There are all kinds of aprons....and my new favorite muffin recipe

Recently my Women's Club members and I went to Sun Dust Gallery in Mesa to a class called Bottles and Paint. Intriguing, huh? Your group can bring in your own wine and sip away while having a painting lesson...and you get to wear an apron. If I get to wear an apron, sign me up!

Cathy, one of our club member suggested we bring something with us to the class for inspiration. Having never painted on a canvas before, I found a picture of a pillow that became my inspiration. We started with a blank canvas and our first lesson; pick your background color first and then start painting. It turned out to be lots of fun. Here I am painting away....

Here is my finished painting....

and here are the other members of my group and what they created.

A fun activity to do with a group of friends.

My New Favorite Muffin ~ 

Now that Fall is here - for those of us who live in Arizona Fall is when the temperatures drop below a 100 degrees - I love to start baking again. I came across a recipe for Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins in my Oprah Magazine Cookbook. I modified the recipe a little but it is super easy and the muffins are moist and tender.

Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins - 12 large muffins (I half the recipe and make mini muffins)

3 1/3 c. flour (I prefer cake flour - but all purpose flour works fine)

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

1 stick butter, softened (1/2 cup)

1 c. packed brown sugar

1 c. sugar

4 large eggs

1 c. applesauce

1 c. canned mashed pumpkin (no spices added)

1 tsp. vanilla

2/3 c. apple juice, cider, or orange juice

1 1/2 c. raisins or nuts if desired

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin cups or use paper liners. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugars until creamy, 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, applesauce, pumpkin, and vanilla until blended. Add dry ingredients, alternating with the juice. Mix until smooth. Fold in raisins/nuts if using. Using an ice cream scoop (or small scoop if making mini muffins) scoop batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3rds full.

Bake on center oven rack until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 20 - 25 minutes (about 15 minutes for mini muffins). Remove from pan and allow muffins to cool in pans for several minutes; turn muffins out onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note: I cut the recipe in half and it makes 24 mini muffins and one mini loaf of bread.

I love to serve warm with pats of butter, yum! They are good for breakfast or in a bread basket for lunch and dinner too.

So what's your favorite fall muffin?