Crafty Sunday with orange muffins (and a cross-dressing Mexican restauranteur)

Husband has a unique way of looking at weekends with the Sprogs: an opportunity for elaborate craft projects. Yesterday, he and Sprog 1 decided to make a Japanese temple. As you do. Balsa wood was purchased from a craft store, paints were mixed, drinking straws and cardboard boxes were pressed into service as roofing materials. It’s not finished yet. They still need to make a gong or bell for inside, but it’s coming along nicely, don’t you think? Meanwhile, I went to the pub and skulled Whiskey & Diet Cokes. It was a friend’s farewell, Sister was driving and the place was downright scary, so it seemed like the sensible thing to do. The last time I’d been to the scary pub was 10 years ago, when a cross-dressing, lipstick-wearing, Jesus-lookalike friend opened a Mexican restaurant there. It didn’t survive and he’s still hiding from his debtors in Thailand or somewhere. I asked my friends if they remembered my cross-dressing, lipstick-wearing, Jesus-lookalike friend from parties at my house (back when my social life was pumping). They didn’t. Strange, you’d think someone like that would stick in your memory. Today, while Husband and the Sprogs put some finishing touches on the temple, then went to a working bee at the school – shudder – I made orange muffins. The muffins were inspired by the friendly people at Farmer’s Direct sending me two oranges last week. I’d run out of wholemeal flour, so I substituted white flour with a cup of oat bran to ease the guilt. They’re based on an ooooold Margaret Fulton recipe, from a cookbook Husband’s mother gave him when he left home so he would cook nutritious meals for himself (sadly, he was still subsisting on pasta with cheese when I met him, so it didn’t have quite the effect she’d hoped for).

Orange and oatbran muffins

INGREDIENTS: 1 & 1/2 cups self-raising flour, 1 cup oat bran, 3/4 cup brown sugar, juice of 2 oranges, grated rind 1 orange, 2 eggs, 60g melted butter.

METHOD: Mix butter, sugar, eggs, juice and rind together. Gently stir in flour and oat bran until just combined. Spoon into patty cases, in muffin tray. Bake in 180C oven until golden, around 20-25 minutes. Makes 12.