An Update, after forever

Hello, non-existent readers.

That's not a slight on you, if you readers are indeed existent. (Or, I don't know, maybe you enjoy existential crises. If so, you might be an English PhD student like me.)

That's right. You read that parenthetical comment correctly: since the last time I updated this blog, I have graduated from undergrad at Cornell, and am now selling my soul to the devil working away at my second year of grad school life in the English PhD program at Emory University. All those hours procrastinating while I was supposed to be studying for the GREs and which were actually spent watching TV and baking have paid off, it would seem (if three hour seminars on literary theory and posthumanism and crime fiction and feminist theory are your kind of thing).

Roasted fingerling potatoes (multi-colored!) & broccoli (curried!), but most importantly: Sarah Manning

Let's cut to the chase though: I am a terrible blogger.

Raspberry muffins: made with this blueberry muffin recipe, substituting raspberries instead

It's true. You can say it. I really am.

The last time I updated was more than two years ago. No goodbye, no apologies... nothing. I just up and went. Can we blame it on the grad school applications? Well, not really, since I didn't take the GREs until the September of that fateful year (2013) and then the Literature Subject GRE in October and then applications in December and January... and then the last year of undergrad.

Ah, those days... the sandwiches from Temple of Zeus I remember fondly; the GREs, not so much.

But then there was a whole summer of doing absolutely. nothing. zero. zilch.

I learned to cook, added more baking recipes to my arsenal, and still. Crickets.

I never touched this blog.

How naive was I back then in the summer of '69 2013, when I thought that I could properly maintain a quality food blog? So so naive.

Fruit-infused vodka (1, 2, 3, 4), and also see: fruit-vodka lychee-juice cocktail.

Grad school has made me slightly less so. (Grad school has also driven me to drink... but seriously, my fruit-infused vodkas are so. damn. good.) So... this is  not a promise that I will update this blog frequently, or even at all. But: I am going to go through comments and reply to the few that you lovely souls have left on my posts, and we'll see where we go from there.

Popovers, perfected!

I can minimally cook now (and even on a grad school stipend!), and I've perfected some of my old recipes (see popovers above and below), so maybe, just maybe, one day I'll find the time and willpower to update once more.

When your popovers are more photogenic than you are.

Until then, here is a link to my Instagram (username: @airplangs), where I mostly post photos of food I eat and occasionally even food that I've cooked. Me! I can cook! (When I'm not being lazy/too stressed out to eat anything other than potato chips and bread.) I've even come up with my own concoctions, like the mini latticed blueberry pies (shown below), roasted potatoes and curried broccoli (pictured above, with the Orphan Black picture because oh god yes, that show gives me LIFE), and other easy/healthy one-person dishes, so hopefully (maybe this winter break! Or more likely, next summer break) I will get my butt back into gear and post some recipes for you!

Mini blueberry pies, made with crescent dough, and accompanied by Oryx and Crake

Ever yours in procrastination,
Amy

Easy Blueberry Muffins

I think I spoke too soon.

It is even hotter than it was before. 102°F. 102°F. Ahhhhhhhh!

And yet, I decided that today was the perfect day to whip up my second batch of blueberry muffins in the span of a week.

Still perfect. Still delicious.

Still dying in the heat.

But still worth it. Oh yes. These muffins are so good.

The recipe, which is almost identical to the one my mom and I used to use but couldn't find anymore, is from here. Yields 12 muffins.

And those 12 muffins go quickly.

INGREDIENTS
- 1 (large) egg
- ¼ cup oil
- ½ cup milk
- 1½ cups flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup blueberries

Preheat your oven to 400°F and either line 12 muffin-tin cups with paper liners or spray the bottom and sides with cooking spray. (I like how the ones without paper liners get nice golden sides, but the ones with paper liners are much easier to get out of the tins.)

In a small or medium mixing bowl, beat the egg until foamy. (I don't think it matters how foamy it is, but beating until foamy should make the cupcakes slightly lighter.)

Beat in the oil and milk.

In a separate, large mixing bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt).

Stir in the blueberries. I used slightly over 1 cup because I mean, come on- the more blueberries, the merrier!

(In the past, I have waited until after adding the wet ingredients to add the blueberries, but I'm guessing that putting them in before yields blueberries that burst open while baking, which is deliciously awesome.)

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid ingredients.

Incorporate the wet into dry ingredients fully. (Original recipe suggests only mixing for 25 to 30 strokes, but I don't think this matters very much.)

Fill the cups in your muffin pan(s), filling each muffin cup slightly more than half-full. (I forgot to take a photo the first time, so these are from the second time I made them this week!)

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until muffins are golden-brown and the centers test done with a toothpick.

Loosen the sides of each muffin with a spatula or toothpick and turn them out to cool.

These taste best when still warm, but the ones I didn't immediately devour were inhaled for breakfast the next day.

I'm going to say it: blueberry muffins are the best muffins.

Unf. So so good.

Savory Broccoli and Cheese Muffins

Confession: I actually made these muffins on Sunday, but... I've been too lazy to write up an accompanying blog post.

I have been finding it difficult to muster up any ounce of motivation at the moment. (I did finally sign up for my road test but uh yeah... I've been putting that off for three years.) What can I say. I am a master procrastinator.

In any case, Sunday night was the Confederations Cup final, and I really did stay at home, instead of going out with my parents to my favorite Chinese restaurant (well, the only good one in Ithaca), in order to watch Brazil beat Spain. I probably wouldn't have been too upset if Spain had won, since they're my second favourite national team, but the Green and Yellow are my number one.

