Ginger, Pear and Walnut Muffins

Certain foods just warm me all over.  When I think of them, I imagine my thermal shirt, a warm fire, a white chemise blanket and a dusting of snow.  I think everyone has those foods, too.  The connotations of cozy are endless.   One of those foods, for me, is ginger.  Ginger is that brown, finger looking bulb thingy in the produce section.  It's featured heavy in Chinese stir-fry; It's used in tea; it's dried and ground up and sold in the spice aisle; it's sliced, candied, and sold in the gourmet aisle.  It is all over the place.  And I like to honor its need to get into everything.
   Whenever I get a little head cold, usually about once a year during the holiday season, I grate some ginger, add it to some boiling water and simmer for about 5-7 minutes.  Then I pour out just the water and add some lemon and honey.  If I drink this a few times a day, I am usually back on my feet in just a couple of days.  Ginger is also great for digestion.  I drink this same ginger infused water with just lemon if my tummy is feeling tense or woozy.
   I also like to have ginger in my food.  And I've been craving it quite a bit this last week.  We've had a bag of candied ginger in the fridge that I think was being saved for a particular recipe that has fallen into my snacky hands.  And I put it into some yummy muffins I made up the other night.  They were Ginger, Pear and Walnut Muffins. 

 
Here's the recipe:

• 1c white flour
• ¾ c wheat flour
• ¼ c oats
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 ¼ tbls baking powder
• ½ c brown sugar or molasses
• 3 eggs
• ½ c oil
• 1/3 c milk
• ¼ c chopped Bosc pear
• ¼ c chopped candied ginger
• ¼ c chopped walnuts

Combine dry ingredients, then add liquid ingredients to dry.  Mix well.  Then add pear, ginger and walnuts.  Mix some more.  Pour into greased muffin tin or baking cups.  Bake for 20-25 minutes in a pre-heated 375-degree oven.