The final bran goodbye

This concludes my series on bran muffins, and I must admit that I'm not shedding a tear at goodbye. Truly, there are only so many bran muffins one can eat in the span of two weeks. The Husband has given up any pretense of enthusiasm over the things, and I fear that the dog is probably eating more of them than anyone else in this house.

The final bran muffin recipe comes from my Auntie Bill, courtesy of my Grandma. I confessed to my mother just this morning that for many of my childhood years, I thought everyone was calling her Annie Bill. I believed that she was called Bill because she used to play pretend that she was a traveling salesman named Bill. My mother said, no, she was nicknamed Bill because her baby brother couldn't say her proper name Bernetta. How could I possibly be so far off the mark?

And since we're on the topic of childhood misnomers, for many years I also believed that my Grandpa was a cowboy. To my way of thinking anyone who lived in Kansas, a land of quicksand, wild pigs, and endless prairie, had to be a genuine cowboy. For the record, Grandpa never answered "no" when I asked him if he used his saddle as a pillow at night. Well, that was enough evidence to convince me. 

Auntie Bill's recipe is for refrigerator bran muffins and very similar to my cousin Katie's recipe. Perhaps it's a precursor? At any rate, the gargantuan proportions of this recipe demand that you refrigerate the extra batter. Unless, of course, you're baking for a very large family, you run a bed-and-breakfast, or you're entertaining the Mongol Horde. I made this recipe, because it used up the remains of my box of All-Bran cereal I had leftover from Morning Glory Muffins. 

Auntie Bill's Bran Muffins

6 cups Raisin Bran
2 ½ cups boiling water
    Pour water over cereal and let stand.

1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup honey
4 eggs, beaten
1 qt. buttermilk (4 cups)
5 cups flour
5 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt

(I added 1 ½ cups raisins, because there are no raisins in the All-Bran cereal I used.)

Whisk together wet ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. Combine together, adding bran last. Mix until well combined.

Bake the desired amount at 350° for twenty minutes.  Makes 7 dozen muffins and keeps in refrigerator for 2 months.

Comments

[Margo]

thanks for the giant recipe warning. I keep forgetting to make the batter!
I wish I had an aunt named Bill.

[Amy O]

Thank heavens I now know, and I can sleep at night. (and I set my mother straight as well.)

[www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawmi-8ETIFOxCUAI2B2MmD0zC4InEyhppMY]

Okay, dearies, here's the true story from the eldest: Grandpa had cattle and he was a boy at some time. He had a horse and a saddle. Close enough; you can't be said to have been wrong. As for Auntie Bill - when she was a little girl, she pretended that she was a shoe salesman named Bill, so her brother called her Bill. When she got nephews and nieces, she thought Aunt Bernetta was too big a mouthful for little people, so she taught us to call her Auntie Bill.

[Rebecca]

No, I didn't. But I can see why you did. I downloaded some cowboy songs (Tumbling Tumbleweed, anyone?) and they remind me of Grandpa.

[Amy O]

But did you think that Grandpa was a cowboy?

[Rebecca]

Well, I always heard the traveling salesman explanation myself. Maybe it was a heinous lie told to only our generation.

I've made that enormous recipe before. The final dozen do not have the appeal, I will admit, that the first do.