*fresh cherry oat muffins*

a few months ago, some friends and i scrunched up in cars and headed east for warm central valley of california to pick some cherries. it was the early crop and i peeled off from the group and headed towards the trees that the orchard keepers claimed were not ready for picking yet. of course, that's terribly rude and i'd despise me if i were in charge of that land, but i tried to be respectful and take only a few fresh, delicious, ripe cherries from each tree. i ended up with eight pounds of fresh cherries which i promptly came home and pitted by hand, splattering red cherry juice all over my hardwood floor and kitchen apron. i cooked with a few and then froze the rest, some of which i took out for this most recent creation from my kitchen.

i received two pieces of great feedback, unsolicited, from these muffins, both in textual form. one: 'excellent muffins, keri, just excellent!' and the other, 'you muffin was the best i've ever tasted hands down.' they *are* quite tasty!

ingredients
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup barley flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 t cinnamon
3 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
3/4 cup (I always do it shy of that) of lightly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
6 T butter, melted
1 t vanilla
3/4 cup buttermilk (I use 3/4 cup milk plus 1 t cider vinegar)
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped fresh cherries (I used 2 cups whole cherries)
3/4 cup chopped pecans, lightly toasted


directions
1. preheat oven to 375F.
2. line 12 muffin cups with muffin cup liners (I love the unbleached ones!)
3. combine flours, oats, cinnamon, powder, soda, salt and brown sugar in a bowl. whisk to blend.
4. in a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, butter, vanilla and buttermilk (or substitute).
5. stir wet ingredients into dry until just blended.
6. fold in the nuts and cherries.
7. fill the muffins cups to their tops with the batter and bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly brown and slightly springy to the touch on top!