Lemon-Ricotta Muffins and Dave Matthews

The weekend has arrived! Not much to report beforehand; the past two days have been low key. But I did try to go for a run after work and had to call it quits after 20 minutes because the heat here was absolutely stifling. Why did I think I could run outside when it's 100 degrees and humid?! During the work week, I have a really difficult time waking up early enough to run. I'm one of those people who hits the snooze button for an hour before I finally put two feet on the floor and stumble over to the shower; so naturally I opt to run after work.

Keeping this post short and sweet for Friday, I'll jump right in to the eats and beats portion. The other day I made these lemon-ricotta muffins. They are super delicious and have a great texture that tastes like pound cake. A good treat to have around on Saturday and Sunday mornings with coffee. The beat is Dave Matthew's song "So Damn Lucky". It has a beautiful melody, and he paints the lyrics with his voice. I like seeing him solo with just the guitar in this video.

Any one have big plans for the weekend? I'll meet ya'll back here on Monday for another week of eats and beats!

Julia




Lemon-Ricotta Muffins: Makes 12 muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup milk
6 tbsp butter, melted
2 large eggs
2 tsp freshly grated lemon peel

1 - Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease twelve 2 1/2 by 1 1/4 muffin-pan cups or line with paper baking liners. In large bowl, stir together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder and salt.
2 - In medium bowl, with wire whisk or fork, mix together ricotta, milk, melted butter, eggs and lemon peel. Make well in center of flour mixture and pour in ricotta mixture; stir just until flour is moistened.
3 - Spoon batter into prepared muffin-pan cups. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over muffins. Bake 20-22 minutes, until muffins are golden brown, tops spring back when lightly touched, and toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Immediately remove from pan and cool on wire rack.