Pumpkin Muffins

Yum! I cut the sugar from the recipe I was adapting, but would try cutting it further and might try using a bit more pumpkin and 1 fewer egg. However, these were very well received.

Pumpkin Muffins

1 cup pumpkin puree, canned or otherwise
3/4 cup white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar [I would try 1/4 cup each next time]
2 eggs [I would try 1 next time with a bit more pumpkin]
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin tin. Using a whisk, gently mix together all ingredients just until blended. Spoon into muffin tins, filling about 2/3 full -- should make exactly 12 if you scrape the bowl well. (I recommend that you don't forget to add the sugar and baking soda until after you've started to spoon it into the muffin tins, as I did.) Bake 25-30 minutes.

Makes 12

Plum Swedish Pie

The most treasured recipe I have inherited from Ben's family is Swedish Pie, a cobbler-like fruit desert. You can make it with any fruit, raw or frozen. When I make it with plums (=the best way), I like to substitute some cornmeal for some of the flour for a nice texture. I also like to add orange-blossom water or rosewater, like I do with most fruit deserts.

When I make it, this is not a tidy or attractive desert -- I find the topping to be difficult to pour and spread. My mother-in-law's are beautiful! Either way, it will be very tasty.

Plum Swedish Pie

~20 Italian prune plums
3/4 cup white flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar (regular recipe uses 2/3)
1 stick butter
1 egg
orange juice, rosewater or orange-blossom water to taste
cinnamon to taste

Preheat the oven to 350.

Wash, pit, and quarter the plums. Put them into a pie pan and sprinkle with cinnamon and, if you like, with orange juice, rosewater or orange-blossom water. Put the butter in a large Pyrex bowl and microwave just until melted, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and mix well. Beat in the egg, followed by the flour and cornmeal. Carefully pour the batter over the fruit, covering as well as you can. Bake for 1 hour or until solid (if you bake more than one at a time it may take more than one hour).

Serves 8.

Variations: apples + apple cider; apples + bourbon; apple + cranberry; any combination of stone fruits; stone fruits + berries; mango; mango + cranberry; mixed berry or blackberry or blueberry. Thaw and drain frozen fruit before using. If using berries, consider adding some cornstarch with them.