Saturday, April 12, 2008

Trader Joes to the Rescue




Every time I get a serious craving for some pumpkin muffins, I head down to Trader Joe's and pick up a package of their Pumpkin Bread mix. If you have never been to a Trader Joe's, it is an affordable gourmet grocery store--sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it? That is the beauty of Trader Joe's, with its 2-buck Chuck (Charles Shaw wines, which sell for $2.99 a bottle) and its fabulous frozen dinners (such as tilapia with pesto and asparagus, yum yum).

One of my favorite items is, of course, their pumpkin bread mix. I make it in muffin form, and the muffins always come out perfectly--bursting with sweet, slightly spicy pumpkin flavor and moist as can be. And they are sooo easy to make--just add the mix, a couple of eggs, a cup of oil, and some water (these are approximations. follow the recipe on the box.) I also like to add in a handful of cranberries, or chocolate chips. Then bake them for about 20 minutes, and ta-dah!

My friends always ask me for the recipe for these muffins, and I always tell them it's my secret. Well, the secret is out. Who knew muffins from a mix could be so delicious? Once again another success for Trader Joe's.


--Mackie

1 comment:

Antonio Tahhan said...

oh, I can go for some pumpkin muffins right about now! They look DELICIOUS
I can't believe I'm graduating in May - the group seems like it's going to be a blast! Hopefully we can all get together again, perhaps during study week for a little potluck.