Lucky for us, the beloved Scottish nanny took a quick bop down Broad Street to join us in the kitchen at the luxury living building Arthaus and show everyone how to make her easy-peasy blueberry love muffins, which she says are an old Doubtfire family favorite.
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"These are Winston's love muffins," Mrs. Doubtfire says. "My dearly departed Winston."
The first step is to preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Next, mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt and sugar.
Leave a little well in the middle for the wet ingredients. You will need one egg, milk and vegetable oil.
Now, stir in fresh blueberries.
Spray a muffin tin with vegetable spray, spoon in the mixture and bake for 25 minutes.
Easy-peasy!
And beneath the wig is award-winning Broadway actor Rob McClure. He married Philadelphia native and actress Maggie Lakis, who now plays his on-stage wife in "Mrs. Doubtfire."
The Dish: Easy-peasy blueberry love muffin recipe from 'Mrs. Doubtfire'
"I could tell that he might have liked me because he kept saying 'I want to marry you'," Lakis laughs, reminiscing about when they met.
Lakis and McClure's love story started on stage at Temple University when they were both in a production of "Grease."
"We were 'Doody' and 'Frenchie,'" they laugh.
Now, every time they take the stage as Daniel and Miranda Hillard in "Mrs. Doubtfire," they get divorced.
"Even though we spend most of the play yelling at each other and arguing, it's a joy," Lakis says.
Rob originated the role of Mrs. Doubtfire when the show opened on Broadway on March 12th, 2020.
"We had three previews, and then the entire universe shut down for 18 months," McClure says. "It was brutal."
When theaters finally reopened, the Omicron variant hit.
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"We got crushed again," McClure says, and the show closed.
"Mrs. Doubtfire" decided to tour, so he hit the road. Now, Lakis is in the show and they travel around the country with their 5-year-old daughter in tow.
"She calls this tour, the 'work adventure,'" McClure says.
They live in South Philadelphia, so this stop on the tour brings them home. Lakis is a Philly girl and remembers the first show she saw at the Academy of Music.
"I saw 'Peter Pan' with Sandy Duncan on that stage," she recalls.
Being up there, together, with this show, feels extra special. They will fill the theater with friends, family and Mrs. Doubtfire fans of all ages.
"It's a story that's very near and dear to a lot of people's hearts," Lakis says. "We want to get it right."
And watching McClure transform into the title character, is nothing short of theater magic.
"I have 31 quick changes in the show," McClure says. "The longest I have to transform into Mrs. Doubtfire is 90 seconds and the shortest is 18 seconds. It's all in real time. The stakes feel so high for us and for the audience, because it's real."
For tickets and show information for 'Mrs. Doubtfire," visit: EnsembleArtsPhilly.org.
Mrs. Doubtfire's Easy-Peasy Blueberry Love Muffins
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
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- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup milk
- 1cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups fresh blueberries
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Grease or spray a 12-cup muffin tin or line cups with paper liners.
3. Stir flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together in a large bowl; make a well in the center.
4. Whisk in egg, milk and oil.
5. Add 2 cups fresh blueberries.
6. Spoon batter into muffin tin. Fill about 3/4 full.
7. Bake for about 25 minutes.
Enjoy!