Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Fall is here!! And in honor of fall I would like to reiterate how fabulously scrumptious these muffins are.
This recipe is printed and tacked to a cork board inside a kitchen cabinet door- it is that good and I use it that much.

I originally got the recipe from Linda (http://www.sundrymourning.com/) and they are my go-to for fall. Teachers, coworkers, bus drivers, principals- everyone just loves these. My sister in law prefers them without the chocolate chips (scandalous!) . I use canned pumpkin and vary the chips – for grown up I might use gerhidelli, for the kids I cut back a little or use minis. I have made the giant size, the muffin tops, the minis and all sizes in between with this recipe. Some folks do not like the cloves so that is optional but i like it with.

 Insanely Good Pumpkin-Chocolate Muffins
 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour                                                         1 1/4 cups sugar
 1 tbls baking powder                                                                   1/2 tsp salt
 1 tsp ground cinnamon                                                                 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger                                                                     1/4 tsp ground allspice
 1/8 tsp ground cloves                                                                    1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 can pumpkin [ ‘regular’ size can, not the large — original recipe calls for 1 CUP]
1/2 cup milk                                                                                  2 tbls molasses
Some amount of chocolate chips

 Preheat oven to 400˚ and lightly grease a 12 muffin tin (I use paper holders & lightly spray the muffin papers but ya don't have to). Sift (I don’t) flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices together in large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, milk, oil, and molasses. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and mix (I just do it all in 1 bowl- because I roll like that). Stir in your desired amount of chocolate chips (to taste). Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake 18-20 minutes, until tests done.

I have made these for years and years but don't seem to have a picture of them and since i need a photo so I can pin it on pinterest here is my mantle from last year.

Which is your favorite?

I have to go with Greaser (from Cry Baby).

Shakespeare Rocks

Woodpecker(s) in our yard

Not sure if we have one or two woodpeckers feasting on our pecan trees. We love them. The kids love watching them and the bird(s) could care less.

My Babycakes machine!

I was tooling around my fave thriftstore and what do I see?! A pink Babycakes mini cupcake maker!! I squeeeeeealed and about fell over at the 6$ price. It was pristine looking!

These are cupcakes. I was trying to decide how much batter to use and what spoon or implement works best for filling the wells.

Overfilled and slightly crunchy or underfilled – didn’t matter. 7 minutes for cupcakes rocks! At our xmas party I put some girls (hey, Jones Girls!!) in charge of it and they had a blast and did great!

True Dat

The Clips

So, I was trolling around on PINTEREST and saw this neat idea for road trips. Easy Cheesy photo on a clothespin. If the kid causes trouble, the clip comes down and at the next stop only the clips that are on the visor get a treat.

We test drove (ha! pun intended) the idea and it works great! Now, our “treats” were when I handed back a can of pringles the kid whose clip was down got it last, etc. And I would also sometimes say the clip was down for 15 minutes (and keep adding time as the offender talked back) – it gave them some control to be good and have the clip reinstated and also improved time telling skills. (ha!)

Since all three kids sit side by side there was still my Sit on Your Hands punishment for poking prodding pinching touching. And each one has a fleece blanket and they can cover their heads making a cocoon of privacy for themselves. The autistic kiddo started it years and years ago (I told him it was a bubble and he cannot hear or see anything outside of the bubble) and the others followed. It is funny (but calm and quiet!) when each one does it and there are just three blanket covered kids in the backseat.

Even running errands we use these tricks. Got any in the car tricks??