. . .
Today is my niece’s birthday. Apolline lives in France, and I haven’t met her yet. That’s all going to change this summer when she comes to visit me. But this post isn’t really about Apolline. It’s about 2.0 and the cats.
movita: Today is Apolline’s birthday.
2.0: Really?
movita: Yup. She’s two years ol…
2.0: (slapping his knees) She has the same birthday as ebony!
movita: No. You said ebony’s birthday was on March 23rd. That was last week.
2.0: Oh my god! We forgot her birthday!
movita: Well, we didn’t forget, you forgot…
(2.0 runs to ebony, and grabs her head.)
2.0: How old are you kitty? Let me count… (lots of muttering) Twelve. I have decided that you are twelve today.
movita: Random.
2.0: Let’s get her a bird!
movita: What?
2.0: Let’s get her a bird!
movita: A real bird?
2.0: Well, just one of those little guys from the pet store.
movita: Wait. A live bird?
2.0: Duh! Why would she want a dead one?
movita: No. No, no, no. We’ve discussed this. No live birds in the house. Actually, no bringing any live animals into the house for the cats to kill.
(2.0 runs over to effie.)
2.0: Don’t worry, effie, we’ll get you a fish for your thirteenth birthday!
movita: But effie isn’t turning thirteen…
2.0: Uh, yah, I know. Geez. (rolling his eyes) You get a bird for your twelfth birthday. And a fish for your thirteenth.
movita: A live fish?
2.0: Well, she’ll want to feel it squirming in her belly. We’ll just get one of those little ones from the pet store.
movita: I’m pretty sure it will be dead before it reaches her belly.
(2.0 is now standing by niles.)
2.0: What? What did you say niles? You want a hamster for your birthday?
movita: Honey, no…
2.0: Let’s go shopping!
movita: Mother of pearl…
So, Apolline, I wish you a happy birthday. I hope no one got you any live animals to eat. Perhaps you will let me make you some of these muffins when you are visiting this summer. I bet your dad would like them – they don’t have lots of healthy crap in them. They are cakey. And topped with brown sugar – which makes any muffin taste better. Oh, and I threw some cinnamon in there to compliment the nectarines. Because that’s how we roll here at the Cat Farm.
And a happy belated birthday to ebony – thank goodness 2.0 got distracted by that bakery when we were out shopping.
. . .
Nectarine Muffins - adapted from Homestyle’s Cookies, Muffins and Cakes - print and bake for someone
Yields about 18 muffins.
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 cup milk
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 heaping cup peeled, diced nectarine (1-2 nectarines)
- 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar for topping
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease or line 18 muffin wells.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into a large bowl. Stir in the brown sugar. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients.
In a separate bowl, mix together the butter and milk, and then stir in the lightly beaten eggs. Pour all at once into the centre of the dry ingredients, and then fold until just combined. The batter will be lumpy – don’t over mix.
Fold in the diced nectarines.
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins and sprinkle a little brown sugar on to the top of each muffin. Bake for about 15-17 minutes, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack.
What gorgeous cute muffins to celebrate with
Love them!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Latest: Maple Raisin Ice Cream
Thanks, friend!!
We only give live food to lizards & snakes and other critters we don’t allow in the house either. Cats and dogs, when they’re our friends and roommates, dine only on dead food. (And we mostly do too.) It’s a rule.
by the way, your muffins are gorgeous.
Kibble. Our cats get KIBBLE. And fancy feast for breakfast. NO LIVE ANIMALS. I’m not sure why 2.0′s tryin’ to mess with the perfect balance we’ve achieved…
Movita, you are a riot. Love the conversation. Muffins look delish.If I get brave enough, perhaps I will try to make them. Anything’s possible at my age. Take care of those kitty cats.
Despite the fact that I won’t allow 2.0 give anything to the kitties to hunt, they remain some of the most spoiled animals on the planet. niles is currently sleeping on 2.0′s work jacket (which was left on a chair for this purpose) and effie has just licked up some yogurt remnants from our evening snack. Oh, the life of a cat!
