June 9th, was the Roman feast of Vesta. This festival fell within the state holiday of Vestalia, and it did have state rituals assigned to it. But mostly it was a festival of the plebs, and particularly of the army of bakers that kept the Romans fed. So this is a grain harvest festival tied to the deity of home and hearth. As you can imagine, it is a central day in my ritual calendar…
Monday after Whitsunday, day of games. St Ives Fair happens today. Day of picnics. St Columba’s Day Eat junket, especially for breakfast
This year, I do not have ripe June strawberries yet, nor have I seen them in the food co-op. Most of my plants are still flowering. It has not been sunny here in Vermont. It has been cold and wet. I’m not sure what the strawberries will taste like this year. Usually, strawberries like evening rain and daytime sun to create those juicy, sweet berries. This year’s crop might turn out a bit tart. At least, they will be very good for baking and preserving.
So here is a recipe to quicken your craving for strawberries!
Strawberry-Thyme Corn Muffins
Ingredients
2 cups fresh strawberries, washed, stemmed and sliced thickly 2-3 TBS sugar 2 tsp dried thyme, crumbled 2 cups flour 1 1/2 cups coarse corn meal 6 tsp maple sugar (or granulated) 5 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup butter, melted 2 TBS walnut oil (optional) 5 eggs 2 cups milk 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Makes 24 muffins.
Place sliced berries in a small bowl. Sprinkle with sugar and thyme. Stir together thoroughly and set aside for at least 20 minutes. If you can let it go longer, you get a thicker syrup.
Grease muffin pans (2.5” cup-size) and preheat oven to 400°F. Move oven shelf-rack to the lower middle.
Melt the butter and add walnut oil if desired. (This gives the muffins a bit more flavor and texture.) Let this cool to a bit warmer than skin temperature.
In a large bowl mix together flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Use an egg beater to beat the eggs and milk until frothy. (Or until you get tired of playing with the egg beater… or is that just me?)
Add the melted butter and oil to the milk and egg, then add the vanilla extract. Beat until liquids are well combined.
Pour syrupy berries and thyme mixture into the liquids and gently stir together.
Add this liquid mixture to the flour mixture and combine. Don’t over-mix. The batter should be a bit liquid (batter, not dough) but still lumpy.
Spoon batter evenly into the muffin tins, filling each cup about 2/3 full.
Bake for 25 minutes at 400°F in the lower middle of your oven. The muffins will be golden-brown, and a toothpick inserted in the muffin should come out clean. (Test several.)
Let the tin cool until you can handle it.
Using a knife that won’t scratch your tin, loosen the muffins from the cup. Set on a wire rack to cool completely.
These muffins are great by themselves, better with a pat of butter. They also go very well with goat cheese.
©Elizabeth Anker 2025
By My Solitary Hearth 
Your weather sounds as miserable as ours is today. Baking muffins is probably a good way of cheering it up 🙂
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