When you are a teacher and you run into your students outside of school, they are awe-struck. They have this look like, wow, they let you out of your classroom. I think some of my students(and I taught the older ones) thought I had a cot in the back and that is where I slept. Now before you go and say kids are too smart for that you might be surprised. One of my smartest students of all time had many misconceptions…my favorite being that if a woman’s breast got cut off that she could grow a new one back just like a lizards tail. I learned this from him in an after-school parent approved birds and bees class(I really wish they still taught it in actual school instead of an after school, parent approved elective).
I find the same phenomenon happens when you happen to be a good cook(well, not the boob thing). I always hate to disappoint people when they ask me what we had for dinner last night and I have to tell them sloppy joes(my husband loves them to pieces and we have them at least twice a month). I know what they really want to hear is that we had salmon wellington served with a raspberry beurre blanc sauce with potato and Walla Walla onion gratin. And yes, from time to time, we have meals like that, especially on the weekends.
I also find that they seem to think I have one big giant pastry case in my refrigerator. Again, sorry to disappoint. Now, we always have some sort of baked good, I will admit that. But most days it is in the form of a chocolate chip cookie(again for the hubby) or a muffin for our breakfast. No grandiose 5 tiered white chocolate mousse cakes sitting next to the cheese danish and cream puff.
Here is an example of our everyday food that we eat: a white chocolate, dried blueberry(I can eat them if they are dried) and lemon muffin. Nothing over the top by any means, certainly not anything to make the crowd go wild, but more realistic to what really goes on around the house of Pea.
So since I confessed that we eat sloppy joes more than I liked to admit, what is your one food that you eat that might possible shock people to know?
Dried Blueberry White Chocolate Lemon Muffin(say that 5 times fast) 😛
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
zest of one lemon
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
¾ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp cream of tartar
2 and ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 and ¼ cup sour cream
1/3 cup white chocolate chunks
½ cup dried blueberries
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup hot water
Preheat oven to 350F.
In a small bowl combine dried blueberries with 1 cup hot water and the juice of one lemon. Let it sit for 10 minutes to allow the blueberries to plump up a bit. After ten minutes, drain and pat dry with paper towel. Set aside.
Take 1 cup of sugar and place in a small bowl. Add lemon zest. Using your fingers rub the lemon zest into the sugar.
Cream the butter and sugar until soft about 3 to 5 minutes. Add in the vanilla. Add in the eggs one at a time and mix until each is incorporated.
In a separate, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cream of tartar.
Add the flour mixture and the sour cream alternately to the egg-butter mixture in the additions. Start with the flour and end with the flour. Scrape the bowl occasionally.
Fold the blueberries and white chocolate into the batter. Portion the muffin batter into greased tins(I use an ice cream scoop). Depending on the size of your tins, you should get about 12 to 14 muffins. Bake them for approx. 20 minutes. If making mini muffins, reduce time to 15 minutes.
Casey says
Chocolate frosting from a can. Only once a month, I swear!
Janet says
hmmm… I wonder if they would grow back bigger and better?
Those are the cutest little muffins, and your picture with the blurry teacup is perfect.
jseitsinger@cox.net says
Those muffins look fantastic!!!!
I love to cook, and I used to say cake and brownie mixes were like cheating.Now that i have kids, those mixes are sometimes a life saver!!! There’s not much measuring involved so I can trust my daughter to make them on her own.
Andrea says
Oh how funny! I used to be a teacher too (little kids and the big kids), and many of my students were the same way. If they saw me in the grocery store, they would get very excited or shy or curious, and always puzzled to see me somewhere other than school.
