Summer Morning with Fog

Summer hearabouts often means waking up to a gray day. It bothers some folks, but I love the fog. A foggy morning means the day won't get too hot, usually. It also means that I can bake something lovely for breakfast and the house will stay cool. Since ours is a solar home, with not central heat or airconditioning, we take that into consideration. A few days ago when the day broke with the sun heating things up right away, not only did I not bake, but we also shut the windows and kept what cool there was trapped in the downstairs. We have a concrete floor and that cools down overnight if we leave the windows open and the night cools down. We've been "green" that way for years, but it does take some getting used to and a little extra thought.

This morning seemed like the perfect time to make some fresh blueberry muffins. The blueberries were on sale at the store, I had bought buttermilk and my brother and a friend were visiting. It was likely that they would appreciate some home cooking since hotel food (and conference hotel food at that) had been their fare for days.

These muffins are so good and very simple. They go together quickly. Melt the butter first, so that it can cool a bit as you measure the dry ingredients and zest the lemon and prepare the blueberries. Blueberries do need to be picked over to remove any mushy ones and any little stems still attached, but even that is faster and easier than peeling and dicing peaches, which was my other choice.

Once baked, these muffins have a soft, tangy interior with juicy hot blueberries, a nice crust on the sides and top and just enough sweetness. Butter was on the table, but these didn't need any. Not a muffin was left by the time breakfast (which also included a fruit compote with lots of fresh melon, berries, and bannanas) was over. Having freshly made blueberry muffins is a great way to start the morning off. Now, where is that second cup of coffee?


Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ cup sugar
Zest of ½ a lemon
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup blueberries, washed, drained, and picked over

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 12 cup muffin tin. Set aside

On a piece of waxed paper, or in a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.

Rub together the sugar and the lemon zest and add the mixture to the flour mixture and stir with a fork to combine.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the buttermilk, egg, and butter. Add to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix with a few swift strokes, just until combined. Don’t over mix. Fold in the blueberries and immediately scoop the muffin batter into the prepared pan, dividing evenly among the cups.

Bake in the preheated oven 20 – 25 minutes, until tops are golden brown and a gentle push on the top has the top springing back.

Let cool 2 – 5 minute, then put into a basket lined with a kitchen towel, folding the towel over the muffins to keep them warm. Serve warm.

Makes 12 muffins