Of Spiders And Muffins

It's a well known fact in my family that I hate/fear/loathe spiders. I hate their legs, their webs, and the way they scuttle around, jump at you, or drop unexpectedly on your neck or head. (Excuse me a minute while I slap repeatedly at my head and neck because that creepy feeling I got just now might have been a spider.) I know they have their place in the grand design of the universe, but my place in that same design happens to be standing over them with a heavy shoe poised for the kill. But that's only if no one else is in the house. If my husband is home, then he's the one to gallantly spring to action when he hears my piteous shrieks of terror. He'll calmly take a piece of tissue and squish the spider (with his bare hands!) and toss it into the toilet, which I hurriedly flush, just in case that spider's planning a comeback.

It would surprise my family to know I have an uneasy relationship with a spider in my laundry room. This is not the kind of relationship where I name the spider an endearing name, become attached to it, and it weaves messages to me in it's web. No, we have an agreement. The agreement goes something like this: I promise to not hunt him down in his hidey hole next to the washing machine as long as he traps and consumes the other bugs that lurk in there, keeps the webbing to a minimum, and does not show his creepy legs during daylight hours.

When I stretch the terms of the agreement and go into the laundry room at 5:00 am, it is his responsibility to scuttle out of sight and it's my part of the bargain to pretend I don't see him. If he chooses to linger, a quick, squashy death brought about by my shoe or the nearest heavy, hurlable object is in his immediate future.

This might sound harsh, but I don't waste time being sentimental with spiders. I either shriek, throw, or stomp, all the while hyperventilating. I figure I'm showing great restraint in not asking my husband to introduce Mr. Spider to Death By ShopVac.

Oh, crud - I just named him! What's next? Allowing his webs to stay up, festooning the laundry room with cobwebs filled with dryer lint? Looking for cryptic messages in those webs? Opening the window to purposefully allow flies to come in so he won't starve? Spending my time in the laundry room talking to him??

No, this must stop right now. I'm going to march down there and put an end to this weird, permissively symbiotic relationship. With a shoe. Which is in my closet. Which I can't get to without waking up my husband. Hmmmm.

Mr. Spider is looking pretty big these days, approaching the size of a Smart car. Maybe I'll just wait for my husband to wake up and let him deal with Mr. Spider.

And while I'm waiting, I'll bake up a batch of attaboy treats. Muffins. A terrific way to start the day! Plus, since they're grain-free and contain no sugars, they won't spike your blood sugar and leave you feeling lethargic and groggy, which you absolutely shouldn't be if you're going to do battle with spiders!

Banana Blueberry Muffins
- adapted from The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook

3 cups almond meal
1/4 tsp sea salt
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 large eggs
2 cups (4-5) mashed very ripe bananas
1 cup frozen blueberries

1- Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. (Don't omit the paper liners. It makes a HUGE difference at clean up time.)

2-In a large bowl, combine the almond meal, salt, and baking soda.

3- In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil and eggs. Stir the wet ingredients into the almond meal mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the bananas, then fold in the blueberries. Using a large spoon or scoop, divide the dough between the muffin cups.

4- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

5- Set the muffin tin on a wire cooling rack and let the muffins cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then serve. Preferably with lots of good butter!

Doghouse Gifts

Right before Christmas someone showed me a commercial, the premise of which was that men had to be very careful about the gifts they gave women because the wrong gift would land them in the doghouse. Apparently, demeaning, degrading gifts like household appliances or diet aids were the worst and the only foolproof gift a man could give was jewelry. This got me thinking about what kind of gift my husband could possibly give me that would merit that kind of reproof.

My husband is very sweet and thoughtful and tries to give me gifts that he knows will please me. So when he gave me a washer and dryer, I didn't feel that he was demeaning me, assuming that my only job in life was to wash his underwear. On the contrary, I was thrilled! It's a fact of life that I do the laundry in our home and to finally replace the machines that I've cursed for the last ten years was a huge blessing to me.

Likewise, when my son-in-law gave my daughter a treadmill for Valentine's Day, not only was he not in the doghouse, he was king of the day! His message was not "I'm skipping chocolates and giving you a treadmill because you really need to do something about your figure." Quite the contrary. He knew that she doesn't love chocolate and she really wanted to master treadmill dancing. His gift probably got him almost smothered in kisses.

So, what would get my husband sent to the doghouse? Hmmmm. A new lawnmower? I'm not about to start mowing the lawn. But if it made my husband happier, a happy husband is a good gift. And I could always balance it out by buying him a new sewing machine.

A gift that is always appreciated is pound cake. Especially when it's peppered with luscious, ripe blueberries. I know it's not blueberry season just yet (it snowed here yesterday!), so you'll have to tuck this recipe into a safe spot and bring it out again when fresh berries show up in the grocery store, the farmer's market, or better yet, your own bush!

Blueberry-Lime Poundcake

adapted from Fine Cooking


8 oz. (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
10-1/2 oz. (2-1/3 cups) all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking power
1/4 tsp. plus 1/8 tsp. salt
1-3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp. finely grated lime zest
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
2-1/2 cups room-temperature blueberries (about 13 oz.), washed and drained on paper towels
4 oz. (1 cup) confectioners’ sugar
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice; more as needed

1- Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. with a rack in the center of the oven. Butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt cake pan.

2- Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside.

3- Place the sugar and lime zest into a food processor and pulse 20 times. If you don't have a food processor, you can omit this step and just work the zest into the sugar with your hands.

4- With an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute.

5- Add the sugar mixture and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, an additional 1 to 2 minutes.

6- With the mixer running, add the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, beating well after each addition, and stopping the mixer to scrape down the sides as necessary.

7- Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture. Scrape down the bowl and beat at medium speed for about 20 seconds.

8- With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the blueberries.

9- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Run a knife through the batter or gently tap the pan on the counter to eliminate any air pockets. Bake 50-55 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

10- Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, then remove the cake from the pan and let it cool on the rack to room temperature.

11- To glaze the cake, combine the confectioner's sugar and lime juice. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and runny, adding more lime juice if necessary. Pour the glaze over the cake and allow it to set before cutting.

Note: as you can see from the photos, I skipped the glaze and the cake was still wonderful!

Treat Food That's Really a Treat

Becoming a parent transforms the way you look at the world. As you clutch your newborn baby to your chest, the world becomes, in the blink of an eye, a frightening place, fraught with lurking dangers. Things which you never gave a thought to, prior to childbirth, now seem ominous. A staircase is a place of peril, with the possibility of tripping and falling ever before your eyes. The person sneezing in the grocery store might be spreading killer germs. Driving down the freeway with your infant strapped into the carseat brings on visions on car crashes and fiery death as you struggle to rescue that new, precious, helpless bundle. Why do you think there are so many cars on the road with Baby On Board signs?

As your child grows, you continue to keep a part of your heart in his or her body, cringing at every stubbed toe, bleeding at every scraped knee, wishing desperately you could protect him or her from all harm.

I think that parents of kids with food sensitivities have it even tougher than regular run-of-the-mill parents. A friend of mine discovered her son had a violent allergy to peanuts when a day care worker wiped the face of a boy who'd eaten a peanut butter sandwich and then used the same cloth to wipe her son's face. His face inflated like a playground ball! Panic!!

Always on guard, vigilant against what might be lurking inside a "treat" that's given to your child, early on you have to teach them the litany of "I can't have" foods. What a blessing, then, to find some "I CAN have" treats. Especially if you don't have to go to a specialty bakery and pay $6 a muffin for it!

The obvious solution for kids with special dietary issues is to make it yourself. Then you know exactly what went into it, you know it's safe, and if you find the right recipe, you can also make it delicious. (And, trust me, not every $6 muffin is delicious!)

I recently made these as a thank you for a super sweet mom who took my son for a week to a Vacation Bible School. Her son has gluten, soy, and egg allergies. She shared them with some other moms of food-issue kids and they all clamored for the recipe, so I'm bumping it up to the head of the posting queue.

I had a muffin before I gave them away (I can't give away untested food - it might be nasty!) and they are really good. Not just in a "not bad for gluten-free" way, but truly good. Moist, tasty, studded with blueberries, with a good texture, not gluey or brickish. Even if you're not going gluten-free, you'll enjoy them!


GF, Egg-free Blueberry Muffins
- adapted from The Spunky Coconut

1 cup almond meal flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour (the same thing as tapioca starch)
1/2 cup coconut flour
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 tsp baking powder*
1/2 cup dried blueberries
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 tsp xantha gum or guar gum (they're interchangeable; the xanthan gum is more expensive)
1 Tbsp flax seed meal
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup milk (substitute coconut milk if dairy is an issue)
1/2 tsp Vanilla Creme Liquid Stevia
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup coconut oil, liquified

*If corn is an issue, you can make your own baking powder. Substitute 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp cream of tartar, 1/2 tsp tapioca starch.

1- Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Grease a 12-well muffin tin.

2- In a medium bowl combine the almond meal flour, tapioca flour, coconut flour, baking soda, baking powder. Whisk together to break up any clumps. Stir in dried blueberries.

3- In a bowl combine the applesauce, guar gum, flax meal, and apple cider vinegar. Make sure there are no lumps.

4- To the applesauce mixture add the milk, stevia, honey, and coconut oil. Stir well.

5- Divide the batter between the muffin cups and bake for about 22 minutes.

They are delicious warm, or you can let them cool on a cooling rack.

She's Baaaaack

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

As a student, I always felt that the compulsory first day back at school writing assignment was a time filler for teachers who had procrastinated on their lesson planning. As a teacher now, I see some value in it. It's helpful to look back at the blur that summer becomes in the rear view mirror of fall, to look back and sort through the days, giving weight to accomplishments and reliving the delight of the perfect days.

I have leapt full into the school year, as usual putting off ordering school books and materials until the last possible moment, as if the procrastination will postpone the inevitable return to structure, scheduling, and the straight-jacket of school. I look regretfully at the dark clouds lowering in the sky, echoing my mood.

Where did summer go? It went so quickly that it seems little more than an ephemeral mist lingering in the memory. Did I really have a summer?

Looking back at the calendar I recall that there were indeed things happening. I didn't go to Paris or Hawaii, but life happened.

