DAY 82 - SOUL-SISTER BITES

And so today is "Friendship Day"...
and I woke up thinking , how corny...

But then again you can only celebrate something if you have it ...
And thankfully I have wonderful friends...
We have known each other for years , know each others secrets good, bad and ugly...and we are still friends...

Now I think what really tests a relationship is "Time"...
More than anything else..
And today woke up thinking , my friends are my life-line...
And the ones that stay with you after the party is over , are the ones whose names you need to engrave in your heart...
I love my friends and am blessed with a wonderful pride of lionesses...
Of course we love a whole lot of lions too...but I think we function like a  tight knit "chick-gang"..
We watch each others backs..
Tell one another the truth ....
And if someone is getting lost, we get them back home.....
We snarl and sometimes bite and get the errant one into our favorite spot near the water..
And practise tough love or the most beautiful spa therapy, depending on the issue ...
Ha ha ha ...

And I would not want it any other way ..
We have done a lot of madness together and cannot imagine life without the few I take totally for granted and they know they can do the same with me...
I don't make friends very easily and so I like to hold close, the ones I really connect with...
Because they make me a richer person...

And so today going to give you a recipe for chocolate muffins...

Ingredients....

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup brewed coffee (or 1 cup of warm water mixed with 1 1/2 teaspoons of espresso powder or instant coffee granules)
• 1 Tbsp white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 6 Tbsp (1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp) olive oil

Method...

Cupcakes:

1 Preheat oven to 175 degrees C with a rack in the middle position. Prepare a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

2 In a large bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt until there are no visible clumps (cocoa tends to clump up).

3 In a separate bowl, mix together the coffee (or water plus coffee granules), vinegar, vanilla extract, and olive oil.

4 Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir only until they just come together. The mixture should be thin and rather lumpy.

5 Ladle the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about two-thirds of the way full. Place in oven and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until a tooth-pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

6 Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and let cool on a rack. Once cool, you can eat plain, sprinkle with powdered sugar, or drizzle or coat with frosting.

This recipe I found on Simple recipes and it is amazing..
I added a hand full of chocolate buttons to the batter...
I made this for my Nephew Kyle's birthday party and they vanished very very quickly ...
You don't really need frosting, But I love it when a cupcake looks at you in that ," awww you have to have me" kinda way ...
And so went ahead and put a frosting on them ..
But you really do not need to, because they are lovely and deeeeelicious just the way they are...


They reminded me a lot of my friends who I'm a very fortunate to have in my life...
So today on "Friendship day" ....ewwww this is soooo corny ...(But I'm still gonna do this.... )
I just want to say , to the ones , you know who you are...
"I love you , with my whole heart and soul, and thank you for keeping me in your life, I know I'm not easy sometimes (ok most of the times), I'm stubborn , ask for advice and do my own thing, silly sometimes to the point of exasperation and drive you crazy with my mercurial behavior..
But I love you and cannot think of my life without you in it...
And if I upset you , which I do and you know I will continue...
Please feel free to tell me exactly what a hatter I am..
But stay and I promise to walk with you till the sun don't rise ...
And promise to make you laugh and entertain you with my funny crazy life...
And feed you , till you don't want any more ...
And if you need a shoulder to cry on ...
Please don't , you know I'm ticklish...
Just give me the name of the person who has caused you tears and a gun with bullets..."

Seriously , I just feel immensely blessed that I have such beautiful and varied souls as my friends...
And so here's presenting, the most feather like and mouth melting chocolate muffins I call, "Soul -sister bites....
Only from Maria's Kitchen ...

To the girls I love and the boys on the side..... ha ha ha ....
Just FYI.....Cup-cakes are not fattening, if you "exercise and think thin" ...
I'm sticking to my theory...
Stop laughing ....