I'm late getting this posted today, but I think I have a very good reason. These are photos of Nora's birthday "cupcakes" a month ago. We chose to make homemade cupcakes instead of buying such things. Many people have allergies, and store bought ones can be so expensive and have such high sugar.
A big thank you to my father-in-law for forwarding me this great story from the NY Times that appeals to me as a medical professional, as a mother, and of course as a budget-friendly vegetarian blogger.
If you can only get one can of pumpkin puree this season, I highly recommend a recipe that I have seen referenced by a number of sources. They have been amazingly good and were most popular with my father. I kept them refrigerated and never needed to microwave them, just let them warm to room-temp or even still chilled before consuming.
So, now the cat is out of the bag. We do like sweet foods. We just know how to eat them in moderation and with as little additives as possible. The muffin recipe came out of "Moosewood Cooks at Home". It's a good recipe because the base batter does not change. You simply add a choice of apple and nuts, bananas and nuts, or zucchini. I chose the apple because I had a couple apples that appeared too mealy to eat off the core. I used a regular cheese grater to grate the apple, peel included, and nearly shaved my finger a couple of times, too. The muffins came out very pretty and tasted really good. Blueberry muffins are always my favorite, but these are running a close second.