Success!

Both the race and brunch were a success! Both Simon and I knocked a couple of seconds off our best paces (his a whole minute faster than mine!), and there were happy bellies after delicious boozy french toast, eggs with spinach and mushrooms, winter fruit salad (which I was initially nervous about, due to the presence of anise, but it was amazing and I will be making it again very soon), and of course, Bloody Marys. 

Overall though, the favorites were the Morning Glory Muffins. The recipe (below) is from Joan Nathan's The New American Cooking, a book I picked up a couple of years ago and just love. There's a fantastic mix of recipes from a range of "ethnic American" cuisines (mexican, asian, jewish), as well as a lot of American favorites that I wasn't familiar with before moving here. The recipes were gathered from chefs and bakers all over the US, and each recipe is accompanied by a tale of its origins. Morning Glory Muffins originated in Pam McKinstrey's Morning Glory Cafe on Nantucket. Given that many of Pam's customers were holiday-makers heading out on their boats, the deliciously moist muffin was designed to still be good the day after baking. Enjoy!

Morning Glory Muffins
from "The New American Cooking" by Joan Nathan
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 ¼ cups sugar
½ cup unsweetened shredded (desiccated) coconut
½ cup raisins
2 cups grated carrots (I put in 3-4 big ones, it's usually more like 3 cups..)
1 apple shredded/grated
1 cup canned crushed pineapple, drained
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
3 large (organic, cage-free) eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Makes 12

Heat the oven to 350 degrees (F), and grease/line a muffin tin. I only have a 6-cup muffin tin so I bake in two batches.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Stir in sugar, then the coconut, raisins, nuts, carrots, apple and pineapple. Mix well.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Add to the other ingredients and stir well. Fill muffin cups with the mixture.
Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Cool muffins in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack for cooling.
Eat! I'm sure I don't have to tell you that, as well as being a delicious breakfast, the muffins are really scruptious served hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!