Bacon Mania

I see and hear about bacon a lot lately. Folks are finding new creative ways to cook and pair the salty, yummy, cured breakfast meat. Let's see... there's chocolate-covered bacon, chicken-fried bacon, bacon-infused vodka (what?!) and bacon-wrapped anything, just to name a few. While inputing searches on Google and YouTube, bacon-related sites and clips abound. This is to include a Wikipedia entry called Bacon mania which tells us that yes, this bacon obsession is a real and noteworthy occurance, having started sometime in the 1980s to 1990s. Seriously!

But is this really a new phenomenon? I mean, bacon has been around for ages. What is the deal? Perhaps it's partly because now we have internet and blogs and recipe-sharing websites that make it easier than ever for us to connect with each other. And now, more people can bond over fetishes, and that includes bacon.

With a taste and texture that is unique to it, it is a symbol of leisurely weekend mornings and perhaps brings back memories of mom or dad, grandpa or grandma, cooking breakfast for you when you were a child. Bacon is homemade goodness, for goodness sake! And alongside a few pancakes topped with butter and maple syrup? Heavenly. Who doesn't make sure to save a piece of bacon for last and then coat it with the pool of maple syrup left after their pancakes have been gobbled? It's soooo good!

This bird's boyfriend knows a thing or two... well, mainly how much he enjoys the stuff. When brainstorming muffin and cookie concoctions, he inspired us to create a muffin containing breakfast flavors of bacon and maple. And while we didn't initially intend to subscribe or contribute to Bacon mania, we have found ourselves among those inspired bakers of the bacon maple doughnuts and cupcakes. It's really a great combination, the result of which is a beautiful deep golden-brown muffin that is aromatic, moist and delicious. We call it Two Strips and a Short-stack. A very good breakfast indeed.

Meg

Re-naming Muffin 51

My name is Trilety.  When I was 7, I asked to be called Rachel.  A few people, including my Mom, obliged.  Sometimes we need new names. 

Muffin 51 was named five months ago and the story of the name goes like this. . . . Jason Thomas (Meg's older brother) tasted a bite of the simply described Strawberry Black Pepper muffin.  I'd like to say that he plucked a morsel from the muffin like a nipple from the nipple-berry-bush and savored the sweetness of jam, and heat of pepper, as his face was de-creased by a sensual calm.  But Jason was all business, looking more like a scientist as his acute eyes moved closer to the test-tube furrow in his brow.  While he chewed, Meg and I asked if he had any suggestions for a name.  With crumbs held in one palm, and the balance of the muffin in the other, Jason pulleyed his chin to the ceiling, closed large lids over even larger eyes, and replied "Muffin 51.  It's alien!"  Then his eyelids snapped up and flung open like those old roller shades, and his eyes jutted from his face in a visual exclamation point to the proposed name.  

I love the name Muffin 51.  I think it's clever, witty, and reminds me of Meg's brother.  But, Muffin 51 doesn't provide much, if any, description.  Folks rarely order Muffin 51, and it's been suggested to us that it could be because of the name.

Names are important.  I see myself falling in love with a Rupert before a Mark.  I'd like a dog named Spaghetti before one named Jack.  And Big Toes should never be named Forever or Pomegranate.  But a good muffin name is more critical than a good name for a lover, a dog, or a toe.  A muffin name should be more than clever; it should also be descriptive.  The Muffin Formerly Known as Muffin 51 can be described as follows:  A tasty muffin made with spelt flour and containing no butter and no eggs, is spiced up by a bit of black pepper and studded with walnuts,.   A dollop of strawberry jam is a surprise in the center as well as a delicate feature on the muffin's top. 

We need a new name for the Muffin Formerly Known as Muffin 51.  Please help us choose a new name!  All suggestions are welcome, and for inspiration, see a photo of the muffin below.

 ~ Trilety

Peace, Love, UMM... Muffins!

More and more folks are hearing about Two Birds. They are happy to support us (yay!) They are interested in local baked goodies (yay!) But it is only when they finally get a bite of the moist muffin or pop a sweet little cookie into their mouths, that they get it of course. 


