Muffins for the mildly annoyed (or, putting that horde of pumpkin to use)

Today I learned that one should never, under any circumstances check one's work email while still on vacation. Inevitably, there will be something in your inbox that will remind you of how much work you need to catch up on, something that annoys you, or something that just makes you shake your head at the ridiculousness of the situation. Most days I go to the gym and work it all out on the treadmill or with the weights. Unfortunately, today is Sunday, meaning I have a very small window of time to get to the gym. And I'm absolutely exhausted from traveling.

Thankfully, I have another tried and true method for dealing with stress - muffins.

There's something wonderful about a warm, soft muffin. I love the process as much as I love the results.

Now, I realize that it's spring and I should be making lemon muffins or something with strawberries, but while hunting for an obscure ingredient this morning, G begged me to make pumpkin bread. I didn't find the ingredient I was looking for (Where, exactly, does one find baker's ammonia?), but G did provide inspiration.

Normally, I would use my grandmother's pumpkin bread recipe. Her recipe is perfect, but for breakfast muffins it's a little too sweet. We needed something different, with less oil and less sugar.

Here's how it all went down.

For this recipe, you will need:

• 2 Tbsp. flax meal*
• 6 Tbsp. water
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 1/2 c. pumpkin **
• 2/3 c. oat flour***
• 1 c. white whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. allspice
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 c. chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 12 muffin tin, or a 9x5 loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flax meal and water. It'll start to look thick and have the consistency of an egg white. Add the sugar and pumpkin and stir to combine.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients, excluding the walnuts. Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients, and stir to combine. Mix in the walnuts.

When making muffins, I use a 1/4 c. measuring cup, scoop out the batter, and plop it into the muffin cups. It portions the batter perfectly for 12 muffins. You could also use a size 16 ice cream scoop (2 oz.). That's one of my upcoming kitchen purchases.

*To make flax meal, I put flax seeds in my blender and let it run until it's ground into flour.
**Don't use pie filling. Solid pack pumpkin will do. Good luck finding it this time of year, even at well-stocked grocery stores. There was a shortage last year (yes, seriously), so I ended up buying 15 cans or so when it was finally in stock. I have five cans left. Clearly, we are some pumpkin eating fools.
***I also use my blender to make oat flour. I buy oats in bulk ($0.89 per pound, that's what I'm talking about!) I keep mine in an airtight container in the freezer. I use oat flour for all kinds of stuff.

Sometimes the best kind of love comes from a stockpot

Today is Palm Sunday. This does not have a lot of religious significance to me; I am, after all, a Catholic who has fallen away from the Church. Palm Sunday does, however, hold many memories for me.

A few years ago I was invited to the home of a Hungarian family for dinner. I was welcomed into their home on Palm Sunday. My mom's family is Hungarian. Going to the home of this family was like going home. It was an incredible comfort in a time of great turmoil. That Easter was the first without my mother and grandmother. Palm Sunday fell on my mother's birthday, and I had the great fortune to be embraced by this family. They treated me as one of their own. A fifth daughter.

Dinner was gulyas, prepared the same way my grandmother, Mom-moms prepared it. Dessert was palacsinta stuffed with cottage cheese and apricot jam. Thinking about that day makes me choke with emotion. Some people give so freely, and with so much love. I could never express the gratitude I feel toward that family.

Today's recipe is for gulyas (often written as goulash). Gulyas is considered by many to be Hungary's national dish. Every family has their own recipe, but this is my family's recipe, learned from my grandmother and my great aunt. If you wish to alter it, I do not wish to know. I know it by heart, and it is as precious to me as the women who made it.

You will need:

• a large, heavy bottomed pot
• lard
• 1 onion, chopped
• beef, cut into cubes (a pound or so)
• carrots, cut into pieces (two or three)
• potatoes, peeled and cubed (three or four)*
• sweet Hungarian paprika**
• water***

Melt some lard in the pot, add the onions and cook until they are soft and translucent. Do NOT overcook the onions, it will significantly alter the taste of the dish.

Add the beef and paprika and brown. Just barely cover the beef with water. Bring to a simmer, add the potatoes and carrots, cover with a tight fitting lid, and allow the dish to cook until the beef is tender.

Please do not try to cook this dish too quickly. Low and slow is the way to go. When browning the beef, one must be very careful to ensure that the paprika does not burn. My grandmother always used the toughest cuts of beef for gulyas. When simmered for a long time tough cuts of beef become incredibly tender and yield intense flavor.

* Use starchy potatoes. The starch from the potatoes thickens the gulyas.

** This is the only ingredient I'm ever insistent about. Don't skimp on paprika. Use spicy Hungarian paprika if you prefer, but make sure that you use a high quality brand imported from Hungary. Pride of Szeged and Kalocsa are available in many well-stocked grocery stores.

***Use a high quality (preferably homemade) beef stock if you prefer. If you don't have good beef stock, stick with the water. The gulyas will have plenty of flavor if you use water.