Triple Coconut Muffins (with Chocolate Chips)

It seems like this year is just flying by. Not only that, but the days too. I got up at 7:00 a.m. yesterday and before I knew it I was off to bed. Easter is another one of those holidays that just seems to slip by without much notice around here. It was late last week before I even realized that this Sunday was Easter. The only Easter tradition we seem to have is that somehow, some way coconut must be consumed at some point during the day. David would probably tell you that it isn't Easter unless chocolate is consumed at some point in the day. To take the pressure off and get all our Easter obligations fulfilled early in the day I made these Coconut Chocolate Chip muffins for breakfast. They were really good, even better when I grabbed one for a snack later in the afternoon. I worried they might be too sweet for breakfast, but they were really not very sweet at all. If you are making them as a dessert I might recommend going with semi-sweet chocolate chips. Definitely let them cool for a bit before you eat them as the coconut flavor intensifies as they cool. I hope you all had a great Easter day, it sure was beautiful here in Fairbanks.

Grapefruit Scones

I have always wondered why the New Year is celebrated in January. It just seems cruel to have a person make resolutions for a new year when it is cold and dark and all you want to eat is chicken and dumplings. Well, maybe that is just me.Wouldn't it just be kinder to start the new year on April 1. Then they would have to move April Fool's Day I suppose. Who would want to start every new year being a fool? In any case, this is the time of year when I start craving asparagus and salads. For breakfast every morning I want grapefruit instead of oatmeal or granola. I love grapefruit. I used to eat one for breakfast every morning until travel and living in the backcountry got me out of the habit. Now that I am much more aware of the seasonality of citrus fruit, I have a hard time eating them out of season. Last week I found some exceptionally good grapefruit at our local grocery and I couldn't stop eating them. I liked them so much that in an effort to eat even more of them, I turned them into scones. You see I had already eaten one whole grapefruit on its own and I still wanted more. I know grapefruit scones sound a little strange. These are a little different than my usual scones. They require a little more handling to make sure everything holds together. I found the original recipe to be a little too heavy on the grapefruit zest and a bit bitter, so in the second batch I only put the zest on the top of the scones. You will want to serve these scones while they are still somewhat warm. They reminded me of broiled grapefruit. I loved how some of the juice from the grapefruit oozed out and made them crispy along the edges. If you like grapefruit, you are going to love these scones.