McCafe shakes from McDonald's and zucchini muffins

I'm making these today. Having made similar versions in the
past, I am sure these will be good breakfast munching,
or just tasty snacks.

The "new" McCafe shake from you know who.
Is it really new or just pretty packaging?

This morning I was reading an Bill Maher interview in Rolling Stone magazine. Wow, he's such a genius. He makes me want to pay for cable, then on top of that, pay for HBO.

You can see his appearance on the David Letterman show here:
http://www.cbs.com/late_night/late_show/video/?pid=zXsd07OIZeNpFys3yw6VjD9ZQdXZqQh9

The kitchen wench has a new gig that starts on 5/9, so I may actually be able to afford HBO...soon! In the meantime, I'll be watching it on Jason's Samsung fancy dancy big screen tv. I have never seen a better picture on a tv. My 46" off brand tv is jealous.

There is an ad in the same issue of Rolling Stone magazine that boasts about the new McCafe shakes from McDonald's having a "new look and taste." Really? Is it a new shake recipe or is it repackaged in a smaller, cooler looking cup with some whipped cream on top? I'm thinking this is the case but I might not have the cojones to go and buy one myself to prove them wrong. I mean, I'd rather spend my soon to be hard earned $$ on a gelato shake from Gelato Spot or a chamoyada from Oasis Raspados. Just saying.

I guess reading Bill Maher got me going this morning. Feeling a little more snarky than usual.

:)

Today I'll be making zucchini muffins for a potential mainsqueeze who mentioned he likes them a lot. In the meantime, the picture is borrowed from http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/zucchini_muffins/

• 3 cups grated fresh zucchini
• 2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• Pinch salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup walnuts (optional)
• 1 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl combine the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the zucchini mixture and mix in. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir these dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture. Stir in walnuts, raisins or cranberries if using.

2 Coat each muffin cup in your muffin pan with a little butter or vegetable oil spray. Use a spoon to distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups, filling the cups up completely. Bake on the middle rack until muffins are golden brown, and the top of the muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick or a thin bamboo skewer to make sure the center of the muffins are done. Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin let cool another 20 minutes.

Note, if you are including walnuts and dried fruit, you will likely have more batter than is needed for 12 muffins. I got about 14 muffins from this batch, and that included filling the muffin cups up as far as they could possibly go (above the surface of the muffin tin).