Valentine Muffins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, and add the milk.

Rinse the strawberries and cut off the greens. Mash the berries with a potato masher or puree in a blender. Then stir the berries into the butter and milk mixture (For muffins with a more pronounced pink color, add a few drops of red liquid food coloring or dabs of paste coloring).

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, salt and baking powder. Stir well. Add the flour mixture to the berry mixture. Use a wooden spoon to stir until all the white disappears.

Line the muffin tin with paper liners. Drop the batter from a tablespoon to fill the cups halfway. If you are adding the "surprise", place an unwrapped Kiss, Hug or 1/2 teaspoon of jam in the middle of each muffin. Then spoon more batter to fill almost to the top. Otherwise, fill the muffins 3/4ths full.

Bake until the muffins begin to brown and a toothpick inserted near the center (but not in the Kiss) comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove the muffins from the tin and cool. Serve them warm in a basket lined with a red napkin or on plates with doilies.