Blueberry Lime Cupcakes On taking drugs

Ive been suffering these past six weeks with a massive attack of eczema, probably having to do with something that is in the air combined with intense stress.  This eczema has literally led me to scratch wildly at my skin during inappropriate times and caused me to scratch myself up so badly that I have scabs and raw patches all over.  Its not pretty.  The itching gets so frenetic at night that Husband has to shake me awake and tell me to stop.  But I cant.  I have to scratch where it itches.  Its compulsive and its necessary.  I suddenly have a whole lot more sympathy for Son and other babies with eczema as it is just so completely frustrating to live this way.

I knew that if I took antihistamines I would probably find some measure of relief as I was fairly certain it was an allergic reaction.  Only I couldnt take antihistamines because they destroy me.  They literally leave me too groggy to function (all antihistamines, even those touted as being "non-drowsy") and Ive fallen asleep standing up, the effect is so strong.  Husband begged me to take something and my response was, "If I take something I cant do what I have to do and that is be a mother who is on top of everything and a teacher who gets the teaching done."  Antihistamines would cause me to destruct and leave me non-functioning.

I promised Husband however, that once Daughters were on break, Id try taking some, if only at night, if only to help me sleep.  He gave me many exasperated looks not understanding WHY I had to wait six weeks to treat my problem, and my answer?  I can SLEEP IN when Daughters are on break. I dont HAVE to be awake at the crack of down.  I can be conked out in the bed until 8 and not have to dash around so maniacally in the morning.

Even with those crazy reassurances to myself about how the antihistamines were going to be okay, it took a few days before I would allow myself to take it, even once Daughters were on break.  The first day I decided to take them, my desire to scratch myself to death was so strong that I took it mid-afternoon.  It began affecting my teaching so that I taught standing up for two hours, chewing wildly at several pieces of gum that I shoved into my mouth.  Students told me that I was talking more wildly and more animated than usual, and I attributed it to the gum.  Really it was my insane desire to stay awake and not come crashing to the ground.

The next day, I woke up so groggy, but discovered that I was knocked out enough NOT to scratch.  The next evening I took another and slept in a bit the following morning.  It appears that my body does like the antihistamines; I just dont like the way I feel on them.  It also has shown me that I really do need to take better care of myself.  If only cupcakes could cure my ills the way the antihistamines try to, Id be a lot happier.

These are a blueberry lime cupcake - the cake itself is light and fluffy, filled with blueberries (fresh or frozen) and the hint of lime in the cake and sprinkled on top means that these are not your average cupcake.  The color is striking and the flavor is enough to convince me that Im not itchy right now.

Blueberry Lime Cupcakes
Makes 30 regular cupcakes, 60 mini cupcakes

Lemon Cake
Ingredients
2 cups regular sugar
2 tablespoon lemon zest
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 large eggs (taken out of the fridge the same time as the butter)
1¼ cup buttermilk
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup washed fresh blueberries

Method
Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake tins with paper liners.

In a food processor, pulverize together lime zest and sugar.  (Doing so releases the lime oils.)

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

In a mixing bowl with a hand mixer or a stand mixer, blend softened butter and lime sugar until thoroughly combined.  Add eggs, one at a time and beat until well mixed, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is well blended.

Add half of flour mixture and mix until just combined. and add half of buttermilk and mix until just combined. Scrape down sides of the bowl.  Add remaining half of flour mixture, mix until just combined and then add remaining buttermilk.  Mix until just combined.again.  At this stage, the less you mix the better for your cake.  (too much mixing makes for a tough cake.)  Remove mixer blades, and gently fold in blueberries with a spatula.

Divide cake into prepared muffin pans.  Bake for mini cupcakes for 20 to 22 minutes, regular cupcakes for 22 to 24 minutes, or until cake springs back when gently pressed with fingertips.  Cool for 20 minutes, then remove cake from pans and cool on wire racks until completely cool.

Blueberry Frosting
Ingredients
Makes enough to frost 30 regular cupcakes, or 60 mini

1 cup of butter, slightly softened (room temperature for about 20 minutes)
8 oz of cream cheese (room temperature for 5 minutes)
1.2 oz (34 grams) freeze dried blueberries, pulverized in a mini food processor (but not too far ahead of time, otherwise they will begin to absorb moisture) ** Freeze dried fruit has a silica gel packet - do not pulverize this!
5-6 cups of confectioners sugar

Lime zest for garnish

In a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer or a stand mixer, mix butter until it is softened and uniform. Add cream cheese and beat together until it is uniform. Add pulverized blueberries. Add 3 cups of sugar to the mixture and mix. Add 2 more cups of sugar. Mix again until mixture is creamy and spreadable. Add more sugar if necessary, otherwise prepare to frost cupcakes.

