Today we celebrate a healthy muffin, the Oatmeal Muffin. Who doesn’t love oatmeal muffins? They are delicious and healthy and if you are vegetarian or vegan, this muffin is just perfect for you. This day is observed annually on December 19th.
In the very first American Cookbook titled American Cookery, author Amelia Simmons published recipes using pearlash, and in 1792 we exported eight thousand tons to Europe. Baking powder was not developed commercially available until 1857.
Quick bread muffins really need to be baked in molds because they are created with a batter instead of a dough. While there is not much history for the Oatmeal Muffin, there are plenty of recipes to try. You can add some fruit like bananas or blueberries or even dried cranberries. It is all up ad you can use sweetener instead of regular sugar too.
Muffins have been a staple for quite a few centuries, starting with English style muffins which are yeast-raised and cooked on a griddle. American style muffins are known as quick bread muffins, which are made in individual muffin tins.
Oatmeal muffin is an easy breakfast bread that is a fully customizable, grab-and-go breakfast snack. They are delicious and very kid-friendly and have a cholesterol-lowering benefit besides being delicious. You can also make them ahead of time, pack and store them in the freezer.
So today, celebrate this day by making some Oatmeal Muffins and have it for breakfast or snack for work. Share on social media some special recipe using #OatmealMuffinDay.
1843 A Christmas Carol is Published
On this day in 1843, Charles Dickens’ classic story “A Christmas Carol” is published.
Dickens was born in 1812 and attended school in Portsmouth. His father, a clerk in the navy pay office, was thrown into debtors’ prison in 1824, and 12-year-old Charles was sent to work in a factory. The miserable treatment of children and the institution of the debtors’ jail became topics of several of Dickens’ novels.
In his late teens, Dickens became a reporter and started publishing humorous short stories when he was 21. In 1836, a collection of his stories, Sketches by Boz, later known as The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, was published. The same year, he married Catherine Hogarth, with whom he would have nine children. The short sketches in his collection were originally commissioned as captions for humorous drawings by caricature artist Robert Seymour, but Dickens’ whimsical stories about the kindly Samuel Pickwick and his fellow club members soon became popular in their own right. Only 400 copies were printed of the first installment, but by the 15th episode, 40,000 copies were printed. When the stories were published in book form in 1837, Dickens quickly became the most popular author of the day.
(excerpted from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/a-christmas-carol-is-published)
