I left my heart in San Francisco... (Maple Pumpkin Muffins)

...and thankfully not my luggage!

Hubster and me

We're back from the city by the bay.  It was a blast out there, despite the fact that I got sunburned.  Sunburned!  I thought San Francisco was supposed to foggy!!  Honestly, though, if the only thing I have to whine about is nice weather, you can tell how much fun we had.  I also had something really interesting happen for the first time while we were there.

At the tailgate before the game, we were sitting around the tables eating and drinking.  Someone cracked a joke, and one of the people at my table laughed and started to choke.  This person happened to be sitting beside me, and I immediately leaned over and assisted them while they unstuck the food that was stuck in their throat.  It seemed like a pretty natural reaction, and though I can't take credit for performing any sort of life saving intervention, the person did thank me for keeping her calm and instructing her how  to cough productively.  (Very glamorous, I know.)  

While this was going on, people at the other table came over and starting asking if the person was ok.  In the midst of this, I heard someone from my table tell them, "Don't worry, she's a nurse."

Whoa.

They were talking about me!!  Me!!  A nurse!  People thought I was a nurse!

OK, so even though that's not technically true (I have about 5 months and several gazillion exams to pass first), we do joke around that I'm at least 'half a nurse'.  But these strangers didn't know that.  I had been mistaken for an honest to goodness healthcare professional.

:-D

The little things make me happy.

Little things = Happy

Now that we're back home and it's been rainy and gross for a while, it's definitely time for some fall yumminess.  The day before I left, my clinical group had lunch at Reading Terminal Market.  Some of us got dessert from The Flying Monkey Bakery, which if you're in the Philadelphia area you need to check out.  It's all the way in the back of the market, between the sushi place and the fish counter.  They have the most delicious sugary treats.  I had a maple pumpkin gob with the most amazing cream cheese frosting in the middle.   That was my inspiration.  

However, everyone makes gobs this time of year, and I wanted to do something a little different.  These muffins are the perfect rainy day treat when you want a snack with your tea!

Maple Pumpkin Muffins

(Whatever you do, don't forget the brown sugar in the pumpkin mixture.  No good.  Also, I didn't use cupcake papers because I may or may not have made a first batch sans brown sugar that stuck horribly to the paper.)

4 oz cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons maple flavoring

2 cup flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1-1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

3/4 cup milk

1-1/4 cup pumpkin puree

Beat the cream cheese, 2 tablespoon brown sugar and 2 teaspoons of maple flavoring until well mixed.  Keep in the fridge until you're ready to use.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and baking soda.  Mix the remaining brown sugar, maple flavor, eggs, oil, milk and pumpkin until blended.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just incorporated.  Fill 12 greased muffin tins 2/3 with the pumpkin batter.  Drop 1 teaspoon of the chilled cream cheese mixture onto the batter; top with 2 tablespoons pumpkin batter so that the cream cheese is complete covered.  Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.

Share with your sister for taking good care of your dog while you were gone. 

You might have to share with the dog, too.