Celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day with Stories & Traditional Irish Soda Bread

Saint Patrick may be the patron saint of Ireland but his day, March 17th, is celebrated far and wide. It is a day for parades, fiddling and dancing, green beer and feasting. Will you hop a plane to Dublin and take part in their Saint Patrick’s festival? Maybe you’ll head to New York for the world’s oldest and largest Saint Paddy’s Day parade. Once there, you can join the hundreds of thousands of marchers, fifers and drummers or the millions of spectators lining the route. Maybe you’ll stay closer to home and spend the evening in your favorite pub.

Intercontinental airfare not in your budget? Crowds not your thing? Not into green beer? Forget these typical Saint Paddy’s Day festivities. How about letting one of Ireland’s great traditions help you take your celebration in a different direction? Let the ancient art of Irish storytellers inspire you. Invite your friends around for a cozy evening. While you enjoy a wonderful meal together, invite everyone to share a special story or two. Yes, stories. Before radio, television and the internet, long, cold winter evenings were often filled with legends and tall tales. Everyone has at least one story to tell.

Now, some of your friends may be intimidated by the idea. You yourself might be wondering if it’s a good idea. What to tell? How to start? Okay, take a deep breath. Now remember you probably tell stories all the time. (No, I don’t mean the tall tale you told your boss about having the flu last week. Instead of bed, you spent the day enjoying fresh powder on the ski slopes!)

Let your mind wander. Before you know it, a special memory will take hold and a story will unfold. It could be your first kiss, favorite summer vacation or learning to ski. Don’t worry, it will come. Need some focus? It might help you and your guests to know that most Irish tales fall into a few categories. So consider the following when you ponder the possibilities:

Tales of adventures and voyages. Don’t worry; your escapades do not have to be epic to be interesting. As long as they are told from the heart, your adventures will easily charm your audience. Think back to your first day of school or summer camp. Or that special day you spent with a favorite uncle or grandchild hiking up Mount Kearsarge or sailing on Lake Sunapee.

Stories of romance, courtship and tragedy. What about that first kiss? Perhaps you were the instigator and planted a big smooch on an unsuspecting classmate during recess. And your high school crush; did you woo her and win her or tragically lose her to a handsome senior? You remember him; he was not very bright but drove a Mustang convertible, played lacrosse and didn’t have pimples.

Sagas of battles and heroics. So you aren’t a knight. You have no armor. How about food fights in the school cafeteria or week long battles of Capture the Flag. These skirmishes may lack the epic grandeur of a medieval legend but they will remind your listeners of good times gone by.

Magical visions of leprechauns, fairies and ghosts. You may be hard-pressed to find a leprechaun in your garden but maybe you have an eerie story to share. Perhaps you experienced a strange evening around the Ouija board back in the fourth grade or honeymooned in a haunted castle in county Clare.

A final word when preparing your tales. Remember that your goal is to entertain. Concentrate on the stories that make you smile, even laugh. Unless you can tell the saga of your divorce with razor sharp wit and wry humor, leave it for another day. Think festive feast; not group therapy. Have a wonderful evening, filled with tall tales and good fun.

Bon appétit!

Traditional Irish Soda Bread
Traditional Irish Soda Bread is not made with butter, currents, eggs and seeds. These fancy extras are Irish-American inventions. Enjoy the simplicity of this country bread!
Makes 1 large

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
About 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet.

Put the flour, baking soda and salt in large bowl and whisk to combine.

Stir in enough buttermilk to form moist clumps. Gather the dough into a ball and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough until it just holds together, about 1 minute.

Shape the dough into a round about 6 inches in diameter and 2 inches high. Put the loaf onto the prepared baking sheet. Cut a 1-inch deep X across the top of the dough, extending almost to edge.

Bake the bread at 425 degrees until it is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on bottom, about 35 minutes. Transfer the bread to a rack to cool and serve warm or at room temperature.

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One Year Ago – Guinness Lamb Shanks
Two Years Ago – Strip Steak with Gorgonzola Sauce
Three Years Ago – White Bean Dip
Four Years Ago – Warm Chocolate Pudding
Or Click Here! for a complete list of and links to all the recipes on this blog!

How will you celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day? Let’s get a conversation going.

