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Food from the Beach House: Peaches and Cream Muffins

Posted by | Food from the Beach House | One Comment

Peaches and CreamA longtime blog reader, Kate, left a recipe for “Peaches and Cream” muffins in the comments of my Strawberries and Cream Muffins post. It looked like a great recipe (thank you Kate!), and I’ll definitely try it someday. But, 1) doing a cream cheese center seemed like too much of a fuss for a beach house recipe, and 2) adding moisture to the muffins with sour cream and/or yogurt seems to be the key to Kyle’s muffin-loving-heart, and the recipe called only for oil. However, the Peaches&Cream idea was totally inspiring to me and I immediately thought, “Why didn’t I think of that?!?!” Why would I be using strawberries when I could be using our deliriously good South Carolina peaches in a beach house muffin?!?!!

Thus was born not Kyle’s favorite muffin, but Owen’s favorite muffin! Kyle still stands by the Strawberries and Cream, but Owen says these Peaches and Cream muffins are the very best he’s ever had in his whole entire 11-year-old life. I have to agree with Owen– I prefer the peach to the strawberry.

I used the exact same recipe for Strawberries and cream but subbed peeled and diced fresh peaches for the strawberries. I also sprinkled these with a little sugar before baking, which gives muffins a nice top crust.

The original recipe is here: STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM MUFFINS

NOTE: I often sub plain, low-fat, Greek yogurt for sour cream in this muffin recipe.

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MorMor’s SC Visit

Posted by | BAMBINOS | 2 Comments

Harbor 2

MorMor came to visit us in the Lowcountry. She was here for only four nights, but we tried to cram as much as we could into her stay in order to give her a nice South Carolina vacation.

Highlights included beach days on Hunting Island; hunting for sharks’ teeth; lots of pool time (marco polo); sunset walks with Dash on Harbor Island beach; Sticky Fingers in Charleston; picnic lunches on the beach; beach house suppers (including, one night, a Lowcountry feast); fresh peaches and island tomatoes; shrimp, grouper, and mahi right from the dock; pancake breakfast fundraiser for the Harbor Island Turtle Program; big huge alligator sighting; no snake sightings (!); golf cart rides; time together in one of the most low-key, slow-paced places in the world.

IMG_9610 IMG_9560 IMG_9572 IMG_9555 IMG_9558On Friday morning MorMor, Meera, and me got up at 6am for the sunrise. We had hoped to see baby turtles hatching (they’re due every day now — the nests are hatching! — but they are rare to see because they are so good at making it into the ocean before sunrise). We didn’t see any baby turtles, but we were gifted with a most beautiful sunrise.IMG_9566 IMG_9590And then, that same night, we got to see a beautiful sunset too. How often do any of us get one day in which we get to see the sunrise and the sunset from the beach? It was special.Sunset 2 MorMor SunsetI cannot figure out for the life of me how my children ended up in this hands-crossed-on-knee pose. MorMor must have arranged this???IMG_9611 IMG_9613 IMG_9622 beach 2Thank you, MorMor, for making the trip!IMG_9577

Food from the Beach House: Strawberries and Cream Muffins

Posted by | Food from the Beach House | 4 Comments

IMG_9384Kyle is pretty much the most serious muffin connoisseur I’ve ever known. Since he was a toddler we’ve called him “The Muffin Man” (you know that song? we’ve been singing it to/about him since he was about 3 years old). The muffins he loves most are fruit muffins — blueberry, or any berry. And he’s partial to the Starbuck’s “Blueberry Muffin with Yogurt and Honey.” Over the years I’ve made many different muffin recipes for him, always in search of a five-star muffin for Kyle, or at least one that will compete with that Starbucks muffin.IMG_9380This morning I resurrected the “Strawberries and Cream” muffins I had made for Meera’s third birthday party. I hadn’t made these in a long time. I doubled the recipe, and made them as full-sized muffins (not mini muffins). My boys (all three of them) went crazy for these. They are not too sweet, and moist, and the fresh strawberries baked into them are so delicious. But the big deal is this: Kyle has decided that these are the best muffins he’s ever had. Like, ever. Which. Is. Huge.

These have, immediately, become a big huge giant hit for us and I’ll put them right into our beach house (and probably at-home-too) rotation.

They are so good!

The recipe is here:

STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM MUFFINSIMG_9388