Sweet Corn Muffins

I really want to be a proficient gardener with a bountiful summer garden bursting with an abundance of fresh vegetables and summer fruit. 👩🏻‍🌾 The kind of girl who wears overalls and straw hats and fill baskets with fresh produce that I've grown myself.  💁🏻‍♀️ Year after year, I'd spend hours trying to create a garden oasis in my backyard but the truth is - I'm just not cut out for summer gardening.  😟

It's not for lack of enthusiasm or effort that my garden seems to fail every summer.  At the first sign of warm weather I head to my favorite garden center, eagerly pick out plants, carefully tuck them into my garden and faithfully watered them every single day.  It all seems to progress swimmingly for a while and then... my poor plants meet a terrible fate.  

I guess I should take it as a compliment that the animals and critters find my plants so irresistible that they take up residence in my garden.  🐛 The problem is, once the insects move in, it's really hard to evict them. 😂 And bugs are just one of the problems.  Oppressive Georgia temperatures that wreak havoc on my young plants, summer vacations that force me to take a hiatus from my care-taking duties and a host of other obstacles have made it nearly impossible for my garden to thrive.  

This year I conceded the fight and planted giant sunflowers in the garden instead of vegetables. 🌻 The theory was that they would be easier to grow and less tempting to animals than vegetables.  I put the seeds in the ground in March, waited for them to sprout and then watched them grow into beautiful, little, sturdy, 18 inch plants in about 6 weeks - then we went on vacation for a week. 😬 Did you know that you're supposed to stake those things up?  🤣  So long sunflowers. 😭

With yet another garden fail under my belt, I decided to give up on the summer garden and try my luck at Fall gardening.  I pulled out all of the sunflowers that were beyond saving and planted pumpkin seeds.  🎃 I'm happy to report that so far the pumpkin plants are thriving. I even have couple of blossoms.  I don't have the best track record so - I'll keep you posted on the pumpkin progress.

Since I don't have a summer garden of my own right now, I'm relying on friends and the farmers market for all of my summer produce needs.  I've got to say that I've gotten some amazing beans, watermelon, tomatoes and corn from the market this year.  I've got to say that fresh corn on the cob has to be my favorite summer vegetable. 🌽I have a tendency to get overly excited and buy way too much when I find fresh sweet corn.  Leftover corn on the cob is never a bad thing but when I end up with a surplus, it's always nice to have a new way to use it up.  Sweet Corn Muffins are the perfect way to highlight fresh corn. I also have a bunch of these tucked away in my freezer for chili nights this Fall.

Sweet Corn Muffins
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sour cream
8 Tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs
2 cups fresh corn kernels

Whisk together flour, 1 c. cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  

Whisk together milk and 1/2 c. cornmeal.  Microwave until thickened.  (1-3 minutes)

Whisk butter and sour cream into cornmeal paste.  

Whisk in eggs. 
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Stir cornmeal mixture and corn into dry ingredients. 

Divide batter evenly between 12 greased muffin cups.  

Bake 20-24 minutes at 400.  Let cool 5 minutes before removing from pan. 

My hats off to all of the farmers and home gardeners who have successful summer gardens.  Send me all of your tips and tricks - goodness knows I need them. 🤣

​Ciao!

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