Want more? I’ve got links to lots more to read, see & cook as well as a day in the life photoblog! In addition, I hope that you will take a minute to learn about my philanthropic project Eat Well-Do Good. © Susan W. Nye, 2013

Java Junkie or Coffee Connoisseur? & Apple Muffins

Last week when Sandy was tearing into New Jersey and heading north, I read the following advice on Facebook: Here’s a great suggestion from those of us who can’t live without our morning coffee. Make a large pot now. Cold coffee tomorrow is better than no coffee tomorrow.

Are you one of those people who can’t live without your morning cup of joe? You can easily recognize the type as they are more or less, mostly more, incoherent until fortified with that first jolt of caffeine.

For many years I was addicted to coffee. A java junkie, I supported a seven, eight, even nine cup a day habit. I started my day with a large café au lait and usually ended it with a tiny espresso. At the time I worked in a big stuffy office. Coffee revived me when I was feeling logy. More important, it gave me an excuse to get up and away from my desk, if only for a few minutes. Forget the water cooler, in offices around the world, lots of information, important and not, is shared over coffee.

My fascination with coffee began when I was little. First of all, it smelled wonderful. And second, it was off limits. I seem to remember a well circulated old wives tale that drinking coffee stunted a child’s growth. I’m sure it was all a ruse. Moms everywhere knew all to well that their children had enough energy and didn’t need the additional jolt. After countless requests, my Mother humored me when I was ten, maybe eleven. She’d let me try a little but had one caveat. If I wanted to drink coffee; I had to drink it black, no sugar and no milk. She insisted that loading it up with milk and sugar would be like drinking hot, melted ice cream. I was game, took a sip and, as expected, once was enough …

… until college. College is the perfect time for experimenting and new adventures. I tried lots of new stuff, including coffee; lots and lots of coffee. It felt cool and adult to sit around with my friends drinking cup after cup after cup. (Even if we did add a ton of milk and sugar!) Like most students, I was not a master at time management and un-regrettably I wasted a lot of time having fun. As a result I spent many late nights in the art studio and library. Coffee was not an option; it was a necessity.

In the early days of my coffee addiction, I was hardly a snob. The college dining room served huge pots of mediocrity which I drank at every meal. For late nights, I use a little electric percolator. When pressed for time, I threw a couple of spoonfuls of instant coffee into a mug and added hot tap water. I confess I bought the cheapest coffee I could find, blaming it on my student budget.

It wasn’t until I moved to Switzerland that I discovered that coffee could be. The Swiss have very good, very strong coffee. In fact it is so good that I drank it without sugar. In short order I was not only hooked but became a coffee snob. I bought French, Italian and even Turkish coffee and espresso makers and didn’t skimp on the beans. Every morning I enjoyed a big, beautiful cup of café au lait. Afternoons and evenings, I moved on to tiny cups of thick, black espresso.

Unfortunately, some good things must come to an end. At least a decade ago, bouts of insomnia forced me to cut back on my coffee habit. I still have two, maybe three coffees in the morning but noon is my witching hour. I am still a coffee snob and my favorite is a shot of very strong, very good espresso topped off with lots of steaming milk. And Mom was right (isn’t she always?), it does taste a little like a hot milk shake!

Bon appétit!

Apple Muffins
When was the last time you met friends for coffee? Gather around the kitchen table and indulge in a perfect cup of coffee, a tasty muffin and even better conversation. Enjoy!
Makes about 16 muffins

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded apple
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts
Grated zest of 1 orange
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons orange liqueur

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners.

Put the flour, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine.

Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the egg, sour cream and orange liqueur, gradually increase the mixer speed to high and beat until smooth.

Toss the shredded apple, raisins, walnuts and orange zest with the flour to combine.

With the mixer on low speed, add the flour, fruit and nuts to the egg mixture and mix until just combined. Fill the muffin cups about two-thirds full and sprinkle with the streusel topping.

Bake the muffins in the middle of the oven until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool the muffins in the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Serve the muffins warm or at room temperature.

Streusel Topping
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces

Combine the flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter, pulse until the topping comes together into small lumps.

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One Year Ago – Mixed Greens with Warm Roasted Squash
Two Years Ago – Spinach Ricotta Pie
Three Years Ago – Seared Scallops with Lentils
Four Years Ago – Tomato, Olive & Feta TartOr Click Here! for a complete list of and links to all the recipes on this blog!

