I’m back in Colorado, where we’ve received yet another burst of winter wind. I came outside this morning in hopes that a long walk with Margot would clear my mind…and found, instead, that seven days in Texas had spoiled me. Now I do realize that come July and August, I’ll be very glad for Colorado’s cooler temperatures, but I’m still not happy about 20 degree weather in April.
Thankfully, Ryan and I moved into our NEW HOME on Sunday (well before the weather took its chilly turn). Moving while 30 weeks pregnant isn’t advisable except that I had a good excuse to leave most of the heavy work to my husband and a handful of our generous friends. But as you might know, moving is much more than transporting boxes from a truck into a house. As you run a knife through the thick packing tape and open up box after box, your life sits around you, disorganized and cluttered. Old pictures, movie stubs, broken bowls, assorted books you read in high school. Spatulas and rice cookers. Notes from your freshman English class. The furniture your cat loved to sink her claws into no matter how hard you tried to distract her. All of it sits around you, waiting for your mind to reconfigure the oddness.
I will post pictures of our new house soon…but I need a few days (or weeks) to get it in better working order. I do know that Ryan and I already feel blessed to have this beautiful home in such a breath-taking part of our country. Little Lucy will have ample room to play and learn, to explore the physical world around her. And after four long months, I’m thrilled to have my mixing bowls in my own kitchen again. I know I’ll be baking as much as possible before Lucy comes. Our freezer will soon be full of muffins, bread, and bagels. These poppy seed muffins are moist and sturdy, almost like a good pound cake. The original recipe called for a scant 1 tablespoon of poppy seeds. I found this to be near deplorable, and so I doubled the amount, and then doubled it again. The result is a share-worthy muffin full of those little black seeds that taste even better than they look.
Poppy Seed Muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 TBSP or 1/4 cup poppy seeds
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream or full-fat yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a twelve-tin muffin pan with wrappers or grease well with butter. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and poppy seeds. In a medium bowl, whisk together butter, oil, and sugar until light and fluffy (about two-three minutes.) Whisk in eggs and then fold in sour cream and vanilla extract. Gently fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.
Using an ice-cream scoop or a large spoon, divide batter into prepared muffin pan. Bake in preheated oven for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for ten minutes in pan before removing to a wire rack.
Yields: 12
Monet
Anecdotes and Apple Cores
