Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Muffins

Here's a muffin that can serve as an indulgent breakfast treat or dessert. My inspiration is a memory from a trip my ex-husband and I took to Rockport, Massachusetts to celebrate our anniversary. We stayed at a little sea-side bed-and-breakfast and as we were unpacking our car, the aroma of chocolate wafted from the B&B. When we checked in, I asked the innkeeper what that incredible aroma was. She said it was sour cream chocolate chip coffee cake for the next morning's breakfast.

So often after a divorce, good memories are put away and only the more difficult moments are remembered. Not so here. I have very happy memories of our time in Rockport. It is a beautiful place. The shops were lovely, and the restaurants were great. I remember bringing back lobster lollipops for the kids. Here's my recipe for Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Muffins, a tribute to that happy time.

CHOCOLATE CHIP SOUR CREAM MUFFINS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F -makes 1 dozen regular-sized muffins

1/4 cup soft butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 3/4 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup mini chocolate chips tossed with 1 tablespoon flour

2 tablespoons additional sugar, mixed with 1 tsp. cinnamon

Beat softened butter with sugar for five minutes (yes). Add vanilla extract. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add sour cream. Beat well.

Mix flour with baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture and beat until very well mixed together. Fold in chocolate chips.

Line muffin cups with paper liners. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Sprinkle tops with cinnamon sugar mixture.

Bake for 20 minutes or until centers are dry and spring back when lightly pressed.

Enjoy for breakfast, dessert, or no reason!!!

Photo credit:http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519E0J8BHEL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

MacArthur Drive

You can go home again. I did, this past Friday night. My sister Anne is a local realtor and had sent greetings to families in the neighborhood where we grew up, MacArthur Drive in Saratoga Springs. The gentleman who lives in our old house contacted Anne by letter (yes, a real letter) to say how much he enjoyed receiving her note. He told his daughter about Anne and the O’Farrell family beginnings in the house that’s now his home. Though her father was out of town this weekend, his daughter and her husband were here and called Anne, inviting her and any interested siblings to come by, to meet them, and to see the house today.

I lived in this house from the time I was fifteen months old to age nine. It is the first home I remember and the place where all my first impressions were formed. The house is white now. It was yellow when we lived there. Not much has changed, really. As I walked in the door, the space welcomed me home with the familiarity of an old relative. Yes, these were the same steps I climbed as a little girl. I walked in and looked down at the same oak floors that were original to the house when it was built in 1955. Everything looked smaller, the walls closer, but the essence of our home was still evident despite the stylistic and structural changes that have come in the four decades since we left. Our 1950s kitchen had white metal cabinets and a linoleum floor. This kitchen has beautiful cherry cabinets and hardwood floors. Our refrigerator and their stove traded places. I looked at the space where the refrigerator once stood and remember my tall, lanky father playfully seating me up on top – I must have been three years old, and wasn’t scared.

As we walked through the house, we remembered different things. Danny remembered having his picture taken with Anne by the front door. She responded “We had a picture taken?!” – a common lament among the youngest of large families. I remember the photo—I believe it was Easter morning and they were probably three and four years old—decked out in their holiday finest. I remembered the Christmas tree and its exact location in the small living room, and lying under it looking up at all the lights and shining ornaments. We recalled the day our new color TV, a Zenith, was delivered and set up “right in that corner,” the first color TV in the neighborhood.

The closets were in the same space. I half expected to open them and see our old things, but of course I didn’t. The bedroom hallway seemed narrower, yet still long. The bedrooms looked small. How did our parents ever fit all nine of us in this three-bedroom house with only one bathroom? The basement looked very much the same. It was the venue for all our neighborhood plays, my oldest brother Michael the director. It wasn’t long before our parents had the basement refinished into a rec room, a bathroom, two additional and desperately needed bedrooms, a laundry room, and the “shelter” where our mother crowded us all together whenever there was a thunder storm. The Bilco doors were still there. I walked into the room that had been my basement bedroom, and memories of jumping on the bed in complete delight rushed back. Next door, the empty room that had once belonged to my brother Michael came alive with memories of his scientific collections – the Invisible Head, the Invisible Woman, the Invisible Man, and his rock collection.

We went out to the back yard, and we were asked if we’d ever had an above-ground pool. The new owner is an avid gardener, and found one circular area of the back yard very sandy, and guessed that there’d been a pool. We confirmed that, noting that our family of nine and our cousins’ family of ten used to all get in to this tiny above-ground pool all together, and we have pictures somewhere to prove it! Where we once had a well-tread lawn, a swing set, and a clothes line is beautifully manicured outdoor garden. The young trees that once bent in the wind are now strong, mature residents of this neighborhood, standing guard. I’d like to think these trees knew us, when we came home, that they remember us as the first family to live in this house, and watched over our twilight games of Red Light Green Light, Freeze Tag and Red Rover. Somehow, being the first family in a home allows us to claim it as our own for life, even though a number of families have lived in it since. We were the first. It is ours.

I was too busy Friday night. I had a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it. I thought about passing on this opportunity to see my old home. I’m glad I didn’t give in to the impulse to skip out on this invitation. It was a gift to go back in time, to see once again this home of Christmases and Easters past, of childhood summers and giant snow bank winters, and to share the experience with my sisters and brother. Someone said, that night, “Mom and Dad would have loved this.” I whispered, “They do.”

Photo credit: http://img2.allposters.com/images/PTGPOD/542680-FB.jpg

Other Women's Kitchens!

For the past several months, I've been baking in other women's kitchens! The kitchen in my new home will be functional within a few weeks (it's been "two weeks" for a lot of weeks!). This need to find baking space has been a mixed blessing. I've been combining baking with visiting good friends, and it's been a lot of fun.

Sydney: Sydney is the significant other of my daughter's father-in-law. Say that ten times fast! She has offered up her beautiful country kitchen, and that's where the "blueberry muffins" slide-show was photographed. What you don't see is her well-stocked kitchen and gorgeous, cobalt-blue Kitchen Aid with two sizes of mixing bowls! I get excited just thinking about it! We usually bake while little Henry is napping, or sometimes she'll graciously welcome me in the evening and we'll throw together muffins, scones, or cinnamon rolls. One week I made coconut cupcakes with coconut frosting for a taste test for a friend's upcoming wedding cake. Sydney is a quilter-extraordinaire, and has made precious gifts for her family, including Henry. She's about to become a grandmother again soon, and she's thrilled about it. We have lots of fun in that kitchen. The deal is that I leave her with samples. It works well.

Barb: My friend Barb is a lovely woman, and as a recent young widow with grown children, her house is quiet these days, unless she's hosting her new grandson Joey! Joey, the son of her daughter Tracee, brings along his mom and her husband Joe, and Barb loves every second of their visits. When her son Jeff joins them, it's even better. When I asked Barb if I could come bake one evening, she was very welcoming. We enjoyed mudslides while I got flour all over her kitchen. I even left with one of her measuring cups and must remember to return it. We sat and talked about all the fun we had when our girls were Girl Scouts together. We took trips to Philadelphia, the Jersey shore, Walt Disney World (twice!), and just had a great time watching our kids (and ourselves!) grow up together. When my kids were young, there were many Girl Scout outings where all my kids were welcome, and because of Barb and her sister Cathi (GS leader) my children experienced many wonderful trips and outings that they otherwise would have missed. What I didn't mention is that I started out as the leader, with my friend Christina, and neither one of us were anywhere near as enthusiastic about the job as Cathi was, so she happily took over and was an exceptional leader. I was demoted to Cookie Mom, but that was good, too! At least we didn't have to spray paint gold any more macaroni sculptures!

Carolyn: my sister-in-law Carolyn not only provides me baking space, she feeds me too. When I was there last, she and her husband Bill made a great dinner of grilled chicken (marinated in ranch dressing), asparagas, and rice. We always have a great time together. Of our combined nine children, three of mine and three of hers are the same ages, and grew up three houses apart. One memory that's funny now, but wasn't then, is of a birthday party at Carolyn's house for her daugther Louise. I asked if I could help and was told I could make Kool-Aid for the kids. I took the sugar from its canister in the pantry and stirred up a big batch. The kids took sips from their cups and their faces contorted in reaction to the Kool-Aid. Seems I mistook the salt for the sugar. Like I said, it's funny now! We had so many fun times. We used to take the kids to the drive-in movies. They'd be all set in their pajamas with pillows and blankets and we parked our two massive station wagons side by side. Some of the kids sat on the roof of the car, some had lawn chairs, and the little ones fell asleep in our laps. We'd light those misquito-chaser coils and hang the metal speaker on the window. The kids would beg for treats as the loudspeaker announced "five minutes to show time" while hot dogs and tubs of popcorn danced across the screen. Those were wonderful summer nights.

Anne: My sister Anne is the youngest of seven siblings. Her husband John is a great guy. Anne's a realtor in Saratoga and has four boys of her own, almost all grown up. She has a beautiful kitchen and I LOVE baking there -- partly because of the beautiful kitchen -- but more because her boys are there and they are so much fun. Ben just graduated from Marist, where his brother Jack graduated two years ago and where brother Patrick just completed his sophomore year. Will is incredible. He just turned sixteen and is the nicest kid you'd ever want to meet. When I was moving boxes from my apartment to storage, he helped a lot. I wanted to pay him and he refused. He said "That's what family does for each other!" I mean, really. He's sixteen, and so NICE! Plus, like his brothers, he's very handsome and smart! (I'm not biased!).

Katie: I drive up to Bolton Landing to bake in Katie's kitchen, and the bonus is that I get to spend time with her and little Henry. It's the best way to spend a day, that's for sure. Can't wait until we have dueling kitchens in the new house! Neither of us got double ovens because we figure we can bake in each others' kitchens! We're so excited about hosting big meals for family and friends, SOON! I love watching Katie "be" a mom. She's relaxed, confident, and loving. She is patient and doesn't panic when Henry bumps his head. She talks him through the little bumps and bruises and he reacts accordingly. Not like her mother who ran screaming through the house searching for band-aids or said to her husband "You look, I can't!" And I wanted to be a nurse... Yikes.

Patsy: my sister Patsy has been the most gracious host while my "short" stay has been extended beyond three months! That seems unbelievable. I don't typically bake in Patsy's kitchen because she's got a renovation going on, and I'm not the neatest baker. I figure if I bake where I'm not living, I can be tolerated. So, most of my pantry is in the back of my car which now smells like vanilla extract (yes, the good stuff, Ina!) and cinnamon! Patsy has three grown sons, two grandchildren (with #3 due any minute) and fiercely loves her family and friends.

What I'm attempting to say here is that there are many wonderful women in my life, sisters, friends, relatives -- all of whom are so generous and kind. It's so easy to have a great time, and really, what's better than spending a few hours with our best friends? This roving-baker gig has allowed me to impose on my friends and come away with so much more than a basket full of baked goods. I leave them with samples, but I take away so much more -- warm memories of wonderful conversations, laughs, and shared looking-forward to the next time, and the best I can say is, "Thank you."

Next blog: Chicken a la King with Claire, Kathleen, and Ed! And coming soon: my favorite dogs (real dogs, not hot dogs, though I love them too!)

photo credit: http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&q=coffee+cup&sa=N&start=80&ndsp=20