How do you take your coffee? I’d love to hear from you! Let’s get a conversation going.

Want more? I’ve got links to lots more to read, see & cook as well as a day in the life photoblog! In addition, I hope that you will take a minute to learn about my philanthropic project Eat Well-Do Good. © Susan W. Nye, 2012

The Wedding of the Century & Lemon Scones

Finally after weeks of hubbub, the royal wedding, the wedding of the century is this Friday. If you’ve got time to read the paper, it can only mean that you are not packing and heading off to London. You’d think that with close to 2,000 invitations we would have received one. If ex-boyfriends and girlfriends, the butcher, baker and candlestick maker from Kate’s hometown, a slew of celebrities and most of Europe’s seated and unseated royalty are invited, why not you and me?

Then again, an invitation to the wedding does not mean an invitation to the reception. A cast of 2,000 will elbow for pew space in Westminster Abbey but only 600 are invited back to Buckingham Palace for champagne and nibblies. A second reception with dinner and dancing to the wee hours is for the nearest and dearest friends and family, all 300 of them.

Even with all the pomp and circumstance, who would want to travel more than 3,000 miles just to see the ceremony? The fun of a wedding is the party afterwards. That’s where stories, myths and legends are created. From falling into punchbowls to … well, maybe we shouldn’t get into that right now… And if you aren’t invited back to the Palace, what’s next? Do you wander around in the damp and drizzle (it is April after all) until you find a crowded pub for a pint and a stale cheese sandwich?

It seems like the countdown to William and Kate’s wedding began a nanosecond after they announced their engagement. About the same time, the bride-to-be was renamed from girl-next-door Kate to the more regal Catherine. The press doesn’t seem to be buying it. Take it from a Susan who is constantly called Sue, it ain’t gonna happen. Although I suppose it might work if dungeons and head loppings are used as incentives.

I must admit to a bit of curiosity about Catherine’s final days as Kate. Has her future grandmother-in-law invited her to call her Nana or Gran? Did Camilla throw a shower? Can you imagine all the royals tripping off to Marks & Sparks? (That’s the department store otherwise known as Marks & Spenser. It’s a lot like JC Penny’s with a grocery store in the basement.) So what do you think; did they buy up all the toasters and tea towels or head straight for the lacy lingerie?

As showers go, it must have been some party. The always unflappable Queen with her hat, gloves and the inevitable purse would have set the tone. Hopefully, the always flappable Fergie did a quick re-set and added a little excitement and drama to the proceedings. As for Camilla, the hostess, what kind of (extra) effort do you need to make when you’re the soon to be (evil) step-mother-in-law? Do you suppose she bustled into the palace kitchen and dashed off dozens of dainty tea sandwiches and tiny cupcakes? I’m guessing she called out for Chinese.

And now the wedding is just a few days away. Don’t mope because you won’t be in the thick of things at Westminster Abbey. Invite your pals over to watch the Wedding of the Century on television. Make it an early morning pajama party! Then again … if you aren’t ready to welcome guests at 5 a.m. (and I’m with you on that one) you can always stay in bed. Plump up the pillows, sip a cup of tea and watch all the fanfare in regal splendor. And if you doze off and miss the walk down the aisle or kiss on the balcony? Not to worry, the reruns will play and replay again and again and again.

Enjoy the festivities and bon appétit!

‘

Lemon Scones
Royal wedding or not, scones and tea are a great start to any day. Enjoy!
Makes 12 scones

.

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon salt
Grated peel of 1 lemon
12 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1-2 tablespoons heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with a non-stick silicon mat or lightly butter a large baking sheet.

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, spices and lemon peel in the bowl of a food processor, pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream and egg. Whisk in the lemon juice. Add the egg mixture to the food processor and pulse until the dough starts to come together in a ball.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, pat together into a ball and gently knead until smooth, 8-12 turns.

Divide the dough into three pieces. Pat each portion into a 1-inch thick round. (You can do ahead to this point. Wrap the rounds in plastic and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake.)

Cut each round into wedges; 4 for regular scones and 8 for minis. Place the scones about 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops with cream.

Bake the scones until light brown, 15-18 minutes. Serve warm with butter and blueberry jam.

