Where Has All the Rum Gone?

I attend a campus church, so there are generally various activities, including fellowship events, that occur throughout the week. Usually, about once a semester,  we have a night where we hold an Iron Chef -style competition.  Contestants must use a required ingredient that is made known in advance, and they have approximately an hour to make their creations before presenting their dishes to a panel of judges.  At last night's competition, the required ingredient was "alcohol", with the added requirement that it must be cooked into something, no drinks allowed.

My entry was a version of an apple bread recipe I've been making for a while now and have slowly modified over the years.  I made last night's recipe into muffins with a spiced glaze.  These tasty treats won me the titles of best overall and best presentation.  They are definitely make-again worth and I thought I'd share my scrumptious creation with you, o internet.

Spiced Rum Apple Muffins

Muffins
1/2 c. soften butter
1/2 c. total combination blackstrap molasses and honey (with a bit more molasses than honey)
2 eggs
1 single-serve bottle (50 mL) of spiced rum
1 c. whole white wheat flour
1 c. AP flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/3 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 small apples, one pealed and grated and two diced

Glaze
powdered sugar; vanilla; ground cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove, and ginger; water

Mash butter with a fork and then mix in the sugars, eggs, and rum one by one. Stir in the flours, powder, soda, and salt until mostly combined.  Add in all of the apple and mix until fully combined.  Drop by spoonfuls into a buttered muffin tin (makes about 1 1/2 dozen muffins).  Bake at 375° F for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

I didn't really measure when I made the glaze.  I dumped powdered sugar into a small bowl along with some vanilla, and the five spices in roughly a 3:1:1:1:1 ratio.  I slowly whisked in a little bit of water until the mixture was smooth and runny.

Drizzle a little bit of glaze over a warm muffin and enjoy!

Political Reflection

I sometimes write blog posts that I never end up posting.  As I was going through some of those posts today, I came a across one that I wrote around the Forth of July several years ago.  Some of what I wrote wasn't worth keeping around, but the following paragraph caught my attention and seemed apropos for the current political climate:

A big deal is made out of events that celebrate our nation, and as a Christian, I wonder why.  This country, and our government, are both temporal.  They will pass away someday.  Look at any of the great civilizations that came before.  How many have survived the test of time?  Why do we put so much stock in national pride? Our government is not perfect; it is flawed.  So why do we place our fear, love, and trust in it?  I am by no means saying we should ignore our government and its laws.  We are called to be respectful of those in authority, including the government (see Luther's Table of Duties regarding citizens).  However, it seems that sometimes we make an idol out of being a citizen of a certain country.

It seems to me that people on both sides of the aisle have made an idol out of the presidency and the federal government.  If they can't have it their way, well, then the world is coming to an end.  News flash:  the world has been coming to an end since the fall of mankind.  A president is not going to fix it.