My daughter had a baby. That's been a big part of the summer, helping her adjust to being a mom. Frequent visits to help, to visit, and to hold the baby. Lots of holding. We want her to know that she is loved.

We painted the deck. Again. Replacing the wood with something that doesn't need painting went up a notch on the priority list.

We had birthdays, but no parties. My son's pirate party got pre-empted by his niece's birth. I made him a cake to console him. My husband had a birthday with a zero at the end. I made him a cake to console him.

My son learned to ride his bike. We thought it would never happen, but this year he got the hang of it and is giddy with the freedom of riding all the way around the block by himself.

My daughter went to camp. Her dad almost called it off when we were signing her in - there were boys in line who shaved! Camp and a week of sickness meant she missed 2 out of the 5 swim meets for the season. It was a really lame year for swim team.

And me? I just did what I normally do. I worked out, ate blueberries from my bushes, watched some junk TV, went to the farmer's market, and baked. Since I was on vacation, I gave myself a lot of freedom in baking. If I'd made it before and had already blogged it, I could make it anyway. If it was ugly, I didn't have to take pictures. And it was too hot to turn on the oven, I didn't. It was really nice.

Now I'm back from vacation and I'm trying to carve out my new schedule and routine. I'll try to be faithful in posting. But if I miss a day or two, please understand. It's not that I don't want to share, it's just that life is going on. Not necessarily memorable, but day after day it goes on. And when baking is a part of that, I'll let you know.

Last Gasp of Summer Fruit Tarts
- adapted from Taste of Home


1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold butter
1 egg, beaten
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp lemon juice
Assorted fresh berries
2 Tbsp apricot preserves

1- In the bowl of a food processor combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse to cut in the the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the egg and pulse briefly to blend. Shape the dough into a ball. Cover and refrigerate it for an hour to help the dough relax.

2- Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F. Grease six 4-1/2-inch tart pans.

3- Divide the dough into six portions. Press each portion into a prepared tart pan. Place the tart pans on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

4- In a small bowl beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice.

5- Spoon 2 rounded tablespoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture into each cooled tart, smoothing the top. Arrange the berries over the filling.

6- In a small saucepan, melt preserves over medium heat. Stir until smooth. Using a pastry brush, brush the preserves over the berries.

The tarts can be served immediately or refrigerated until serving time.

Life Upside Down

If there's anything that turns your life upside down, it's having a baby. Add in the fact that the baby came four weeks early, and you have a life without structure or a plan and you just have to wing it moment to moment. It's a bit stressful, chaotic, and uncertain, but oh so sweet. If the floor doesn't get swept or the laundry piles up, it's OK, because on the top of the to-do list everyday is #1- Keep the baby alive. #2 is Love the baby. The dust will keep.

I am fortunate in that I live ten minutes away from my daughter. That means it's easy to go over to help out with chores and then, as a reward, I get to hold Eden. My other kids clamor for the chance to go along, as they, too, are totally captivated by this darling little person. We take pictures, snuggle with her, and chuckle at her funny ways (Must have hands by face!). The rest of our lives are put on hold, but that's OK. It's wonderful to have her here.

If your life gets taken over by life events, you still need to have dessert. This one is super easy, and since you can use fresh or frozen berries, it's a good recipe to have on hand, whatever the season. So in honor of my beautiful new granddaughter, here's

Blueberry Life Upside Down Cake
- adapted from Canadian Living Magazine

1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/4 cup maraschino cherries (optional)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup milk

1- Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. with a rack in the center of the oven.

2- In a 9-inch square pan, combine melted butter and brown sugar. Spread this mixture evenly on the bottom. Spread the blueberries evenly over the top. Sprinkle with the lemon juice. (optional: halve the maraschino cherries and scatter them over the bottom before you spread the blueberries. My son decided it needed them to really be an upside down cake.)

3- Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon, if using.

4- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the 1/2 cup butter. Gradually add the sugar, beating until light. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

5- Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.

6- Spread the batter evenly over the blueberry layer. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a large, flat plate or serving platter. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream, if you like.

Recipes Piled a Mile High

My husband and I have been caught up in a flurry of home repair, renovation, and basically doing chores we've been putting off for the last decade or so. Inevitably, when such projects are underway, tempers flare, arguments escalate, and harsh words are tossed around. It came up - the harshest word of all - "packrat."

What? Me? A packrat? Just because we have more bookshelves than chairs, just because we have books in boxes and books in drawers? That doesn't make me a packrat. I neeeeeed those books. The same for all my sewing supplies, fabric stash, unfinished craft projects, kids' kindergarten art work, and, oh, no, not another chocolate stash! Well, I can declutter with the best of them. I'll toss the.....kids' art work. They won't care.

I must confess, though, that I do have a wee bit of a tendency to hoarding when it comes to recipes. Why is it so hard to toss a recipe? Even if I ripped it out of a magazine ten years ago and have never made it. I might make it someday, so I'd better save it, right? Especially if it's got luscious, tempting pictures to go with the recipe.

