Last Minute Baking

Have you seen Babette's Feast?  It's an older Danish film, from 1987.  I'd never seen it before, but recently it seems to be mentioned in every discussion of Julie & Julia, so I decided I'd better get with it.  It is a sumptuous film.  I love how, when Babette begins to cook her feast, the grim, bleak environment starts to take on a warm glow.  Color starts to pop up here and there, the diners cheeks turn rosy with the wine.  My favorite scene is when Babette pours some liquor into the cooking pan, then lifts and turns the skillet to pick up a bit of the fire.  Simply gorgeous.

What are some other classic foodie movies I may be missing out on?  Do you have any favorites?

I needed a little feast of my own today.  Well, really I'm preparing for tomorrow.  Is it weird that I'm baking bread and muffins to take on the plane?  It feels just a little country bumpkinish.  But it is a long flight, and why on earth would I eat airplane food when mine tastes so much better?  Not only do you have to pay for airplane food now, it is still just as gross as it was when it was free.  (did I just show my age with that "gross" comment?  Oh wait, I already told you how old I am.  Is that an example back there of inappropriate use of quotation marks that I keep hearing people complain about?)

I baked a couple loaves of sourdough bread from my starter Chloe.  I've named her.  Clotilde over at Chocolate & Zucchini says it's traditional to do so.  I rather non-traditionally baked my bread in loaf pans.  I just didn't have time for the mess involved in the basket version.  I always have trouble with the dough deflating when I transfer it from the basket to the baking sheet.  Any suggestions?

And I made these Blueberry Cornmeal  Muffins from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking.  Why yes, there is one missing.  I was hoping you wouldn't notice.  I couldn't write about these yummy muffins I made if I didn't taste one first to be sure it was ok, right?

Here is my adaptation:

1-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup fine ground cornmeal
a smidge less than 2 teaspoons baking powder (I'm at altitude remember; if you're not, use the full 2 teaspoons)
a smidge less than 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (see above)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar (the recipe called for all brown, but I didn't have enough)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk
6 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup frozen blueberries (mine were fresh, local.  I froze them so they wouldn't turn my batter purple, and they mix in better that way)
2 Tablespoons sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Stir together your dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Whisk your eggs a little in another bowl.  Whisk in the milk.  Pour this over your dry ingredients, and gently stir with a rubber spatula until just blended.  Fold in the berries.  Spoon your batter into 12 regular size muffin cups that you've already prepared, even though I forgot to tell you that at the beginning.  Sprinkle the sugar/cinnamon mixture over the batter.  You also remembered to preheat your oven to 400˚F.  Bake these guys for 15-18 minutes, until a pick comes out clean when inserted in the center.

I'm off to finish packing:)