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Will you be watching the Wedding of the Century? I’d love to hear from you! Let’s get a conversation going. To make a comment, just click on Comments below. I’d be delighted to add you to the growing list of blog subscribers. To subscribe: just scroll back up, fill in your email address and click on the Sign Me Up button. You’ll get an email asking you to confirm your subscription … confirm and you will automatically receive a new story and recipe every week.

Want more? Click here for lots more to read, see & cook! In addition, I hope that you will take a minute to learn about my philanthropic project Eat Well-Do Good. ©Susan W. Nye, 2011

Mad Hatter Day & Ginger Scones

Break Free from Habit and Convention

Calling all contrarians! Lovers of the unthinkable, preposterous and absurd, October 6th is Mad Hatter Day. You remember the Mad Hatter from Alice and Wonderland. He always seemed to be in trouble with the Queen of Hearts. Although I guess he was only one of many who raised her ire and cries, “Off with his head.” Alice met him at afternoon tea which he shared with the March Hare. The tea totaling twosome drove her to distraction by talking in riddles. Truth be told, we can’t really blame the poor Mad Hatter for his foolish stuff and nonsense. Assuming he really was a hatter, he was most likely crazed by mercury poisoning.

Mad Hatter Day was started by a bunch of computer geeks in Boulder, Colorado in the mid-eighties. Not as a grand gesture or political statement but because they had nothing better to do. Mad Hatter Day is autumn’s answer to April Fools’ Day, but without the pranks. It is a day when everything is turned topsy-turvy. When in is out and out is in; up is down and down is up.

Throughout the year we all smile, accept and even openly champion all sorts of crazy, cockeyed or ridiculous ideas and activities. Why? Because that’s the way we do things! It doesn’t matter if deep down inside it seems ridiculous, it’s the status quo.

So we:

1.  Drive to the gym to exercise,
2.  Wear a necktie to work on a sweltering day,
3.  Work when we are on vacation,
4.  Clip coupons to save money on things we don’t need or really even want but have to buy because of all the money we save!
5.  And spend billions and billions on our hair to make it look natural.

Then again, we:

6.  Drink our morning coffee or tea from a bunch of ugly, mixed-and-unmatched freebie mugs that we’ve collected at conferences, gas station openings and various and sundry events and occasions.
7.  And hang onto an old jacket (or skirt or pants or whatever) in case it comes back in style, even though it hasn’t fit in a decade or two.

Finally, in our hustling and bustling world, we never have time to relax, sit and chat over a cup of coffee or glass of wine because we are too busy:

8.  Multitasking and simultaneously communicating with dozens of people or more with instant messages, Tweets, voicemails and emails,
9.  Not to mention the cell phone which is permanently glued to our ear,
10. Or our addiction to reality television even though there is nothing real about it.

This Mad Hatter Day, take a deep breath, throw caution to the wind and denounce at least one or two of the absurdities you endure the other 364 days of the year. Take a long walk. Leave your necktie at home. Let your hair go natural. Invite someone to tea, use the good china, turn off your cell phone and enjoy a real conversation. Smile and celebrate a day free of some of the ridiculous habits of modern life. Have a wonderful Mad Hatter Day,

Bon appétit!

Ginger Scones
The perfect autumn teatime treat. Call your best pals or that interesting new acquaintance, get out your teapot, the good cups and enjoy!
Makes 12-24 scones

2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Grated peel of 1/2 orange
2/3 cup crystallized ginger, diced
10 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Spiced Cream Cheese Icing (optional) recipe follows

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly butter a large baking sheet.

Put the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, spices and orange peel in the food processor and pulse to combine. Add the crystallized ginger and pulse to combine.

Add the butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 3/4 cup heavy cream; pulse until the dough starts to come together in a ball. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, pat together into a ball and knead gently until smooth, 8-12 turns.

Divide the dough into thirds. Pat each portion into a 3/4-inch thick round.  Cut each round into wedges; 4 for large scones and 8 for small. Place the scones about 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops with cream.

Bake the scones until light brown, 15-18 minutes. Drizzle with Spiced Cream Cheese Icing and serve warm or at room temperature.

Spiced Cream Cheese Icing
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons cream cheese at room temperature
1 tablespoon sour cream

Whisk together the powdered sugar and ginger in a medium bowl. Add the cream cheese and sour cream and stir with a fork until smooth and creamy.