I don’t think sloppy joes are shocking. We grew up eating that kind of stuff! My mother was cooked very basic kinds of meals because, well, we were poor, and inexpensive meals were the norm for us. We still joke about how the family grew and Mom kept up with all the mouths to feed. We couldn’t afford more meat, but she would make a bigger bowl of gravy. 🙂
koryshar says
dr. pepper, not that dr. pepper is anything amazing but most people are shocked when I tell them how much…at least 4-6 a day. How much water do I drink in a day? about 1 glass. Not a very good habit, but if they would just figure out a way to make water taste better I would gladly switch over.
sarah says
Baked beans (in tomato sauce) on hot buttered toast, with grated cheese on top. Far more embarrassing than your sloppy joes 😉 But at the end of a miserable rainy day they really really hit the spot.
Deborah says
Ummmm, I like sloppy joes!! We ate them a lot growing up, and they bring back childhood memories… Hmmm, we eat a lot of cereal – well my husband mostly, but that is our Saturday breakfast of choice. My husband calls it “cereal day.” Not the good cereal like corn flakes, but the really sugary kind – like Fruity Pebbles!!
Your muffins look wonderful. Maybe I need to change “cereal day” into “muffin day!”
Claire says
Ewww…I HATE sloppy joes. That is one thing that I won’t have in my house…unless someone else makes it and I don’t eat it! These muffins look good though. When I was little I likes a cut up hot dog on top of a piece of bread with cheddar cheese on top (and mayo on the bread) toasted until the cheese melts. Actually, if I was in the mood for a hot dog, that would still be pretty good.
Shawnda says
Meat from a can: Vienna sausages – aka “Sodium Sticks of Death.”
They make a baby food version but I won’t admit to sneaking one or two slobber-free turkey sticks from my nephews tray when he’s not looking 🙂
veron says
Those muffins would have my heart go a-thumpin for sure specially with a cup of coffee. shrimp flavored Cup-o-noodles from Nissen ramen for breakfast and I love ketchup – no, not on the noodles. The hubby gives me a hard time about it -especially the ketchup.
Lizards grow their tail back ?
Rachel says
1. those muffins look positively, outrageously YUMMY!
2. right there with ya on not wanting to let people down with what i made for dinner. if it were up to my husband, we would have frozen, Elio’s pizza squares every night.
3. my favorite thing to cook that let’s the world down is macaroni & tomato juice…just elbow mac, lots of butter, salt, pepper and heated up tomato juice. sounds totally wierd, but it rules my world.
Abby says
Peanut butter on saltines – sometimes twice a day – with milk. It’s my go-to meal! It satisfies my sweet tooth and fills my belly.
We eat meatloaf and sloppy joes, too, for the same reason: HUSBAND TASTEBUDS.
Tara says
I have the same issue, just because I eat very healthy most of the time, people think I never eat anything unhealthy. My super naughty snack of choice is Peanut M’n’M’s! Love the muffin idea with white chocolate…speaking of, have you ever had the lindt white chocolate with cocunut…now that’s another favorite of mine!
Courtney says
I don’t know that I have one. Meat maybe? I am a through and through animal lover, and have had a people ask early on in our friendships if I was one.
My husband on the other hand, it would HAVE to be veggie burgers. He is a through and through meat guy, and could live on cheeseburgers alone, so it surprised me that he would be so willing to try them, and then really truly like them was a shock.
Marce says
mmmm well, when I don´t feel like cooking I sometimes cook a soy burger with tomato sauce and cheese and call it a day. Or just eat crackers with cheese for dinner or something lame like that.
The pressure does build up when you are a food blogger, but sometimes we just have to disappoint people lol
Sylvia says
Is funny because most of the people that ask me what I do for dinner disappoint themselves when I said:I don´t know maybe some noodles.I usually works in the kitchen two or three times per weeks.
Kevin says
Blueberry muffins are great by themselves but throw in some white chocolate,… that sounds good. I will have to try it. They look great!
