two sunflowers

Okay, okay, I think I get it this time: shut up and get out of the way. Or possibly it was relax and let things happen? I do get those cosmic messages mixed up sometime. Maybe it was prepare for anything, then take it as it comes. Oh, whatever. Obviously, I'm not really paying attention.

Wonder what a cosmic time-out or detention look like?

The past few days were yet another in a series of lessons in, well, whatever it is that the universe is trying to teach me this month. The Sil-ly came a couple of days late (traffic was brutal on the 'Pike, I hear) for a visit, and stayed a couple of nights extra. For the first time, I watched my recently independant playing son quietly and harmoniously (erm, mostly harmoniously) engaged with his cousin. And the wee ones more or less ignored each other, so that worked out well, too.

Here's the way it went, in shorthand:
*children went for a walk with their father and auntie
*mama and auntie shepherded small people to Lands Sake, a farm in Weston, MA, where small children peacefully picked raspberries and cherry tomatoes.
[Clip: pick the red ones, sweeties. Red, not yellow.
small children run around shouting, I have a red one, like a rose! and, I have a red one, like a fire engine!
Mama eventually realizes that half the rows have no red ones. She stares. Slowly, slowly, she realizes that those rows are sungold cherry tomatoes. Quietly and methodically, she begins to eat...]
*I don't like this food! It's yucky! (Meanwhile, a cousin is working on a third slice...)
* You go on - I'll watch them.
You're sure? Okay - your turn next.
Happy, showered, peaceful mamas...

And now they are gone, speeding back down the 'Pike, back home to Republican-land. I looked around my little domain, and the babes cuddled against my leg whilst the Eldest played one of innumerable games of 'soccer' between Boston and America. hmmm. I heard the slam of a ball into the windowseat, and shout of 'home run!' and grinned.

Ambling into my kitchen, I found mounds of cherry tomatoes and a good quart of mostly-ripe raspberries. Munching my way through the cherry tomatoes, I pulled out a recipe and started making Peaceful Corn Muffins. Here it is:

Peaceful Corn Muffins
(initially meant to be made with blueberries, I've made them with frozen cherries, and today with raspberries. Be generous with the fruit and remember to pick something that adds juiciness, or else the muffins will be dry.)

serves 6, assuming everybody wants seconds. Adapted from Living Without, Summer 2006.
1/2 c rice flour
1/4 c tapioca flour
1/4 c potato starch flour
3/4 c. cornmeal
1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 c fresh blueberries or thawed frozen (or more)
1 large egg or 1.5 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer, plus 2 Tb water
1/2 c soy milk
1/2 c. vegetable oil (this makes slightly oily muffins. I'm experimenting with an oil/applesauce mix, and will let you know how that goes..)

Preheat over to 425 F, prep - spray/grease - muffin tins. Mix dry ingredients, add fruit of choice. Add liquids, mix until flour is just moistened. Tip: cornmeal absorbs liquid. Move quickly in getting the batter in to the muffin tins after this. Spoon into muffin tins, filling 2/3rds full. Bake until golden, 20-25 minutes. Try not to eat before serving.
Cook's note: the muffins were nicely pink, and raspberries be good in this recipe. But more like 2 cups of them. Best fruit so far in this recipe: defrosted, frozen pitted cherries. Oh, and 1/4 c. applesauce and 1/4 c. veg oil is nice, but makes the muffin batter thick, and it sticks to the tins. So loosen the muffins in the tins carefully once cooked, or change the proportions to have a wee bit more oil and a wee bit less 'sauce.

Time to feed the troops, then head off to the homeopathic pediatrician for an introductory visit. I wonder what she'll be like, what she'll say...I wonder if a nanny will float down to land on my doorstep, blowing away the pathetic few emails from the lesser, somewhat questionable nannies applying to look after the babes...