March Muffin Madness

A tradition is born.

Wednesday, all the members of my office brought in homemade muffins to be adjudicated on taste and… okay, no one cared about anything but taste, other than Susan who thought hers should get brownie points for cuteness.

Mine were an exquisite old family recipe. I spent the evening gathering cranberries out of our bog, milking the cow, goosing the hens and harvesting the sugar cane. I ground the flour, using a pestle and mortar, from the grain I reaped last fall. Our vanilla bean crop is not in season, so I did have to use “store-bought” vanilla extract.

But the women conspired against me. Raquel and Kathleen brought in sugar-crusted hunks of sweetness, thinking we would all be impressed. Jan strutted in with her tofu-based, whole-wheat and granola infused little bundles of sugar. Susan showed up with her corn muffins with honey. So friggin’ cute.

Raquel won (cheated). Kathleen (cheater) came in a close second. They spent a pretty penny on bribes.

April will be “All About Apples.”