Sunday, October 1, 2017

Cornbread Muffins with Corn, Mozzarella, and Herbs







I am trying to get used to the new, shorter format of my posts, but it's not easy.

I've never expected to become a writer. Never. Camera was always my way of communicating with the world, and more than occasionally, with myself. Internalizing things, expressing feelings, saying things I would otherwise have not said. Click, click. But the truth is, once I started this blogging endeavor, I fell in love with writing.  Perhaps even more so than with photography. There is peace in putting words on paper. There is solace, reflection... Reverie so to speak. I've never expected this to happen, and it surprises me. My relationship with words surprises me too. Being a non-native speaker I am constantly hunting for new words, new way to say things, and when they come to me, there is an enormous amount of satisfaction. There is so much happiness when I see words in action -- in a sentence, in my notebook, on the blog. Words are constantly around, my tiny friends, tempting me with new stories. And then, there is the frustration and anger when they run away. Or when I do not have time to write. This, unfortunately, happens often these days, because work hours have stretched beyond imaginable. I try to gate them, slow them down, but the words in my head are impatient, they want to come out, be heard, and if I don't grab them quickly enough they run away leaving me anxious, disappointed, and indignant.

It's a new feeling and I am trying to come to terms with it. Learning to let go. Learning to deal with the loss. Accepting the fact that for every lost word a new one will come, that for every photo I did not have time to take, another one is lurching behind the corner.

This entire week, I took only three photos. That's all I could accomplish in between meetings, late nights in the office, the piles of papers waiting to be read, and thousands of emails that have accumulated, and continue to do so, mercilessly. Today I baked a humble, no-hustle-cornbread, instead of my grandmother's 12 layer chocolate extravaganza cake I've been planning on making for a long time. I have not made the cake in over four years, maybe even five, and I am worried that the skill is gone. That I will never be able to make it again. That it will disappear forever. Just like all those words.

But then I remember the mantra: for every lost word a new one will come, for ever photo I did not take, for every cake I did not bake... I remember the mantra and let go. It's a new way to see things and it's liberating. Everything happens for a reason.



Cornbread with Corn, Mozzarella and Herbs


* 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
* 1 cup cornmeal
* 3 tbsp sugar
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 tsp cracked pepper
* 1 cup corn kernels
* 4 oz mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
* 2 tsp summer savory, finely chopped
* 2 tsp oregano, finely chopped
* 1 1/4 cups milk
* 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
* 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
* 1 large egg


hardware

* 9 large silicon muffin cups


Preheat the oven to 375°F.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, pepper, and salt. Stir in the corn kernels, mozzarella, and herbs.

In another bowl whisk together the egg. Add the milk, melted butter, and olive oil. Mix well. Pour the liquid all at once into the flour mixture, stirring quickly and gently until just combined.

Arrange the muffin cups on a baking sheet. With a large spoon pour the batter into the muffin cups. Bake for 30 minutes, until the muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Serve warm.

6 comments :

  1. "Only what has not been given a form or a name endures, that which has never left the infinite and eternal landscape of non-existence" Signs by the roadside, Ivo Andric

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  2. It looks like I could have learned much more in my internship at IBM and missed a chance to improve my skillset outside of data science! If only I knew my manager was an amazing cook, photographer, and blogger :)

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    1. Serhat, so good to hear from you :) It's never too late, if you happen to visit NYC let me know and we can cook or photograph together. Or at least have a coffee.

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  3. Love the post, thank you so much for it! The recipe looks delicious too, but mainly the post, hahah x) I was needing to read something like this!

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    1. Kelly, thank you for stopping by and letting me know. All the best!

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