Fresh start in the kitchen

I am wonderfully blissed out from my vacation, and instead of hitting that post-holiday depression yesterday, I was surprised with a wonderful gift: a new stove! Since we moved here in March, we have been cooking on a mini-stove with 1 1/2 working burners (out of four!) and an oven that frequently extinguished itself and would pump extra gas, making a "tick tick tick" noise, when the pilot would try unsuccessfully to re-ignite. To top it off, the oven dial was completely worn off, so that we had to guess temperatures by dividing the circumference in reasonable fractions of 25 degrees. I am not a geometrist, nor am I a chemist, so this left a lot of guesswork in baking. But yesterday, our building super surprised us with a brandy-new stove complete with FOUR functional burners and an oven dial in crisp, clear numbers.

Today, as I was facing an empty home for the next week, I again fought the post-vacation, loneliness blues and decided to test out our new gear. Frankly, it was also a test of my GF baking ability, as I've only made one other thing and I followed that recipe very strictly. Today, either from the heady heat or the lingering Cape attitude, I felt more playful and concocted my own. Surprisingly, these muffins are a real success: they are super easy to make, I can't taste any difference from a wheat-based confection, and they're pretty healthy too. The walnuts, flax seeds, and egg are all great sources of omega-3 fatty acids, a nutrient lacking in many vegetarian diets. I wasn't even aware of this until my friend explained it to me about six months ago, and ever since, I've tried to get my daily dose through either 1 teaspoon of flaxseed oil, 2 Tablespoons of ground flaxseeds, or 1/3 cup of walnuts. These muffins rock both the nuts and the flaxseeds. I can't be sure that the omega-3s are intact after baking, I think the heat may damage them. But these are certainly rich in healthy fats, fiber, and vitamins, so eat up!

This is a good basic recipe which you can modify for your taste: experiment with other combinations of add-ins, like shredded coconuts, macadamia nuts and chocolate chips; or dried cherries and blueberries with almonds. The spices can also be modified for the season or ingredients: fresh diced apples with extra cinnamon and some lemon zest would evoke an apple pie; grated carrots and zucchini with ginger would be a fun combination as well. They are as yummy as they are quick and easy, and your gluten-eating friends won't know the difference.

Omega-3 "New Oven" Muffins

Makes one dozen

1 egg

1 cup milk (or your choice of liquid: OJ, soy, water, etc)

1/4 cup plus 1 T sugar (these are not very sweet, they are breakfast-y, but you should add more if you prefer a sweet confection)

1 tsp baking powder

2 T. canola oil

1/2 tsp. xanthan gum (for glutinous texture)

1 cup white rice flour

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or other nut)

1/2 cup dried cranberries (or fruit of your choice)

Extra butter or oil to grease the tin

1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease the muffin tin (or use paper liners, if you prefer)

2. Combine all ingredients except nuts and fruit, mix well.

3. Stir in nuts and fruit

4. Pour into prepared muffin tin. Bake 12-15 minutes, until peaks just start to brown.

5. Let set 2 minutes in pan, then separate from tin with butter knife and remove to cooling rack. Bon appetit!