Fall recap and Pumpkin-raisin muffins

Cannot believe that its November already!

Time has always flown in the past but these days it seems to be in a supersonic hurry. I don't even remember how summer slowly changed into fall and then into winter. All this while, I have been meaning to write about fall and its flavors and colors but never really got a chance. But now that I am determined to crawl back into the blog world, I thought I should go ahead and write a post. Better late than never.

Speaking of fall, I have to admit that this season is absolutely stunning in this part of the world. The green on the trees somehow changes to yellows, oranges, reds, and golds- its just gorgeous. It literally feels like God picks up a brush and paints the picture with his multicolored palette. And what a painter he is!! Check out these pictures if you don't believe me

Little v has been enjoying the leaves and their colors as well. He now knows his reds, yellows, oranges and green so picking up leaves and then identifying the right color brings enormous joy and pride to him (and me). Arlene, his nanny (God bless her sweet soul) has also been teaching him some fall leaf art- here's a sample- she helped make him this masterpiece by collecting fall leaves and then rubbing them on paper with crayons. Neat, I say!

While we are still talking about the little guy, here's a pic of him dressed up for Halloween. This year, he was a little dragon- almost everyone who saw him went 'awwww' (I did too). Here's a pic of him running from N. This, by the way, is the story of our life now- him running and we chasing.

And finally, because food is a big part of my life, I could not resist writing about these delicious pumpkin-raisin muffins I made a few days back.

I was looking for a good pumpkin bread (cake) recipe when I stumbled on Stephanie's Joy of Baking website- an absolute treat for any baking enthusiast. Her recipe for the pumpkin-raisin muffins seemed to be just what I was looking for so decided to give it a try. I followed her recipe almost completely, except for 2 changes- I used all purpose flour (instead of whole wheat flour and wheat bran) simply because I didn't have any whole wheat flour on hand. I also used only half a cup raisins instead of Stephanie's one full cup.

Pumpkin-raisin muffins
Recipe adapted from Joyofbaking's recipe from here

Makes 12 regular-sized muffins. 

Ingredients
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup canola oil

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour  

3/4 cup granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup raisins 

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place rack in the middle of the oven. 

2. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners (or spray with a non stick vegetable spray).

3. Mix together the pumpkin puree, eggs, yogurt, and oil. 

4. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add sugar.

5. Add the wet ingredients (from step 3) to the dry ingredients (from step 4). Stir until just combined. 

6. Fold in the raisins. Do not over mix the batter or the muffins will be tough when baked, says Stephanie. 

7. Fill the muffin cups with the batter using a tablespoon. 

8. Place in the oven and bake for about 18 - 20 minutes , or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool.

This was such a delicious recipe. The star of the recipe for me was the cinnamon - it brings out the pumpkin flavors superbly. N, who was a little sceptical of pumpkin muffins initially, loved it. I have already baked two batches in 3 weeks :)

Enjoy,

V

P.S. Anyone notice my new blog name? I like it better- the old one was way too long!