Ellie says
I’m almost blushing as I make my admittance. “Shin Ra-Myun” (Well, that’s the phonetic spelling – my keyboard doesn’t support Korean type!) – it is one of the oldest and most loved brands of instant noodles in Korea, and one that anyone growing up in the country would have tasted at least once! For me, whenever we’ve made kimbap (Korean version of sushi), I always get a hankering for a bowl of these hot, spicy noodles 🙂
jef says
I’m a self-proclaimed food snob so these will probably shock you guys 🙂
I like spam. Pineapple and spam fried rice, spam musubi, spam and eggs, I just like the stuff. I’m a little ashamed, but what can I say, I like the stuff.
I’ve also been known to (regularly) make mac and cheese…from a box. Honestly I can’t stand the baked bechamel, homemade version. It has to be in the box or it just isn’t any good.
I agree that sometimes you have too much pressure to come up with exotic dishes, that’s when the above generally happens 🙂
Elle says
Love the darling tiny muffins AND the teacup. Glad you can have dried blueberries. Sounds perfect with the white chocolate and lemon flavors.
I guess some folks are shocked that I adore peanut butter and mayonnaise and bannana sandwiches. I blame my Dad…he loved ’em too.
Lydia says
Bumble Bee tuna fish sandwiches, made with Miracle Whip, on some sort of puffy roll — no artisan breads will do for this guilty pleasure. The “right” tuna and the “mayo” are key. No substitutions allowed.
Amanda says
I would have to say my favorite go-to meal when my husband is out is a baked sweet potato filled with butter, sour cream and broccoli. Its so boring and weird, but for some reason really satisfying to me!
(I also eat cereal for dinner way more than I would like to admit!)
Laura Rebecca says
Hee, so true about students being shocked to see teachers outside the classroom!
I eat boca burgers all the time. Sometimes for lunch and breakfast.
Lesley says
What is a sloppy joe? (I am an ignorant Brit, I’m afraid).
At the moment, my dirty food secrets include squirty cream from a can with meringues bought from M&S (I swear they’re as good as home-made), tinned spaghetti on toast, oven chips and those German-style meatball things you get from Aldi.
Susan Ramey says
Those muffins look and sound so good. I’ll have to try that recipe. Could you please tell me what your dinnerware pattern is? That cup so matches my kitchen. THanks. –Susan
Amy says
White chocolate in a muffin! Yum! Those muffins are too cute! I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to stop popping them in my mouth.
Jenny says
The muffins look great! Just in time for my back to school baking lunch treats list.
I don’t know that I make much people would be shocked about – I’m not known for overly fancy cooking, just for alot of cooking and baking. I guess salmon sandwiches that are just a can of salmon, debonned, mixed with a bit of mayo, eaten on white sandwich bread. Yum!
bluezebra says
well my guilty pleasure is Velveeta cheese in many dishes like in my family recipe for cheese grits and in my yellow summer squash casserole… *blush* shhhh don’t tell, ok?!
(and I heart Sloppy Joes. 😀 )
Love your posts and photos as usual Peabody, you site makes me smile. 😀
Kirsten says
Oh I LOVE those muffins!!
And I LOVE reading your secret food life (real life) and those of your readers. 🙂
I post about most food I eat, and the rest is usually take-out or restaurant food, but I do have a favorite that doesn’t pass for gourmet (at all!):
Ranch-style beans (I think they are only available in the Southwest of the US) from a can in a flour tortilla heated in the microwave. If I get real fancy, I’ll add sour cream or cheese.
rebecca says
your muffins are adorable!
Anh says
Those muffins are so adorable! I would love to have them for breaky. 😀
Steph says
i LOVE chocolate cereal (Nesquick and Cocoa Puffs especially). I don’t buy them often, because I can down a box in two days, and that scares the crap out of me.
manis says
Very nice picture,looks so delicious 🙂
Kelly-Jane says
Your muffins look so cute, and popable.
I like ready made breadcrumbed turkey steaks and fish fingers. Oh and little iced lemon sponge fingers (don’t know if you get Mr Kipling brand?)Our whole household is positively addicted to them!
T.W. Barritt says
I cook much the same way. Weekends are gourmet and weeknights are fast and functional. Sometimes, when it’s really late and I haven’t eaten, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich hits the spot!
valentina says
I just toast pitta bread and then fill it with sliced cherry tomatoes and coriander leaves. to finish it off I sprinkle some sea salt on it. I can have about 2 of those sarnies if I am very hungry.
Tartelette says
Those muffins must be killer! I all the falvors combine in here. I laugh too when personal training clients meet me at catered events in my chef uniform or vice versa, when I train somebody whom I have just taught parfait making…!
chris says
Yum! I am laughing at the moment, since I am still working in a school. I flipped some kids out yesterday when I showed up to the football game they told me about. But…I was in (low-rise) jeans and a Tshirt, instead of my suit. Nothing crazy, jusy regular ol’ jeans. They had such a “huh?” look on their faces.
Ok – my guilty, hang my head in shame food(s) – bottle caps candy and those sugar wafer cookies – the orange ones with cream filling. (Not both together). While I am confessing – I still really, really, really love marshmallow fluff, especially with bananas. Phew – I feel better… 🙂
emily says
I love burgers- not the fast food kind but friends are often shocked when I order them in cafes and things. Not quite sure what makes it shocking- sometimes, you just feel like a burger… I have no idea what a ‘sloppy joe’ is but I’m intrigued.
These muffins are now on my ‘to bake’ list, they look perfect for taking to work.
P.S. That boob thing made me laugh- now that is the reason WHY sex ed. should be taught as part of the curriculum, imagine if he hadn’t gone to that session 🙂
arfi says
I haven’t found any dried blueberries here. The recipe sounds really intriguing to be tried out!
johanna says
sloppy joes? walla wallas? am i in the wrong movie or what? never even heard of them. but i’ll take one of these muffins any day… and sure enough, i’v got some dired blueberries at home – off to the kitchen, she cried!
Tanna says
Ha, ha, now how about I soak those dried blue berries in some red wine! Wouldn’t that put it over the top.
What’s my food sin- fritos and canned chilli (no meat) or frozen buffalo tenders from Sam’s.
barbara says
Love the white choc muffins. My secret food is macaroni cheese.
Dolores says
My parents were both career teachers (high school), and to this day my brother and I can’t reveal our surnames in our home town (not exactly a small town) without having someone ask “Are you related to…?” Shortly after my father died, my boyfriend and I attended a class reunion at his ex high school in his honor. I was born two years after the honored class graduated, so it was fascinating to get their takes on the man *before* he was a father…
As for guilt foods: ramen noodles. The 20c pure sodium ‘oriental flavor’ variety — boiled as directed on the package with an egg or two ‘poached’ in the broth and then whisked in with a fork egg drop soup style. The hangover cure of my college days, turned comfort food when I’m home sick.
Lisa says
I am so late on this.. I didn’t realize I was so outta the loop because of my back until I see you posted this on the 31st (and to think I clicked on “Gracie” this morning thinking to myself, “huh.. she’s got to have something new since the challenge tart by now, eh?” DOH. Quite a few new things!!
Anyhoo.. I don’t like white choc.. but this is one of those recipes that I don’t think I’d leave it out – it really does sound perfect with the blueberries & lemon. =)
As for “secret” foods.. amazingly about the only uhhh normal? thing about me is my blood pressure.. it’s always been normal, much to my doc’s amazement.. now if my doc knew what I ate at least once a week (sometimes more) she’d probably have a stroke.. (I see lots eat this too) Ramen noodles. All 6000 grams of sodium Ramen noodles. And when I’m not in the mood for them, I go for either Kraft Mac & Cheese (has to be the spiral kind) and/or Noodle-Roni’s white cheddar mac & cheese – both fully packed with billions of grams of sodium. 😀
Hmm.. chocolate ramen noodles..
xoxo
Kristen says
Nothing ordinary about those muffins! They sound scrumptious!
D says
To The Brit:
Sloppy Joes are hamburger meat in a tomatoey sauce served on white bread, to the best of my recollection.