Baking King

Okay, so that may be a little much. I'm not that great at baking, but I like to think that I know my way around the kitchen, or at least the oven. I try anyway.
I have recently been a bit under the weather so Hee Jeong, my own personal nurse, has been taking really good care of me. In addition to the tea that she gave me to quiet the cough that I have had, she has been very supportive accommodating of my condition.

So, to try and make it up to her (which I really don't think is possible, she's that great) I went into the kitchen and decided to make her a set of blueberry muffins. We've been making these for a few weeks now since blueberries are relatively cheap at the Korean markets and they taste really great. As such, we have made everything from muffins to blueberry cobbler. Anyway, I wanted to surprise her with a little something, and I had some blueberries to use up, so I figured "why not?"

It all began with what you see on the right, a whole bunch of basic ingredients. I was lucky because we only had one egg left, which was just what I needed for the recipe, otherwise I would have had to cut it in half, which would have meant few muffins (and that I wouldn't get to sample any!). I had originally planned to make two batches, one for my class and one for Hee Jeong, but that was not to be. Maybe another time.

Despite how much I love baking, and how much I prepared, it still took me a long time (30+ minutes) to get everything mixed together and put in the oven. Part of that is because I was working alone, part of that is because is because I don't know how to prioritize very well. Most of it went off without a hitch, but I did have a little bit of difficulty trying to fold in the blueberries this time around. Usually I can do it without breaking any, but this time several of them broke. It could have been because the berries were a little old, or because I wasn't paying the attention to them that I should have been. Anyway, I ate the bad ones (the three that are on the left).

Thankfully, my gift went over pretty well. Usually I don't like to give food as a gift, but I did like the idea of making something from scratch that she could enjoy. From what I heard, since she took some to work, her coworkers also enjoyed my work, and that makes me extra happy. From what I have gathered from her and a few others, Korean men aren't big on cooking, so I guess I am something that she can brag about. Well, my cooking anyway. I don't know about the rest of it. Ha ha.