Two Berry Muffin Bliss and a Story

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It’s still not quite 10am here, so grab a cup of coffee and a muffin.  If you’re lucky, you have one that’s as delicious as mine.  But I’ll get to that later…

I finally decided to change my photo in the sidebar.  I started to think that maybe people didn’t get it — that it was never meant to be something serious considering the sarcastic human I am. 

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When I started blogging, I didn’t begin in Foodland.  I actually just needed to write, so started a blog that has nothing to do with food. *Can you even imagine?*  A good friend and I had made a commitment to begin a diet and exercise program, though, so it seemed like a separate blog (this one) would be perfect to discuss truly scintillating topics such as, "How to make tasty egg white omelets," or "Know your hamburger:  the hidden nutrients in America’s favorite sandwich."  Well, not quite, but almost.

It was actually quite a challenge to write here because I was trying to do something that didn’t feel like me. Not the cooking — the writing.  I was used to just letting my opinions fly, and this didn’t quite seem the place to do that since most of them have nothing to do with food.  Well, fifty percent, anyway.  Clearly, I’ve warmed up to the concept since then and have no trouble whatsoever being a complete smart ass when the occasion calls for it, or the weather is just right.

But what about the old photo?  It came about as the result of a post I did last year on having my hair cut after nearly a year had gone by.  It had gotten long and shaggy, and my roots were seriously in need of attention.  After years of having my hair done routinely every seven weeks ( I know.  High maintenance.), I had begun experimenting with dying my own hair, so not only was it long, it was lots of different shades — grey included.  Finally, I had my hair done, and being the snark I am, decided to dig up some old celeb photos, and mimic them.  I am quite easily entertained.  I guess you had to be there…

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So why did one of them end up here? *like this is news?*  That’s the semi-practical aspect of the whole thing.  I wanted a small photo that I could use as an avatar here and there, and it was easy to cut the least corny one from the four — or two, since I’m not Shelly Long, and could never come close to being Grace Kelly.  Plus, my crazy sister used to call her oldest daughter "Betty," even though her daughter’s name isn’t anything like Betty.  As in, "Come on, Betty.  We’re going to be late to softball practice…"  Yes, my sister also has a snark streak a mile wide.  And then we all know about my childhood obsession with Betty Crocker, right?  And how I have that old cookbook my mother received as a blushing bride in the mid-Fifties?  It just seemed too perfect to have that corny photo of me on this blog in much the same way that a ficititious Betty Crocker’s face appeared on a cookbook all those years.

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Make sense?  Great!  Now watch it change.  Frequently.  In the meantime, how about a muffin?

I just happened to find Susan’s Dos Berries Muffins at A Slice of Sueshe while making my rounds last week. I found Susan at Ben’s What’s Cooking? because she, unlike the complete slacker that I am, submitted them to Ben’s bi-weekly I love baking event.  They looked so amazing, I was crazed compelled to make a special trip to the store to get berries so I could make them the next morning.  Although I chose blackberries and raspberries for mine because they were on sale, and used Greek yogurt (0% fat) instead of sour cream because my sour cream was (is always) moldy, I think the general idea is that two berries are better than one.  So true.  And the recipe?  Mmmm…totally qualifies as excellent because of my all important "not too sweet" factor.

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My son and I enjoyed them warm from the oven with berries still steaming.  They’re outstanding plain so you can enjoy the fresh tartness of the berries, or with butter slathered under a drizzle of honey on the second one, because we each had to sample two.

Pure bliss, and many thanks to Susan for the great recipe!  This one is going to the top of my ever expanding muffin list.   

Do you have a muffin recipe you think I’d enjoy?  Let me know!

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