Hot on the heels of Independence Day ponderings and a previous post about families that aren’t as close as cozy as they could be, we have an entry about my mother-in-law’s visit this past Saturday.
Several days in advance, Khun Sudha (Tawn’s father) told Khun Nui (Tawn’s mother – “Khun” being a prefix of respect) that he was joining his friends for some social event all day Saturday. She called Tawn to announce that she would come over and visit us on Saturday. Shortly thereafter, she called me to say that she wanted me to cook for her.
Considering my options, I selected a recipe for blueberry muffins from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook, a.k.a. Baking on the Cellblock. Muffins are a fun breakfast food and, despite the expense of the imported from Australia berries, a worthwhile treat for my mother-in-law.
The recipe is basically a white cake dough: eggs creamed with sugar, add vanilla, then spoon in a mixture of flour, baking powder (of which I need to buy some more – note to self), and salt.
Mix just until moistened, taking care not to over mix. Fold in the blueberries – coat them lightly with the flour mixture beforehand so they don’t sink to the bottom of the muffin – and then scoop into a buttered and floured muffin tin.
After filling the tins, bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.
While the muffins bake, clean out every last bit of goodness from the bowl and eat it with complete disregard for the raw eggs in the batter!
Below: Before and after.
Tawn went to pick up his mother while the muffins were baking. His parents live only about 10 minutes away (when there isn’t any traffic) so by the time the muffins were ready to come out of the oven, Tawn and his mother had returned.
I was fearful that the muffins would stick to the pan, but a little gentle loosening with a table knife was enough to overcome their shyness and they popper right out as if to say, “Hello, world! Eat me!”
Also on the list was a roasted bell pepper fritata.
So easy to roast bell peppers at home using your broiler. Burn them and then thrown them in a plastic container to steam for a few minutes. Peel the charred skins off and then slice and use to add a bit of smoky goodness to your food.
To add some moisture to the eggs, I used cottage cheese. It produces a nice creamy texture and, by adding some additional lumps on top of the fritata, I get a nice browning effect.
Finish with some sliced fresh avocado and you have a good California breakfast on your hands.
Below: Before and after.
Finally, after a flurry of picture taking that caused Khun Nui to arch her eyebrows in a unspoken question, we sat down and ate breakfast.
Above: An artistically-composed show by Tawn and me, Mom and the muffins. Notice that he focused on the muffins.
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