T Stands For Birthday Bash

Next week we will have the after party and celebrate sharing each person's ATCs they received.  I jumped the gun last year and won't do that again this year.

One day while the children were here (and NO, I'm not going to say which day), we celebrated a birthday.

I was no longer in charge of two teens and a tween, but am happy to say the youngest is now a teen, too.

These children are so diverse.  They LOVE everything I throw at them, from art to botanical gardens to finding murals in town to the science museum to the library to the youngest's joy of baking.

Heaven only knows from where this baking craze came.  The child's mother thought of food in terms of how long it took to heat or prepare something in the microwave, and I'm certainly not fond of baking, or even cooking for that matter, even though I have hundreds of cookbooks.

The youngest prepared and baked these muffins for each of us.  I've been given the exact measurements and instructions used.  I was given the recipe as written out (computer generated) by the youngest.  BTW, the cup and saucer are evidence of my soon-to-be drink.

Raisin bran muffins

This recipe makes six muffins

Ingredients 

1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used canola), plus more for baking tin if not using paper liners

3/4 cup milk (but I used half and half because that's all Elizabeth had) 

1 1/2 cups raisin bran cereal  

1 cup all-purpose flour (be sure it's level)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I let the teaspoon overflow because I love cinnamon)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg, beaten

1/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar (I added a bit more because I didn't level the measuring cup)
4 teaspoons quick cooking oats (optional, for decoration purposes)*

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Lightly oil a 6-cup standard muffin tin, or use paper liners like I used. In a medium bowl, combine cereal and milk.  Let stand until softened, about 5 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
2. Stir oil, egg, and brown sugar into cereal mixture. Fold in flour mixture. Divide batter among cups.  Sprinkle a few quick cooking oats on top of each muffin batter.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in muffin tin 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.  Let cool completely, or serve warm.

*This was the youngster's idea of adding a bit of decoration to the muffins, since they seemed so plain sitting unbaked in their liners.

It's now time for you to share your own drink related post.  It can be gifts you received, photos, a place you visited, movies, postcards, mail art, junk mail, books, sketches, mixed media, drawings, paintings, tags, scrapbooking, or other art that is digital, hybrid, or traditional, as long as it in some way relates back to a drink, any drink.  You might even want to try the muffin recipe that will go with your favorite drink.  Regardless, please share below and Bleubeard and I, along with the rest of the T gang will be by to visit.   Please link only your T post and not your blog in general.  Old photos are acceptable because they may be taken any time, not just on Tuesday and not just this year.