jim’s coleslaw
Muffins Worth Stealing
Being Mr Popular is difficult. Because you’ll be asked to make this recipe again and again and again . . .
Well , ya take two thawed sticks of unsalted butter. Place them in a two-cup Pyrex® measuring cup, nuke ≤ two minutes or until wet. Set aside to cool.
Take a big bowl. Throw it on the scale and zero it out.
Add 13.125 ounces of flour. If no scale, 3 carefully measured cup. Two cups sugar. I usually use a cup and a half instead of two cups. Two teaspoons baking powder, one tsp baking soda, and a half tsp salt. Use a straight edge on your spoons for precise measurements.
Sift this stuff into your KitchenAid mixing bowl. Set it on the stand with a batter mixer and mix this dry stuff at lowest setting. Add the cooled liquid butter and let that mix. Again, lowest setting. Stop periodically to turn over the edges, bottom, and mixer attachment. Wash the big bowl and put it away.
In yer buttery Pyrex® add ¾ cup milk, two x-large eggs (or three little ones), two
teaspoons vanilla, and a couple mashed bananas. Too much vanilla is a problem. Take care.
Dump this in the mixing bowl. Mix on low just enough to combine. About ten seconds.
Preheat the oven with one rack in the middle. 350˚ Fahrenheit
Add a cup each chopped walnuts, granola, and shredded coconut (sweetened is fine). Quick mix. Add one or two chopped bananas. Short mix.
Always mix on low. You can’t really over-mix the dry and the butter as long as 
you stay on low. Take care to barely mix the 2nd wet, the milk/egg/vanilla. Because there is more mixing to come.
You’ll be left with a pretty stiff batter. A tablespoon heaped will fill a cupcake liner. I use the paper ones, Reynolds 2.5″ baking cups. The paper pastel ones are cheapest. Not quite filling the cups should give you 24 muffins.
Bake 12 at a time. Turn the tray after ten minutes. At 18 minutes total, take them out if the top looks browned and check them with a toothpick. Any stuff on the pick, put them back another 90 to 180 seconds.
The first batch will have more of the chunks in it and the second batch will have more wet in it. I’ve found that a wet batch takes almost 22 minutes to bake, while a really dry batch might take 16.5 or 17 minutes.
The tray comes out, rests on a cooling sheet, and you dump the muffins to cool, like, at least five minutes. Fifteen if better.
They freeze really well. If you like this, try my slaw <—dinky linky
Jim’s Coleslaw • Pennsylvania Recipe
WHAT KIND OF SALAD DOES one most often find next to their sandwich at most diners and restaurants? Another hint: It is packaged in just about every clamshell to-go (take-away, for you Brits) container, adding value to the entrée, along with your chips, rings, and fries.
You’ve probably figured it out from the title or the pictures. Why are we discussing slaw? Slaw is good for you. It is easy to make. So today, we’ll cover the basic slaw recipe. With pictures!
Buy a nice clean head of cabbage. Look at the base. If it is seriously discolored, it has been sitting for weeks or more. Visit a produce market with lots of foot traffic. An average medium head is about three pounds. Shedding the outside leaves at the market, before paying, will save you a little money, as most people throw away the bruised and dirty outer leaves.
After sectioning and removing the core, we’ve dropped about half a pound. For this amount of cabbage, we’ll use 1.5x the dressing recipe, as opposed to 2.5 (one unit of dressing per pound cabbage). This makes for a tastier, lighter slaw. Hey, tell your guests they have two choices: take it or leave it. Besides, it is healthier. One can add a little more salt or pepper if they want to punch it up.
It’s been thrown through the Cuisinart, along with a few carrots. In a mixing cup, we’ve combined 3 tbs each sugar and tarragon-infused white wine vinegar, a couple tsp each salt and celery seed (we faked it with celery salt for this batch), a little white pepper (or regular pepper if it is all you have), a SMALL dash of yellow mustard, and as much mayonnaise as you can scoop onto a tablespoon. Add a little more mayo if you want, but not too much more. Whisk until liquid and solids combine.
A large Tupperware® is great for mixing. Pour about half the dressing on the cabbage, close the container, and shake it up. TASTE IT NOW. You’ll notice it tastes like . . . cabbage. And needs salt. That is good. It means you are paying attention. Add another quarter, shake, and you’ll probably add the rest of the mixture. CAUTION: Do not add your dressing all at once. A spicier dressing due to heavy hand on the seasonings, or less shredded cabbage than anticipated, can change the end product. Add, mix, taste. Add, mix, taste.
Fridge it for a few hours, clean up, and turn it over before serving. Bon Appétit
American Lunchbox 