Connecticut Muffin

Many years, ago, when I lived in the UT dorms, I developed a morning routine of picking up to-go breakfast from the dorm coffee stand. Specially useful on those days when I had early morning classes. Nothing crazy or unusual, just a juice box and a muffin. Not just any muffin. A poppy-seed muffin, and if they were out of that flavor I would just get a bagel. I developed a taste for these delicious poppy concoctions, and figured that after I moved out of the dorms, it'd be nice to still have them from time to time.

No big deal, right?

Well, to my amazement, poppy seed muffins are not that easy to find. Over the ensuing years, I kept my eye open for these very specific muffins, checking every coffee shop in the Austin area just in case they carried them. I found banana nut, bran, orange, chocolate chip, oat, etc. But I was a woman on a mission, and it was all or nothing. In reality, I don't particularly care for other muffins, they taste a bit soggy. Maybe I just have a chemical dependency to poppies, they did make Elaine fail a drug test on Seinfeld, after all.

Fast forward ...oh.. about eight years. I am older and wiser, and have by and large finished my search. Simple answer: the HEB bakery sells poppy-seed muffins. Not the most glamorous setting, but they taste good. If there are other places in Austin, I'd love to hear it, but I won't believe you. I searched. It's done, I am content. Then I move to Brooklyn and it stirs the quest again. And wouldn't you know it, I am still having a hard time finding the dreaded muffins here too.

That is, until the day the skies part and angelic music fills the streets, and I see, a mere eight blocks from my apartment: Connecticut Muffin. An entire place that celebrates muffins. And of course, they carry lemon poppy (my favorite) with glazing. I am in heaven.

I should add that I like Connecticut Muffin for many other reasons as well, and I probably wouldn't have found those out if I didn't have this zealous quest for poppies. Connecticut Muffin, in addition to their namesake, also sells other basic pastries, sandwiches, coffee, and refreshing granitas in the summer time. The service is efficient and friendly. And though their location is tiny, they have claimed the exterior via a slightly sunken area with benches. When it's warm, every possible seat is taken, and people use this space to read, chat with friends, hang out with kids, dogs, etc. It's truly a case of a coffee shop spilling out to the street.

I like coming to Conn Muffin on days like today, when I am washing my clothes at the laundromat across the street. I start the washer (or dryer) and come here, order my blessed muffin, a cup of coffee, and pick up one of the many newspapers lying around from previous customers. It makes the dreaded laundry process be a bit more bearable.

And, it puts a very satisfying end to an obnoxious quest that I should have finished years ago if I had been really really serious about finding these muffins.