Helpful hint: A standard recipe for one dozen muffins makes SIX jumbo muffins and requires about 20-25 minutes baking time. You can also use the jumbo muffin pans to make jumbo sticky pecan rolls in. I grease the tins, add pecans (enough chopped pecans to cover the bottom, and about 1 T. agave nectar for the "gooey" part (less sugar and less fat than traditional recipes). Don't add too much "goo" or it bubbles over the edge of the muffin pan. I haven't tried it, but I think honey will also work instead of agave nectar. -Grainlady

I don't ever remember my mother making bread....but my father did. Not often and when he did it was with much flourishing and lots of praise from all present. My paternal grandmother baked bread fairly often in my mempry...and her mother in law ( my grandfather's mother) baked bread almost daily I recall. She ran a boarding house, so likely my recollection is accurate. My father taught me the basic kneading motion...once you learn, you never forget. I made bread often when I was pregnant for the first child. In those days you had to quit work at 3 months. amd we only had one car and my husband needed that, and it was winter....so I baked. I only had 2 cookbooks, so I pretty well baked my way thought Fanny Farmer. I remember going down to the shore when my daughter was 18 months, and I had to stay home while she napped and everyone else went to the beach, so I made bread... I had found some yeast in the cupboard and I had flour salt and milk....and no cook book....so I winged it....and it was wonderful! I had no bread pan, not even a cookie sheet, so I baked the bread on an upside down 9 by 12 cake pan! That made me realize that in home made bread, perfection is nothing when compared with the smell of bread fresh from the oven. I have made under baked bread, over baked bread, forgotten the salt ( just add extra butter when youe at it!) and forgotten to add the yeast until I realized that it didn't rise.....so I mixed the dry yeast into the dough, added a little more water to make it easy to knead and a bit more flour....so it wouldn't be sticky....and you would never know. It's really really hard to ruin bread. I repeat, just do it....you might waste $10 worth of ingredients and 4 or 5 hours of your time if you have about 4 to 6 failures in a row....but if you had gone to some cooking class, you would have spent more $$ and spent more time and learned 1/2 as much. Just do it! Linda C

I have a couple of these. Black steel. At least 30 yrs old I think. I clearly remember the purchase. One of the first kitchen purchases I bought at Bd'wayPanhandler downtown NYC. First apt. Fouton on the floor. Mine are aprox 9 x 15. I still use them for everything but mostly roasting. Jet black with a nice patina now. I clearly remember that first batch of cookies. They spread to one big thin sheet. Crispy and near burnt in minutes. They get very hot. All the rage now, thin and crisp. Did not care for them at first but now are my most used and both live in the oven after wiping. They need minor seasoning like cast iron. I have had the hardest time making out the makers mark, but now searching for steel, it clearly says MatferBourgeat. French. Brilliant for roasting oven fries, veg. In the top third oven rack/placement no turning necessary as they cook even with crisp bottoms being so hot. Killer for focaccia. I see on their website they have round steel. That would be good for pizza. round steel. If they go cold into a hot pre-heat they do 'ping' sometimes but level out quickly. A shame I don't see a smaller size like I have. Anyway, thanks for bringing this up. I've been wanting one for the other house as it does seafood....scallops, shrimp, fish filets so well. I did just that the other night along with roasted garbonzos and prosciutto bacon for a chowder. I use all my others, alum, stainless, all sizes I've picked up here and there. But these are my everyday.

I make deviled crab, which would work well in a muffin pan. I first had deviled crab at Gaido's Restaurant in Galveston as a child, and I created my own recipe for it based on memory. It's much spicier than crab cakes, but I also learned that I can substitute other fish in my recipe with good results. I often use canned crab to make deviled crab, and this works very well in my recipe, but I've also made it with canned salmon. I've found good canned crab at Trader Joe's. Here's my recipe, but you can tone it down to make it less apicy: Deviled Crab 16 oz. Crabmeat (Snow crab is fine) 1 tsp Lobster or Crab soup base, optional, or 1/4 tsp salt 3 tbsp butter 2 tbsp olive oil 1/2 large onion, finely diced (approx. 1/4 cup) 3-4 stalks of celery (including leaves) diced 8-10 fresh Serrano chilies, all seeds removed, and minced (or 1 green bell pepper plus 1 Habanero chili) 1/3 -1/2 cup flour 1 tbsp minced fresh thyme 1 tsp minced fresh Thai basil (optional) 1 tsp fish soup base--crab or lobster preferred--dissolved in 1/2 cup water or clam juice 2 tbsp Dijon mustard (or spicy brown mustard) 4 tbsp lemon juice 2 dashes of cayenne (or your favorite hot sauce) 1/8 tsp black or white pepper 1 egg, slightly beaten 2/3 cup fresh bread crumbs, the size of small peas 1-2 tbsp butter, for the crumbs Have all the ingredients ready-mince the onion and celery and set aside together; mince the herbs and chilies separately and set aside. If you are using crab in its shell, remove all the meat first and then put it in a small bowl. Add the optional crab or lobster soup base, if desired. If you can get lobster base, this will improve the flavor the most, but crab or clam base is fine. Adjust the quantity depending on the saltiness of the base. Add 1/4 tsp salt if not using soup base In a medium or large saucepan, melt 3 tbsp butter and add 2 tbsp olive oil. Add the onion and celery and saute for about 3 minutes, or until the onion is all broken up and separated. Add the Serrano chilies and cook another 2-3 minutes. Then add the flour and continue to cook to make a light roux, stirring constantly. Add the herbs and stir to combine. Add the water with soup base (or clam juice), and stir to make a paste and remove from heat. Add the mustard, lemon juice, cayenne, and pepper, and allow to cool slightly. Pour a small amount of the paste into the beaten egg and combine before adding the egg to the paste. Add the crabmeat and stir to combine. Lightly grease a 9"x6"x2" baking dish (or individual ramekins or muffin pan) with olive oil, and add the mixture, leaving about 1/2" space from the top of the pan. Press the breadcrumbs into the top and dot with butter (or drizzle the butter melted) evenly over the top. Broil for 5-7 minutes not too close to the heat or bake at 425° for 6-8 minutes, or until the breadcrumbs are crispy. Serves four as a main course or six as an appetizer. *Note: to make it less spicy, use the one green bell pepper plus two Serrano or jalapeño chilies and omit the hot sauce.