Welcoming 2015 + Sweet Potato Muffins

I'm a week late to the intentions/goals/resolutions discussion that ensues this time of year, but my word for 2015 is open. 

I arrived at this word after several weeks of mostly casual pondering, then when I started reflecting on everything that occurred in 2014, halfway through December I decided. Open was the word. 2014 was a big year in ways that might seem small from the outside, but now I'm ready to go deeper and bring the concept of openness into my daily life. Open to opportunities, possibilities, joy, peace, people, conversations, grace, etc. It's not always easy for me, so I take this as the very best kind of challenge.

To welcome the year, I made muffins. I also made eggs, toast, and bacon, but it's really the muffins that most captured my attention. When I first received Good to the Grain for Christmas several years ago, I devoured it in one sitting. I had been itching to expand into whole grain baking, and Kim Boyce's cookbook was a wealth of knowledge about how to make tasty treats more wholesome.

Before the first pass at this recipe, I noticed a small note that mentioned it could easily be turned into a coffee cake. I love this batter as a coffee cake. Love it. But this year I was feeling the muffins. It might have had something to do with the fact that I FINALLY remembered to buy baking cups at the market, and I needed a reason to use them. Or perhaps I needed to be open to the idea of trying the recipe in its original state. I can't be certain. 

What I am certain of, however, is that if it doesn't challenge you, it won't change you. Without question these nine words defined 2014 for me. I know I'm better for it. I prefer the person I am today than the person I was a year ago, and the growing pains were worth coming out the other side with more clarity and conviction. 

One of those convictions was the importance of writing and poetry in my life. As absence tends to make the heart grow fonder, the times when I most wanted to write and read last year but didn't have the time or energy only served to remind me how valuable these gifts are. I continue to be overwhelmingly grateful for all of you who share part of your day with me whenever you stop by. 

I hope Eat This Poem and my letters continue to provide inspiration as the new year unfolds.

Onward.

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SWEET POTATO MUFFINS

Slightly adapted from Kim Boyce, Good to the Grain

Embrace the bowls here. There are several components involved in bringing this batter together, and you'll be in wonderful shape if you're thoughtful enough to whisk the dry ingredients together the night before and bake the potatoes well in advance. 

I've made a few changes over the years, like using spelt flour and turbinado sugar, and can't resist a nutty, crunchy topping, either.

2 small sweet potatoes (about 3/4 pound)

Dry Mix
1 cup spelt flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Wet Mix
2 ounces fat (I used half butter and half coconut oil)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup raw turbinado sugar
1 egg
1 cup whole milk or buttermilk
1/2 cup greek yogurt
6 large Medjool dates, pitted and finely chopped

Topping
1/3 cup turbinado sugar
1/3 cup mixed nuts, chopped (pecans, walnuts)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork. Roast for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until tender when pierced with a fork. When they've cooled, peel and leave them whole.

Lower the oven to 350 degrees and put 12 paper liners in a muffin tin. 

Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and yogurt.

Add the butter and sugars to the bowl of a standing mixer. Attach the paddle and mix on high speed until the butter and sugars are light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then add the egg and half of the sweet potatoes. Mix on medium speed for 1 minute more, until thoroughly combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

On low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until partly combined. Add the buttermilk and yogurt and mix until combined. Next, toss in the chopped dates and the remaining sweet potato; mix until barely combined and pockets of sweet potato can be seen in the batter.

Scoop into muffin cups, then make the topping. combine the sugar and mixed nuts, then sprinkle evenly over the muffins. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Serve warm with jam or butter, if desired. 

What I'm Reading | December 2014

Inevitably, the week between Christmas and New Year's often feels like a long string of dinner parties for two, which is just the way I like it. Without the obligation of work beckoning, I have time to, for example, braise pork in the morning, or roast squash, or stir risotto in the middle of the week, or make hot chocolate, then cookies, then ice cream, in one afternoon. It's a grand series of meals in quick succession, usually served with wine.

