Some days, I feel uninspired and tired of cooking. These are the days we have breakfast for supper. I had bought fresh farm eggs from Steamboat Mountain Natural Foods in Lyons, a complete organic market shoehorned into a modest space. And I was hungry for blueberry muffins, who knows why, but I had a yen. Omelets and muffins for dinner. Easy, peasy.
First the muffins. This recipe is minimally adapted from A Complete Book of Breads, by Bernard Clayton.
I particularly like the lemon zest in the batter and the small amount of sugar. There is a sugar topping but the muffins are not overly sweet.
Combine 2 2/3 cups unbleached flour, (I added 1 tablespoon wheat germ to the bottom of each cup when measuring the flour), 1 tablespoon of baking powder, (a scant tablespoon at our altitude), 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and a tablespoon of lemon zest.
Add 2 large eggs, 1 cup of milk, and 2/3 cup canola oil. Stir to combine then fold in 2 cups of blueberries, fresh or frozen. Fill 16 buttered muffin cups about three-quarters full and bake at 400° for 25 minutes until brown and firm. Cool for 5 minutes.
Have ready in a small skillet or pan, 3 tablespoons of melted butter, and a small dish of sugar. I used turbinado sugar for the crunch. Dip the top of each muffin in butter, then in the sugar. Cool on a rack.
Since this makes 16 muffins, I usually freeze some. Reheat in an oven or toaster oven at 350° until thawed and warm.
To fill out the menu (I really only wanted the muffins) I included some roasted potatoes and roasted asparagus.
I cut 2 Yukon Gold potatoes in spears and tossed them in a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. I had half a sweet potato so threw that in. After roasting at 400° for 15 minutes I turned the potatoes and cooked for another 15 minutes. I added the asparagus, tossed with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, for an additional 7 minutes.
Just after I put the asparagus in the oven I prepared the eggs to make omelets. In each of two small bowls I combined 2 eggs with a tablespoon of chopped fresh dill and and one of cilantro. I beat the eggs and herbs with a bit of pepper and salt, then one at a time, poured them into an omelet pan in which I had melted a couple teaspoons of butter. I cooked them to our liking, just a little runny in the center. Each omelet was rolled out onto a warm plate and dinner was served. Buon appetito.
Top: Breakfast on Blue Mountain Road, oil on canvas, each part 30 x 36 inches.
(Jeannie Cohen, Bernard Cohen, Jerry Brody, Jean Brody)
How I Learned to Cook, an Artist's Life ─ Barbara Shark 
Well, I ‘ve been reading selectively-not chronologically; surprise surprise! I was so enchanted with the bits of personhood accompanied with a recipe.
Thank you for mentioning our taxi ride to NY! It was a great adventure as was the train trip to the Chicago print expo.
The second chapter about your childhood memories brought to mind my own. Especially the endurance of Sunday’s religious ordeal. I knew nothing about Catholics or Jews until my adult introduction in my 30’s. But my remembrance might be informative to my identity as an artist: my mother took me to Methodist services. There
was a printed program for the parishioners when we were seated. On the back of each pew was a hymnal and one
tiny short dry pencil. As the sermon began after the singing, my mother gave me the pencil and the program; I drew between the rows, alongside the borders, totally filling the blank white space. I don’t recall the imagery but I know it filled in the time. Thank you for your thoughtful
insights and the courage to share them. Cath
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