Hannah felt an eerie sense of being directed as she climbed up the stairs, entered the reception area, and took a chair to wait for Danielle’s class to end. She shivered slightly as she realized that everything was exactly the same as the scenes that her father had shown her. The implication was too much for her rational mind to handle, but she was here and she needed to talk to Danielle. Perhaps it was a coincidence. Perhaps it was due to her curious mind working overtime in her sleep. Or perhaps all this was something her mind refused to process. All she knew for certain was that she should forget about everything else and concentrate on how to get the answers she needed from Danielle.

RED RASPBERRY MUFFINS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

Muffin Batter:

¾ cup (1 and ½ sticks, 6 ounces) salted butter

1 cup white (granulated) sugar

2 beaten eggs (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

2 and ¼ cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

½ cup whole milk

½ cup seedless raspberry jam

1 cup fresh OR frozen raspberries

Crumb Topping:

½ cup white (granulated) sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

⅓ cup all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

¼ cup (½ stick, 2 ounces) salted butter, softened

Grease the bottoms only of a 12-cup muffin pan (or line the cups with double cupcake papers—that’s what I do at The Cookie Jar)

Melt the butter in a bowl or measuring cup in the microwave. (This takes me about a minute in the microwave on HIGH.)

Set the melted butter on the kitchen counter to cool.

Measure out the sugar in a large bowl.

Mix in the beaten eggs.

Add the baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Mix thoroughly.

Cup your hands around the bowl containing the melted butter. If it’s cool enough so it won’t cook the eggs, stir it into your mixing bowl with the rest of the ingredients.

Add half of the flour to your bowl and mix it in.

Add the whole milk to your bowl and mix that in.

Add the other half of the flour to your bowl and mix until everything is incorporated.

Mix in the half cup of seedless raspberry jam.

If you’re using a mixer, take the bowl out of the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and give the contents a stir with a spoon by hand.

Add the raspberries and mix them in by hand.

Fill the prepared muffin cups three-quarters full and set them aside. If you have muffin batter left over, grease the bottom of a small tea-bread loaf pan and fill it with your remaining batter.