In the spirit of purge that's flowing in our house right now, I decided to go through my folder of ripped-out-of-a-magazine recipes and do some culling. Calls for a box of pudding? Toss. I'd never get my family to eat it? Toss. I own the cookbook that has that recipe in it? Toss. But then I came to one that had a full page picture of ice cream and blueberries nestled in between halves of a biscuit with a lovely sauce drizzling down over the top. Rather than toss, I'd make it, blog it, and then be able to toss with a free conscience. Plus I still had more blueberries to play with!

The only downside to this excellent plan was that when I looked at the recipe accompanying the gorgeous photo, it was basically a biscuit recipe and you bought ice cream to put in there. Waaaaah! I wanted a blueberry ice cream recipe! So I had to sort of invent my own. And now that I've taken my own pictures I'm totally going to toss that other recipe. Even though their pictures were better. Maybe I'd better hang onto it, just in case I want to try for a redo later....

Blueberry Tallcakes

Your favorite biscuits or shortcakes
Blueberry Ice cream (recipe follows)
Fresh berries
Berry syrup or liquor for drizzling


Blueberry Ice cream

2 cups blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
2-3 Tbsp Blueberry or blackberry liquor*

1- Toss the blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice together in a mixing bowl. Cover and refrigerate, stirring every 30 minutes.

2- Place the blueberry mixture into a blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.

3- Pour 1 cup of the cream into a large mixing bowl. Set a fine mesh strainer on top of it. Have an ice bath prepared in a larger bowl (several inches of ice + water) to cool off the custard.

4- In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks.

5- In a medium saucepan, mix 1 cup of the cream with the milk, sugar, and pinch of salt. Set the saucepan over medium-high heat and warm the cream mixture, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved and little bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan.

6- Pour the warmed cream in a steady stream into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Return the egg mixture to the saucepan and set it over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heatproof rubber spatula until the custard thickens slightly and coats the spatula ( drawing a finger through it should leave a line).

7- Immediately pour the custard through the strainer into the cold cream. Set the bowl into the ice bath and stir. Pour in the pureed blueberry mixture and stir till thoroughly mixed and cooled. Cover and refrigerate the custard at least 4 hours or overnight.

8- Stir in the liquor and freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

* I used Creme de Cassis and it did impart a very distinct blackberry flavor to the ice cream. My next quest - making blueberry liquor from my leftover Blueberry Lighter Fluid!

Turning Over a New Blueberry Recipe

I have a two-sided relationship with Cooking Light. I own many Cooking Light cookbooks and they are my go-to books for salads, main meals, and for when I'm feeling fat. But their dessert sections tend to have weird, fake ingredients like egg substitute, margarine, and non-fat cream cheese. Euwww.

My personal philosophy is that desserts are meant to be enjoyed. Weird, I know, but true. Put in real butter, don't skimp on the quality chocolate, and enjoy that whipped cream on top. That being said, I don't serve very large portions of dessert. If you use great ingredients, you can savor each bite and feel satisfied with a small amount.

When thumbing through my pile of torn-out-of-magazine recipes to find something to do with the abundance of blueberries, my eye was caught by a beautiful picture of an oozing, blueberry turnover. It happened to be from Cooking Light, so I was a bit dubious, but a quick scan of the ingredients showed the only off ingredient was lower fat cream cheese. I could handle that and just substitute real cream cheese.



My turnovers turned out just like the picture. What neither the picture nor the recipe revealed, though, was that in an effort to get the fat statistic below the magical 30%, they apportioned a tiny amount of dough per turnover and it had to be wafer thin. It was sticky, ripped easily, and was a pain in the patoot to work with. Plus, when it came out of the oven, the texture was tough and cardboardy.

It did improve when stored overnight in an airtight container. The dough softened up and the texture improved.

Final verdict? For all the effort, it only yielded 4 turnovers. I'd double the recipe if I made it again. I loved the taste of the filling, but I'd skip this dough and use your favorite pastry dough recipe. Something with a better taste and texture. And if it's got a little more fat? Well, life's short. Splurge once in a while.



Blueberry Turnovers
- adapted from Cooking Light magazine

Crust:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (or regular, if you don't care about counting fats)
1 Tbsp butter
Dash of salt
1 Tbsp ice water

Filling:
2/3 cup blueberries
1-1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp grated lemon rind
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
1 tsp sugar, divided

1- To prepare the crust, place the flour, 2 Tbsp sugar, cream cheese, butter and salt in a food processor; pulse 5 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. With processor running, add ice water, processing just until combined, but not forming a ball. Empty the mixture onto a sheet of heavy plastic wrap and gently form it into a 3-inch circle. Wrap it tightly and chill for 15 minutes.

2- Preheat oven to 400 deg. F. with a rack in the center of the oven. Prepare a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.

3- Divide dough into 4 equal portions; place each portion between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Roll each portion into a 5-inch circle. Place dough in freezer for 5 minutes or until the plastic wrap can be easily removed.

4- To prepare filling, combine blueberries and next 4 ingredients in a bowl. Working with 1 dough portion at a time, remove plastic wrap from dough. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and brush with egg white. Spoon about 2 Tbsp blueberry filling onto half of circle. Fold dough over filling and press the edges together with a fork to seal. Place the turnover on prepared baking sheet. Lightly spray turnover with cooking spray (or lightly brush with melted butter) and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp sugar. Pierce the turnover with a fork. Repeat procedure to form 3 more turnovers.

