Berry Berry Muffins for a Berry Special Friend

We were 11 years old in art class when we met.  By the end of that school year, we were best friends.  At that young age, we literally gravitated to one another because of our common faith and passion for Christ.

Something terrible and beyond our control interrupted our relationship for the next few years, and then she moved.  Our "interruption," was removed, and we resumed contact.  Snail mail, phone calls and summer visits.... then she moved back into the vicinity for a few years, and we wasted no time being "forever friends," as our hearts led.

She had a few babies.  I went to university.  She honed her mommy and wife-y skills.  I became a teacher.  She had a few more babies, and finally I married and had mine.  Then at age 38, she went to college for the first time ever!!  How cool is that?  VERY COOL !!

When her youngest two were in high school, she completed her teaching degree, and we taught across the hall from one another for a few years.  Now, I teach around the corner of the hall from her.

Oh, and in-between all that action, we became neighbors about 250 miles from where we first met in junior high school!

Now, one of the super coolest things about this "berry special friend" is that our first born sons, close to 13 years apart in age, have forged a very special bond.  When my son was 5 years old, we prayed for David's safety every night, as he served his country on foreign soil.  

9 years later, David was home,  re-covering from war, and during that 9 months of separation that I told about in my post titled Juniper Berries and My Bible, David led a Bible study at my house, at my request for my teenage son.  I wanted a male presence in my son's life.  David was an encouragement to my son, and now adult to adult, my son returns that encouragement to his friend.  The first thing he wants to do when he has time here, is "go see David."  Oh!  And my son has called Lory's youngest son his BEST FRIEND, but they never see each other anymore, because he is away in the Army.

Anyway, this all makes me feel like God gave Lory and I a "generational blessing," because our friendship was founded on our sincere sisterhood in Him.

So it is a "berry special day," today, when Lory comes over for muffins and coffee with me ...  old friends ... neighbors ... teachers on summer vacation .. 41 years after we fell in love with one another in 6th grade art class, now our lives and families woven together in an exquisite tapestry like only our Creator could design, and it is flawed... only by our humanity...

Very possibly you have an amazing friendship tale as well!  I would relish to hear about it in comments below, and here is the recipe we enjoyed together today:

....................Berry Berry Muffins.................

1) Whisk together, dry ingredients:

     3 cups flour

     1 1/2 cups sugar

     1 tsp. baking powder

      1/2 tsp. baking soda

      1/2 tsp. salt

2) Whisk together in another bowl

      1 cup olive oil

      2 eggs

      1 cup yogurt

      1 tablespoons of lemon juice

3) Incorporate until lump free, the wet and dry mixtures.

4) Toss 2 cups fresh berries (frozen or new and washed) in small amount of white flour to coat and cover them, and then FOLD the berries  carefully into the dough.  Honestly, if you had no berries on hand, I think cubed fresh apples or pears would be delicious as well.

5) For a topping, use a fork to mix 5 tablespoons of butter with 1/2 cup sugar and   3/4 cup of flour, and spoon this mixture on to the dough in oiled  muffin tins.

You can bake it as a coffee cake as well, it just needs to bake longer.  Out of this recipe, I got 12 big muffins and one loaf!

Bake at 425* for 5 minutes, and then turn the oven to 350* for 20 to 25 minutes.  (The loaf took about 15 minutes longer and was scrumptious!!)

Hope you enjoy some Berry Berry muffins with a berry special friend!

Grandma Mary Martha 💖