Wednesday, January 03, 2007
My family, God love them, are a strange bunch. For Christmas this year, my grandma decided to split a case of oranges among all the children. Now here's the thing, my hubby hates fruit. So I tried my damnest to eat the 20+ oranges that were handed to me a day before Christmas, but alas, there were 6 or so leftover that were slowly rotting on my counter, and I felt REALLY guilty about that. I could not stuff another orange in my mouth, and one can only drink so many screwdrivers. So I set to work looking for a recipe for some sort of delicious dessert that would use the remainder of the citrus hogging up my cooking space.
Every recipe I found called for orange peel, which I really despise in food, so I searched, and searched, and SEARCHED. Finally, I found a recipe for cranberry orange muffins (which are one of my favorites), and I set to work. I juiced all the oranges, and I dug out a bag of dried cranberries, and I giggled as I clicked the beater into place on my new Kitchenaid mixer. (the crimson one , of course)
The recipe called for whole wheat flour, which I think is where things started to go South. I'm new to whole wheat flour, and the kind I have is very grainy in texture. To be honest, I'm not really thrilled about baking at all, because the measurements have to be so precise. I'm the kind of girl that half measures everything, and stops when the color and/or taste look good. With baking, everything tastes like semi-sweet floury ass before it's baked, so I'm screwed where taste is concerned. 
I decided to add more cranberries, because the mixture looked bland, so as you'll notice in the photos, there are a ton of little cranberry jewels falling out of the muffins. The muffins didn't rise the way I thought they would, but I'm not sure if it was the muffin, or the new silicone bakeware I used for the first time. Whatever the reason, I was not impressed. I also made a few little loaves of muffin bread, while more appealing to the eye, they are a little bland and grainy in taste-just like the muffins.
I decided not to post the recipe, as I'm afraid someone will look at the pictures and try to duplicate my attempt. I assure you it would be a waste of good citrus. You may be wondering, if the muffins were this bad of an experience, why write about them? The truth is, I hate baking. And I'm also not so great about using up leftovers before they spoil. I am really proud of myself for stepping out of my stove-top comfort zone, and trying something different. Because of that, I believe it deserves a post and some grainy-ass photos to go with it. If you've suffered this entire post, I'm sorry. I will attempt to make it up to you in the coming months with cooking tips and yummy recipes, adapted from the slew of cookbooks I have acquired over the last two years. I hope everyone had a lovely New Year's, and thanks for tuning in. :)
