it’s pear season! apparently. i don’t know. i don’t know anything about what grows when, i just know that there were fresh ontario pear at the grocery store and i’m always looking for different fruits to give to my picky eater. i also came across what looked like a great recipe for spiced pear muffins on the kitchen that i really wanted to try. pear is just a little tiny bit more sophisticated than apple, at least that’s what my limited palette likes to think. pear is also fantastic paired (ha, you love it) with goat cheese and jebus do i love me some goat cheese.
dylan’s appetite has improved considerably since the last time i talked about her bad eating habits. she’s still not really eating that great, i wish she would eat more vegetables instead of chewing off little pieces and then spitting them out. but she’s definitely eat more. variety is our problem, which i guess a lot of people are struggling with when it comes to toddlers and eating.
i decided to revert to my earlier approach of serving everything in muffin form. i like muffins. they’re easy to consume. with butter. lots of butter. muffins are a great vehicle for getting butter into my mouth. (not dylan’s mouth, she doesn’t really eat butter, though if she does i make sure it’s the grass fed clarified kind because i’m that asshole.) i really wanted to make that kitchen recipe, but it called for candied ginger, which isn’t something i keep handy (who does?) so i found another recipe that seemed just as delicious looking by light bites done right. the only thing i didn’t have was pumpkin spice, which is actually pretty easy to pull together, especially if you have a comprehensive little convenience store on the corner. (i wish i could make it a starbucks. *please be starbucks, please be starbucks, please be starbucks* didn’t work.)
making these is surprisingly easy, just like making banana muffins. i smooshed the crap out of my pears (they were already super soft, i had to toss them in the freezer while we went on vacation so they wouldn’t go to waste) which was an excellent way of working out some stress. i left the skin on them, simply because it was easier, but i think they also look a bit more interesting and have a little more texture. all told it took about 30 minutes to get them ready and into the oven, though maybe longer since our oven is this old electric thing and unreliable. and they turned out just super. especially with butter.
pear spice muffins {light bites done right}
ingredients
1 1/2 cups pureed pear
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tbsp oil
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
preheat oven to 350 degress and line a muffin pan with papers or spray with cooking spray.
in a mixing bowl, lightly beat egg and add pureed pear, sugar, vanilla and oil. add flour, spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt. fold to combine well.
divide batter into cups and bake for 16 0 18 minutes. allow to cool completely before enjoying
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you all know how much dylan loves to push the envelope and she’s into this new thing now. no, not the climbing on every piece of furniture she can climb onto and standing up and dancing around while on it (how many times do i have to yell, “not safe!” before she realizes i’m just going to keep yelling it if she keeps doing it?). i’m talking about spitting. maybe i did it *once or twice* while we were on the street and she’s decided that copying is FUN TIMES but it is not fun times. she’s spitting on everything! it was funny in nyc – she really fit in, screaming at nothing, spitting on the sidewalk, i think she’s going to make a great manhattanite one day. but in the house? not so much. like, on the couch. and on the floor. on her pants. even inside an umbrella that was hanging upside down. what the hell, am i right?
i don’t care what anyone says (and that means you, grandma 😉 it’s weird. it’s weird behaviour. she may be a kid and it’s all new and fun but it’s still weird. end of story!