Making A Man Happy

It really does just revolve around their stomachs, doesn't it?  I think MM would be happy receiving nothing from me for his birthdays for the rest of his life so long as I prepare one of his favorite meals to eat.  This year's birthday selection was providential.  He's been fighting off a nasty cold since Tuesday but, fortunately for him, had asked me to make my Crock-Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup when I was doing the menu planning last week.  A steaming hot bowl of chicken soup, no matter what regional spin you put on it, just reeks of comfort.  I hope he enjoyed it.

For dessert, I pulled out the big guns and made that most difficult of desserts, Three-Ingredient Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins.  They're such a chore that I don't know why I spoil him with them.

Step 1:  Gather ingredients.

Step 2:  Dump Spice Cake Mix, all of it, into a big bowl.

Step 3:  Dump entire can of Pumpkin on top of cake mix.

Step 4: Start mixing.  I do it by hand.  I'd rather wash a spatula than my hand mixer beaters.

Step 5:  Keep mixing.  Shake arm out as it starts to burn.

Step 6:  Begin to seriously doubt your sanity at about the 3-minute mark.  Believe that this mixture will NEVER come together and know that these will not be worth all the effort.

Step 7:  Continue shaking arms, maybe cry a bit.  (But be sure not to cry INTO the batter...this recipe does not call for salt.)  Finally persevere and recognize the silky batter of success!

Step 8:  Dump ENTIRE bag of whatever chocolate chips you have on top of batter.  Someone prudent might opt for half a bag.  Defend actions via deflection (it was his birthday, I had to give him extra chocolate love!)  Steal a nice, big handful.  Fold into batter until evenly distributed.

Step 9:  Grab your paper lined muffin pan and start filling.  I use a serving spoon and try to fill evenly.

Step 10:  Stop mid-muffin-filling and realize that you only put out 9 muffin papers.  Blame that on mom-brain.  Reach into drawers with batter-covered fingers and finally get out 3 more muffin papers.  Finish filling.  Voila!

Step 11:  Pop into 350*F oven for 25-ish minutes.

Step 12:  Consume remaining batter.  Hey, it's raw egg free!

Step 13:  Have another "mom-brain" moment and forget to check on muffins.  Stop mid-bottle-washing to rush to the oven only to deflate your not-quite-baked muffin tops.

Step 14:  Pull fully-baked muffins out of oven and enjoy the sweet, chocolatey smell of success!

I'm sure you're all well aware that I stretched out what is basically a 4-step process into a monstrosity of an ordeal, but that's how I roll.  Makes it taste that much sweeter at the end!



P.S. How not to make your man happy:  find "oven-dried strawberry" recipe on Pinterest.  Promise candy-like sweetness.  Fail miserably:

They were halved or quartered, laid out on a baking sheet, and placed in a 210*F oven.  The instructions said 3 hours, but I figured our arid climate would reduce that time.  PSHAW!  Wrong!  As of this moment, they they are still in the cold oven, almost 24 hours later, in a half dried, half mushy mass of nastiness.  The skin is rubbery in some spots and crunchy in others, all the seeds are huge and too tough to eat, and the insides are mushy.  Gross.  They will be in the trash tonight.  (The reason they're STILL in the oven is that I had to go to bed after the 3 hours was up, and, seeing as they were still mushy, reasoned that I could just leave them in the cooling oven overnight and awaken to delicious candied strawberry bites.  Not only did that NOT happen, but I woke up late and was unable to address the issue before rushing the kid to daycare and my butt to work.)  This is one for Pinstrosity for sure!