It is also inevitable that the sun disappears before I'm able to capture these wonderful meals in natural light. Like the delicata squash risotto laced with sage butter and dotted with toasted hazelnuts. There was a cluster of grilled radicchio nestled in the bowl, and a drizzle of sweet balsamic vinegar, the thick, 12-year aged variety from the slim, special occasion bottle. 

See what I mean? Glorious fluorescent lighting. But this is real life, and I needed the hibernation from everything. I always do. And I'm betting you benefited from the same this month, at least I very much hope so. 

After coming back from Thailand, the weeks leading up to Christmas were nonstop. There were meetings and budgets and timelines and board meetings, and I was completely blindsided by how quickly two weeks went by. I was also attempting to reset my sleep schedule, which took approximately eight days. 

We did decorate, burn our pine-scented candles, and bring home a little three-foot tall tree, but I was not thoughtful or whimsical or much in the holiday spirit until Christmas Eve arrived. So I sort of missed the holidays this year, but that's what happens when you fly halfway around the world two days before Thanksgiving, and don't come back until well into December.

Tonight I'm simmering short ribs on the stove, our annual tradition for the past five years or so, and talking about our plans for the year ahead. I may or may not stay awake until midnight. We'll see. Happy 2015!

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A two minute reminder on the power of reading and the importance of good writing. 

Cereal Magazine channels Virginia Woolf.

How Los Angeles neighborhoods got their names.

The lies your mind tells you to prevent life changes.

Should writers respond to their critics? 

51 of the most beautiful sentences in literature.

The difference between being "detached" and "non-attachment." And why it matters for getting what you want in life. 

This podcast rocked my world. It's especially perfect for this time of year, when the pull of setting goals and intentions is strongest. 

Your new detox drink.

I'm not the only writer who fears forgetting how to write. 

Typewriters for the 21st century.

I've been loving The New Yorker lately: For pet lovers, for food lovers, and for anyone who wants a good cry. Also, read Eudora Welty's job application. 

Eggs now aid in predicting personality types.

Postcards from Thailand

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I’ll tell you how the sun rose, —
A ribbon at a time.

-Emily Dickinson

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The world is a mighty accessible place. In the span of a day, we can fly almost anywhere we please, going to sleep in one time zone, then landing in another halfway around the globe. As a reasonably seasoned traveler, this is not a new discovery, but I was reminded of it more profoundly while I was in Thailand, helped in large part by the book I was reading, The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert.

It was completely transporting. The sweeping journey left me longing to finish the book in a matter of days (which I did, while taking short breaks to eat coconut milk ice cream, it should be noted). Protagonist Alma Whittaker was born in 1800, and the book spans a large chunk of the 19th century. Heavily researched and detailed, I truly found myself lost in the world of botany, science, moss, and sailing. There's a point in the story when Alma goes on a quest, sending her on a ship from Philadelphia bound for Tahiti, and that's where I paused.

Here I was in the south of Thailand, having flown approximately 18 hours to arrive. Alma boarded a ship that took an unbearably long seven months to arrive. With no internet. No cell phone reception. No friends or family. No real sense of whether or not she would even arrive alive. (As it turns out, she did arrive, but her luggage and all her precious earthly possessions were promptly stolen by the villagers.) 

It's no wonder I never felt as far away as I actually was, because although there are always stresses of travel and sometimes uncomfortable hours on a long flight, it's put in perspective when you think of what challenging journeys existed in other eras. So, you might say I was smitten with this book, and the story came at just the right time for me to fully enjoy it. For that, I say a great big thank you to Elizabeth Gilbert.  

During our trip Andrew and I took a cooking class while we stayed in Krabi, and I can't even tell you how enjoyable the street food was in Bangkok. From pad thai to mango sticky rice to noodles to coconut crackers to prawns the size of lobsters to spicy sauces drizzled over tender chunks of chicken, we were in a paradise of sorts. This week I've been trying to reset by eating lots of leafy greens, drinking pressed juices, and attempting to start sleeping normally again. On the recipe front, I'm afraid I haven't had any time to start cooking Thai food at home yet or even fully collect my thoughts and notes. 

I know the Thai flavors will beckon me to the kitchen in good time, and until then, I hope you enjoy a few photos that will give you a taste of this very magical country.