I had a pet Piranha, feeding it live fish was actually kinda fun to watch… in a sick twisted way. I would go with the goldfish birthday present for sure, only 50 cents each. The only other ‘live’ thing I would suggest is feeder mice. You can buy them for reptiles. I would recommend giving it to them outdoors!
Alright, let’s not encourage 2.0 and the kitties! (Tee hee!)
I don’t think my cat could catch a hamster if it were trapped in a room with her:/
Well, this is another issue I’ve brought up with 2.0. effie and niles don’t seem to have the killer instinct. ebony, on the other hand, would do some serious damage…
While my cats would love the live animal birthday tradition, I would not. They have to go out and get their own and I discourage them from sharing: the worst thing I ever got was a large dead rat on my bedroom floor. When I screamed the cat in question obligingly moved it to the hall just outside the bathroom door. it’s good to turn on lights around here if you get up during the night.
Sweet mother of all that is good and pure! That’s a nightmare enduring thought if ever I heard one… and I’d be willing to bet money that ebony would be happy to leave a rat on my pillow. (Shudder.)
These muffins sound so tasty – I love the idea of the chunks of nectarine. Each one must be like a little taste surprise. The muffin papers are really pretty too! Down with boring white muffin papers, I say! Oh dear, I have about 3 packs of those in the cupboard…
I have gobs of plain ones too – mostly for private muffin consumption – because 2.0 couldn’t care less about the appearance of muffin liners. However, for blogging and company? Bring on the fancy wrappers!
Yum, tasty muffins! We had an aquarium….once. 2 cats and 15 fish don’t really go well together. The cats like to drink their water and if they’re lucky they catch a fish. Happy birthdays all around!
By the way, since they aren’t full of that healthy crap I would love for you to link up to my Muffin Top Blog Hop!
I once had a fish named Geraldine Ferraro (after the famous American Democrat which probably makes me a bad Canadian). I’m pretty sure Geraldine had a stroke after our childhood cats took to drinking from her bowl. Very sad indeed… who knows what Geraldine could have accomplished given the opportunity?
xox
What an… interesting conversation… Happy birthday to… everyone/thing… These muffins look awesome. Nectarines are SO under-appreciated. I adore them and could eat many…
I like nectarines because they are not furry. Peaches, for example, are furry. Most annoying. But nectarines are just as awesome and don’t leave fuzz all over your tongue. (Shudder.)
My dog brought me a snail the other day. It wasn’t even my birthday.
But, for my birthday, I want nectarine muffins. That is all.
Your dog is very… thoughtful? And also, you seem to have low birthday standards. Next year, ask for a car…
Ahhh, sweetie, and I thought we had insane cat conversations at our house with the iCat …. mwahahahahaha I think 2.0 is almost primed for the funny farm…
PRICELESS
On top of that … nectarine muffins … YUM, lovely recipe MB ♥♥♥
2.0 is the funniest person I’ve ever met. No lie. Just another reason to bake him muffins…
xox
Hilarious!
These muffins look awesome, looove nectarines..
Thanks, Natashia!
Haha, love this conversation
.
Muffins looks delicious!
Thanks – and, uh, your blog photos are SPECTACULAR!
Thank you!
Greetings,
a.
I’ve never put nectarines in a muffin before… I can’t even remember doing peach ones… what’s wrong with me.
These look so good- and love the brown sugar topping. I’m on it.
I hadn’t really thought of it before – until I REALLY wanted muffins, and didn’t feel like the usual blueberry. I don’t know why haven’t tried it before – the nectarine bits were amazing! You know, they’d probably work in any of your favourite muffin recipes…
I enjoyed that dialogue so much that I had to go tell my husband about it while he was in the shower. He liked it, too. And now I want muffins.
I like that you couldn’t wait until your husband was in the shower. You are a true movita fan! It’s nice to think that naked people are getting in on the action as well…
Haha! I love your hilarious debate about the cat a live birthday present. Luckily for me, my dog who just turned 16 yesterday was very content with a simple bone. These muffins sound delicious!
