Listen to the weather

Much like yesterday, today will start out sunny and end rainy. 

It might be a good day to bake. My favorite recipe is Joy of Cooking Cookbook’s lemon poppy seed muffin recipe (see recipe below). Nestle Toll House also has a pretty good chocolate chip cookie recipe which you can find on the back of any bag of chocolate chips.

“Another active day is ahead with scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms. Slow and erratic storm motions will only contribute to the flash flooding threat, especially on burn scars,” Albuquerque National Weather Service Meteorologist Randall Herdgert said.

Here’s today’s breakdown:

The day starts out with 30-percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. It then turns into a 40-percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 3 a.m. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. It will be mostly cloudy, with a high around 90 and a low around 65.

That’s all for today folks. Have a great day!

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins:

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons (15 grams) poppy seeds
  • 2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon (4 grams) baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) salt
  • 1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
  • Zest of one lemon (outer yellow skin)
  • 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 cup (240 ml) (240 grams) full fat plain yogurt or sour cream, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure vanilla extract

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. You can either line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or lightly butter or spray each muffin cup with a nonstick vegetable spray.

At least 30 minutes (or up to overnight) before making the batter, stir the poppy seeds into 1/4 cup (60 ml) hot water (this step softens the poppy seeds so they are more digestible). Let sit at room temperature. Then strain.

In a bowl, whisk or sift the flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a small bowl rub the lemon zest into the sugar.

In the bowl of your electric stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (3 – 5 minutes). Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Beat in the poppy seeds, yogurt (or sour cream), and vanilla extract until well blended. Add the flour mixture and beat until moistened. Do not over mix. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups using two spoons or an ice cream scoop (about 1/3 cup (80 ml) (80 grams) in each muffin cup). Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack