pablo picasso's blue period & blueberry yogurt muffins

winter blues. i've been seeing allot of blue. i've been feeling blue. everything seems blue.  

after a lovely trip to the metropolitan museum of art. nicholas (my boo), nafisa (my bestie) and picasso (the one and only) inspired this pairing of picasso's blue period with blueberry yogurt muffins.  

pablo picasso's somber blue paintings guised with melancholy affirm themes of loneliness, isolation, poverty and despair. while you examine the depths of this period in picasso's career pair it with some of the subtle sweetness, moist texture and rich flavors of the blueberry yogurt muffins.

blueberry yogurt muffins

yields: 12 muffins

prep time: 10 min

cook time: 30- 40min

total time: 40 min

ingredients:

• 2 large eggs

• 1 cup of greek yogurt

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil

• 1 teaspoon+ lemon zest, optional

• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 2 cups of blueberries (you could also use frozen)

directions: 

• preheat oven to 350F

• in a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, yogurt, sugar, oil, lemon zest, vanilla, and whisk until smooth.

• add the flour, baking powder, and mix until just combined.

• fold in 2 cups of blueberries and gently stir to incorporate (frozen blueberries bleed and run less than fresh and if using frozen do not thaw them first; add them directly into the batter frozen; alternate berries or other seasonal fruit such as strawberries, peaches, pears, or plums may be substituted)

• pour batter into muffin pan.  

• bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until top is lightly brown and set.(or a toothpick comes out clean,

chocolate chip banana muffins and Yong Mun Sen

Muffins complete me. you can have them for breakfast, as a snack, and my fav: add some ice cream and you've got dessert. mama bear had some bananas lying around that were ready to be baked, I had been craving banana bread, so my chocolate chip banana muffins came to life. 

I’ve paired these chocolate chip banana muffins with Yong Mun Sen. Yong Mun Sen is widely known as the Father of Malaysian Painting he trained in formal Chinese brush painting and calligraphy. He was one of the founders of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore, then Malaya.

prep time: 15 min

cook time: 1 hr

yields: 12 muffins

ingredients: 

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed

• 1/3 cup melted butter

• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)

• 1 egg, beaten

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• pinch of salt

• 1/2 cup of chocolate chips

• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

directions:

• preheat the oven to 350° F

• in a bowl, mix butter and mashed bananas 

• add in sugar, egg and vanilla

• sprinkle the baking soda and salt

• mix in the chocolate chips

• pour mixture into muffin tray

• bake for 1 hr

• cool and serve!

a spicy scallion scramble with apple sauce

lots of eggs, any day and any way is my breakfast motto. a weekday breakfast for me needs to be three things, simple, delicious and filling. this recipe is just that.

prep time: 5 min

cook time: 5 min

total time: 10 min 

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ingredients: 

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of butter 

1 teaspoon of milk 

sriracha (to taste)

1/2 a tablespoon of diced scallions

a tablespoon of applesauce 

instructions:

1. scramble eggs and milk in a bowl

2. in a small frying pan heat the butter, add the eggs, 1/2 of the scallions. fry for about one min.

3. serve the eggs and top with applesauce, sriracha and rest of scallions to taste.

4. add salt and pepper to taste and voila! 

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