Would you like some freaky ass muffins?

In the past few months, everyone and their mother has gotten pregnant.  Two friends in Minnesota and now a third one here in Michigan.  Seeing as I can't really fatten up my MN buddies, I've chosen to add to the body mass of the with-child lady here in MI.  

Despite being a freakishly adorable pregnant woman, something I am sure others resent her for, she's had some very real difficulties keeping food down.  Any food.  All food.  Yet I am to bake for this woman, no I must bake for this woman.  I am a masochist and will take on the challenge with such brazen arrogance that I might begin to bake blindly.  My example of this is my voyage into the realm of Olive Oil Muffins.

When I read the recipe for this, I made two very serious mistakes.  First, I assumed that the delicate flavor of olive oil with the zest of citrus fruits would ease her stomach.  Second, I failed to see that there was balsamic vinegar in the recipe and a lot of it.  Shit.

So I start making it...

Look at all that pretty, cheerful zest and sugar.  It says to you, "I'm going to be sweet and light and yummy and you'll go weeeeeeeeeee."  Little do you know you are a naive fool destined for peculiar disappointment.  

Lost in my delusion, I bake on.

Still looking like normal muffin batter and then...

Balsami-what?!  Ah shit!

I promised baked goods.  She wanted muffins.  She's expecting them.  

There is no turning back.

With some pretty intense trepidation, I put them in the oven.  Now my boyfriend will be the first to tell you that I always doubt my baking.  It never fails.   I will get to a point with a recipe and I will say something to the effect of "I don't know about this."  99% of the time I am wrong and what comes out is a delicious treat that rarely lasts the night.  This time I was right.

 I will go on record as saying that these are better at room temperature than warm, though not by much.  The heat makes the balsamic vinegar really intense and overpowering.  The citrus comes out more at room temperature.  Sadly though, they still taste weird.  I wouldn't say bad, but just strange.  They weren't light, like I'd hoped, and the flavor was too rich.  Basically they turned into the exact opposite of what I'd hoped they would be and I was left with no choice but to wrap them up and send them to my pregnant friend who'd been suffering from extreme morning sickness, my friend who just wanted some god damn muffins.

She still hasn't said whether or not she liked them and I must admit, her silence is deafening.