Giving thanks to those who help others have a safe life
Flexible Frittata with Maple Glazed Bacon and Pumpkin Muffins with Brown Sugar Glaze
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PUMPKIN MUFFINS WITH BROWN SUGAR GLAZE
3/4 cup vegetable oil
11/2 cups whole-wheat flour
11/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
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PUMPKIN MUFFINS WITH BROWN SUGAR GLAZE
3/4 cup vegetable oil
11/2 cups whole-wheat flour
11/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups canned pumpkin puree
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
3 large eggs
1 cup turbinado sugar
11/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
4 Tbsp. turbinado sugar (for sprinkling)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush 24 muffin tins with vegetable oil.
In a medium bowl, stir flours, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and baking soda; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk oil, pumpkin puree, yogurt, eggs, and 1 cup sugar. Add 1 cup pecans and gently stir. Add dry ingredients and stir gently until all ingredients are moistened. Over stirring will cause a coarse texture in the muffin. Divide evenly and spoon batter into muffin tins; sprinkle tops with remaining pecans and sugar. Bake for about 35 minutes or until muffin is firm to touch. Cool 5 minutes in pan and then remove. Glaze with brown sugar.
For the glaze:
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
3 Tbsp. heavy cream
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
Heat butter and sugar in saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Add cream and remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. The mixture will start to thicken. Remove from heat and stir until cooler. Glaze muffins immediately.
POMEGRANATE SPRITZER
1 cup pomegranate juice
2 sticks cinnamon
2 cups sparkling mineral water
Frozen whole cranberries
Heat pomegranate juice and cinnamon sticks in saucepan to boiling. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and allow to cool for 1 hour. Remove cinnamon sticks. Pour mineral water and juice together and stir in ice. Serve with frozen cranberries for color and garnish.
FLEXIBLE FRITTATA
5 eggs
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tsp. salt
1 (8-oz.) block cream cheese, cut in cubes
11/2 cups cubed bread (soft white with crusts removed)
2 Tbsp. garlic
1 Tbsp. olive oil
11/2 cup zucchini, sliced and peeled
11/2 cup onion, chopped
1 cup green pepper, diced
1 cup red pepper, diced
1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and pepper
Slice bread into 1-inch cubes. Whisk together eggs, cream and salt in a separate bowl. Saute zucchini squash, onions and peppers in skillet with garlic and oil. Saute 5 minutes or until tender. Drain off liquid. Mix remainder of ingredients together gently. Pour into a greased 9x13-inch glass Pyrex dish. I know the cream cheese cubes sound unusual but they meld perfectly with the vegetables.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. This is a perfect frittata to make and reheat for guests the next day. You can add 1 cup sausage or 1 cup chopped ham to mixture if you prefer a meat.
MAPLE GLAZED BACON
1 pkg. regular bacon or peppered bacon
6 Tbsp. maple syrup
Fry bacon in skillet and pour off all grease. Drain bacon on paper towels. Bacon should not be overdone, but when holding the edge of a slice of bacon after cooking it should bend in half. Toss bacon slices with syrup and lay on a foil lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Syrup will caramelize and bacon will be crisp. Can be prepared one day ahead and then heated.
All I am, I owe to my parents and the way I was raised. I cherish their importance in my life and am grateful to them for my existence.
Not everybody experiences a loving childhood or a safe one. Sometimes parents, for one reason or another, are unable to care for their children. Some of these children find their way to places such as South Texas Children's Home or Bluebonnet Youth Ranch and are welcomed with loving arms.
My mother-in-law, L'nell Starkey, served on the board of South Texas Children's Home for many years, and when the time came for her to retire from her position, I was asked to serve on the board of directors. But my story starts long before I became a board member.
Years ago, I met a young girl named Becky. She was in high school and was looking for a summer job. Since we had small children, and I was working most days at the clinic, I needed someone to help with the kids. Becky interviewed for the job, and she became our family's Girl Friday.
Becky helped with every aspect of our household. She ran errands and dropped kids off for swim lessons or at friends' homes. She even kept the children on occasional weekends when Taylor and I took short trips. She was very smart and very organized.
One day she offered to file the mounds of papers in my downstairs office and from that day on Becky became my organizer.
