There's a time and a place for most things in the food world, I think, from salty snacks with MSG flavoring to grass-fed, free range, organic meat. As we know, or should know, all of life is about moderation, and food is no exception. But for certain foods, my bar is really high, because the high bar is attainable. And it makes me feel pretty adamant that all the bad versions of that food should be eradicated. When a good muffin, *for example*, is actually one of the most underrated and perfect sweets on the planet, why should there be anything less than perfect recipes out there? That's why I often like to turn to the people who've already figured it out.

Since baking is literally science, I'm reminded of my science days in high school when my overall sense was that we should just leave it to the pros. "No, I don't want to make a hypothesis and test it out." I've always preferred learning topics that can be soaked up, interpreted, thought critically about, and turned into something else, or with a new spin on it. I know what you're thinking - this is how science people think about science too, but not me. That's how I know I'll never be a math/science person, and I feel most at home in the social science world in which people have been thinking and writing since the beginning of time, but somehow, everyday, I'm still able to use words to think and say something that is entirely my own. I love that.

I digress, but this (originally blueberry) muffin recipe is one of my favorite ones out there, so I've mostly kept it original besides a couple of small tweaks. They are sweet and moist (not crumbly), with a crisp top and more cake-y center. I've mostly made it using blueberries, but this spring I wanted to try strawberries, and I also plan to add a little rhubarb next time, as well.

Strawberry muffins

Adapted slightly from NY Times
Yields 12 muffins
½ cup butter, room temperature
1 cup plus 1 T sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 tsp baking powder
½ cup milk
1½ heaping cups diced strawberries
Zest of one lemon, divided
1 T sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees with the rack in the center of the oven. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium for at least 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking powder, and whisk to mix well. Add eggs to creamed mixture, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla extract and beat again. Then, with the mixer on low, alternate between adding in thirds of the flour mixture and the milk. Then add in strawberries and half of the lemon zest (reserve the other half) and give it one quick mix on high to get the strawberries fully incorporated. In a separate little bowl, combine the other half of zest with 1 T sugar. Transfer muffin batter to a prepared (or use paper liners) muffin tin in equal portions. Sprinkle the muffin tops with zest/sugar mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes (my oven changes; sometimes they're done right at 25 and other times around 28 minutes), just until a cake tester comes out clean and muffins are set. Let cool for a few minutes in the pans, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.