Baking through this heat wave was truly out of the question. Seriously, I wasn't even cooking. The heat the gas burner threw off seemed to be too much for me to bear in my sticky apartment. You see, I am in a first floor apartment next to a vacant lot. So, there is no shade on the east side till well into the afternoon. That coupled with the fact that my old Portuguese landlord has been constructing what I believe will eventually be (maybe sometime next year?) new front steps right smack outside of my front two living room windows has made for one super hot space. He's out there morning, noon, and night. Working away. He doesn't leave till well after dark. And, typically, he usually has one or more other men with him. Talking. Pointing. Hammering. Drilling. Morning, noon, and night. Six days a week. So, to lessen the noise and attempt to increase my sense of privacy, the windows and blinds have been closed. A year and a half ago, his presence was endearing. Now, it's just annoying!
Needless to say, between his "construction" and the heat, just call me Cranky Mary.
The humidity finally broke last night when night fell. I was cruising around a coastal town called Newburyport and after dinner when the stars were emerging, the air was lovely, light, and cool. I instantly forgot about the previous train of days that reminded me of those 6 summers in Baltimore where all it ever seemed I did was sweat and sweat some more.
When I awoke, I was all about turning that oven on and whipping up some muffins for Sunday breakfast. Now, people say New England is cold and unfriendly. And, it can be. However, I will say that I have found some truly friendly people here just about everywhere I go. A woman in my chiropractor's office is one of them. She loves to bake and cook; consequently, that's what we talk about. Recently, she's been passing on some recipes and telling me about the things she's cooked and baked. I, of course, never tire of such stories and always enjoy sharing my interest and love for food.
So, Barb likes Giada de Laurentiis from the Food Network. Yes, of course, I know who this chef is and have seen her show. However, I never have cable TV in my house so I only catch all the super-chefs and TV stuff when I am home at my mom's. I want to tell you that I love this recipe. Mostly because the muffins are not overly sweet or cake-like. I am not a fan of cakey muffins. If I want cake, I will eat cake. I love the way the olive oil combines with the balsamic vinegar followed with some crunch from the toasted almonds and a little zing from the orange and lemon zest. It is really nice. You can whip these up in no time and just watch that you don't over bake them. Moist is better, of course.
Olive Oil Muffins
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons orange zest
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons whole milk
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted
Powdered sugar, for sifting
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin pan with paper liners.
Blend together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Then, with an electric mixer beat sugar, eggs, and zests till pale and fluffy. Beat in vinegar and milk. Gradually beat in oil. Add flour mix and stir just until blended. Crush almonds in your hands as you add them to the batter. Stir until mixed. Fill muffin tins just about to the top of the liners. Bake until golden and until a tester comes out with moist crumbs attached. Should take about 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to wire rack. Cool about 10 minutes. Remove muffins and let cool another 5 minutes. Sift powdered sugar over the muffins and serve.
Those were the celebratory birthday tarts from a local market. However, I spent the brunt of the day teaching a few choice San Francisco people how to make fruit and cream pies. We all worked hard and had a great time. It's always interesting to cook in someone else's space. My friend Jen's kitchen is absolutely retro and adorable. The oven, however, was a bit challenging. Hot spots. And, no window. We kept letting the heat out when we needed to check in on our baking pies. Despite some over done tart shells that stuck to the foil (they ended up looking kind of like abstract art), we all did well and things tasted great.
Also, check out these sites for more photos.
Jen's photos
Jamie's photos
I didn't have much time to grab my camera and set up shots!
After the five hour pie making extravaganza, I took a nap and then went to the Red Vic on Haight Street to watch the movie Waitress (which had a sub theme of pies). A big fat thank you to Jen for making the pie event possible! What a great way to ring in year 38! Here's to hoping it's filled with more adventures in and out of the kitchen!
