During the first couple of years of our married expat life, we lived in Abu Dhabi and I was able to get an employment pass to work. As editor and copywriter at a small publishing house and advertising agency, and the only native English speaker in the production team, I was responsible for everything written that went out from print ads to annual reports to the British Club magazine, which I edited. The office was tiny so camaraderie was big.
My fellow expats, and we were all expats because it’s not often you find Emiratis in a regular office job, were a friendly bunch, but after the first year, I heard of a public relations manager position open at the InterContinental Hotel. I applied and got the job, thinking to myself that no matter where we were transferred next for my husband’s job, the experience would be valuable because, hey, everywhere had hotels, right? I guess you know where I am headed with this. The next place was Balikpapan, Indonesia, a little oilfield town on the southeast corner of the island of Borneo. While there was one relatively decent hotel, my passport was stamped Employment Prohibited. For the rest of my expat life, that stamp or similar has been a permanent part of each move. (Aside from Paris, but that’s another story entirely.) So I volunteer. I put my writing and editing and public relations skills to work for my daughters’ schools and non-profit organizations. And through the years, I have found the camaraderie of that Abu Dhabi office in many places and many organizations.
This is a very long way around telling you that in Houston, Texas, I used a jam that was given to me by a fellow expat with whom I served on the board of directors at the American Association of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. Times were tough a few years back and Kristy and her husband needed a home in Houston while he began treatment for brain cancer. This jam was part of a thank you gift from her home state of Missouri and it has been in my refrigerator, unopened, just waiting for the right moment. This is it. I hope you have some good friends to work with who gift you with jam as well. Use it for muffins.
Ingredients
5 slices or rashers streaky bacon
2 cups or 250g all purpose flour
3/4 cup or 170g sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1/2 cup or 120ml canola oil
1/3 cup or 80ml caramel apple jam
2 eggs
Method
Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a 12-cup muffin pan by greasing it or lining it with paper muffin cups. If you have gingham cups your sweet daughter bought you at the Providence opening of Sur La Table, they would be perfect. (Thanks, Cecilie!)
Fry your bacon relatively crispy, drain on paper towels, then and chop it up with a large knife.
Combine your flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
In another smaller bowl, whisk together your milk, egg and oil.
Add in the caramel apple jam and whisk to incorporate.
Pour your egg/milk mixture into your dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.
If you have a vegetarian or two in your household, like I do, you can scoop some batter into a couple of muffin cups right now, before adding the bacon. This means that the other 10 muffins will have more bacon, but more bacon is always a good thing.
Now fold in the bacon bits, reserving just a few for topping, if desired.
Divide the muffin batter between the muffin cups.
Top each cup with a few of the bacon bits for decoration, avoiding those without bacon inside, of course.
Bake in your preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. Remove the muffins and cool completely on a wire rack.
Enjoy!
