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02 March 2012
blueberry muffins filled with lemon curd
Folks.
Seriously, why hasn't anybody thought of this before?
So I made some lemon curd, as per Sydney's instructions over at Crepes of Wrath. I wasn't really sure why, I just knew I had some lemons to use before they went bad and I had all the other ingredients around as well. Or maybe it's just that I always see it at the store and think it'd be fun to try, except it's super expensive. So stick it to the man! Make your own curd! You can even make your own crud as well, since that seems to be all that I can type...
Then I had to figure out what to do with it. Many responses from the Google told me that eating it directly out of the jar with a spoon was a very reasonable thing to do. Not gonna lie: it is that tasty. But what else? Seemed like it'd be good as a layer on a cake or inside some cupcakes. It'd be a killer filler (!) for donuts for sure.
But I didn't feel quite that motived for my kitchen adventure.
I liked the idea of having it on warm scones, but instead I put it on pancakes. I very seriously recommend that you give this a try as well. :)
So yeah. Scones! But you know what would be more fun? Curd inside a scone. But scones aren't generally filled, so... muffins! Why give cupcakes all the glory? I dug around the archives of some of my favorite blogs, and found this recipe for perfect blueberrry muffins at smitten kitchen. The title is no joke. I mean, if you have a great auntie's family standard muffin recipe, by all means go for it. But this one won't ever fail you. I also think it is key that the batter is super-duper thick for a quick bread. I definitely wanted to eat that batter with a spoon. If I piped it onto a plate and called it mousse au blueberry muffin, you'd totally buy it, I swear to you!
Here's the assembly I'd recommend:
1. Spray muffin tin.
2. Fill with a tablespoon or so of batter. Use a small spoon (or your finger... you can lick either implement when you're done!) to squish the batter into the bottom of each muffin form, as the dough doesn't really flow like a liquid at all.
3. Make a well in the middle of the dough for each muffin.
4. Place a generous teaspoon of curd into each well.
5. Add more batter to each muffin so that each liner is about 3/4 full.
6. Smooth batter over, making sure the curd is fully concealed!
7. Bake as usual. Sneaky!
I really wanted to add lavender to the curd... maybe next time! I just say this awesome post over on 101 Cookbooks for ginger grapefruit curd... so many possibilities! Any requests? Cinnamon orange curd perhaps?
28 February 2012
warm vegetable curry
Uuuugh. I just walked home from work and I am so ready to curl up with a hot cocoa and go to bed, because it is raining outside. That's right, raining. In February. In Minnesota. I'd assumed we'd have a lovely snowstorm, but no... so instead I walked home, umbrella-less, until my down jacket had soaked through. Gross. At least it was kind of funny when I let the dog out and she ran around the yard, pausing to shake the rain off, as though she'd forgotten how the whole water-from-the-sky thing works. :)
Pardon the lack of solid posts here. I feel pretty devoid of fun stories to tell. I feel like I am just in a holding pattern until I can sing "We're moving to _______!!!!" from the rooftops, and by singing, I mean sobbing. I love Minnesota. I always have. In 2006 I did a summer internship here, and I did that thing I always do too much of: research. I looked up every stat on the Cities, browsed it on Google Maps, memorized the entire Wikipedia article on the Twin Cities. I even knew the Foshay Tower had a march written for it by John Phillip Sousa. Just for a 10-week internship. I did such a good job that as my plane descended over the city (the landing pattern at that time circled over downtown Minneapolis, near the U) I could pick out the buildings on campus I'd be visiting. The river was so cool with all the bridges spanning the gorge, and all the little green spaces amongst the city scene. I felt like I was about to go home, and I hadn't even landed yet.
Now it's 2012, I've lived here since August 2007 (yep, we moved in the day after the bridge fell). I am invested in this place. I've joked all along that all it's missing is mountains. I'm holding out for the possibility that we'll move somewhere more mountainous, as though that will somehow make it better when all my memories and many of my closest friends will be here. We even made a point of getting married in Saint Paul to show off what a great place it is. I don't want to leave it behind.
But hey, enough gloom and doom (and free tourist advertisement for the Twin Cities Metro Area, jeez!), let's talk about dinner. I made this vegetable curry a week or so ago and it was amazing. The best part: it has cauliflower in it! I have always, always loved cauliflower. I realize it is probably a carry-over from the first, oh, sixteen years of my life when I only liked beige food. The huzz also really liked the curry (we are a curry-loving family), but he said something that totally stole my heart: "Thank you for getting me to like cauliflower." That's right, he thanked me for getting him to eat his veggies and be more adventurous with his foods. Just last week I fully converted him to the Standard North American Hippie Food diet, which includes copious amounts of homemade granola (don't you feel like granola is the epitome of hippie food?). Swoon! We've both come a long way (Velveeta for dinner, anyone?), but his willingness to try any crazy thing I make with an open mind really makes me a proud wifey.
And from here I promise more normal, silly posts... I think there's some potential hilarity in the future soon. Two words: Jury Duty. Either that or Dog Antics. There will always be Dog Antics. :)
22 February 2012
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