TWD: Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins

A few months ago, something happened in the Vanilla Bean kitchen that wasn't reported here. I felt, because of the parties involved, it was best I put the whole episode to rest. But, after making this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins, I feel compelled to tell the story...

Back in Oct. my mom and dad visited from Minnesota. This year, I decided to add a little twist. One afternoon we invited my in-laws over and my mom's brother and sister and their family. And, thus commenced the First Annual Goodhart Chili Cookoff. My aunt and mother-in-law were innocent competitors. They didn't realize what they were up against. I teamed up with my mother and Jeff was on his own. My dad wisely stayed out of it. All morning, there were many secretive whispers in the kitchen as we each prepared our chili. Threats were made. There was talk of sabotage. We chose an unbiased judge to choose a winner, my sister's boyfriend. We also created a People's Choice award, to ensure each chili was judged fairly. The judge said there was a clear winner...it was my mom & me!! And, when the people voted, it was us again. After that, there was much tension in the air. Jeff was noticeably upset. He avoided eye contact with the judge and accused me of stuffing the ballot box. To this day, I don't mention the cook off. His wounds are still healing.

There was also cornbread. I have a feeling if we'd had a cornbread competition and I made Dorie's Savory and Corn Pepper Muffins, they would have won. These are spicy and sweet and have bits of jalapeno, red pepper and corn inside. I opted to leave out the cilantro. I halved the recipe and got 8 muffins. Also, I put in an extra tbls. of sugar, just to sweeten things up. Thanks to Rebecca from Ezra Poundcake for selecting this week's TWD recipe. You can find the recipe on her blog.