by Claire Star
When I was a kid, my parents both worked part time and alternated days where they’d take care of my younger brother and me. One day a week, my brother had preschool while I didn’t, so my dad and I had the day to ourselves for adventuring. “No Plans Mondays” were born.
Many Mondays, my dad and I would walk up to the corner store and I got to pick out whatever juice box I wanted (and my dad would get an apple - he really likes apples). For some reason, I remember the juice box selection process and bus ride being equally exciting as the Children’s Museum destination. Clearly, my dad is awesome for being able to make busses and juice as great as the Children’s Museum.
Other Mondays, my dad and I would do some baking. Our favorite recipe was (and continues to be) cranberry pumpkin muffins. If I’m remembering correctly, we watched Arthur while they were in the oven, but Arthur-watching was by no means something strictly relegated to No Plans Mondays itineraries. We watched Arthur most days of my childhood and my dad even claimed to watch the show when my brother and I were napping. (To this day, I’m still not certain whether he was pulling my leg about that, because he does genuinely like Arthur… He does not, however, enjoy Teletubbies.)
Many Mondays, my dad and I would walk up to the corner store and I got to pick out whatever juice box I wanted (and my dad would get an apple - he really likes apples). For some reason, I remember the juice box selection process and bus ride being equally exciting as the Children’s Museum destination. Clearly, my dad is awesome for being able to make busses and juice as great as the Children’s Museum.
Other Mondays, my dad and I would do some baking. Our favorite recipe was (and continues to be) cranberry pumpkin muffins. If I’m remembering correctly, we watched Arthur while they were in the oven, but Arthur-watching was by no means something strictly relegated to No Plans Mondays itineraries. We watched Arthur most days of my childhood and my dad even claimed to watch the show when my brother and I were napping. (To this day, I’m still not certain whether he was pulling my leg about that, because he does genuinely like Arthur… He does not, however, enjoy Teletubbies.)
More than fifteen years later, I still consider No Plans Mondays to be one of my favorite parts of my childhood. And I still really like spending time with my dad. So today, in honor of No Plans Mondays and my dad being great, I’d like to share our favorite recipe for Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins, adapted from Jane Brody’s Good Food Gourmet (published 1990 by Norton).
Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins are perfect for this time of year when the weather is getting crisper, scarves are coming out of closets, and the leaves are changing color. (But that doesn’t stop me from making them other times of year. I actually made these muffins the first full day back from college in May!) Here’s the recipe:
Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins
Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup whole-wheat flour 1 cup sugar 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon allspice ½ teaspoon cloves ½ teaspoon nutmeg ½ cup butter or margarine, melted 2 ½ cups thick pureed pumpkin (if the pumpkin is watery, use a little more and drain it first) 2 eggs, lightly beaten 2 cups cranberries, cleaned and halved (easiest when frozen) | 1. Preheat oven to 350 F. 2. In a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg. Stir the ingredients to mix them well. 3. Add the butter or margarine, pumpkin, and eggs, stirring the ingredients until they are just moist. Stir in the cranberries. Spoon the batter into 24 greased muffin cups. 4. Place the muffin tins in the hot oven, and bake the muffins for 25-30 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. |