Cornmeal Cranberry Muffins and some fresh air

Yesterday balmy temperatures and brilliant sunshine beckoned us outdoors before we had a chance to busy ourselves in the normal day-to-day routine, and welcomed us there for most of the morning.

While my ever-expanding girth kept me from romping in the snow as enthusiastically as Noah would have liked, I did manage to create the requisite snowman and thus Noah had a playmate to replace me.
With false contractions seizing my belly every so often, I hauled a lawn chair out of the shed, wedged it's feet in a snowbank and sank into it to watch Noah play.
The sun shone down on me, warming my skin and lifting my spirits with it's friendly reminder of spring to come.

We spent the better part of the morning like this until I noticed Noah had been snacking on the snowman's carrot nose and had gnawed it down to a mere sad-looking stub.

Lunch, anyone?



These cornmeal muffins are a cinch to whip up, but don't expect a cake-like, sweet treat. They are substantial enough to have for lunch with a bowl of yogurt and some fruit. I imagine you can use any berries you have on hand (blueberry-cornmeal is always popular), but I just had some dried cranberries left over from the holidays and they were just fine, too.

Cranberry Cornmeal Muffins

Makes 16 large muffins

3 large eggs
1-2/3 cups vegetable oil
1-2/3 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon lemon zest or orange zest
4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1-1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen or dried cranberries

Topping
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350F.

Prepare muffin tins with cooking spray. Mix together cornmeal, brown sugar and butter for topping. Set aside.

In large mixing bowl stir together dry ingredients. In separate bowl mix together wet ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry mixture and fold together until moistened. Do not overwork.

Gently fold berries into batter and fill prepared muffin tins three-quarters full. Sprinkle topping over each muffin and bake 20-25 minutes or until tester comes out clean.