shades of blue: breakfast blueberry oatmeal muffins

There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance- pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, that’s for thought. -William Shakespeare

I love summer mornings when I can wake up with the sunrise and the world (it seems), as well as my loves, are still asleep and quiet. And I have time to sort out my thoughts. I do this best in my kitchen while measuring and weighing, mixing ingredients and watching something great come together.

In this quiet solitude, I take out my hurts and pains; so many shades of blue. I weigh and measure them as I do my ingredients. Some remain raw and heavy as they were the day they happened and I sink them quickly into the deepest, darkest oceans of my thought. In these quiet mornings, I look for answers. That never seem to come. But a walk in my garden always lifts me up; on dew laden grass, barefoot. I hear bird songs over scents of rosemary. I see the miracles of petals and leaves, and small creatures, and the beauty of life and decay and the fragility of it all.

Life is fragile. We are fragile. And we damage easily. But the thing about life is that another morning still comes and begins a new day with a new sunrise and if we are lucky enough to have that, then we should be grateful and make the most of it; weighing and measuring what we have and making something great out of it.
Soon there will be pitter-patter of small feet and good morning kisses, and crumbs and sticky fingers and life appears more beautiful than it is fragile. And the only shades of blue are stains of blueberries.
With these thoughts, I give you these healthy breakfast muffins- a great way to start a new day. There’s not much added sugar in these so be sure to use the sweetest blueberries you can find. Best enjoyed with mint tea.

Breakfast Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

(yields 12 muffins)

• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• ½ cup finely ground oatmeal
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• ½ cup muscovado or ½ cup sucanat
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 400 °F/200°C.
2. Mix the flour, ground oatmeal, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl (or measuring cup) mix the yogurt  and baking soda and set aside (the mixture will foam up and increase in volume so be sure to use a slightly larger container).
4. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy.
5. Add the eggs to the butter mixture, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Add in one-third of the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
7. Add one-half of the yogurt mixture and mix until just combined.
   Continue alternating the flour mixture and yogurt mixture. With each addition, mix until just combined. Do not over-mix.
8. Stir in the blueberries.
9. Divide the batter evenly into 12 muffin cups.
10. Sprinkle with a little oatmeal if you like.
11. Bake in the center of oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.