One day last year I was sitting in
my kitchen at 5:00 pm checking email while dinner was cooking. The house
was quiet and I had a disconcerting realization: no one needed me. Each of
my four children was in their own “cave,” doing homework (I hoped), while
simultaneously surfing YouTube (unfortunately) and video chatting with friends
(perhaps about homework?).
My job had shifted from being the
pilot who transported everyone everywhere, from being asked to fulfill every
need, to just making sure everyone was busy doing what he or she was supposed
to be doing. My job description had shifted from flying the planes to
directing them. I had become an air-traffic controller. I had to
make sure the planes were clean, fueled, de-iced and fully stocked. I
supplied the flight plan while they just had to periodically call in their
location and status. Sometimes the planes would fly off for a few hours,
sometimes for days and then for weeks in the summer, when they are parked in
Camp Ramah’s hangar in Palmer, Massachusetts. There the planes get a tune
up socially, athletically and Judaically.
I soon learned the best way to bring
in the planes: homemade desserts. When the planes are at the airport in
their separate hangars, nothing brings the pilots into the control tower faster
than chocolate desserts, such as the Chocolate, Zucchini and Walnut Muffins
below. The pilots sit around the tower and discuss each version of the
muffins. Are they sweet enough? Do they need more or less walnuts? Their
input has always been valuable. They also discuss their trips, where they
are going next, whether they found a better route they want to share or give
support to a fellow pilot who got a little lost on their last flight. Sometimes they even want to paint their
planes a new color and I assist with that too.
When they are properly fueled, the planes
go off again. As my daughter prepares to go to college next year, I accept
that it is time for her to direct her plane to a new airport. She is ready. She
has gone through the pilot training program and graduated with honors.
Soon the planes are ready to fly off again. They submit new flight
plans for approval. I fill out the paperwork and I stand in the control tower
and watch the jets go off on their separate ways, marveling at how independent
they are. Off they go, until the next batch of muffins.
Chocolate,
Zucchini and Walnut Muffins
makes 18
muffins
These
muffins are healthy enough for breakfast. They have whole grain flour, a
vegetable and protein from the walnuts. You really do not even have to tell
anyone that there is zucchini inside as they will never know; the zucchini
strands melt into the batter when baked and just add moistness to the muffins.
1 1/3 cups
white whole-wheat flour
1 ½ cups
sugar
1 cup dark
unsweetened cocoa
1 ½
teaspoons baking powder
1 ½
teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon
salt
½ cup orange
juice (no pulp)
1/3 cup
canola oil
½ teaspoon
pure vanilla extract
2 large
eggs
1/3 cup
boiling water
¾ cup
shredded zucchini (from about 6 ounces zucchini), unpeeled, shredded on the
small holes of a box grater
1 ½ cups
walnut halves, chopped into ½ inch pieces, and ¼ cup chopped walnuts separated
out to sprinkle on top
Preheat
the oven to 350ºF. Place paper cups in muffin tins for 17 muffins.
In a large
bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and
salt. Add the orange juice, oil, vanilla, eggs, and boiling water and first
stir with a silicone spatula (so water does not splatter) and then use the
mixer to mix for one minute, until everything is thoroughly combined, scraping
down the bowl as needed. Add the
shredded zucchini and mix in well to distribute. Add the walnuts and mix in.
Use a 1/3
cup measuring cup to scoop up batter and divide among the 18 cups, filling no
more than ¾ full. Bake for 30 - 33 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes
out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then turn muffins out onto a
rack to cool to room temperature. Store
covered at room temperature for up to 5 days or freeze for up to three months.
