Enjoy Each Bite

I have for a long while wondered why I often burn cupcakes and muffins. I've blamed the cupcake liners, my oven, the recipe....It took dozens of wasted treats and today I finally realized what I was doing wrong!  Last week, I made perfect and delicious banana muffins. No burning.  Today, I made the exact same muffins in the same muffin tins and 14 minutes into the 25 minute baking time, the smell of smoke entered the family room where I was sitting. What was the difference?  Last week when I made them, I baked each muffin tray separately. Today, I put them side by side (a perfect fit on my top oven rack) to save time as I have done in the past (probably every other time that I have burned them!). I'm not sure why I never made the connection before, but now I know that the two side by side do not allow the circulation needed in the oven for proper baking. I'm happy to avoid this scene in the future... Muffin centers anyone?

In haven't had much time for blogging lately or even to take pictures of my delicious creations, but I wanted to share three new recipes that I have tried with happy success. First, a  Broccoli Salad . Ingredients 2-3 broccoli crowns, just the florets, finely chopped (5-6 cups) 10 bacon slices, crisp-cooked and crumbled 1/3 C red onion, diced 1/3 C sunflower seeds 1/3 C dried cranberries, chopped (golden raisins are equally good) 1/2 C mayonnaise 2 T apple cider vinegar 2 t sugar salt and pepper Instructions To a salad bowl, add broccoli, bacon, onion, seeds, and cranberries. In a small bowl, mix mayo, vinegar, and sugar. Pour dressing mixture over salad and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve (at least one hour). And an Apricot Crisp  which served to use many canned apricots from last year's apricot season. I didn't have any walnuts, but any nuts or no nuts works great too. Ingredients for Topp