5- Bake at 400 deg. F for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. Yield: 4 turnovers.

Still Singing the Blues

After I did a whole week of blueberry posts, no doubt you thought I was tapped out, all done, and had scraped the bottom of the blueberry barrel. Oh, no, my friends. I've got another week's worth, but I think I'll ease them on you slowly and gently rather than bombing you with a whole week at once.

I realize it's the end of the blueberry season, but I face a dilemma here. Do I post the recipes, perhaps a bit out of season and let you bookmark them to make next year? Or do I save them in my files to post next year when the blueberries are ripe, hoping that I can remember which cookbook / magazine / scrap of paper the recipe was on? I think it's more prudent to opt for the former. I doubt I'll be able to remember next month, let alone next year. Plus, I saw blueberries at Costco on my last trip. So let the blueberries roll!

I found this recipe in a kids magazine. I love kid-friendly recipes that are easy, require only a few ingredients, and make children proud of what they've made. I know my kids would have been proud, except they were off doing other things, coming only to help eat up the results.

Easy Peasy Blueberry Fool
- adapted from Family Fun magazine

1 tbsp butter
2 cups blueberries, stemmed and rinsed
1/3 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups cold heavy cream

1- Place a large mixing bowl and the beaters from a hand-held electric mixer in the freezer.

2- In a saucepan over medium heat melt the butter, then stir in the blueberries and sugar. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the blueberries release their juices, about 10 minutes. Set pan aside to cool.

3- Pour the cooled berries into a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. Refrigerate the sauce until it's completely cooled.

4- Pour the heavy cream into the mixing bowl from the freezer. Using the chilled beaters, beat the cream until soft peaks form.

5- Reserve 1/4 cup of the blueberry sauce, then use a spatula to fold the remaining sauce into the whipped cream until thoroughly combined.

6- Spoon the mixture into 6 small parfait glasses. Spoon some of the reserved blueberry sauce around the edges of each serving, then use a knife to swirl the sauce throughout the dessert. Refrigerate until serving time.

Makes 6 servings

Better Late Than No Cake

Early on in my marriage I loved surprises. Or rather, I loved the idea of surprises - that special moment when my honey gives me a beautifully wrapped gift and when I open it, I'm overwhelmed. At a loss for words I can only stammer, "Honey, it's perfect!" That never happened.

I'd play the game correctly, giving him lots of hints ("Gee, this coat is getting so worn. Did you see that cute coat that's on sale that I circled in the ad and left on your pillow?"), but instead of the coat I'd get something to which I'd smile and say thank you, but on the inside I was thinking, "Really? You really thought out of all the possible choices THIS was what I most wanted?"

Not to knock my hubbie. He loves me and really tries, but we've figured out that it works better all around if I do the shopping for my presents. I look at it this way - I save him the hassle of trying to guess what I want and then the hassle of shopping for it and I get the bonus of getting exactly what I want. I'm really happy, so he's happy, too. Win, win, win.

This year for my birthday I chose and ordered in plenty of time to be inspired for my birthday cake, Sky High - Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes. When it came I oohed, aahed, and picked out my birthday cake. Lovely, light, lemony, with blueberries. Perfect! Except for the weather. It was waaaaay too hot to bake a cake. I whined about that here.



But I was not to be denied my birthday cake. As soon as it cooled down to reasonable temperatures, I had company over and baked this baby. It was almost everything I'd hoped for. Light, lemony layers set off by luscious buttercream blueberry jam slathered between the layers. But the one thing that had really caught my eye in the cookbook didn't work out for me. Some of the jam is supposed to be added to the batter and marbled into the cake. The dainty swirls barely showed in my cake. Boo! But if that's the worst surprise of the day, I can handle it.

Sorta-Marbled Lemon-Blueberry Birthday Cake
- adapted from Sky High - Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes

2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1-1/2 tsp lemon extract
7 egg whites
3 cups cake flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/4 cup milk
Lemon-Blueberry Preserves
Lemon Buttercream Frosting (below)
Fresh blueberries for decoration

1- Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F. Butter the bottom and sides of three 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment paper and butter the paper.

2- In a mixer bowl, cream the butter, sugar, lemon zest, and lemon extract until light and fluffy. Gradually add the egg whites 2 or 3 at a time, beating well between additions and occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

3- In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt, whisking gently to blend. In 2 or 3 additions, beat the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, alternating with the milk, scraping down the sides of the bowl several times. Beat on medium-high speed for about e1 minute to smooth out any lumps and aerate the batter.

4- Scoop 1 cup of the batter into a small bowl. Divide the remainder equally among the 3 prepared cake pans, smoothing the tops with a rubber spatula. Add 2-1/2 Tbsp of the Preserves to the reserved batter and blend well. Drizzle heaping tsp of this blueberry mixture over the batter in the pans. Using a skewer, swirl the blueberry mixture in short stroked to drag it down through the lemon batter without mixing it in.

5- Bake for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick stuck into the center comes out clean and the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let the layers cool in their pans for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks, carefully peel off the paper liners, and let cool completely, at least one hour.

