Fall repair weekend and sweet potato muffins

Hello, fall! My most favorite season. It is up there with glorious spring. Fall is San Francisco’s summer. We joke that we get about 3 days of summer then all of a sudden it is winter (again!). San Francisco Bay Area has so many microclimates. Where I live across the (Bay) bridge in North Oakland, we have the best weather. We get gorgeous warm summer days when the days are not too hot while some parts of the Bay Area are suffering in sweltering heat.

I am so delighted that fall has arrived where I live on the second week of October. The autumn days start chilly then get warm and sunny in the afternoon. Wearing layers of clothing is a must. The reason why I love fall is because it is the beginning of the season of cozyness. The leaves are turning, the air smells of firewood burning in fireplaces, pumpkins are everywhere….It is also when I am like a child in a candy store at Trader Joe’s except I haul every pumpkin treats and products, instead. I have loaded up on pumpkin bagels, pumpkin cream cheese, pumpkin biscotti, pumpkin spread, pumpkin candles and even pumpkin body butter! LOL!

I feel that my favorite season goes too fast and I do not have enough time to enjoy fall as it is easily replaced by the Christmas holiday (which I also love, love, love!) way too soon. Because of this, I took a day off from work following Indigenous People’s Day that fell on a Monday. I got not 3 day long weekend but 4 days! That weekend of October 8 was my Body, Mind, Heart and Spirit Repair Weekend. Repair Days are days that I schedule where I take off from work. They are like my personal retreat away from the world where I do things my heart desires like reading, writing, baking and cooking. In the process repair my mind, heart, body and spirit that get battered by mini-traumas of living and working in urban cities faced with urban issues. It was such a perfect weekend!

Saturday was my brother-in-law’s 40th birthday. Mr sweetie and I attended despite feeling anxious of having to be in a big party in almost 2 years. It was all worth it as my entire family including my mom and dad who arrived from Manila last July after not seeing them for over 2 years were there, and we saw old friends. Testing later showed I did not pick up Covid. Phew! And we got to indulge in tons of delicious Filipino and Asian food including my mom’s Filipino macaroni salad that I had not had in years.

Sunday was when Repair Day started. After online church, I got to stay home to take care of things that I hardly have time to do like gardening, doing chores and paying the bills at my leisure, blogged and read, read, read! What made it so special was it was my first Sunday afternoon to myself since my parents arrived from Manila last July. They told me to not come over so we could all recover from the party. What also made it special was I had lots of food! My mom packed me leftovers from the party enough to last me the entire week!

Monday was Costco shopping day which meant spending over 3 hours of walking around Costco. LOL! I love to look at every aisle, nook and cranny when shopping at this warehouse store. I love the feeling of having enough food and supplies as home. It is such a blessing to have what we need. When I got home after putting the groceries away, I roasted acorn squash and sweet potatoes for cooking and baking the next day.

Tuesday was shopping for Halloween decorations at Target. When I got home, I baked sweet potato muffins and made roasted acorn squash soup. Then I read some more until Mr Sweetie came home from work. This simple weekend was my idea of blissful days — spending time with my family, eating food that nourished the body and soul, unhurried moments to enjoy the cozyness and warmth of home that was decorated with fall and Halloween decor including lots of mini-pumpkins all over, doing things that the heart and soul desire and enjoying simple joys such as drinking coffee, enjoying my favorite breakfast of toasts and egg, reading, baking and cooking.

With the acorn squash and sweet potatoes that I roasted the day before, I made acorn squash soup that turned out delicious. I baked sweet potato muffins which were a hit among my co-workers. This is so perfect for those leftover sweet potatoes, most especially during Thanksgiving which is coming up in November, and where we would indulge in sweet potato/yam casseroles. The muffins came out very moist. And on the less-guilt side as well since I used maple syrup. Enjoy!

SWEET POTATO MUFFINS

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 maple syrup
• 1 cup cold mashed potato
• 1/2 cup sunflower oil or neutral oil
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 large eggs, beaten

how to make

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan with butter or non-stick spray, or line with paper liners.
3. Combine the dry ingredients — flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
4. Combine sugar, sweet potato, oil, water, and beaten eggs in another bowl.
5. Add flour mixture to the sweet potato mixture, and fold gently until just moistened. Do not overmix.
6. Fill muffin cups with batter to 3/4 full.
7. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean,
8. Cool first before eating.

MY NOTES

1. You may use sugar instead of maple syrup.
2. Add chopped nuts such as walnuts or pecan to the batter if you want.
3. Next time I will top the muffins with streusel!

DID YOU MAKE SWEET POTATO MUFFINS? PLEASE LET ME KNOW BY LEAVING A COMMENT BELOW.