Toasted English Muffin

Today I am wishing for fall but alas, Phoenix doesn't do fall. In September we go strait from "why would anyone choose to live in this heat?" to "why doesn't everyone want to live here?" and we park there until June.

Don't get me wrong, I love living where we can go outside anytime without putting on an additional outfit for warmth. However, being a red-head with fair skin I tend to be drawn to autumn colors. The texture of bare branches and turning leaves cast against a clear blue sky is my idea of what "fall" should look like and since I can't have that experience by looking out my window, I have to fake it with indoor decorations.

And with food.

This morning I am craving a fall-like food for breakfast but it's still too hot to turn on my oven except to broil toast. I scrounged my fridge until I found what would get me by until it cools outside and I can bake something with pumpkin. (I LOVE pumpkin in breads and cakes and cookies... Pumpkin pie? Not so much.)

What makes this particular breakfast "fall-like" are the specific ingredients that taste like fall to me. I used mini Wild Maine Blueberry English Muffins topped with extra tart Orange and Lemon Marmalade and a cup of tea.

Extremely satisfied with my breakfast, am I.


The Perfect Toasted English Muffin
1 fork-split English Muffin
1 t butter, softened at room temperature
1 t orange marmalade

Preheat broiler to high and adjust oven rack to highest position.

Using a fork, pierce sides of muffin all the way round until it splits into equal halves. Butter inside of each half and place on baking sheet, butter side up. Position baking sheet directly under broiler and toast muffins until edges are golden and butter is bubbly. Remove to plate and top with marmalade while still hot. Serve immediately. Serves one.

Chef's Note: Please use a FORK to open "fork split" muffins to allow the air-pockets inside the muffin to be torn open yielding greater surface area for butter distribution. This is why I buy English muffins to begin with, for the crunchy way they toast up.

If you slice them open with a knife, the muffin will come apart looking like regular bread instead of having the nooks and crannies that toast so beautifully when coated with real butter and placed in the broiler. If you use a knife, you might as well put the muffins in the toaster. Or, just buy wonderbread. Please, for the love of breakfast, don't do this.