Cornmeal Muffins & A Book Review

I made these Cornmeal Muffins to go with my White Turkey Chili that I made this past weekend.  Since this week has been super cold in the D.C. Metro Area, this is the perfect comfort food.  I am pretty acclimiated to cold weather; I grew up in Syracuse and went to college in Rochester.  However, let it be noted that these are not walking cities… we turn our cars on, let them get warm, and then drive everywhere.  Normally, you’re not walking very much outside or at least not 4 blocks to work like I do every morning from the metro.  It’s during these times that I miss driving to work.  But as I’m walking faster than most people are driving in D.C., I go back to being grateful for public transportation. The grass is always greener right?  🙂

In other news, I have to tell you about this book that I read right before Christmas.  It’s called the Soldier’s Wife by Margaret Leroy and is one of the best books that I’ve read in a while.  It’s historical fiction (which is my fav) and is set during WWII on a tiny island off the coast of Normandy in the English Channel called Guernsey.  I had planned on bringing this book home over Christmas to read, but instead, finished it in 2 days right before we left for the holidays.  Ooops!  It was that good.  I highly recommend.

Source

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. dried sage
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• Parmesan cheese for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F and grease 11 standard muffing cups with cooking spray.  Fill the unused cup halfway with water to prevent warping.
2. Sift together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, and sage into a bowl. In another bowl, whisk the milk, olive oil and eggs. Fold into the flour mixture and stir 15-2o strokes; do not overmix.
3. Spoon batter into muffin tins, filling them level with the rim.  Sprinkle each muffin with parmesan cheese.  Bake for 25 minutes or until golden on top or a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Serve hot or at room temperature.

*Adapted from Muffins