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Blueberry Muffins

3/28/2019

Have you been following my monthly manic muffin posts? I started with a basic muffin mix that you can make up ahead of time. Each month so far I've offered a variation on the basic muffin: chocolate cherry in February, and corned beef and spinach in March.

This week I added 1 cup of blueberries to the basic recipe, and they were yummy!

This coming Monday I'll post a spring version of manic muffins that will work well as part of your Easter brunch menu, so keep your eye out for it!

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A Walk Through History

3/25/2019

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All pictures (with the exception of the live crinoid) by Heather Patrick.

Last week I got a chance to hike with my sister Heather in the Sacramento Mountains, east of Alamogordo, New Mexico. Alamogordo is 200 miles south of my home, and its season is weeks ahead; while it is still cold and snowy in my Sandias, the Sacramentos were balmy. The sky was blue, the birds sang, the sweeping vistas spectacular, but what really made the hike memorable is that it was a walk through time that stretched way, way back.

It's hard to envision now, but this arid land was once very different. Between 358 and 323 million years ago, it was part of a vast ocean. Much of the

limestone in the Sacramentos is studded with fossils that prove that the area was underwater. I saw lots of shells and shell imprints, but especially prevalent were the fossilized stems of crinoids, which look like stacked rock coins. Although they look like little palm trees, crinoids are animals, not plants. They are still alive today, but they are hard to see since they live at great depths.

Looking west, we could see straight across the Tularosa Basin to the San Andreas mountains, about 60 miles away. Once, these two mountain ranges were contiguous. The land in between has dropped.

Can you see the white line that seems to extend from the bill of my cap? That's the gypsum sands at White Sands National Monument.

Moving up the trail brought us forward in time. While walking along an arroyo, we saw these pock marked rocks. Although these were the only ones I saw on the hike, my sister tells me there are many of these in the area, and they are not naturally formed. Because water tends to collect in them, these depressions are called Indian wells. (The parking lot at the trail head is at the end of Indian Wells Road.)

A sign at Oliver Lee State Park, which is not far south of this trail, explains that these depressions weren't originally used for collecting water. Instead, they mark places where Indians ground up nuts and grains ground up. They are more like mortars than wells.

Farther up the trail, in a narrow side canyon, we came upon something that I've never seen in a mountainous desert setting before: cattails. The cattails were in front of a cave that my sister tells me is a spring visited by Indians since time immemorial. There was about a foot of standing water in the cave, which seemed to stretch far into the mountain. This water source, so valuable in the arid southwest, has obviously been used by more modern man; on our way down the canyon we saw several lengths of rusted pipe and the derelict remains of an old water tower.

It was a lovely hike on a lovely day, and it was a reminder that there is interesting things to looks at wherever you go. History and geology, archaeology and botany are right under your feet, and beneath them, if you use your imagination, are story prompts enough to last a long, long while.

Jennifer Bohnhoff is a writer and hiker who lives in central New Mexico.

Click here if you want to learn more about the geology of the Sacramento Mountains.

Click here if you want to learn more about Jennifer and her books.

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What to do with a bit of leftover Corned Beef

3/6/2019

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Earlier this week I posted a recipe for muffins that used some corned beef. Here's a way to use up the rest of that can. You could dice up leftover corned beef from St. Patrick's Day and use it instead of canned meat and you'd still get a great meal - warm and comforting on a cold winter's night.

One of the nice things about this recipe is that the ingredients are all shelf-stable or things you would commonly have around the house. That means that you can throw it together even when there's a snowstorm and you can't go to the store. This recipe was my mother's, and it was one of my favorite comfort foods growing up.

Corned Beef and Cheese Pie

1 unbaked pie shell
12 oz (or less, if that's all you have) canned corned beef
3 eggs
1 1/2 c. undiluted evaporated milk
1 TBS instant minced onion (or fresh onion, diced small)
1 tsp mustard
dash black pepper
dash tabasco
1 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 tsp dried or fresh parsley

Spread corned beef in bottom of pie shell.
Mix together next seven items. Stir in cheese.
Pour cheese mixture over corned beef. Sprinkle with parsley.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 40 minutes, until firm.
Cut in wedges and serve warm. Serves 6.

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Savory Muffins for a Winter's Day

3/4/2019

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MMMM. Muffins. They are warming comfort food on a cold winter's day. But they don't have to be sweet. Muffins can come in savory varieties, too.

Most people associate muffins with breakfast. A savory muffin can be a great breakfast treat. I think it would be great split, toasted, and topped with a poached egg. But savory muffins can serve well beyond breakfast. A savory muffin can be a great accompaniment to a cup of soup at lunch, like in the picture, which it's served with tomato soup and cream cheese-stuffed celery. It packs to sell that it can be an easy snack at your desk in the middle of the afternoon, or a nice way to complement a glass of wine in the evening. Make them in tiny muffin tins and the become great appetizers!

I began a monthly series on muffins back in January, beginning with a recipe for a muffin mix that would make a manic Monday morning a little easier to swallow. In February I offered a variation on the basic muffin that gave a nod to the two big holidays of the month, Valentine's and President's Day. You can find that basic muffin mix and recipe here, and the cherry chocolate version here.

Inspired by St. Patrick's Day, March's muffin variation is a savory one made with cheddar cheese, corned beef, and spinach. The nutmeg that's in the original mix complements the spinach well and makes the kitchen smell warm and inviting when the muffins are in the oven. Try them! You just might be searching for ways to eat them all day long.

Corned Beef and Spinach Muffins

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix together in a mixing bowl

2 eggs
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup oil
1 TBS mustard
1/4 cup frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup canned corned beef, broken up with a fork

Add and stir until there are no dry lumps
2 3/4 cups of Manic Muffin Mix

Line muffin tins with papers. Fill cups 3/4 full with batter. Bake 20-22 minutes, or until golden brown.

Not sure how to squeeze spinach dry? I poured the frozen spinach into a measuring cup and thawed it in the microwave, then pressed on it with the back of a spoon, pouring the excess water into the sink.

Don't know what to do with the leftover corned beef? I'll have another recipe later this week that will use it up.

Jennifer Bohnhoff is a Middle School English teacher and the author of 7 published novels, which you can learn more about here. But a girl's gotta eat, too, so she publishes recipes on occasion.

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Blueberry Muffins

A Walk Through History

What to do with a bit of leftover Corned Beef

Corned Beef and Cheese Pie

Savory Muffins for a Winter's Day

Corned Beef and Spinach Muffins

ABout Jennifer Bohnhoff

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