The Two Birds donated a few dozen muffins to, and attended, a breakfast event for the United Methodist Ministries (UMM) last week called A Breakfast Awakening. To say just a little bit about UMM, it is a "non-profit organization dedicated to cultivating creative partnerships to eradicate hunger, poverty and racism." You can read more about the work they do at their website: http://www.bigmuddyumc.org/ Several presenters spoke to us about the volunteer work that they have done and supported, as well as opening opportunities for plans in the future, which includes youth programs, community gardening, a community thrift shop called The Blue Flamingo, and an active support for fair trade products.


So we are expanding our horizons a bit, as well as supporting local community goodness. Pretty cool! Plus, giving small donations here and there helps us get our name into people's minds and our tasty morsels into their little taste bud memories. Nom Nom Nom!

And the muffins go to. . .

Thanks Wanda & Amy for doing some sleuthing and providing your findings!  Both are darn interesting! I was also told by Jacquie that muffin is related to the Spanish word Magdalena. . . yet I still need to get the rest of the scoop.

So. . . let's say, since Wanda got in there first and Amy mentioned vagina, that you both win a 2-pack of muffins!  Take a look at our flavors on the Our Products page and make your choice! I will contact you gals via email so you can start eatin' these Two Birds' muffins!

~ Trilety

Muffin Slang

It has been a few months since these Two Birds formally launched the bakery and we've been fortunate.  We've been fortunate to receive consistent support from our friends and family.  We've been fortunate to have the distribution service offered by the Nebraska Food Co-operative.  But we've been most fortunate not to be bombarded by a bunch of comical quips about our muffins.  You know what I'm talking about. . ."I can't wait to taste your muffin" and "When do I get to eat your muffin."  Though, I wouldn't shun a, "I've waited my whole life for a muffin like this!"  

Honestly, very few folks have used muffin slang in our presence.  And while I may understand the connection between the over-expanded top of a muffin and the little ring of fat over ill-fitting jeans, I still do not understand the connection between a quick-bread baked good and the vagina.   

(See the photo below for a batch of muffins that will sport stupendous tops! - photo taken by Jeremy Jones)

Matilda & Muffins in New Orleans, LA

If you are uncomfortable with the topic of this blog post, please understand that it's the elephant in the room. . .I mean, we sell muffins. . .this must be discussed.

My research has turned up little on the etymological origin.  Though, I will admit that I didn't go looking in libraries.  I just perused the Internet.  The most tangible my seeking became was when I looked up the word "muffin" in my trusty, and heavy, 1949 edition of the "Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged."  Here is what I found:

• Muffin: 1. A light spongy cake or biscuit, usually small and round, eaten hot at some other meal than dinner. 2. A small earthen plate.   

• An aside, if you know your sexual slang, you will see an unexpected coincidence with entry number 2, making me wonder if the origin has little to do with the baked good and more to do with the dish off which the baked good is eaten.  Feel free to email me if you don't have a clue what I'm referring to, otherwise, please just enjoy your innocence.

The word "muffineer" is the word that follows the "muffin" entry, and I am going to champion the resurgence of the word "muffineer."  Meg and I are the New Muffineers!!  Actually, I should pass this past Meg first. . .

So, the dictionary lent more confusion than clues.  Could the slang term be in reference not to the American style muffin (an individually baked quick bread) but instead in reference to the English version of the muffin? The English muffin is a yeast-leavened biscuit that is typically served split, toasted, and buttered.  [Italics added to indicate that most web-searched entries use this language to describe the English muffin]  Maybe that oft-written string of descriptors is the link, though a vague one at best.  

I rarely give up easily, but we have muffins to bake.  So my search has ended.  Thanks for not asking about our "muffins."  Though a friend in Chicago asked if these Two Birds would be selling a "stud muffin."  That type of humour is welcome!  

Let's just keep referring to the vagina as. . . . .  .

 

 

Cat in Pretty Parlor's window - Seattle, WA

(photo above taken by Joshua Jones)

 

Can you find the etymological origin of the muffin slang?  If you are the first to find the origin, and you live in the Omaha area, you will receive a complimentary two-pack of your choice of muffin as a reward!

~ Trilety