Polly's Blueberry Raisin Muffins

There's always a room for another muffin.   Once you got a basic muffin recipe that turn out a great muffin to your liking, there is nothing that going to stop you from making one after the next... coconuts, pineapple, kale, avocado, hot and spicy... going kind of crazy, but that's what happened after making those Polly's Cherry Garcia Muffins.   Go over your ingredient list and do your "Mis en Place" in the evening, whip them up in the morning before leaving for the office.

Topping:
2/3 C Organic Flour
2/3 C Brown Sugar
1 tsp Ceylon Cinnamon
1/4 C Chopped Organic Raisins
Add all of the above into a bowl with 4 Tbsp or 1/2 stick Unsalted Butter that are cut into small cubes - Mix them up with your fingers till crumbly.  **If it feels too dry, add a Tablespoon more of butter or use less flour.  Set Aside.

Batter:
Preshift your flour and measure out 2-1/4 C Organic Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder without Aluminum
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
Shift all of the flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda and Salt together three times.   Set Aside.

The night before:  Measure out all the ingredients the night before and set aside.
Don't forget to leave the measured Milk, Egg, and Sour Cream in the refrigerator.
Next morning, before you start brushing your teeth and getting dress, take all the stuff out of the refrigerator to bring to room temperature.
Once you are ready with an apron - Mix in a medium bowl:.
3/4 C Organic Cane Sugar   (adjust the sweetness to your taste.  I sometime only add 2/3 C depending on what I am adding, such as chocolate chips, raisins...that are already sweet.)
1/2 C Milk
1/2 C Sour Cream
1/3 C EVOO  or Pure Vegetable Oil (Stop using Canola or Corn oil, unless the corn oil is Non-GMO and Organic)
1 Large Organic Egg
Optional:  1 Tbsp Orange zest from home grown orange
1/2 C to 1 C Fresh Blueberries - washed and pat dry

While you are mixing the batter, Preheat the oven to 400'F (*but will be baking at 375'F)
Mix the batter with your hand whip.
Fold shifted flour mixture in.
Add Fresh Blueberries to the batter and mix in gently.
Scoop into Muffin Cups. 
Top with Raisin crumbles.
Drop the oven temperature to 375'F and Bake for 20 - 25  min. - depending on size of the muffin cup size.   This recipe will yield 9 muffins.   Each muffin cup is filled with scant 1/3 C of batter. Check for doneness at 15 minutes.  Then, Bake till tester comes out clean?  and beautiful tan brown?  Done!
*Know your gas oven's BTU or countertop electric oven's power and adjust temperature accordingly.

 

Lucky office co-workers.

Pink Lips Lotus Number 2 - 2015

I will probably going to miss the full blossom of this number two Pink Lips lotus.  I noticed it flowers later than usual   morning hours at 7 am.  Even at 8, it is barely open, except for this jolly drone bee that always visit every year...may be it's a different bee but it always shows up when my Pink Lips is awakening.   Lucky lady. Got a secret admirer in this world.

Pink Lips 1 - 2015

This year my original groups of pink lips failed to revive after the transfer ordeal it suffered last summer.  I suppose if you don't have s container to support a large root development, try to keep the fertilizers at a bare minimum or none.  My over eagerness to nurture the original Pink Lips costed their roots to over grow in a tiny container in turn causing the root system to exert enough power to crack through the tough Rubbermaid trash container it lived for many years.  This Pink Lips photos are of the seedlings from the originals that I cultivated in a different container.   It proudly matured and survived the winter frost.  It finally blossomed into a beautiful Pink Lips.  I am waiting for the first blossom to seed, then I can cultivate some more for the 'just in case'.

Even the bumble bee comes out to say 'Hello'.   May be it is telling #2 the secret it found.