23 June 2024
I got a good 8 hours of sleep last night and got out of bed around 6:30 to do a morning walk of 0.9 miles. It still tires me out but I need to build that up significantly for my trip on July 7th.
I managed to dodge the rain showers. As soon as I got home it started to sprinkle. Yesterday afternoon and evening we had quite a bit of lightning and thunder in the distance and then we finally got some showers later that night. We are well on our way into the rainy season.
While on the walk this morning, I noticed one of the houses had a night blooming cereus in bloom. Either it didn’t know how to tell time or it was – wait for it – a late bloomer.
I have no idea as to the genus or species. There are as many as 10 genera that are commonly called night blooming cereus. It’s a beautiful flower that gradually opens during the night and when fully open has a heady perfume smell.
I had a large one in my back yard and I stayed up all one night to film the opening. I wasn’t too sharp the next day in the classroom.
Yesterday, I felt good enough to do a little baking. There was a recipe I found in The New York Times (I think) Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins. I had some blueberries that I needed to use and the sour cream. They worked out pretty well.
They aren’t very sweet. The recipe also called for lemon zest so they were a little tart and tangy. I stored some in the freezer and kept some out for noshing.
The recipe is found down below.
I’ve got lunch today with Tom and Kurt at 1 pm and then the Secret Garden with Jim and Holley on Monday. Good food and good companionship!
Stay tuned!
Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
Tender, airy, rich, tangy and just sweet enough, these blueberry muffins are great in the morning paired with a hot cup of coffee while you read your favorite novel. They’re also good anytime of the day. If you’re wondering if the batter should be thick like cookie dough, yes it should. If you’re wondering if you can use frozen blueberries instead of fresh, yes you can, just be sure to thoroughly rinse them under cold water until it becomes clear, unless you want the whole muffin to turn purple like the know-it-all character who turns into a giant blueberry in “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. If you don’t have demerara sugar for the top, granulated sugar works as well.
2 ½ cups (300 grams) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
Finely grated zest from 2 lemons
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup full fat sour cream or yogurt
12 ounces fresh blueberries or thawed and well-rinsed frozen blueberries
Demerara sugar, for topping the muffins, optional
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 350 degrees. Prepare a nonstick or aluminum muffin pan by greasing lightly or lining with paper liners. In a bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and lemon zest, then set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar over medium speed with a hand-held or stand mixer until light and airy, scraping down sides as you need to. Incorporate 1 egg and then the other egg, and once incorporated stir in the sour cream and mix well, scraping down the sides again if needed.
On low speed, add the dry ingredients in batches, until you have a batter the consistency of cookie dough.
In each well of the muffin pan, add a heaping tablespoon of the batter. Then fold the blueberries into the remaining batter. Top each muffin well evenly with the blueberry muffin batter. Sprinkle the demerara sugar over the top and then bake until puffed, firm and lightly golden, about 25 minutes.