Barrista Robin Satterfield at Liberty Cafe in Bernal
Heights shows us her muffins.

I know Spring has sprung when the wind about bowls me over and I start seeing rhubarb-strawberry combos all over town. A bit grouchy on Sunday morning, I lugged my NY Times to my local bakery, Liberty Cafe, thinking  endless refills of coffee, a good Sunday Styles read and something sweet would brighten my mood. I like to sit at the bar which faces the open kitchen and watch the bakers roll out pie crusts and pull pastries out of the oven. It's kind of like a Happy Hour—just from 9 to 11 am.

Though I’m not generally a huge fan of muffins, I was inspired by Robin's recent post about the bran muffins from Nibs bakery and ordered Liberty's strawberry-rhubarb version. It was still warm, the strawberries almost hot, with a sugary, crisp top. I realize that it's basically like having cake for breakfast, but it was good cake. And I felt much better for it.