Lary Bloom
Writer, Editor, Teacher
The Bloom Blog
Photo by Nancy Dionne
Friday, February 24, 2006
Hero Muffins
I heard a couple of days ago from Edward Beale, a particular hero of mine. He was one of those selfless holicopter pilots who flew into the teeth of Hurricane Katrina, and then rescued victims from rooftops. Last summer, I wrote about him for Connecticut magazine and in the piece emphasized the role "power muffins" played. These were baked by Beale's wife, Michelle, before each mission, and then stuffed into her husband's flight suit. Though intended initially as emergency rations for him many muffins landed in the hands and deprived stomachs of refugees from the hardest hit neighborhoods of New Orleans.In the time since, I had thought of the Beales' contributions to the relief effort often -- they were lost in the fury over FEMA's ineptitude and apparent indifference. What Edward Beale did, risk life and limb, and tirelessly, will be fully acknowledged only in the stiff language of U.S. Coast Guard citations he'll hang on his wall. Even so, I thought in time the Bealeses of the world would get their due. Who would have thought that brain tumor would intrude.
Edward's email to friends gave the details, and that Michelle had just recovered from surgery. He asked everyone to send their best wishes to her, which I did, with a request that he send me the recipe for the power muffins. In that way, we could honor Michelle at the dinner table.
We baked the muffins the other day. You will do yourself a favor if you make them yourselves. When you call up the recipe below, you'll see that they are named Morning Star muffins as well as Power Muffins. However, I will call them Hero Muffins.
http://www.rezonate.com/cookbook/bakedgoods/b001msmuffins.html
Posted by:Lary Bloom at 5:42 PM
Web
Design by Arvid
Tomayko-Peters
Lary Bloom • Telephone: 860.526.2067 • Fax: 860.526.8088 • Email: