It’s about making spaces. Space to find peace of mind. Space to flourish creativity. Space to nourish the soul. Space to find the breath that leads you to your voice, your moral compass, and to recognize the path you are on and finding those surprises along the way.
This last pandemic year, ergo the last 14 months, has presented challenges beyond what we could have imagined. In many ways, it felt as if everything familiar, those previous world views, were burning to the ground around us as we remained alone together. As a marketer, I can attest that ‘social distancing’ was really good pandemic branding because the experience was more along the lines of ‘social isolation’.
Now as we look at the world, vaccinations are giving us hope to regain our former lives. I’ve started to reconnect with friends over coffee and imagine future travel and what that might be like. I imagine a world with less screen time. A world where I can hug my family and friends and smile unmasked, invite friends and family over. I miss people. We all do.
This new world has had its benefits – I have had time to closet-scape and friend-scape. I’ve built spaces to create my version of a retreat. I’ve taken on projects outside of blogging because I just couldn’t take any more screen time or entertain the thought of puzzles. I expressed my creativity in learning about garden design, exploring undocumented recipe development, and watching the rebuild of our ’67 Mustang convertible. It’s been quite a pandemic so far. I’ll stay clear of the political unrest for now, it’s not been easy to process this and the divides it has created.
Back to two points I’ve mentioned: friends and undocumented recipe development. This recipe is one I had to publish. I created it for my long-time friend who is fighting a big health battle. She and her family said they loved it – I love her beyond words. I love their family and to me food is love.
This recipe has lovely floral undertones juxtaposed against crisp lemon flavors which are enhanced by the moist texture that zucchini provides when incorporated in baking. I intended for these treats to be eaten as muffins, but they could certainly masquerade as cupcakes.
Zucchini Cardamom Muffins
Muffin Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp cardamom powder
3/4 tsp baking powder<
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup and 2 TBS sugar
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted (room temperature)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
Glaze Ingredients
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 TBS butter, room temp
3 TBS lemon juice
1/2 lemon zested
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with 12 regular cupcake liners.
In a medium bowl combine all dry ingredients and whisk together.
In a large bowl, add eggs, sugar, oil, and buttermilk and whisk until smooth. Combine zucchini and then mix in dry ingredients; use a spatula to mix until just combined.
Divide batter into prepared pan, place the pan in the middle rack of the own and bake for 22-25 minutes.
To make the glaze combine ingredients and frost muffins.
Note: to make buttermilk, add ½ TBS to ½ cup milk. Allow to sit 5 mins.