So -- I just bought two Blue Muffins thinking they would pollinate each other. Now I know they won't. And I don't want to struggle along with a plant if it's not likely to fruit. It's going to be in THE prominent place in front of the house, so I want it to be a good one ... So I'm thinking about returning them and buying something that's going to flower AND produce berries ... without me having to get yet another plant to pollinate. I have several American Cranberry Bushes in the yard. I also have a Witherod, Blackhaws, and a Onondaga cultivar. Oh, and several very young Mapleleaf viburnum. Can you guys recommend a beautiful native, or native cultivar, that would get no larger than 8-10' wide ... look good against a red house ... and berry? I really love the Cranberry Bushes (Trilobium) but I've resisted because I'm concerned the red berries won't show against the house. I might give in. My Witherod is very young and I haven't actually seen it bloom yet ... a possibility? I still am not entirely clear either on whether a single native Arrowwood (Dentadum, not cultivar) would fruit on its own with these others around.

Oh Jimminy! Must be in the air, the muffin thang. :D PB and Banana muffins? The thought give me the heebie jeebies, but my husband would likely LOVE them. Maybe I'll be nice to him this week and give them a try!This isn't one of the requested recipes, but a very good muffin recipe which I developed as a (relatively) healthy muffin alternative to bran muffins when those were really popular...never found a bran muffin I liked. These contain enough fiber from the veggies & fruit to compete, and filling enough to work as a quick breakfast. Muffin Meals 2 c flour (white or a 2 to 1 mix of white & wheat...I've played with oat flour, millet flour, rice flour and barley flour with mixed results) 1 1/4 c sugar (white, brown or a mix) 1 T cinnamon 2 t baking soda 1/1/2 t grated orange peel 1 t vanilla 1/2 t salt 3 large eggs 1 c vegetable oil 2 c shredded carrots* 1 c shredded zucchini* 1 Golden Delicious apple, chopped* 3/4 c raisins* 3/4 c shredded, sweetened coconut* 1/4 c chopped nuts* Now, the thing about this recipe, is that as long as you keep overall amounts the same, you can play quite a bit. All of the ingredients followed by a * are substitutable or interchangeable. As long as you end up with appx 6 cups of ingredients, you can pick and choose...1 c carrots + 2 c zucchini? 1 c carrots + 1 c zucchini + 2 apples? 3/4 c nuts +1/4 c raisins? See what I mean? You can also sub mashed banana for a cup or so of the carrots, zucchini or apple, if you have an overripe one hanging about. Now, naturally, if you do something like substitute 2 c of nuts for the carrots, you'll probably have trouble, but I think you get the pic. I like using different dried fruits as I'm not really a raisin fan (except for just eating them as a snack). Dried cranberries, mango, pineapple, cherries etc work fine, cut in raisin sized pieces. Sometimes I use cardamom instead of cinnamon (1 1/2 t or so instead of a T, as cardamom is quite pungent), or pumpkin pie seasonings (1 T), once I even used Chinese 5 spice, which was interesting. Likewise, the orange peel can be lemon or lime or even grapefruit. The vanilla can be almond or citrus or whatever. You can substitute unsweetened coconut, if you can find some that is moist. Anyhow... Grease muffin tins & set the oven for 375 degrees F. Mix all the ingredients together except for the eggs, oil & vanilla. In a separate bowl, blend the eggs, oil & vanilla and then fold into the other ingredients. These muffins don't rise very much...too much stuff in them I guess...so fill the muffin cups to only slightly under the top. Bake for 25 minutes, and do the clean toothpick thing to make sure they're done. Cool a bit, and then gently remove them to a rack to cool completely...you might have to sort of pry them up by sliding a fork down one side to the bottom and using it as a lever, they're very tender and break easily if you try to just lift them out.

For whatever it's worth: A very kindly middle aged gentleman sales person in the housewares section of a Bed Bath & Beyond told me one day that Pam will ruin non-stick surfaces. He went on to say that most other brands are fine, But never use Pam on any non-stick surface. He also went on about he didn't know why anyone thought they needed anything on non-stick surfaces. But that is neither here nor there, Especially as I am one who thinks something IS needed! So again, for whatever it's worth, I stopped using Pam in my non-stick skillets, & now use a store brand spray. (I read the list of ingredients to make sure it differed) And lo & behold, my currant 'cheapy' non-stick pan is lasting a LOT longer than others I've had in the past. Same brand. But back to the OP's question. I always use liners in muffin tins. No spray, no butter, no grease, etc. Any drops of dough on the pan wipes off easily. I have the Wilton non-stick jumbo size, and love them. I like to use liners because it makes eating out-of-hand so much easier. And the muffins don't look naked. ;>) Rusty

I like Glenda's Refrigerator Bran Muffins. You mix a huge amount of batter and it keeps in the refrigerator for 6 weeks. You can bake just one or two, and have fresh muffins every day. I also like the Malt-O-Meal muffin recipe that is printed on the box of cereal. And lastly we all enjoy the Peabody Inn Vanilla Muffins recipe that I found in an article that said people drive from far and wide for these muffins. I will look up the recipe and edit it into this message. Here's a recipe I found online some time ago. I could not resist seeing what a muffin that is called a Dirt Bomb tasted like. Since I still have them in my computer, here is the recipe: Dirt Bombs Yields: 12 muffins* 3 cups all purpose flour, minus 3 tablespoons 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter 1 cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs 1 cup whole milk ** Topping *** 3/4 cups unsalted butter, melted 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon Preheat oven to 400º F. Place the rack in the center position. Generously grease a 12-cup standard muffin pan. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cardamon into a mixing bowl. In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl down half way through. Mix in the eggs. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk in two additions, mixing gently by hand to incorporate all the flour. The batter will be on the stiff side, but airy. Don’t over mix or beat the batter as this will make the muffins tough. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, without smoothing the tops. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. As soon as the muffins are cool enough to handle, turn them out onto a wire rack. Add the melted butter to a bowl. In another bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon. Dip the muffins (top, sides and bottom) in the butter, using a pastry brush -if necessary- to cover areas not buttered by dipping. Immediately roll the muffins in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve warm or at room temperature. *I've made this twice, and both times, this recipe has yielded 16 muffins instead of 12. **I substituted whole buttermilk for whole milk because I always have it on hand and prefer it for baking. *** The amounts listed for the sugar and cinnamon are not quite enough to coat all the muffins, so I recommend you double it. _______ Malt-O-Meal Magic Muffins 1 1/4 c flour 3/4 c Malt-O-Meal 1/2 c sugar 3/4 c milk 1/4 c vegetable oil 1 egg 1 Tbsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt Heat oven to 400 degrees. In large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and stir together till all are moistened. Fill greased muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. 1 doz. _____ Peabody Inn Vanilla Muffins 2 c flour 1 c sugar 2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 2 Tbsp melted butter, cooled 1 c milk 1 egg 1 1/2 tsp vanilla Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin tins well. 1) Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into large bowl. 2) Add melted butter to milk and egg. Beat to mix well. Add vanilla 3) Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour milk mixture in all at once. Stir with fork only until moistened. Do not over mix or beat. 4) Quickly spoon batter into muffin cups filling each slightly more than half full. 5) Bake 15 minutes for mini muffin pans; 18-20 minutes for full size muffins. Remove immediately from pans and serve hot. 12 regular muffins or 30 minis. These muffins have a lovely hint of a crunchy exterior when you bite into them the first day. That crunchiness disappears if you have left overs for another day.