I belive it's important to bring something to share when going visiting. It might not be shared while you're over, but the gesture is there and it makes you feel like a good guest. When I don't have time to bake, I always stop by a bakery. More often than not though, I'm disappointed with what I buy. The taste is either boring or it isn't fresh enough. So, I generally try to make something myself, which gives me the feeling that my gift is more genuine.
Today I am meeting my Manager's baby for the first time. We through her a Baby Shower recently and I got to bake super sweet and decadent treats. However, now I need to take breatfeeding and windy babies into consideration and I've scaled my baking back. Today I've made her White Chocolate and Coconut Muffins. Coming into Autumn with the air cool and crisp, the lovely warmness of these fresh muffins with a light sweetness to them is not just comforting, but feels perfect for a first baby meeting.
I generally do my grocery shopping on the weekend (possibly the best opening line for a blog post FYI - who wouldn't want to continue reading when I've opened with such a cracking sentence?). Because of this, I have usually ran out of bread and anything exciting for breakfast by Saturday (awesome - following sentence was just as strong, let's just get through this and see where it goes).
So when my 3 year old yells out to me at 5am saying he's hungry, I picture the contents of my fridge and realise, I either have to get up and make something or let him starve. And let me say, the starving would never happen as he would constantly be in my room whinging "Mummy, I'm hungry", "Mummy, my tummy is crumbling" (yep, yesterday he said crumbling instead of rumbling, cute. He also saw a tweety bird balloon and said "Mummy, who is that chicken guy", made me laugh! - but I disgress). On these mornings, I get myself into some kind of semi-conscience state and make something easy but suitably tasty.
Below are some recipes for just these kind of mornings. Please feel free to suggest others, as I am running low on brain energy before 6am (and coffee)...
