New Beginnings......I hate them.

I guess you could say I hate new beginnings. It has after all taken me 2 years to get around to writing this post.
Friends and family have encouraged, nagged, prodded even, that it would be a great idea for me to start a cooking and travel blog. There are a lot of reasons why I have put this off:

1. I am not a writer. This is true, I am not being modest. I am much more comfortable with petri dishes and reading research articles.
2. Who would read what I have to say other than my husband and my mom. Somehow I don't think my inner middle school girl could survive the humiliation of a lonely unread blog.
3. Oh the pressure to be creative! Those soft porn food pictures that are all over the blog world. Could I actually pull it off? Me who cuts the heads off my family members in photos.
4. Then there's that new thing.......

Speaking of new things. My family and I live in Singapore, which really isn't new. What originally was to only be a short stay somehow became 8 years. However, the itch for something new (obviously not my itch) needed to be scratched and lo and behold we are now planning to relocate to Tunisia in August. Slowly I am warming to the idea of new adventures, new climate, new cuisine, and new culture. And the things to be excited about are beginning to outweigh the things that scare the bejezus out of me. Except for scorpions and snakes. They still scare me, but that is another post for another time. It will be titled Things that can kill you in North Africa.
But for now we'll stick to happier topics. Like these muffins. They are easy enough for the kids to make after school, a sort of one bowl everyone in the pool kind of recipe. Nothing fussy. The perfect sort of snack for a cool winter afternoon, or for us, a breezy monsoon season afternoon.

Steiger Haus Apple Carrot Muffins

2 C all purpose flour

3/4 C packed dark brown sugar

1/2 C granulated sugar

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

2 C peeled and grated carrots

1 C peeled, cored and grated apple

1/2 C sweetened flaked coconut

1/3 C vegetable oil

3 large eggs beaten

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 T granulate sugar mixed with 2 tsp ground cinnamon for topping

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffin tin with either paper liners or cooking spray.

In a medium bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and add the carrots, apples, coconut, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Fold together until just evenly incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake for 12-15 minutes.