Sunday, September 27, 2009

Caramelized Onions, Sage, and Cheddar Muffins [sms]

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This week's SMS, Caramelized Onion, Sage and Cheddar Muffins, was chosen by Hanaa of Hanaa's Kitchen. Hanaa always has her final thoughts and tips that always help.

I decided to change the recipe up a little bit. I have yet to go to store in a long while, so I decided to skip the cayanne peppers. I halved the recipe because I kind of don't know how to caramelize onions and burnt them. I also used dried sage instead of regular fresh sage.

More exciting than the muffins (sorry Hanaa) was the walk out that occured on the UC Berkeley campus on Thursday. I guess I never really supported it because my parents are paying for my education albeit, a lot cheaper than the out of states students are paying, but still around $30 per lecture I go to. So today, I had two classes that were not canceled. The only one that was canceled was due to the teacher being in London for a conference and not for the walkout itself.


I know quite a few people did not go to class due to this walkout. Although I feel like it is important that we bring to the forefront that we are getting fee hikes and that there will be cuts, but we should see if from the government's perspective too. The state cannot print money like the Fed does so whatever money and taxes they have is all they can spend. I cannot expect the state government to go into deeper recession due to the outside recession going on. I understand that the education for the future is important, but I also understand the reason why they're doing these cuts and fee hikes. We cannot expect to get the same education if we do not have the money.


The UC system was not the education system that got cut the most. As I was talking to my boyfriend, the CSU system got cut a lot as well. Their teachers decided to take a pay cut by not having 2 classes a month rather than cutting teachers. Although I agree that none of these seem like the best solution, its the best thing we have right now. We cannot expect the economy to pull us out of this and if we want to government to pay for it now, we should expect that our taxes when I become older to increase.


It's just a complete mess right now. I actually did not walk out, but I was debating it. I mean it is a serious issue, but is walking out the best way to do this? I did catch part of the rally next to campus, and it was a huge amount of people, but I just don't find it the best idea. The rally seemed really successful. It's because of this that Berkeley is well known. Protests and what not.


I had added along with these muffins while eating this drink. It's like fizzy soda made by the Japanese. It's so good and interesting. You push the ball into the drink and it fizzes up. I bought it at Ranch 99 a couple weeks ago and it's still fizzy as ever. It has these really good fruit flavors. I had drank the peach on with the muffins.

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Personally, I thought the muffins were a little too dry for me, but my roommate had heated them up and it was better that way. It was still really good.

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Recipe for the muffins here! Make sure to check out the rest of the SMS bakers on the blogroll.
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ps. the pictures of the rally were taken by my friend Dmitriy Shaprio. The other pictures were taken by yours truly.

19 comments:

  1. I agree that eating them warm was better than room temperature.

    I hope that the government at least listens to the students' issues and a compromise can be made.

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  2. Sorry about all the issues going on at your school..well really all over the USA..sad.
    The fizzy drink looks so cool. My eleven year old would love it!
    The muffins were good but I was scared to add a ton of stuff. I was liberal with the chesse and thats about it! Your muffins look yummy!

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  3. Wow, looks like there's been a lot going on at UC Berkeley lately! Sorry to hear about the cuts. It's so tough everywhere right now.

    Your muffins look great! I love how the cheese oozed out on top :)

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  4. yes, warm is best! they looks great!

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  5. Mmmm, they really were better warm!

    Sorry to hear about the trouble at your school :(

    Katie xox

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  6. Nina, I agree that walk-outs may bring a lot of attention nationally but is not the "best" solution for a problem that is being addressed around the United States. All schools are having money issues but many students going to college are already struggling with how to pay for such a large expense, me included.

    This is a vicious circle since a degree is necessary to compete for decent paying jobs. I'm with you, What a Mess!

    Your muffins are perfect. I thought the muffins were a little dry too so the reheating method sounds like a great idea to try.

    LOVE your pictures =)

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  7. Your muffins look great! I didn't bake this week and they look so good I wish I had. Love the fizzy soda.

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  8. I had one warm and one at room temperature and the warm one was better. Yours look great.

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  9. Your muffins look great.

    I ate mine at room temp and im not a huge onion fan -- thought these were jsut ok. Next time, im going to up the cheese!

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  10. I love your chunks of melted cheese, looks delicious!

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  11. Thank you for baking with me this week. Looks like you increased the amount of cheese which makes your muffins look great (all that cheesy ooziness... yum!). I heated the muffin prior to having hubby taste it and he liked it a lot!

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  12. The muffins look yummy! Yeah, it's tough times here in California, sorry you're going through that at school. My dad teaches at San Jose State; he's not happy about a pay cut, but definitely happy he and his co-workers have jobs.

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  13. I thought that my muffins were a little dry too, and I agree that they're better when heated up.
    It seems like you really understand both sides of the education funding argument. I'm sure it was a tough spot to be in, deciding whether or not to walk out, but from what you wrote, it seems like you followed your conscience.

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  14. I loved the muffins toasted! $30 per class- looking at it that way makes me regret spacing out in more than a few.

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  15. Lovely bake! Savory muffins are just ideal for breakfast or even tea time.

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  16. Berkeley sure knows how to protest!

    Your muffins look great. I think I'm going to make them tonight. We'll see...

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  17. Ooooh, I love your cheese pic! I liked the muffins. The soda looks really cool!

    Sorry about the cuts at Berkley.

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  18. the walkout may not have been the BEST way to get the govn't to listen... but at least people are standing up for what they believe in. and at this time... that's important!! sitting quietly will change nothing!

    awesome muffins. and they just opened a ranch 99 here in houston! i can't wait to go!

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  19. Your muffins look cheesy good! I love Ranch 99 Market, especially the drinks. There's one Japanese drink that looks like milk, but it's carbonated and sweet...love it!

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Thanks for your comments!
<3 Nina

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