A New Toy

I've been harping on Todd about Mother's Day (I'm doing him a favor; it really is very important to me this first time, and Todd can sometimes drop the ball on birthdays, anniversaries and holidays). So when a gigantic box arrived from Cooking.com, I knew it could only be one thing. The much coveted KitchenAid mixer. So I starting a subtle campaign of hints, "I want to make muffins, but it's so hard with the baby," etc., until he caved and let me open it early, with the understanding that it means nothing on Sunday. You can see from the photo what my focus here really is. The mixer is a revelation, like when I got my new stove. It's like having another set of hands. (Even though we don't have room for it, which was always my way of talking myself out of getting one.) Woohoo for motherhood.

So August and I took it on its maiden voyage to make some lemon poppyseed muffins for Todd's return from London, which for some reason I have this idea Todd likes.

First we sifted dry ingredients (1 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt) onto a sheet of wax paper. Then we got to fire up the mixer, to beat an egg with 1/2 cup sugar. Added to that a 6-ounce container vanilla yogurt and a spoonful of plain (it was supposed to be 8 ounces of lemon, but the convenience store didn't have that), a few drips of lemon extract, 1/4 cup lemon juice and the zest of one lemon and mixed that together, then put the mixer on stir to add 1/4 cup poppyseeds and the dry ingredients. Baked at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes, the brushed liberally (like 5 times) with a mixture of 1/2 cup sugar dissolved into 1/4 cup lemon juice and the zest of one lemon (I heated it in the microwave to dissolve).