Bread, Wine, Salt

This is a repost from an old blog. Apologies if you've seen it before. Am I supposed to believe that God walked in the Garden with Adam and Eve? Am I supposed to believe that God asked Cain where Abel had gone? Am I supposed to believe that God gave Noah detailed plans for building the ark? Am I supposed to believe that God told Abraham to take his family and go to another land? Am I supposed to believe that God sent an angel to save Isaac at the last minute? Am I supposed to believe that God wrestled with Jacob, blessed him, and named his Israel? Am I supposed to believe that God had a purpose for Joseph? Am I supposed to believe that God spoke to Moses from a burning bush? Am I supposed to believe that God sent many prophets? Am I supposed to believe that God spoke to Job from the whirlwind? Am I supposed to believe that God sent His only Son to walk among us? Am I supposed to believe that God sent the Holy Spirit down like tongues ...

Muffins can be tricky business. They're great things to make fresh for breakfast, because they're small and bake quickly. On the other hand, they go from deliciously moist to dreadfully over-baked in the time it takes you to finish typing a status update.  Add in all the usual pitfalls of quick-breads and you really need a good recipe and good technique to make good muffins. It started with Christine's pumpkin bread recipe , which I stole shamelessly, because in cookery it's not stealing, it's sharing. It's a fine pumpkin bread recipe, not a thing wrong with it. But I have never been one to leave well enough alone. Perhaps because I don't want to feel like I'm making someone else's recipe, because I want to prove I'm a special baking snowflake who can fiddle with baking recipes. So I fiddled. And the first time it was all wrong. The bread was overly dense and a bit sad looking at the top. Multiple slightly sad, if still edible, attempts f...