Okay, so I had to use up the last of a seemingly endless supply of pumpkin puree, created from one modest “pie” pumpkin, one soft pear, and half of very ripe banana. Yet another case of necessity giving rise to invention; and muffins seemed like just the ticket to fill the order: portable, moist, healthy and flavor-packed.

Once again, I find myself inspired by — or perhaps, rather, in desperate need of using up — copious quantities of certain foodstuffs, so lovingly delivered by our friendly CSA farmers. The zucchini harvest seems to have waned and we now find ourselves (most appreciatively) up to our knees in carrots.

In the brief window of time between dropping my eldest daughter off at preschool, getting the twins down for their morning naps, preparing lunch and then picking the preschooler up again from her half-day of away-play, the heap of bright red and green shiny apples was staring me down, challenging me to quickly convert their toothsomely tart selves into a warm, fragrant, scrumptious snack. I met their dare, of course, with muffins. Okay, so I’m anthropomorphizing hanging fruit — maybe I need to get out more — but what ev’.