Farmers Market Breakfast

Springtime in DC is a treacherous time.  Will it be humid?  Rainy?  Ninety nine degrees out or 52?  How many tourists will I need to push down the escalators on the metro?  Three minutes into my morning commute today I immediately regretted not wearing tights.  Yes, the weather forecast says it will be 72, but when it's 43 degrees at 7:45am, my legs, they are a-shiverin.

However, with the springtime weather ups and downs comes some forms of sunshine: produce!  At the farmers markets!  Certainly, it is glorious.  There is really nothing that makes a weekend as lovely as a morning walk down to the bustling market, scoping out the vendors, doing some good people watching ... and of course, picking up fresh produce.

Homemade Bagels

Goodness gracious.  We've had this post in the queue for what, oh, four weeks now - we know, we know, we already apologized, but the last month has been a bit ... involved.  So.  Now that we have that out of the way for good, MOVING ON.  Don't these look lovely?

That's J Fierce's poppyseed bagel on the left, and C Fierce's onion garlic salt bagel on the right.  We spent a few days together hanging out at J Fierce's, eating a lot of dried sour cherries, making mango/pineapple/strawberry/mint salsa (it's probably still in the fridge somewhere because someone *ahem ahem C Fierce* got a leeetle carried away with chopping the pineapple), grilling steak, eating the best fried chicken in town, drinking beer out of mason jars ... and didn't even have any fights!  Nope, no bar fights!  And no fights with each other, either, which, in itself, is an amazing feat.  (Ask J Fierce about the time she refused to speak to C Fierce and Little Brother Fierce for the entire duration of a flight, layover, and subsequent flight.  ALL OVER A STUPID FOUNTAIN SODA.  WEIRD I THINK MY CAPS LOCKS KEY GOT STUCK.)

ANYWAY back to the bagels.  Some were cuter than others ...

Lemony Apple Spice Muffins

Question and Answer Time, Internet!  

Q.  Where in the world have the Sisters Fierce BEEN all this time?
A.  Hunting on the Serengeti.  Floating around the world in a hot air balloon in ninety days.  Suffering with a broken stove/oven combo and waiting for the landlords to replace it.   Starting a new job and re-learning how most jobs work ... i.e. having interesting fun work to do during work time instead of blogging.  (OOPS.)

Q. What is a cupcake without frosting?  
A.  A muffin.

Q. Who wants a cupcake without frosting?  
A.  NOBODY.  Not the Sisters Fierce, no sir.

However, a few Sundays ago I found myself scrounging the pantry for something, anything, to bring to a potluck cookout.  The weather?  Rainy.  The mood?  Cozy.  The pantry?  Nearly empty.  Quickly rifling through the cupboards and a half a dozen cookbooks, I came to a winning solution.  Shredded apples, a touch of lemon and spice, and a happy little muffin was born, no frosting necessary.  Enjoy the recipe after the jump.