I love date nut anything.  My mom did not cook a lot but every Holiday Season she would make fruitcake and date nut bread.  It was, I think, the time when I felt our family was the most “normal”.

There is something about coming in on a dim winter afternoon, cheeks frozen from sledding, and smelling the aroma of date nut bread wafting out of the oven.  Not that I have experienced many snowy afternoons here in Texas, but growing up in Bucks County, Pa..well I had my share of Currier and Ives moments!

Making a sweet bread for breakfast means thinking ahead the day before and I don’t often do that much thinking ahead…at least not anymore.  So, whipping up these muffins for breakfast (total time 30 minutes) is simple.  Sweet and filling, these date nut muffins have big date flavor in every bite, with the faint woodsy-nutty walnut flavor coming in right behind.  Mix them up by hand so that you don’t over beat them—muffin murder.  Overbeating will cause muffins not to rise, and to be heavy and lethargic, somewhat like a teenager  at 7 in the morning.

Date Nut Muffins (from one of my vintage cookbooks, with adjustments by me)

• 1 cup chopped dates
• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups flour, sifted
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Topping:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup flour

Crumble together until it looks pebbly.

Directions:

1. Combine dates, baking soda, butter, and water.  Allow to cool.
2. Sift the dry ingredients together.
3. Beat sugar, vanilla, and egg until well blended.
4. Add dry ingredients to the date mixture, alternating with the egg mixture.  Begin and end with dry ingredients.
5. Stir in nut meats.
6. Scoop into 12 muffin cups and top with streusel.  Bake at 400 for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Serve warm.

12 muffins.

Do you ever feel like a short order cook in a restaurant?  I sure do.  Sometimes it seems like every one wants something different and breakfast seems to be the main problem.

What is it about breakfast that makes otherwise non-picky people so darn picky?  I have some that want pancakes, daily, others that want homemade granola, and still others that would prefer French toast.  The worst offenders, in my opinion, are those that claim not to be picky, claim they don’t care and then proceed to sigh and push their food around the plate with a fork.

To this, I have one thing to say…cheese and bacon biscuits.

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So, this morning I had the urge to fix breakfast…sort of.  O.k…so it wasn’t an urge exactly it was more like the sound of my children in the last, painful moments of starvation because it had been a few hours since they had eaten.

What is it with families and their need to eat on a regular basis?  My family, with the exception of me, has the metabolisms of hummingbirds on amphetamines.  Seriously.

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I don’t know how many of you know about the cool rise method of yeast baking.  It was, as far as I know, one of those things that was developed in the 1950s or so to help the homemaker get her bread made more conveniently.  It is a process of using a little more yeast and sugar and then allowing the dough to rise in the fridge overnight.  I wanted to see if it would work for my maple pecan rolls so I made a batch of dough last night and stuck them in the fridge.

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Every once in awhile I see something at Starbucks that intrigues me or that I think should be part of my recipe collection.  When I saw the raspberry thumbprint scones a few months ago I swore I was going to make them. I even bought the stuff.

And promptly got busy doing other things… Read more

About two weeks ago I attended a special party and I needed to bring something…Hmmm…I was in a rush, as always…what to bring?

SCONES! Read more

Too hot for the oven!

When I bought my stove I bought a huge one with a griddle in the middle. There are many things I dislike about my stove but THAT is not one. Read more

Yeah. I said it. Poser.

Sometimes getting breakfast around here is a big headache.  Imagine what mornings are like with 12 people, 8 of them kids…and of those kids all of them pretty much prefer different things. Cereal is not an option..way too expensive with that many people and teenage boy appetites.

I make doughnuts, and pancakes, and french toast… sometimes when I remember the night before I make cinnamon rolls…The other morning I decided to try Read more

Yes, we had a wonderful day antiquing. Thank you.

I woke up tasting these. I wasn’t sure how I was going to make them but I had the flavor in my head from the time I opened my eyes.

I was absolutely not disappointed with these. They spread out a bit more than I anticipated, next time I will make sure the dough is firmer. The flavor is delicate and sweetly fruity..the white tea is a fantastic addition. Try these, they are seriously good. Read more

Marc and I are about to head out for some antiquing…I have two recipes to post when I get back…but I thought I would leave you with an image….I got given a bunch of very ripe plums yesterday..and woke up this morning thinking of Plum-Rose Curd and Plum and White Tea Scones. It was just as good as I imagined it would be….so do check back for the recipes, O.k.?

Image;Marye Audet