meat muffins: what's in a name?

all morning my mom was talking about "meat muffins," which to you, i'm sure, sounds a bit strange. it sounds a bit strange to me, too! what exactly are they? are they muffins with meat in them? muffin-shaped meat? muffin-shaped ground meat, or some sort of steak crammed into a muffin cup? this would not be as out of the picture as you might think. the possibilities abound for a phrase as awesome as "meat muffin."

it turns out that she was talking about meat pies that i had made and written about here, which happened to have been made in muffin tins for ease of shaping. of course, my mom has even less patience than me, and her meat muffins were more like meat trifles (another great phrase!). there was a layer of biscuit/scone dough, then a layer of chickeny goodness (onions, garlic, ginger, chicken), then another layer of biscuit/scone dough. meat muffin or meat trifle, they were excellent, kind of like a mini chicken pot pie but with a cooler name. as much as we may not like to admit it, the name makes food taste better or worse than it actually is, just like some people think fiji water tastes better than other bottled waters because we trust the name more. would you rather eat a "meat muffin" or a "country style chicken pot pie with thyme biscuit topping"? maybe the masses will be eating their country style chicken pot pies, but i will be eating my meat muffins, and i will be happy doing so. "meat muffins"? love it.

all of this makes me miss my own meat muffins, which i remember fondly with their filling of ground pork and caramelized vegetables. maybe i'll make some this week. regardless, right now, i would eat any meat muffins, because saying "meat muffin" is fun.