I promise it was a coincidence that these muffins are also green and yellow, but we'll roll with it. (Accidentally on purpose!)

I heavily adapted this broccoli and cheddar muffins recipe, using larger florets to make a little broccoli tree in the center! I didn't trim my florets enough so some of them peeked out over the top of the muffins, but I mean, it's the taste that's the most important, and these are definitely some tasty muffins.

Anyway, since it's still very hot and humid right now, I think I'll just let the recipe and photos take it from here. (And let me tell you: I loved photographing these muffins. So photogenic!)

INGREDIENTS
- ½ cup broccoli florets, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 6 small broccoli florets
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup water
- 1 cup AP flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ or 1 tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- ⅓ cup shredded cheese

NOTES: 
• This recipe yields 6 muffins.
• I used a ½ cup of bite-sized broccoli, but I think that if you wanted more, ¾ cup would still work.
• You could use buttermilk or milk instead of water, but I didn't have any on hand.
• Original recipe would call for ½ tsp mustard powder instead of paprika, but again, I didn't have any of that in the kitchen, and I think I would prefer paprika anyways.
• I used ½ tsp cayenne pepper because I wanted my muffins to be extra-spicy, but they're still spicy even with ¼ tsp.
• I used a mixture of Colby Jack cheese (I only had a little left in the bag, so might as well use it up!) and a Four Cheese blend.
• This recipe can easily be doubled if you're looking to serve more people and/or have more leftovers for breakfast, brunch, etc.
• I promise this recipe is not as difficult or lengthy as these notes and ingredient list are! :D

Preheat your oven to 350°F and either line a 6-cup muffin tin with paper liners sprayed with cooking spray OR simply spray each cup of the muffin tin, sans liners. (I tried both ways, and they work equally well.) Set aside.

Cut a handful of broccoli florets into bite-sized pieces, but leave 6 florets whole. (I ended up using just over half of a head of broccoli.) Then trim the 6 remaining florets down to size. (Mine were a little too large, so the batter didn't completely cover them in the muffin tin, but I'm okay with that.)

In a large bowl, mix together the oil, egg, and water.

In a large measuring cup or medium bowl, add together the flour, baking powder, salt, paprika, and ground cayenne pepper.

Add the dry ingredients into the wet, and mix until just combined.

Gently fold in the shredded cheese and bite-sized broccoli.

Pour out some the batter into the muffin cups until they are 3/4 full. Then place one of the broccoli florets in the center of each muffin cup. Top with remaining batter, filling the muffin cups. Try to spread the batter to cover the broccoli florets. Alternately, you could place the florets into the cups first, before pouring the batter around them. This way might make it easier to cover up the florets entirely. OPTIONAL: You could top with more shredded cheese.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Voila! Tasty cheesy broccoli muffins.

These look so cute when cut in half, revealing the tiny broccoli tree!

I think these tasted best when still nice and toasty, about 30 minutes after coming out of the oven. However, they still taste good the next day. (and probably after that too, but they didn't last that long with me in the house!) You could even stick them briefly into the microwave or toaster oven to reheat them.

Yum. The broccoli is nice and soft, just like it would be in a cheddar broccoli soup, and the cayenne gives a nice kick to the tastebuds. (Ooh yes, I do love spicy food.)

(I immediately ate three. And I'm not remotely remorseful about that.)

Enjoy!

Banana Applesauce Muffins

These muffins want to make love to my camera.

Okay, maybe that's a little hyperbolic, but come on. There are very few things in the world that are more photogenic than a freshly baked muffin.

I lied. A dozen fresh muffins are even better.

In other news, I was really trying to play it cool and not be overeager, but here I am, posting on a third consecutive day. It's just that there are so many exciting things to make! And many things to eat! (I already have a small backlog of photos to post... yes, I've got it bad. Bitten by the baking bug. I haven't even gotten the chance to try out my new mini madeleine pan yet!)

But these banana muffins were calling out to me. I've had this recipe sitting on my phone for days now, just staring cruelly at me, daring me to neglect it. Of course I succumbed. I didn't even stand a chance.

I couldn't even wait long enough for the bananas to ripen properly, which made it just that tiny bit more difficult to mash them, but the little chunks of banana in the end were a pleasant surprise, so I say: Give into temptation!

(And believe me, temptation was never so healthy. These have no oil, and no fat, and I even adapted the recipe to cut down on sugar! The original recipe says that each muffin contains 116 calories, no fat. Any snack under 250 calories sounds like a healthy snack to me! :D Means I can nab a second one when I finish typing this up...)

INGREDIENTS
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup mashed banana *
- 1/2 cup cinnamon applesauce

* approx. 2 ripe bananas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and either line your muffin tin(s) or lightly coat with non-stick cooking spray. I used two 6-cup muffin tins.

Combine the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt) in a large bowl and mix well.

Mash up your bananas.

These muffins don't even need oil to be delicious! (Just some applesauce.) I used Cinnamon Applesauce, but any kind should be fine!

In an even larger mixing bowl, mix together all the wet ingredients (eggs, mashed banana, applesauce).

Add in your dry ingredients, one cup at a time, and mix well.

Pour the batter into your muffin tin(s).

(Make sure to not overfill them. Two-thirds full is a good amount, generally.)

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. I baked them for 17 minutes and they turned out perfectly!

Let cool, and admire these beauties.

Breakfast is all set for tomorrow! Hope you like these as much as I do.