Thanks so much to Rachel Harkham for this great Guest Post.  Rachel is a mother of three, wife of one, living in Rockland County, NY. She keeps a food blog that records her life, times and the dishes that went with it. Her articles on uncomplicated, tasty, and  health-conscious recipes can be found in the About Our Children insert in the Bergen County Jewish Standard.  Rachel’s alter ego Roxy Chocsmith, is responsible for the fanciful and outlandish chocolate creations found on RoxyChocSmith.com.  And in her spare time Rachel teaches cooking and baking for kids at the local day school and at the local JCC.

This morning I woke up to bright sunshine and fresh air.   Even before the usual morning go around with the kids, I was thinking of what to make for dinner.   As I prepared their breakfasts of cold cereal and cold milk, I regretted  this most important meal’s lack of warmth.  A vision of oven-baked sun- yellow corn muffins, flicked through my mind as I placed the white bowls of crunchy brown squares in front of them.

“I’m not going to the supermarket today” I remind myself later that morning as I take stock of the fridge.  Supermarket once a week, twice max- is my new resolution in order to save time, and, more importantly money.   I pause on a package of sliced nova. Then I look for the eggs- I know I bought a new carton the other day. Locate them, open up to find all twelve eggs -but curse the last two cracked ones.   A feeling of mild triumph, like fitting the right word into a crossword puzzle, alights when I know what I’m making for dinner tonight.  Monday-first day of the week, June 1st  the first day of the month. I want to begin fresh and light and cool with smoked salmon egg salad and corn muffins.

With a potato masher I mash  ten hardboiled eggs in a large bowl.  I set about cutting the package of smoked salmon (6oz) into small dice. Then I chop up half a medium sized red onion, measure  2 tbsp. of capers,  squeeze the juice out of half a lemon.  Toss it all up in a  bowl with 4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil and 1 tbsp. stoneground mustard. Then there’s 2 tbsp. of snipped fresh chives, as well 2 tbsp of fresh dill  added to the bowl.  I give these fragrant ingredients a good mix, so all is well-combined, then a  few good fresh grinds of black pepper, and this colorful egg salad is done.  It’s covered and refrigerated until dinnertime.

The corn muffins are from a basic recipe and was  tweaked to suit the ingredients on hand. These easy-to-make muffins are not overly corny nor are they overly sweet.  They tasted good with tonight’s egg salad, but will be wonderful with tomorrow’s breakfast.  I’m looking forward to it all, the morning’s sunshine, fresh air, the usual go-around with the kids, and warm corn muffins spread with butter and a drizzle of honey or a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar.  But can it start just one hour later?

Preheat oven to 400F, and grease muffin tin (I used a 6 cup jumbo muffin tin).  Then in a large bowl mix 1 cup cornmeal and 1 cup self-rising flour, 4 tbsp. honey, 2 tsp. baking powder. Add in 1 beaten egg, a ¼ cup of melted butter (salted or unsalted), and 1 cup light buttermilk.  Mix lightly to combine and spoon batter into muffin tin.   Bake for 15-20 minutes when golden brown and if it passes the toothpick test.