You can frost with a knife, or you can using a pastry bag and a 1M Wiltons star tip to make the rosettes.  Start in the middle of the cupcake, hold the tip perpendicular to the cupcake (pointing straight down) and swirl outwards.

Garnish with a sprinkling of lime zest.

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Joz Mint Mojito Iced Coffee Taking your coffee fate into your own hands

For CJR - you can have Joz.  And its almost as good.

Ive never hidden the truth that I LOVE coffee.  Its the first thing I want when I wake up in the morning and if it didnt keep me up late, itd be the last thing I want at night. When I am stressed, there is nothing like a cup of that to soothe me and if Im tired there is nothing like a cup to pep me up.  Of course there are days when I over use it to soothe me and pep me up so I end up a jittery mess, but most of the time, its the thing I want to drink, usually in moderation.

Because my coffee habit is daily, its hard to justify daily runs to coffee shops to get my fix, so I try, diligently to consume my coffee from my home.  Occasionally someone will gift me a giftcard to Starbucks or Peets and Ill gleefully spend it on myself without sharing, but for the most part, I drink my coffee in my home.   I have a nespresso machine, a regular coffee maker and a french press so there isnt much excuse not to make my coffee at home.

Enter the coffee shop Philz.  They are located down the street from my church/kids Korean school so the chance to go there exists at least twice a week.  And I want to go twice a week because I love their Mint Mojito Iced coffee, which I know, if youve never had it sounds FUNKY, but man oh man...its so good.  SO good.  Its one of those coffee drinks that goes down so smoothly that youre left wanting a few more cups after youve drained the last drop.

The drink is popular enough (the coffee shop probably) that the line usually wraps outside the door and into the parking lot.  I think I sent Brother there once at 5pm and there was no line, but most often than not, there IS always a line and its always a long one and its always a wait.  Husband, in all of his infinite patience, has no patience to wait for coffee (because he doesnt LOVE IT LIKE I DO) and refuses to wait in line that long for coffee.  He also objects paying that much for coffee (again because he doesnt LOVE IT LIKE I DO) so lets just say my chances for Philz Mint Mojito Iced Coffee are few and far between.  I think the last time I had it, I wanted to show my friend Philz, so SHE waited in the line and SHE paid for it and we chugged it down like it was no ones business while our five kids between us were in the back seat asking what the big deal was.  (Coffee kids.  We like it.  Stop asking questions.  Were drinking.)

The past two times I had a chance for Philz, I drove by and the line was too long and too intense and I just didnt have the bandwidth to get it, but oh...the craving for my drink, when suddenly it hit me - I could make this at home.  In fact, how hard could it be?  Ive had it enough times to know whats in it, and I had enough knowledge to make a general-in-the-neighborhood-similar creation, so I set out to try.

Today was my day to focus on my getting my mint coffee fix, and the first round, although I guzzled it down (I was thirsty, thank you) was not that great.  I retooled, rethought, and reworked and came up with this second version.   The combination of cream, sugar, coffee and mint - its indescribably smooth.  I bought some "takeaway" cups to pour some for my friends who also loved it and appreciated Joz Mint Mojito Iced Coffee.  (Jo is short for Joanne.)

Philz hand brews their coffee, which adds to the smoothness of their mix, but I think with the cream and the sugar - its not absolutely necessary.  Just use whatever brewing method you have available, bearing in mind that the original brew must be extra strong to stand up to both the ice and the cream that youll be adding in.  Ive put my version of proportions here, but you may need to tweak it a bit to get the right combination youre going for.

Joz  Mint Mojito Iced Coffee
Makes 1 cup, double or triple or quadruple as needed

Ingredients
¾ cup water
¼ cup coffee grounds (adjust according to the intensity level of your coffee - I prefer a milder, smoother roast, hence more grounds)
1 handful of mint (about 8 to 10 leaves)
1 tablespoon raw sugar (turbinado sugar)
1 tablespoon heavy cream (more or less as desired)

cup of ice
sprig of mint for garnish

Method
Brew ¾ cup of coffee using ¼ cup of grounds using your preferred method - hand brewed, coffee maker, french press.

While coffee is brewing, take handful of mint and raw sugar and using the back of a spoon or a muddler (from your cocktail set) muddle the mint with the sugar so that the mint is bruised and the oils are released.  You will smell the mint more intensely.

Once coffee is brewed and hot, pour over mint and sugar mixture.  Stir and mix well so that the sugar is dissolved.  Pour coffee over ice and add heavy cream.  Stir.  Garnish with mint sprig.