6- To assemble the cake, place a layer, flat side up, on a cake stand or serving plate. Spread half of the remaining Lemon-Bleuberry Preserves over the top. Place a second cake layer on top of the first and spread the remaining preserves over it. Finally, place the third layer on top of the second and frost the sides and top of the cake with the Lemon Buttercream Frosting. Decorate with fresh blueberries.

Lemon Buttercream Frosting
- makes about 3-1/2 cups

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 eggs
3 sticks (12 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1- In a small nonreactive saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Continue to boil without stirring, occasionally washing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush, until the syrup reaches the soft-ball stage, 238 deg. F on a candy thermometer. Immediately remove from the heat.

2- In a large mixer bowl with the mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs briefly. Slowly add the hot syrup in a thin stream, pouring it down the sides of the bowl; avoid hitting the beaters, or the syrup may splatter. When all the syrup has been added, raise the speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture is very fluffy and cooled to body temperature. This can take 15 to 20 minutes.

3- Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and gradually add the softened butter 2 to 3 Tbsp at a time, beating well between additions. As you're adding the last few Tbsp of butter, the frosting will appear to break, then suddenly come together like whipped butter. Beat in the lemon juice and the frosting is ready for use.

Alpha Baker

This summer my daughter, Sarah, and I took a class together at Sur La Table. Her confidence with pies was low and I still didn't know how to roll out a pie crust into a round, so we were excited to take the Summer Baking: Pies and Tarts class. Our instructor was Rachael Coyle, a pastry chef, and she was super. She gave very clear instruction, showing each step of the way, giving pointers as she demonstrated. Then the class was divided into groups and each group got to try their hand at making the pies and tarts.

I jotted down some of the information that was new to me.

~ In her pie crust recipes, Rachael doesn't give a measurement for water. It should be added a tablespoon at a time and worked in by hand so that you'll know when it feels right, rather than just dumping in the amount a recipe calls for and ending up with a gloopy mess. Because the amount of moisture the flour can absorb is very weather dependent, this step should always be done by hand.

~ When working in the water, as bits become moistened, pull them out of the bowl and set them aside. You avoid overworking the dough that way and are only adding moisture to the dry bits.

~ You can use a food processor to cut in the chilled butter, but add the water by hand. If you continue to use the food processor, you'll continue chopping up the butter, and won't end up with the pea-sized pieces needed to give a flaky pie crust.

~ If you make a double batch of pie dough, you can wrap 1/2 of it in a double layer of plastic wrap and put it in the freezer. It will keep for up to 1 month.


Rachael also gave very specific instructions on how to achieve a circle of pie dough.

~ Generously flour your work surface. Not just a dusting. You want enough flour so that the dough won't stick and you can move it easily.

~ Move the rolling pin back and forth straight away from your body and straight back in. Then turn the dough 45 degrees and repeat. Turn and repeat. Turn and repeat. Never try to push the rolling pin at an angle, as you'll get uneven force on the pin and the dough will be uneven in thickness.

~ Feel the edges to make sure it's even. Then just roll over the thick bits to even it out.

~ Use a dry pastry brush to brush the excess flour off the top of the crust. As you lift the crust, either draped over the rolling pin or folded, brush the underside with the pastry brush to remove the excess flour.


Then as we broke into groups, I learned a few other things. I learned that I'm an Alpha in the kitchen and it's really hard for me to sit and watch someone else do it wrong.

I saw a woman blithely rolling out her pie crust in precisely the way the instructor had just said NOT to do it, rolling back and forth at angles. I watched another woman manhandle her dough into a homogenous mass. And the pair at the KitchenAid were throwing ingredients in without regard to recipe or instructions. Sarah said it was really funny watching my face; she knew exactly what I was thinking as I bit my tongue to keep from shrieking, "Why are you here? Why did you pay $69 for the class if you weren't going to listen to the instructor? If you know everything already, why did you think your pies and tarts needed improving?"

Whew, deep breaths, deep breaths. Control regained.


When I got home from the class I was eager to put what I'd learned into practice. I made the Summer Berry Tart and wow, was it delicious! So, rounding out my week of blueberries, here's the tart recipe with pointers. But of course, if you already know all about making tarts, be sure to do it your way. Just don't tell me about it. It would stress me.


Summer Berry Tart with Mascarpone Cream

Pate Sucrée
- enough for one 8-9-inch tart

7 oz. all-purpose flour
2 oz. granulated sugar
pinch of salt
4 oz (1 stick) of unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp heavy cream, plus more as needed

(To cut the stick of butter, cut the stick lengthwise with a long knife, turn the stick a quarter turn and slice lengthwise again. Then chop slices off the end.)

Either by hand or with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cut the butter into the flour, sugar, and salt until the butter is very fine; the mixture should look like course sand. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolk and heavy cream. Add the liquid to the flour mixture and just mix until combined (just turn the mixer on for a second and then off); add more heavy cream if the dough seems dry. Gently, with minimal handling, press the dough into a flat circle, about 1-inch thick. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

for the tart:

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp Grand Marnier (optional)
1 cup mascarpone cheese at room temperature
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped or 1 tsp vanilla extract
2 pints assorted berries
confectioner's sugar for dusting

1- On a lightly floured surface, roll the chilled pastry out into a circle just under 1/4 inch thick. Fit the pastry into a lightly greased tart tin (with a removable bottom) and press dough into the corners to that it lies flat with no air pockets. Trim excess pastry from the edges. Chill shaped tart shell for at least one hour.

2- Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Blind bake the tart shell: fit the chilled pastry with a round of parchment paper and fill the parchment with dried beans or pie weights. Bake for 30 minutes; remove the parchment and the weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the pastry shell is cooked through and golden brown. Let it cool completely.

3- Whip the cream with the sugar and Grand Marnier to medium peaks. Chill.

4- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or with a handheld mixer, beat the mascarpone with the vanilla bean or extract until smooth with no lumps. Gently fold the whipped creaminto the mascarpone until just mixed.

5- Fill the cooled tart shell with the mascarpone cream and spread into an even layer. Arrange fresh fruit over the top. Dust with confectioner's sugar just before serving. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.

Save the Blueberries

In my high school home economics class we briefly covered canning food. What I took away from that section of the course was 1) pressure cookers can explode like a bomb, raining shrapnel all over your kitchen, and 2) botulism will kill you. To this day I still check for bulging lids before opening a can from the grocery store.

While this is good safety information to have, I don't think the joy of canning really got through to me. In fact, the thought of it terrified me. It wasn't until my in-laws brought over a big box of tomatoes one summer and helped me "put up" the whole batch that I thought just maybe I could give this whole canning thing a whirl.


I'd love to report at this point that I've become a canning whiz and that my pantry shelves are lined with mason jars, filled to the brim with the goodness of summer's bounty. It's not. Maybe if I had a productive garden, I'd be tempted to drag out my canning paraphernalia. But, as I've mentioned before, the only thing that's doing well in my garden is my blueberries.

So, blueberry jam it is. I'm not a seasoned expert at jam, but this one is pretty simple, and if you're only making one batch, you don't even really need to seal it. Just spread on bread and enjoy. It's packed with a lot of flavor and zero High Fructose Corn Syurp. Yeah!

This is my entry for the Under The High Chair Virtual Jam Swap. If you'd like to participate, clink on the link for details.



Lemon Blueberry Preserves
- adapted from Sky High

3 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1- If using frozen blueberries, thaw them completely in a bowl, saving any juices.

2- Puree the blueberries with any juices they've exuded in a blender. Pass the puree through a coarse strainer to remove the skins.

3- In a heavy, medium, nonreactive saucepan, combine the blueberry puree with the sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and ginger. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar. Continue cooking, stirring often, for 20 minutes, until the preserves have thickened and are reduced to 1 cup or pass the thickness test. Place 1 tsp of the mixture on a small glass or ceramic plate and put it in the freezer until cold. Drag your finger through the thickened puree; a clear path should remain. If it's not ready cook 5 minutes longer and repeat the test. Pour the hot preserves into a hot jam jar and seal with a clean, hot lid. Or, if you're going to use it right away, let the preserves cool, then place in a clean jar, cover, and refrigerate for up to 5 days.

Forgetful Blueberries

The week of blueberries continues with these amazing, yet bewildering bars. I say bewildering because somewhere in the combination of ordinary ingredients a strange alchemy occurs. The result is a bar with peculiarly amnesiac qualities.

This is the situation: husband approaches the cooling bars on the counter and asks politely if he may have one. (A wise and well-trained blogger's husband ALWAYS asks first.) Given the green light he helps himself to one and proceeds to eat it with pleasure and much finger-licking.


Ten minutes later, same husband approaches the bars and again asks if he may try one. "Try one? Didn't you just have one?" I reply. "Um, no, I don't remember having one," he says, eyes wide with innocence, and plucks up another.

You see what I mean? They're so good that they induce amnesia. You forget all about that first one and go back for seconds, even thirds, forgetting that you've even had one. So enjoy the bars, but beware....



Forget Me Not Bars
- adapted from Fine Cooking

8 oz (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened; more for the pan
13-1/2 oz (3 cups) all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick oats)
1-1/3 cups packed light brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 large egg, separated
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2-1/2 cups room-temperature blueberries (about 13 oz), washed and drained on paper towels

1- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat it to 350 deg. F. Line a 9 x 13-inch pan with foil, leaving a 1-inch overhang on the ends. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of the foil.

2- In a large bowl combine the flour, oats, sugar, salt, and baking powder. With your fingers blend the butter completely into the flour mixture. Transfer 2 cups of the crumble mixture to another bowl and set it aside for the topping.

3- Blend the egg white into the remaining crumbs and press the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Press firmly to level the crumbs. Bake the crust for 10 to 12 minutes, until it starts to form a dry top.

4- While the crust is cooking, in a medium bowl whisk together the condensed milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, and egg yolk. Let this mixture stand for 5 minutes; it will begin to thicken.

5- Sprinkle the blueberries evenly over the hot crust and then drop spoonfuls of the lemon mixture over the blueberries. Spread gently with a spatula to distribute it a little more evenly, being careful not to crush the berries. It's fine if the lemon mixture isn't perfectly even. Bake until the lemon mixture just begins to form a shiny skin, 7 to 8 minutes.

