Do you remember the first cookbook you ever bought? I do. It was Company's Coming: Muffins & More by Jean Paré. I bought it at the grocery store. Realistically speaking, I think it was actually my mom who bought it for me, given that I was still in high school and bad at saving my allowance. Safeway must have had some kind of deal with the Company's Coming series, because there was always a rack with about a dozen of their cheesy titles. Perhaps that rack is still there.
From the frighteningly dated picture of the author on the back (sorry, Jean - there are awful photos of me out there, too) to the "witticisms" scattered throughout the book (such as, "don't let your dog eat garlic or his bark really will be worse than his bite"), this cookbook is a laugh and a half. That being said, it has some great muffin and loaf recipes, just keep your eyes peeled for ingredients like glazed mixed fruit that nobody has liked since 1985.
The recipe below is adapted from Muffins & More's orange bran muffins. I didn't have any orange juice on hand, so I used marmalade, and I felt that it really amped up the flavour. Especially since I left in the fresh orange zest!
marmalade bran muffins
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup bran
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 egg
1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 heaping tbsp marmalade
1 tsp orange zest
1 cup raisins
Preheat oven to 400ºF and line or grease a muffin tin.
Combine flour, bran, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a medium bowl.
In a second bowl, combine egg, brown sugar, vegetable oil, buttermilk, marmalade, orange zest and raisins.
Make a well in the dry ingredients, then add the wet, stirring to incorporate. Do not overmix! Fill your muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for 17 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
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