red currant muffins

         
           I consider myself to be quite lucky as it comes to my family's food preferences: they like the simplest foods the most, maybe because of how little time it takes to make them. Especially my brother isn't one to find joy in awaiting treats, and these muffins, photos of which I just stumbled upon, are, I believe, his favourite. They look so extremely plain that it might be difficult to want to make them, but it's worth a try.\

          They are really super easy and super simple to make, and if you don't have to collect the currants before, you don't need more than 10 minutes to make them (plus baking time). They don't grow, and are very buttery; to me, they taste like a cake we used to eat when we went to the seaside before my brother started school. Currants could be swapped for anything, maybe even nuts (I'll try that sometime soon and report on the results), but here in Italy, you can still buy fresh currants, so maybe you can get them in other places, too. 

Red currant muffins:

(makes 12, based on Nigel Slater's recipe)

Ingredients:

125 g flour

125 g sugar (I used brown sugar)

125 g soft butter

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs 

125 g red currants (or any other berries)

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line a muffin tin with paper muffin cups.

Put all the ingredients but fruit in a bowl, mix until smooth. If the batter is stiff, you can add a spoonful or two of milk (I never do that).

Using a spoon, mix in the currants.

Divide the batter between cups evenly. You can sprinkle brown sugar on top to get a crust, which I didn't do  with the photographed batch but I do at other times.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, checking doneness with a toothpick before turning the oven off.

in the sun

Click on the photos to be directed to the original Flickr page.

    I am in awe of how the late summer/early fall, warm, low sunlight can change a plain scene into a multidimenstional picture: very emotional, daydream-evoking, beautiful in the simplest and yet the most striking way. Obvioulsy, it can go all wrong - those are the cheesy shots of people running through fields and holding hands amidst golden leaves. Yet, that kind of natural light brings out all the layers and plays with the qualities of a subject, shifting the picture far from flat or boring. It's not just in photography; I love this scene just because of how aesthetically pleasing to the eye it is, all thanks to that sunset palette. The saturation, warmth of colors has something universally comforting to it. Impressionists went crazy for it, and therefore I see no reason not to do the same. 

#2 people can do the most amazing of things

     I've been looking for the Kisses album ("The Heart of the Nightlife") since May or June with no success, so in the end I just reached out to iTunes and downloaded the thing. It's been playing on repeat for two weeks now, with pauses just to listen to whatever else is included in here-posted mix, which has dance-around-the-room tracks just as well as the ones that you really notice end for a minute or two, like Flunk's Play. 

    It was supposed to be a motivational compilation, but didn't really end up that way. Instead, it has proved to be a great soundtrack to all of those activities that don't involve your mind, like unpacking and cleaning up. 

    Download here. Cover photo: courtesy of Esperanza De La Fuente.

Track list: 

1. Let's Dance - David Bowie

2. Girls Talk - Dave Edmunds

3. Casimir Pulaski Day - Sufjan Stevens

4. One Too Many Mornings - The Chemical Brothers

5. Midnight Runner - Cut Copy

6. Balance - Future Islands

7. What Makes You Think You Are the One - Fanfarlo

8. Your Arms Around Me - Jens Lekman

9. People Can Do the Most Amazing of Things - Kisses

10. Play - Flunk

11. God Only Knows - The Beach Boys

12. Green Grass of Tunnel - Mum