Channeled Plum Muffins

3 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 heaping TBS baking powder
½ tsp salt

½ cup milk
2 eggs
1 stick butter – ½ cup
½ cup sour cream
½ cup cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla

Mix dry ingredients together and set aside in a large bowl. Mix liquid ingredients together and mix into dry ingredients just until it all balls up. Gently mix in about 1 cup of chopped up dried plums (or use raisins) and ½ cup of almonds. I took a handful of the plums and chopped them up with my curved mezza luna knife.

Drop into muffin pan (I used paper cupcake liners) and bake at 400° degrees Fahrenheit for 15 to 18 minutes. This recipe makes 16 muffins piled high into the cups.

Now, for the interesting stories behind this recipe. I purchased the dried plums from China Town in Oakland yesterday. I did have candied ginger in my basket, but one of the guides suggested I put it back and get the plums instead. Raisins or dried cranberries would work just as well. It’s fun to shop with the guides.

The cream cheese was the store brand. Beyond the fact that my husband gives me grief every time I buy it I will persist in trying to save money and not spend the extra money on the Philadelphia brand even though I tend to agree with him that is the better tasting cream cheese. This time I thought I would fancy it up somewhat by mixing it with agave syrup. You could have heard him next door, so the logical thing would be to try and use it some other way, hence it worked its way into this recipe.

I argued with the guides about using a whole stick of butter. Turns out it boiled over onto the glass turnaround thingie in the microwave oven. I squeegeed off the boiled over part into the bowl, but it might have been slightly less than ½ cup. Close, but not quite.

I also argued with the guides about the sugar. They’re saying, “Collaborate, Dear. We were collaborating.” Okay. Okay. Anyway, they suggested a whole cup of sugar. I worked them down to 2/3 of a cup.

These are really good muffins. DeeDude who is having an adventurous day today might be glad of some comfort food when he gets home. He and one of the Erics were over in San Francisco doing some research on their upcoming book, “San Francisco – Then and Now” the second edition. The first one by Bill Yenne was released in 2002 by Thunder Bay Press. The publishers contacted DeeDude, Eric and Karl to see if they’d like to update the book. So, they were off in San Francisco at the library doing research on it. The problem, though, was when our car broke down. Luckily, it was on a side street near the library and DeeDude moved it to the side of the road to wait for a tow truck. Towed it off to our favorite place in Oakland where they will work on it, probably tomorrow. Meanwhile, DeeDude and Eric will eventually find their way home. He didn’t want me to come and get him. Said they’d either take Bart home or hop the ferry home.

It’s been awhile since I channeled a recipe and this is the very first time I pretty much wrote it down quickly beginning to end. I was able to let the juices flow and didn’t try to interrupt the guides as they were listing off the ingredients. I think it’s a pretty neat way to channel and enjoy the special interaction with the guides.

And, by the way, these muffins also taste very good. This is a keeper.