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What’s your favorite teatime treat? I’d love to hear from you! Let’s get a conversation going. To make a comment, just click on Comments below.

I’d be delighted to add you to the growing list of blog subscribers. To subscribe: just scroll back up, fill in your email address and click on the Sign Me Up button. You’ll get an email asking you to confirm your subscription … confirm and you will automatically receive a new story and recipe every week.

Feel free to visit my other, cleverly named blog, Susan Nye’s Other Blog, or website www.susannye.com. You can find more than 200 recipes, links to magazine articles and lots more. I hope that you will take a minute to learn about my philanthropic project Eat Well-Do Good. ©Susan W. Nye, 2010

Summer Breakfast & Blueberry Muffins

It’s summertime and the livin’ is easy. Or at least for the week or two or three when you leave the rat race behind and head for the beach or mountains. It’s lovely to say goodbye to schedules, back-to-back meetings and carpools. It’s wonderful to relax, breathe some clean country air and take it slow.

With no alarm to blast you out of a sound sleep, taking it slow may include an extra hour or two of shuteye. Or maybe you prefer to get up with the sun and then spend a long lazy morning on the porch with an extra cup of coffee and time to actually read the newspaper. If you’re lucky, maybe, just maybe, someone will cook you up a big country breakfast.

My Dad is famous from coast to coast for his waffles. Dad’s waffles have become a special tradition with the youngest Nyes. His three youngest granddaughters leave the Boston suburbs behind and spend most of the summer on Pleasant Lake. They frequently charm their grandfather into making them waffles, at least once a week, sometimes more. His great-grandsons visit from California every year or two. They look forward to swimming, kayaking, sailing and Grampa’s waffles. Not necessarily in that order.

These are not fresh from-the-freezer-to-the-toaster waffles but are made-to-order and served hot off the waffle iron. They are universally known as Grampa’s awful waffles because they are awfully good. Some mornings they deserve the name because it is awfully chaotic as he tries, with limited success, to feed five or six or more kids simultaneously. Dad’s waffles have become so famous that other people’s grandchildren sometimes stop by, as if by chance, as soon as the iron is hot.

I have to accept at least some of the blame for this mayhem. Sometime in the early nineties, I bought Dad his first waffle iron. He is one of those guys who have everything. Finding Christmas and birthday gifts for him is generally impossible, or at the least very difficult. So from time to time, I skip the gloves, wallet, sweater or golf balls and go for something a bit more creative. Or as some might argue, a bit more foolish. The waffle iron was for one of those Christmases. You may disagree, he may have disagreed, but I thought I was terribly clever.

My two older nephews, who are now twenty-something, thought it was a terrific idea. Thanks to them, the waffle iron did not end up at the church rummage sale or in the back of the closet. It was put to work almost immediately and Dad has been making waffles ever since.

His secret recipe? Easy. Buy some Bisquick, eggs and milk and follow the directions on the box. Serve hot, smothered in butter and drenched in pure, sweet New Hampshire maple syrup. But these festive and chaotic mornings are more than a buttery sweet and syrupy breakfast. Kids grow up fast and before long Grampa’s awful waffles will be one of many special memories of summer on Pleasant Lake for this youngest generation of Nyes.

Enjoy and bon appétit!

Blueberry Muffins
Since you don’t need a recipe for Dad’s awful waffles, here’s another breakfast treat. Get an extra cup of coffee, pull up a chair on the porch and enjoy!
Makes about 32 muffins

3 1/2 cup sifted flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
Grated peel 1 lemon
1 1/2 cup (3 sticks) butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 12/ cup milk
1 pint blueberries tossed in 1 tablespoon flour

Line muffin tins with paper liners. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, stir in grated lemon peel.

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and beat on high speed until smooth. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture and milk alternately in 2 batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and mixing until just combined.

Toss blueberries with a little flour and fold into batter.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with the batter. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

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One Year Ago – Peanut Butter Brownies

What’s your favorite summer breakfast? Or summer morning memory? I’d love to hear from you! Let’s get a conversation going. To make a comment, just click on Comments below.

I’d be delighted to add you to the growing list of blog subscribers. To subscribe: just scroll back up, fill in your email address and click on the Sign Me Up button. You’ll get an email asking you to confirm your subscription … confirm and you will automatically receive a new story and recipe every week.