Drink.  Repeat as necessary.

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Blueberry Oatmeal Crisp Taking me as I am

To my friend in the sun hat.   You make me smile.

I can be a pain to be around.  Sure, you get lots of yummy treats, savory snacks, and meals, but you have to put up with ME, the person that I am inside and out. And that person, more often than not, is a pain in your backside.  Or frontside.  Maybe your left or your right side.

I am more often than not thinking about education.  I think about it on micro levels (what is going on in Childrens heads and how can I take advantage of real teachable moments?) to what is going on macro levels (What is going on in education at our school, district, county, state, nationwide level and how can I make an impact?)  I think about what books to read next so that I have a library handy for my students. I think about what changes need to be made at our school right now.  I think of ways to improve my own teaching.   I think about and dream about education a good portion of my life.  Its really a large part of who I am - and I cant help it.  Im a teacher, a thinker, an educator and its what I do.

There are many times when I think aloud.  Thinking about how to improve things.  Thinking about what is wrong with individual situations.  Thinking about how to improve an individual situation.  Trying to understand what is going on on multiple levels.  I think about and rant about these things all the time.  But I was told that it stressed people out and I was stressing people out with all of my thinking aloud and that people didnt like it.  They didnt like being stressed out by my internal thoughts and my external expression.

To be told that a major part of who I am stressed a friend out, and made her even say in passing, "I dont like that part of you" hurt.  I felt guilty.  Dismayed.  The piece of me that I consider to be the most passionate and integral part of what makes up who I am was shot down.  I was wounded.  I cried that day when someone said that they didnt like that part of me.  Sad, I sent a lone text to a friend, who aside from Husband, hears the most of my rants, apologizing to her, in case she ever felt stressed out by our conversations.  Her text back was, "There is nothing to forgive."

And then she sent me this picture with a caption.  (as a note - she took this picture after she got my text, surreptitiously trying to capture these two wonderful old ladies chatting)

"The teacher at the senior center was just not up to snuff."
May ours be a lasting friendship....

And it just made me smile.  She pictures us, 40 years from now, sitting in front of the senior center, still with my thinking aloud about education.  She is by my side, listening and taking it all in.    When I asked her later, if I did, in fact stress her out with all my craziness, she said, "Its who you are.  You cant reject a part of who you are.  In fact, your worry makes my world a better place."  I take that to mean, that yes, I do stress her out at times, but no, she doesnt reject that part of me.

The lesson in all of this is that people have to take me as I am.  All of me.  Im nutty about education.  I cant stop thinking about it.  I have ideas, practice, thoughts about how to improve things.  And if I dont have the ideas, Im asking questions, asking people, researching trying to find out ways to make things better.  Im studying data, analyzing, questioning wondering about all of those things.

And you all know, if Im not thinking about education, Im thinking about new ways to make food.  To make it better.  Healthier.  Easier.  Im contemplating ways to provide access to foods that Son, with his numerous allergies, can enjoy.  I think about ways to take the picture of my food, to entice people to eat what Im eating, and to cook better food for their families.  I want people to stop eating out so much, stop buying convenience food, and eat in more often.  I think about this very often in the day. If Im not ranting about education, Im probably talking about our countrys non-healthy eating habits.

I made this for my friend in the sun hat, because I wanted to share a little bit of something sweet with her.  She had to sit and listen to me talk about my grand plans for my discussion with my superintendent, but sat patiently waiting for this little bit of deliciousness to pop out of the oven.  Warm, on its own, it was a lovely unctuous treat.  Son and Daughters enjoyed it, and my friend in the sun hat did as well.  And she gets to enjoy both parts of me - educator and cook.

Blueberry Oatmeal Crisp (Vegan)
Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup coconut oil, slightly melted (softened in the microwave to facilitate blending)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 cups washed blueberries, picked over (about 1.5 lbs blueberries)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons lemon juice
zest from one lemon

Method
Preheat oven to 400.

Make crust by mixing together oats, brown sugar, and flour. Add melted coconut oil, maple syrup and cinnamon and blend together with a fork until the mixture slightly clumps together. Set aside.

Toss blueberries with brown sugar, maple syrup, flour, lemon juice and zest. Make sure all blueberries are coated and ingredients are evenly distributed.

In a 9X9 baking pan or medium casserole dish, place blueberry mixture on bottom. Crumble crust mixture on top of blueberries, covering the entire surface.

Bake in 400 oven for about 20 to 25 minutes, until crust is brown and crispy and blueberry mixture is bubbly.

Serve warm straight from the dish.

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