Muffins and Mouros

The Mouros, our dear friends from N.C. Luke and Cameron did their

residency together, and Laura and I were instant friends.

Amidst the flurry of weddings, traveling, and family living with us this summer, we had a few friendly visitors along the way. And when I say a few, there were two nights in particular that come to mind. On those nights we had 20 people sleeping here. Yep. That's not a typo. It's a memory!

So since Naomi and I love to cook together, why not throw 10 more people into the mix? We needed some spice in our life! My dear friend Laura from North Carolina, her husband, 7 lovely children, and a friend came to town in July and needed a place to stay. So I asked Naomi how she'd feel about a whole other family cramming in with us for 2 nights. It went like this, "If you're up for it, I'm up for it. Totally. Let's do it." And we did.

What a delight! Oh my goodness, it was fun (Tiring, yes, but who cares? Sleep is overrated anyway!). The guests arrived a tad early one night, so we threw together 2 dinners, thanks to Naomi and her pizza-making skills. Most of my family and Naomi's slept upstairs, and then we hung a sheet between the playroom and the living room, and stuck 6 kids in there on the floor, and then the parents on the couch in the living room. It really was quite cute peeking in on the children and seeing a row of little bodies all tucked in with every last one of our blankets and pillows. God is so good! It was like the loaves and the fishes. I mean, who has enough bedding to cover up 20 bodies? I don't, but I did. God just made it stretch; seriously.

So what do you feed 13 hungry children for breakfast (not to mention the grown-ups)? Muffins and fruit. Simple. And then make lots of coffee, and get in some really good conversations with the grown ups. It worked, and it was wonderful. I love how God has given me wonderful friends in every place that I've lived; the kind you keep up with no matter where you are (and Laura is now in Michigan!)

So, the next time you're faced with a whole house load of guests, just remember, the more the merrier. And really, it all works out great.

This is one of the muffin recipes we made ahead and served for breakfast...I can't wait to do it again...

Pumpkin Apple Muffins

(from Epicurious.com, with some changes)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour*

1 cup all purpose flour*

* can use all white flour, that's what I did.

1 T. pumpkin pie spice

1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup canned solid pumpkin puree

1/2 cup veg. oil

2 eggs

1 cup apple (peeled, cored, and diced)

Topping

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 T. all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)

1/4 cup chilled butter (1/2 stick)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease muffin pans to make 18 muffins. Sift first 4 ingredients. Stir sugar, pumpkin, oil and eggs in large bowl until well mixed. Mix in dry ingredients and apples. Place equal amounts of batter in muffin tins.

For topping: Combine brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and nuts in small bowl. Cut in butter with fingers until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle topping over muffins. Bake until muffins are golden brown and tester inserted in middle comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool.