manners.

Nuff said,

The Georgia Peach

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