Feel free to visit my other, cleverly named blog, Susan Nye’s Other Blog for tales of an optimistic baby boomer or Susan Nye 365 for daily snapshots of life in New Hampshire. You can find more than 200 recipes, links to magazine articles and lots more on my website. I hope that you will take a minute to learn about my philanthropic project Eat Well-Do Good. © Susan W. Nye, 2010

Getting Ready for Mothers’ Day & Rhubarb Muffins

So I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I think that really and truly spring has sprung! At one point, it even seemed that we might just bypass spring and head straight into summer. The garden is filled with a blooming bounty of daffodils. Most of the tulips were nibbled down to the nub by the deer but at few survived this indignity and are getting ready to burst. Unfortunately, I suspect that the deer decided a little color would be nice with their greens and are waiting for these few tulips to bloom. I can sense them spying from the woods across the road. It won’t be long before they saunter over and treat the rest of my spring garden like an all-you-can-eat salad bar.

The best part of these early spring days is the thrilling absence of black flies. It is great to be back in t-shirts and sneakers and revel in the sunshine. Even better is the chance to spend some time in the warm, wonderful sunshine unfettered by black flies. If that little window of opportunity has not yet slammed shut where you live, it will soon. Before you know it, a few early scouts will start to nose around, doing recognizance for the hordes to come. A neighbor told me that she has already spotted one or two; I’m hoping she’s wrong.

There is a wonderful peace and calm to gardening, at least in my neighborhood. The quiet is only broken by the twitter of birds and the clunk of my shovel. Except for this year, this year the thud of the nail gun and buzz of the chop saw are adding their music to my garden. My porch fell down, not this past winter but the one before, the one with record snowfalls. It has obviously taken a while to get it all sorted and rebuilt. Construction started last fall but it wasn’t quite completed before the ice and snow fell. The carpenter promises it will be ready for Mothers’ Day.

The porch should be the perfect spot for a Mothers’ Day brunch. My snowbird mother will be back from the south. She and my father make their way north every spring, generally arriving a few days before Mothers’ Day. They time their arrival to miss the snow but usually manage to get back in time to welcome the black flies.

Like most mothers, my poor mom has had more than her fair share of special breakfasts in bed. For years, she endured Mothers’ Day mornings of sticky-sweet Hawaiian fruit punch, burnt toast and soggy rice crispies. We served her breakfasts that only a mother could love and she received them with grace, enthusiasm and good humor.

That is my mother; she is all about enthusiasm and good humor. No matter what she does, she always manages to do it with a sense of fun, ease and grace. Maybe it is her special superpower to make everything look effortless and easy. You often read about people who face life with dignity and grace. While their lives are inspiring, they often seem rather intimidating and awfully serious. My mom is too warm-hearted, too cheerful to be intimidating.

This is not to say she flighty or foolish. When the situation warrants, my mother can be very serious. She worries about family and friends and we can always count on her to be in our court. She’s not blind to our faults; she just tends to focus on the good in everyone and every situation. Her positive attitude is infectious, although I must admit it did take me a while to catch on. I think I rather enjoyed being a surly teenager, at least for a couple of years.

I can’t help but laugh when I think of breakfasts I served and gifts and cards I gave my mother when I was little. I know the best gift she gave me was a positive outlook. Enjoy the day with your mom, celebrate spring and try not to burn the toast!

Bon appétit!

Rhubarb Muffins
My rhubarb plant is starting to flourish. Just in time to make muffins for Mothers’ Day. These sweet treats are a great addition to any spring brunch. Enjoy!Makes about 16 muffins

1 3/4 cup sifted flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
4-6 ounces fresh rhubarb stalks, cut into small dice
Crunchy Topping (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 16 standard (1/3-cup) muffin cups or use paper liners.

Sift together flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together. Add the egg and vanilla; beat on high speed until smooth.

Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture and milk, alternating in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until just combined.

Fill muffin cups about half full. Sprinkle batter with rhubarb. Crumble topping evenly over the rhubarb.

Bake in the middle of the oven until tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool muffins on a rack for a few minutes. Serve warm.

Can be made the day ahead. Let cool completely and store in a closed container at room temperature. Reheat and serve warm.

Crunchy Topping
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

Whisk together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Add butter and blend with a fork or your fingertips until mixture forms small clumps.

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