Poppy seed explosion muffins

Yesterday, while we were having lunch with a bunch of friends (it was a national holiday - although lucky me, I got to go to the office from 7 till just before noon anyway!), my daughter managed to swallow a tooth while eating her sandwich.

 

At least we think she swallowed it because it was there (and not even that loose for all I knew) before the sandwich and gone after it. She looked all around her plate, in her lap and under the table, for reasons you will understand shortly, and there was no sign of it.

 

How do you eat a tooth and not realize it?

 

While I was obsessing about that gross detail, how it would be coming out on the other end soon and how my baby is already eight lost-teeth into adulthood and will be leaving me soon to go and live her own life, she was obsessing about il topino dei denti, the mouse.

 

 

 

 

Yes, the mouse.

 

In Italy - and other countries in Europe I believe - it is the tooth mouse that shows up at your child's pillow to take his/her tooth and leave some money in its place. I am partial to the tooth fairy myself, being a girl and all, but I guess the mouse is more gender neutral and who am I to complain anyway?*

 

So, all my kid could think of was whether the mouse would leave her any money if she didn't have a tooth as evidence. Would the mouse know , the way Santa and Co. know that kind of stuff? I assured here it probably does but we would have to wait and see.

 

A heated debate ensued at the table with various suggestions. My daughter decided she would just sleep with her mouth open, like she normally does, she stated.

 

 

 

 

I, the advocate's devil, whipped out my phone to prove her wrong. Just the night before I had snapped a picture of her sleeping (yes, I am the crazy mama who constantly takes pictures of her sleeping children) and the evidence showed the contrary.

 

So perhaps she could draw a picture of her mouth with a gap where her tooth once was or write a note to the mouse?

 

Well, by the time she went to bed last night after a 5km walk in the park, she had forgotten all about the tooth she was so exhausted.

 

And although I was back in the office this morning, I know for a fact that the mouse dropped by. Or actually, the tooth fairy.

 

*Turns out I actually do have a right to complain since I am the bank and the messenger...

 

 

 

 

 

Who collects teeth in your country?

This is a a simple, homey, comforting snack from the lovely Monet. Something to share with a loved one at the kitchen table or curled up on the couch. A recipe for those everyday moments of your life, the ones you know you will cherish the most in the future.

These are for my little girl, who delights in the burst of every single poppy seed between the few teeth she has left right now.

Ingredients (12 muffins)
2 cups flour (I used 1 1/2 all-purpose and 1/2 wholewheat)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tbsp or 1/4 cup poppy seeds
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup oil
1 cup sugar (I used 3/4)
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream or full-fat yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C. Line a muffin pan or grease with butter. Set aside.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and poppy seeds. In another bowl, whisk together butter, oil and sugar until light. Whisk in the eggs and then fold in the sour cream/yogurt and vanilla extract. Gently fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. The trick to a good muffin, as most of you already know, is not overmixing the wet and dry ingredients.

Divide batter into the muffin pan and bake in the oven up to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan before removing to wire rack.