I have been gifted with the junk gene. It was passed on to me from my parents, and perhaps, their parents before them. It is not necessarily a bad gene, only a cluttered one. The gene manifests itself in the inability of one to throw away junk or find a proper place for it.
Becky became the only person in the house who knew where everything was, and therefore, she was indispensable. When her high school started in the fall, I begged Becky to stay and keep our household afloat. When her school work was completed, she worked part-time at the clinic or the house.
Several years later, she left Victoria to go to college and I had to learn where everything was. There are still file folders stashed that I have absolutely no idea where they are, but if Becky were to descend those stairs she could find the folder in a split second.
Becky graduated from college and returned to our area to become a social worker with the children's home main facility, near Beeville.
Several years ago, I was talking with Becky and asked her what I could do for the ladies at the children's home. The organization has several campuses made up of multiple homes. Every home at each campus is staffed by a "mom and dad" who raise the children who come to their home. Some of these kids are there for a short time, but many stay until they graduate from high school.
There are also many support staff members, such as secretaries, counselors and social workers, who are crucial to the success of the children.
The STCH Ladies Brunch was Becky's idea. Each year, the ladies are treated to a morning brunch hosted by my friend, Janet, and me. We invite our Sunday School class members and other friends to help us with the preparation of the food and decorations the night before, so we'll be ready for the event the next morning. We get to visit a lot, so this process is as fun for us as the actual brunch.
Last week, Sammy Sue, Deanna, Janet, Kim, Debbie and I gathered on Monday night to prepare for the brunch on Tuesday. I had come up with the menu and had all the necessary ingredients in the kitchen.
Janet had spent the entire day baking sugar cookies that we decorated for the ladies to take home. She made shapes of leaves and acorns.
It was my job to come up with the icing colors to match our table cloths. It took several attempts and my fingers were stained with red, brown, yellows and greens, but I finally got it right.
We set the tables with Kim's fairytale pumpkins and tied feathers and leaves on the napkins to complete our fall table.
Janet, Deanna and Sammy Sue began to decorate the cookies and, of course, to eat the broken ones. Apparently, there were a lot of broken cookies since they showed up in the kitchen with stained fingers and tongues. The colored icing tends to stain, but just for a short time.
Debbie began to fry the mounds of peppered bacon for the Crispy Maple Bacon we would serve with the vegetable frittata. Debbie is a dedicated veteran of our kitchen team who sports a mild burn scar on her cheek from frying bacon last year. I hesitated putting her on bacon duty again.
Everyone chopped the fresh ingredients for the frittata, which is a crustless quiche. My recipe is very easy to triple or quadruple for a crowd. I think in the end, we prepared about eight frittatas.
Pumpkin muffins with a brown sugar glaze served as the sweet side to this delicious meal.
Fresh fruit with a lemon honey sauce was the dessert.
We finally finished the preparation around 10 that Monday evening. Sammy Sue commented that when we were younger and moved faster we were finished around 7. I guess we are getting old.
The next morning, the ladies arrived right on time. They filed in the house and were greeted by Robbie, Kelsi and Jeanette who offered them an assortment of beverages.
I had tried a new recipe on the prep staff the night before, and they were not as convinced as I was that the pomegranate spritzer would be a hit. So, at the insistence of the kitchen staff we served tea, juice and my special pomegranate drink.
Jeanette is Kim's mother-in-law and had just arrived in town, so she donned an apron and joined our team. The rest of us ran around refilling glasses and making sure everything was out for the buffet.
My house was filled with the love of friends and laughter. Entertaining is a lot of trouble, but always worth it.
Many of the ladies came into the kitchen to express their gratitude. The kitchen team beamed at the success of the Fall Brunch and promised to see the STCH moms and staff again next year.
I spoke with Becky and joked about old times and my filing system. I think she likes her job at STCH slightly better than keeping me organized.
Several of the ladies have called and requested the recipes for the brunch, so as promised, I am printing them in their entirety. I am not sure if they will turn out just like they did that day. My cooking involved a kitchen full of friends adding a little of this, a lot of that and a pinch of joy.
Myra Starkey lives in Victoria. Write her in care of the Advocate, P.O. Box 1518, Victoria, TX 77901, or e-mail myra@vicad.com.
