As a frazzled working Mom, I never had time to sit down with a cup of coffee and eat breakfast before the day got crazy. Instead, every morning I got in my car, went to Starbucks and gulped down coffee at my desk. Sometimes I ate oatmeal, especially during the few weeks I was going to have my cholesterol checked! Worked every time. But then I snapped right back into my old habit of skipping breakfast or eating whatever I could find at work. Usually as stale granola bar in my desk drawer. I mean really, really stale. Think years, not months or weeks.
Now the world has changed. I have time to focus on all things big and small. MEtirement is peace and quiet and no rushing around in the morning. And that means MUFFINS! The time to enjoy one every so often. But we are not talking about just ANY MUFFIN.
THIS MUFFIN:
This is the muffin to end all muffins. I wish I could say I baked it but I didn’t. The first time I ate this muffin was about three months ago. And I have not stopped thinking about it since. This is an ORANGE CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFIN from my local Breadsmith bakery. It is to die for. Crispy on the outside and incredibly moist but dense on the inside. The chocolate is rich but not cloying.
I swear when you take this magnificent muffin out of its paper bag, it feels like it weighs about a pound. I have convinced myself that the weight of the muffin has nothing whatever to do with the amount of weight you could gain eating these every day. So you have to indulge once in a while and given all of the yoga and walking I am doing these days because I have the time for such healthy pursuits, I AM NOT GIVING UP THESE MUFFINS. Every Friday morning, I eat one. Just Fridays. Just one per week. They are that good but I have limited my addiction to them to only once a week.
Generally I am not a fan of fruit and chocolate (I HATE RASPBERRIES in particular) but this is just beyond words. The orange is just so fresh and subtle and there are no chewy chunks of peel. Definitely one of the best muffins I have ever eaten. While it may be an overstatement to elevate this muffin to “ODE” status (as in Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, famously known as the Ninth Symphony) which, clearly, is on a level all its own)–but, once you taste this you will understand the reverie and poetic inspiration!
So now MEtirement means that I can visit my friendly baker, pick up my muffin, go to Starbucks and come home and blog. Before I start “working” I heat the muffin for 35 seconds in the microwave—just long enough to get the chocolate to melt slightly.
This is the muffin dreams are made of. And having the time to appreciate a muffin and a cup of coffee in the quiet light of the morning, a morning that did not start with the alarm going off, is the dream now found. It is definitely not just about the muffin. It is now the muffin as the symbol for a life reclaimed. Or just beginning.
I hope you find your muffin and if anyone can figure out how to make this culinary wonder, please don’t hesitate to share!