what day is it

Holiday Mondays have a way of messing with me.

I realized this morning in the way to work (work in the morning means it's Tuesday) that I hadn't done my blog post. I had however, done nearly 50 midterm practice questions, three loads of laundry, and half the dishes. I'm willing to call that a productive day.

Oh, and muffins.

Muffins are in some ways a near perfect food. Much like biscuits, you can whip them up in no time at all, they can be sweet or savoury and you can dress them up of leave them plain. Plus, portable, hand held food.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

What you need:

• 1-1/2 c flour
• 2/3 c sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup plain yogurt with as much fat in it as you can find (or sour cream)
• ~1/4 c melted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Nope, no cinnamon in the picture. That's because I decided to add it as I was mixing. Cinnamon and chocolate are a tasty combination.

What you gotta do:

Put all the dry powdery stuff in a big bowl and whisk it together.

Put all the wet stuff into another bowl, and whisk it.

I know most recipes go into a lot more detail than that when explaining how to make muffins, but really, that's what happens.

Dry in one bowl, wet in the other. This is so easy a 9 year old could do it.

Now, pour the whisked wet into the whisked dry.

And then fold them together with a wooden spoon. It's not a runny "batter" by any stretch of the definition, and really feels kinda like a fluffy cookie dough as you're mixing those last dry bits in.

Along with the chocolate chips.

This makes the perfect amount for 12 muffins, and it definitely sits up like cookie dough in the tins.

I baked mine at... Fuck, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Oh yeah, this is my new oven.

No window. And no light inside either. I'm going to go insane baking cookies. I need to see them! I like to watch the edges spread, and the tops lose their wet look, and see the chocolate melt...

Also, it seems to cook a bit hotter than my last one. Stove elements seem to have more juice too. Amusing since my last one was only 2 years old and this thing is nearly antique. Does "Admiral" even make stoves anymore?

Anyway, bake the muffins at 350 for about 18 minutes. Mine smelled done after 16, and a toothpick came out clean, but like I said, seems to cook a little hot. Plus, the line on the dial is nearly worn off so it's difficult to tell exactly what temp I've set the oven to.

Let them cool in the pan for a few minutes before moving them to a rack.

Freeze in pairs for breakfast throughout the week.

So, are you a peeker? Do you have to see what's going on in your oven?

I Made Pear Jam... With My Mom!!

Mom and I used to make jam every year.  Well, we bottled lots of stuff, actually.  Strawberry, raspberry, and pear jam, along with peaches, pears, tomatoes, salsa, and marinara.  Now that I live like 2500 miles away, that has become a thing of the past, and boy have I missed it.  So when she called and basically said, “Can I come visit you next week?”, one of the first things I did was run out and buy some pears so they would have time to ripen.  I might have even bought them before we had a bed for her to sleep in.  You know, we all have different priorities.  No way was I going to miss an opportunity to make jam with my mom.  Even if you don’t have a jam making partner, don’t be scared off.  It’s easy enough to make alone, and way better than anything you can buy in the store.  

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 5 cups mashed pears (about 8 or 9 pears)
• 5 cups sugar
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 package of pectin

The first thing you want to do is measure your sugar and set it aside so that it’s easily accessible when you need it. 

Next, squeeze 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice into a large measuring cup. I like using a measuring cup because then you can measure as you go. 

Just a couple notes about Bartlett pears, which is what I use and recommend.  They are always picked green.  They don’t really ripen on the tree, they rot.  So when you buy them, just try to get a group that are roughly the same stage of ripeness and similar in size.  When the pears are ripe, they’ll be a nice yellow color and quite soft, and they’ll smell amazing.  Now for prepping them.  Pull out the stem and cut the pear in half.  Run a small knife from top to bottom angling under the core area. 

Then just pop the piece out. 

Because pears are soft, a knife is your best implement for peeling. 

Cut the halves into large chunks and drop them in with the lemon juice. 

Using a potato masher, mash the pears and mix them with the lemon juice as you go. 

There’s 4 cups. 

Pour that into a large pan, then measure one more cup.  When it’s all in, mash until you have only small chunks remaining. 

Sprinkle on your pectin and stir it in, then turn the heat to medium. 

At this point, I obviously got distracted with gabbing, because I totally spaced taking more pictures until it was all finished.  It was the day after my mom had gotten into town, what would you expect?  Although, there’s not much left to do.  Stirring constantly, bring the pears to a full boil.  Once you’re there, pour in the sugar, and continue stirring.  Bring the mixture back to a boil and boil for 1 minute.  Turn off the heat and pour the jam into bottles.  It’s important that your bottles have been sterilized, as well as the lids.  After boiling the bottles, I like to put them through a dry cycle in the dishwasher so that they’re hot when I fill them.  Fill them to about ½ inch from the top.  Leave the lids in simmering water, then just pull them out and put them onto the bottles as you go.  Technically, at this point, you should process the bottles.  I don’t do that with jam, but of course it’s safer if you do.  Either way, you’ll end up with amazing jam.  This recipe gave me 7 ½ cups of finished jam. 

If you look at the instructions in your pectin box, you’ll see that the only thing I’ve changed in the recipe is the amount of pears.  I’ve found through trial and error that this ratio gives the perfect jam consistency.  Not too thick, not too thin. 

My favorite thing to use pear jam for is pancakes.  I’m pretty sure they’re soul mates.  I'm sure you could use it for countless other things, though.  French toast, on top of ice cream, in oatmeal, or even just a pb&j.   

Who is your kitchen partner and what thing would you miss most if you could no longer make it with them?