TWD, Hurricane Preparedness Edition: Cornmeal and Fruit Muffins

Wow, did we luck out. Despite living in the ominous Weather Channel pink band that meant "Hurricane Irene could seriously mess you up," we made out without any damage or flooding. We even kept the power on somehow. Because our town (in the western suburbs of Philadelphia) is where a river and a pretty big creek converge, there was local flooding, downed trees, and power outages.

My little girl started the first grade yesterday, but her buddies back on the Connecticut shoreline are looking at next week, maybe. My in-laws, who live two blocks from Long Island Sound, were also incredibly lucky not to suffer any damage. So I'm feeling very grateful and fortunate this week, and thinking about everyone affected by this storm. I hope that wherever you are, you're safe and your home is none the worse for wear.

In addition to stocking up on the usual emergency supplies and  hauling all our patio furniture indoors, of course I had to bake. What, that's not usual hurricane preparedness protocol? Well, it should be, especially if you make a Cornmeal and Fruit Loaf. Caitlin the Engineer Baker must have known that a natural disaster was on the way, so she picked a wholesome, simple, and sustaining recipe for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie. You can find the recipe, as well as some wonderful food photography and very witty writing, on her blog.

Of course I had to muffinize the loaf - these were emergency provisions, after all. This was very simple to do; the loaf recipe yielded about 14 muffins. The batter leans heavily on stoneground cornmeal, dried and fresh fruit, and a little cinnamon. For the fruit, I used a chopped pear and some apple schnitz I found in a Pennsylvania Dutch store a few weeks ago. Apple schnitz are some of my new favorite things. They're dehydrated plain apples, but for some reason they're much tastier than the usual supermarket dried apples. I don't know why.

I wish I could say I loved these muffins, but they needed a little something more for me. Maybe a boiled cider glaze on top? Yes, I think that would work nicely. Nonetheless, I was happy to have something homemade and comforting on hand to ride out the storm.

Next week: Jessica of My Baking Heart chose Chocolate Spice Quickies


Last week: Golden Brioche Loaves and Raisin Snails