Muffins for mom

Say it with blueberries for Mother’s Day breakfast.

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 that 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 really 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 grown-up 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.

DREAMSTIME