Blueberries and Gratitude

I've been mildly sick all week with what I would cheerfully call a "spring" cold if it was, in fact, spring here and not gloomy endless winter, so I wasn't doing lunches this week with anything even approaching my normal apathy. I HOPE YOU LIKE BABY CARROTS AND CANNED SOUP, KIDS.

And then, of course, my oldest child had a brief (thank you) but terrifying health scare yesterday. She's fine - ohthankyouthankyouthankyou - but I couldn't stop LOOKING at her for a while afterwards, like my eyes were hungry for the sight of her. Last night's supper was all her favorites, because I'm just so grateful she's all right.

I'll probably be back to crabbing at her to clean her room again by the weekend, but for now, the school lunches were made with laser-focus AND I got up early to make blueberry muffins, which are her FAVORITE. It's my favorite blueberry muffin recipe, too - simple enough to make even when mildly feverish first thing in the morning and solid enough to pack nicely in a school lunch. When I make muffins, I normally try to switch some wholewheat flour, but don't with these - they depend on the unhealthy delicious whiteness of the white flour and white sugar for their yumminess. You can pretend, as I do, that the blueberries make up for it.

Preheat your oven to 400.

1/4 cup softened butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, beaten.
Cream together the butter and sugar (in a bowl, my recipe says. Where do they THINK we'll cream butter and sugar?) and mix in the egg.

In another bowl, sift together
1 1/2 cups pastry or regular white flour
a tiny pinch of salt, which I skip because I never have unsalted butter on hand, but your call.
2 tsp baking powder

Add to creamed mixture, alternating with:
1/2 cup milk.
DON'T STIR IT TOO MUCH, JUST UNTIL EVERYTHING IS MIXED TOGETHER.
Fold in
1 cup frozen blueberries.

Spoon batter into a prepared 12-cup muffin tin. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until nicely browned.