Give a delicious homemade gift this Mother’s Day
Give a delicious homemade gift this Mother’s Day
Everything I learned about good home cooking I learned from my mother and grandmother. Both of them ruled the kitchen of our family’s cottage in the town of St. Veit in southern Austria, and the meals they produced with basic equipment and humble ingredients proved every day that food cooked with a combination of knowledge, skill and love can be delicious and nourishing beyond compare.
There were so many lessons they taught me. I learned the importance of always having staple ingredients like flour, eggs, butter, sugar, milk, oil, vinegar, root vegetables and basic seasonings on hand, ready to help prepare simple meals at a moment’s notice. I learned to use all my senses — sight, touch, sound, smell and, especially, taste — continually as I cook to ensure the results I want. I could go on and on. But most important of all, they demonstrated every day that meals cooked with love will convey a message direct from your heart for the dearest people in your life.
That’s why I feel it’s important to cook for your mother, the mother of your children or the mother figure in your life on Mother’s Day. Of course, what many people will make is a reservation at a restaurant. But even the simplest little bit of cooking, done to start the day wonderfully for Mom while she’s allowed a few extra minutes in bed, will make her special day all the more memorable.
So I’d like to suggest my recipe for blueberry spice muffins. You’ll find that it uses ingredients that you’ll probably already have available, and the preparation is incredibly easy — maybe 10 to 15 minutes total of measuring and simple mixing, followed by less than half an hour of baking. Yet the results are as delicious as you might find in the brunch muffin basket of a fine restaurant. In fact, years ago, we used to serve this recipe to weekend brunch guests at Spago Las Vegas.
One thing I especially like about this recipe as a Mother’s Day treat is that even a young child can participate in making it — especially stirring together the batter and spooning it into the muffin pan — with Dad’s supervision, of course. And a grownup, or a responsible older child, must supervise working with the oven and handling the hot pan and muffins.
Once the muffins have cooled a bit, transfer them to a napkin-lined basket or a pretty plate, place on a tray, and bring them to Mom with some fresh fruit and a cup of her favorite morning beverage. It’s a wonderful way to start learning the lessons of good home cooking.
BLUEBERRY SPICE MUFFINS
Makes 12 large muffins Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg 4 ounces, 1 stick, unsalted butter, cut
into small pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar 1/2 cup orange juice
2 large eggs, lightly beaten 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed, patted
dry, any stems removed
1 1/2 tablespoons grated orange zest
Directions:
Set the oven rack on the center level, and heat the oven to 350 degrees. With nonstick cooking spray, spray the inside of the cups of a 12-cup muffin pan with cups that are 2 3/4 inches wide by 1 1/4 inches deep. Set the pan aside.
Holding a flour sifter or a finemeshed sieve over a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set the mixture aside.
In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Raise the heat to medium, add the granulated and brown sugars, and stir with a wooden spoon until blended. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the orange juice, eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture. Finally, fold in the blueberries and the orange zest.
Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin cups, filling them almost to the top. Bake in the heated oven until the muffins are golden brown and a cake tester, gently inserted into 1 or 2 muffins, comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven, and leave the muffins to rest in the pan for about 5 minutes. Then, one muffin at a time and protecting your hand with a clean kitchen towel, gently lift the muffins out and transfer to a rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.