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Usenet Posted 23 years ago
Usage

Muffin again

I thought we had finally settled the muffin issue:
1) The (English) muffin - a doughy thing with holes in top for absorbingjam or honey or, for the younger, less cholesterol-challenged, butter. It must be toasted. Also known in some parts as a pikelet, which should not be confused with a Scotch pancake.

2) The (Old-fashioned) English muffin - a strange thing, somewhatresembling a dried out doughnut, sold AFAIK only in a few English shops and not very nice.

3) The American muffin - looks rather like an enormous cupcake, but isnot very sweet and, if badly made, can be completely tasteless. Probably the best thing to have come out of America in the last 50 years.

Now, however, I find the following strange sentence. I should point out that Jane Heller, an American writer, is one of my favourite authors when I want light entertainment, but this is odd:
"He was sitting at the kitchen counter, reading the L.A. Times, drinking coffee, and eating an English muffin. There were crumbs everywhere, including those pesky little seeds that regularly slough off the underside of English muffins."
(Jane Heller: The Secret Ingredient)
So what sort of muffins are these? Does anyone else know of an "English muffin" that has "pesky little seeds"?

Rob Bannister
  

Top answer

[nq:1]Now, however, I find the following strange sentence. I should point out that Jane Heller, an American writer, is one ... So what sort of muffins are these?

  • [nq:1]Now, however, I find the following strange sentence.
  • I should point out that Jane Heller, an American writer, is one ...
  • So what sort of muffins are these?
  • [/nq] She is referring to corn meal sometimes sprinkled on the baking sheet to prevent the dough from sticking which sometimes clings to the baked English muffin.
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60 Answers
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[nq:1]Now, however, I find the following strange sentence. I should point out that Jane Heller, an American writer, is one ... So what sort of muffins are these? Does anyone else know of an "English muffin" that has "pesky little seeds"?[/nq]
She is referring to corn meal sometimes sprinkled on the baking sheet to prevent the dough from sticking which sometimes clings to the baked English muff
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The inimitable Robert Bannister (Email Removed) stated one day
[nq:1]I thought we had finally settled the muffin issue:[/nq]
[nq:1]"He was sitting at the kitchen counter, reading the L.A. Times, drinking coffee, and eating an English muffin. There were ... So what sort of muffins are these? Does anyone else know of an "English muffin" that has "pesky little seeds"?[/nq]
The most well-k
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On 23 Oct 2003 01:43:44 GMT, CyberCypher
[nq:1]The most well-known English muffin in the USA is Thomas'(R) English Muffin, a specific brand and the archetype for all ... muffin a feudal stone-oven feeling. You can see the shape of one in the following images: http://www.wholepop.com/fe
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The inimitable "plep" (Email Removed) stated one day
[nq:1]She is referring to corn meal sometimes sprinkled on the baking sheet to prevent the dough from sticking which sometimes clings to the baked English muffin.[/nq]
Ah, yes. Yellow corn meal it is. Cheaper than millet, I'm sure, and ubiquitous in the USA.
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The inimitable Ross Howard (Email Removed) stated one day
[nq:2]The most well-known English muffin in the USA is Thomas'(R) ... of one in the following images: http://www.wholepop.com/features/toasters/othertoaster3.htm
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[nq:1]3) The American muffin - looks rather like an enormous cupcake, but is not very sweet and, if badly made, can be completely tasteless. Probably the best thing to have come out of America in the last 50 years.[/nq]
I think you've confused the American muffin with the American biscuit. Muffins can be quite large and extremely tasty.

Dena Jo
(Email: Replace TPUBGTH with denajo2
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on 23 Oct 2003:
[nq:2]3) The American muffin - looks rather like an enormous ... have come out of America in the last 50 years.[/nq]
[nq:1]I think you've confused the American muffin with the American biscuit. Muffins can be quite large and extremely tasty.[/nq]
Most American muffins made at home (does anyone do that anymore? I used to when I was in high school) are made in cupcake tin
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[nq:1]I thought we had finally settled the muffin issue: 1) The (English) muffin - a doughy thing with holes in ... must be toasted. Also known in some parts as a pikelet, which should not be confused with a Scotch pancake.[/nq]
That's not a muffin, it's a crumpet, known in the North as a pikelet, and it's made of batter, not dough.
A muffin is a bread-like thing, same size as a crumpet bu
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[nq:2]I thought we had finally settled the muffin issue: 1) ... pikelet, which should not be confused with a Scotch pancake.[/nq]
[nq:1]That's not a muffin, it's a crumpet, known in the North as a pikelet, and it's made of batter, not dough.[/nq]
That sounds like what in AmE is an "English muffin", though I've seen crumpets on sale in unusual settings too, and crumpets look slightly differ
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[nq:1]Bisquits are fairly rare in the northeast but common in the south, the midwest and at all truckstops. Bisquits and gravy seems to me to be ironic soul food for white trash.[/nq]
The postwar fastfoodization of fried chicken-oriented food, a Southern/South Midland load-food, note, principally by the Kentucky Fried Chicken chain (by the late 'Eighties renamed "KFC" because of the stigmatiza

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