This will be a special post, maybe the first of many! I have been quite busy surviving the first months of the little one, as you can expect. Ah, the joys of motherhood… LIES!! The first few months are hell, and who says the contrary is lying. True, there are also some lovely moments, but mostly, you are trying to figure stuff out, and sometimes that is not easy. It gets better, but apart from being extremely cute, babies don’t do much in the ways of communicating, and that can be frustrating. Patient as you try to be, sometimes it’s very hard. They are very cute, though. Very, very, very cute. For all new parents out there, it’s hard but it gets better! Or so I tell myself every day 😉
I dp believe there is a special mechanism in our genes that prevents us from remembering the first few weeks, or else no one would have more than one child (we’ll see how that goes for us).
Anyway, yesterday I got very stubborn, and decided to make something. I picked this recipe of Blueberry muffins from “Ottolenghi”, still in search of the most satisfying ones, and boy oh boy does it deliver!
How do you bake with a ten weeks old baby, you say?
My, it’super easy!!!
First, you don’t waste time in stuff you clearly you don’t have the same to do. Taking pictures, for example. You won’t get any of that. 😀
Second, you take it same as being a first time parent, veeeery easy.
It only took me the whole day to make them!! But I DID IT!
In the morning, clearly the best time of the day for both of us, I weighed the ingredients. In two stints, the first after the walk and the second after the feed. Mia was for a bit in the carrier (she loves looking around, now that she can actually see) and for a bit in the bouncer (the melody of the music it is starting to grate on my nerves, but she still seems to enjoy it). I left out any perishables, in case I had to abort the mission, only preparing the dry ingredients. I also managed to prepare the crumble, making only one tiny mistake. The recipe called for 100 g of sugar and I used 150. To balance things out, I used less on top of the muffins. It could have been worse 😀
Then, we ate again (well, she did, I managed to gulp down some curry but to say that I enjoyed it would not be true), we went for a nap (she really wanted to sleep, and yet somehow failed at doing so by being extremely fussy) and then a walk (holy grail, period of peace and quiet during which child either looks around, when in the carrier front-facing, or sleeps – when in buggy or carrier facing towards loving mom. If she decides that she does not like the buggy, then you have a problem, in the form of massive crying outburst).
Once we were home again I saw the opening I needed. An after-nap-in-good-spirits Mia who could stay in the bouncer for a while allowing me to grate the lemon zest, cut the apple, weigh the milk and throw it all together (fortunately, the recipe, bless you Yotan, calls for a final dough that is lumpy and does not need too much mixing).
Flying through it and not pushing my good luck too much, I divided the dough between the cases and chucked on some crumble, freezing the rest of it. I did not use the whole lot, since it had that 50% more sugar… You know, I wanted to be “healthy” 😉
When they were in the oven, relief washed over me. I did it! I actually did it!! Joy and triumph washed over me, even while I was cleaning someone’s green and smelly poops.
I presented the final result to Sergeant Lunch, who, same as me, is still on a diet: Paleo January, like last year… although I gave myself a break and I was not following it at breakfast. I know I am a monster for drinking cow milk but I can’t stand any other alternatives. And I need a bit of sugar to start these hard and long days at five in the morning! I don’t regret anything! (she says with a shrill voice). Sergeant liked the smell of them, and brought some to his coworkers, who loved them. I had a couple as well at breakfast the following morning and they are delicious. I might have found them! The nicest blueberry muffins! Made with half brain and one hand! Amazing!
Oh you want the recipe now? Here, I don’t have time to transcribe it… That can be my next project. In a month or so. Maybe.
Capitan Colazione 