Just to be clear: the kitties have never requested any live animals for their birthdays. Aaaaaaaand still 2.0 wants to make the trek to a pet store…
Just stumbled over here, and I must say that these are the prettiest muffins I’ve seen in a while. And I’ve never thought of putting nectarines in muffins, but oh, how you’ve got my mind turning. Thanks for the recipe!
I wanted a change from blueberries… nectarines were just the thing! So glad you stopped by…
The conversation’s really funny! But I hope you didn’t get any live animals for the cats… *can’t imagine cleaning up any dead corpses, gulp* Anyway the muffins look really good. I love anything with brown sugar on top. Yum!
Oh Movita I’m so glad you did nectarines today. I’ve been wanting to complain to somebody about the three nectarines I just bought. They were hard as rocks, as is the way of nectarines. But they didn’t get ripe and soft and yummy. They went straight to brown and mushy. No stopping at Go, no $200. What’s with that? Can anyone explain? What went wrong with my nectarines? I am so upset, No nectarines, no muffins, no justice!
Thank you for giving me a place to rant, You’re a peach.
Did you try putting them in a paper bag to ripen? I’ve heard that works… Know that I lost sleep over this. (And all other unjust things in the world.)
Ha, ha, a great story/conversation. Our kitties turned 3 last weekend and decided to have a snake for their birthday…yikes! The nectarine muffins look just awesome. Love the flavors you’ve put together there.
Your kitties are sick dudes. Thankfully, ours are indoor cats. So, snakes are unlikely. Bugs, on the other hand, are sometimes left as trophies…
These look BEYOND delicious! I can’t wait till nectarine season comes around so I can give these a go. Thanks for sharing
Movita, these muffins look amazing. Who needs healthy when you can have cakey. I love reading your stories; you crack me up. Boys will be boys.
What? Apolline AND nectarine muffins…both too awesome for words. Who names their kid Apolline? It’s gorgeous!!
And 2.0? Hilarious. I say get the bird, fish, and hamster. Why not?
Please refrain from encouraging 2.0.
Sincerely,
The Management
This whole conversation reminds me of my crazy guy! I am going to command him to read this right now to repent from his evil ways!! Btw, I prefer peaches… “skinned” because they’re furry but nectarines are awesome too
I like peaches once de-furred. Much like kiwis. I mean, what’s the point of that fur anyway? Bleck.
I am slightly embarrassed, for a number of reasons:
1 – I am much more like 2.0 with my dogs than like you. And I ALWAYS want to be like you. And to be slightly less of a crazy with my dogs.
2 – In my mind we’re best internet friends despite the fact that we only communicate through non-immediate, one-sentence, typed notes.
3 – I just spilled coffee on my shirt. Unrelated.
And if you would be so kind as to just mail my baking-disabled ass some muffins, that would be great.
We ARE best friends. That is what the internet is for; foodie friends and porn. Though, frankly, I’m glad we’ve kept the porn out of our friendship. (So far.)
these muffins look fantastic! i love the addition of nectarine!
This made me laugh. You guys sound like us. But I usually end my sentences muttering things like “tool”. So you’re definitely nicer than me. The muffins are the bomb. Love that they don’t have any healthy crap ruining their mojo. Oh and we have 1 puppy, 3 kitties, a horse (lives somewhere else cuz we live in a subdivision and our neighbours are stoopid and won’t let us keep her here), and 4 birds. We’ve mixed cats and birds successfully for about 12+ years. Except that one time the demon spawn kitty ran by with something in his mouth. I thought I saw a wing so we chased him down and saved the poor parakeet. Although these guys are so domestic I’m convinced he was just bringing him downstairs to warm him up near the fireplace cuz it was cold that day.
1. I think you should give the horse a trial run in your yard. Maybe offer the neighbours some rides…
2. I think your kitty might have been trying to eat the parakeet. But I’m sure the bird deserved it.
xox
These sound tasty… much better than a live bird, or fish… or hamster.