6- Sprinkle the reserved topping over the lemon-blueberry layer, pressing the streusel between your fingers into small lumps as you sprinkle. Bake until the filling is bubbling at the edges and the topping is brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

6- Let the bars cool in the pan on a rack until just warm, about an hour. Carefully lift them out of the pan using the foil overhang and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Remove the foil and cut into 24 bars when cool. The bars may be stored at room temperature for a few hours, but otherwise should be kept in the refrigerator.

(Note: As I was typing this up, the part in Step 5 of baking for 7 to 8 minutes sounded totally foreign to me. Did I do that step or did I just go straight to sprinkling the topping over it? I totally don't remember. See the mysterious power of the bars?)

Violet, You're Turning Violet

Next week we start back to school. For most people that means sending the kids off to school and breathing a sigh of relief as the calm descends over the household. Not for me. I homeschool my kids. That means that while other moms eagerly anticipate the start of school, I dread it. I'm not organized enough to do a good job. Will my children end up holding cardboard signs on freeway off-ramps because I didn't do a good enough job? Will they still be living at home when they're 35 because they can't get a job that doesn't involve a paper hat? These are the fears of a homeschooling mother.

One of the choices that I've made in schooling my children is to read to them. A lot. I have a huge list of books that I consider indispensable for a happy childhood. Whatever other mistakes I make with my children, at least they will have happy memories of The Little House in The Big Woods, Taran Wanderer, My Father's Dragon, Half Magic, The Snowy Day, and, of course, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.

What child hasn't dreamed of visiting Willy Wonka's fabulous factory, sipping from the melted chocolate river, and coming away with a truckload of chocolates? But when you grow up, and you've had a stressful day, what do you dream of? Probably still chocolate, but perhaps also a little something for happy hour.

I fell in love with this cocktail when I saw it in Elizabeth Faulkner's Demolition Desserts. The name alone is fantastic, but I loved the beautiful violet color, too. I ran out and bought a bottle of vodka (she says use a best quality vodka. I have no clue what a quality vodka is, since they all taste like lighter fluid to me), removed a cup of vodka, and filled it with blue berries. (The remaining cup I put into a mason jar and filled that with raspberries. Perhaps I'll post something fabulous with raspberry vodka sometime.) Within days it started to turn a lovely reddish-purple.

The cocktail turned out beautifully. I carefully measured out the blueberry vodka, holding a spoon over the bottle's opening to keep the blueberries from spilling out, and mixed in the other ingredients, shook it with the ice, poured into a chilled glass, and reverently sipped. Mmmm, lusciously fruity. I tasted the orange, lemon, and blueberry and then....lighter fluid. Rats. It's still vodka. I guess I'm never going to be a vodka fan. I gave the rest of my glass to my husband who doesn't mind vodka at all. He gave it a definite thumbs up.

Violet Beauregard

For the infused vodka:

1 bottle (750 ml) premium vodka
1 cup (about 5 oz) blueberries

To infuse the vodka, pour out 1 cup of the vodka into another container and save for another use, like making raspberry vodka or vanilla extract. Wash the blueberries and dry them on a clean kitchen towel. Drop the berries one at a time into the vodka bottle, cap the bottle, and set it in a cool, dark place for at least 2 weeks or up to 1 year. Leave the blueberries in the bottle and the vodka will just get better.

For the cocktails:

3/4 cup (6 oz) blueberry-infused vodka
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp (3 oz) Cointreau
1 Tbsp (1/2 oz) fresh lemon juice
Ice Cubes
6 Blueberries

1- Chill two cocktail glasses in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

2- In a cocktail shaker, combine the vodka, Cointreau, and lemon juice. Fill the shaker with ice, cover, and shake.

3- Strain into the chilled glasses. Drop 2 or 3 blueberries into the bottom of each glass and serve immediately.

A Week of Blueberries

I really need to apologize. I've been a bad blogger and I know it. It's not like I've been on vacation in Hawaii (I wish), packing up my house for a move (so glad I'm not), or anything tremendous. Blogging has just been a lower priority this summer, so I've spent less time at the computer, both working on my own blog and visiting other blogs.

This situation isn't likely to change soon. There's a lot going on, nothing major or negative, just life with a husband, two kids at home, two grown kids within hollering distance, school, and, of course, the ever-growing list of things I want to bake.

But, since I do feel like I've disappointed you, my loyal readers, both of you, I will give you a gift. A week of blueberry posts.

My blueberry bushes performed magnificently this year. We've had the most amazing crop and I've spent a lot of time picking blueberries and figuring out what to do with all them. Since I've been so slow in getting up posts, I've accumulated a week's worth for you to enjoy.


First up is a blueberry cheesecake. A friend gave me the book 500 Cakes for my birthday and this was the first thing I picked to make from it. This is really a summertime cheesecake. The tartness of lime keeps it from being overly sweet and it's a light cheesecake that doesn't sit like a brick in your stomach. It's creamy and smooth, with fresh blueberries bursting in every bite. I can't think of a better way to round off a meal (or my thighs).



Creamy Blueberry Lime Cheesecake
- adapted from 500 Cakes by Susannah Blake

1-2/3 cup finely ground graham cracker crumbs (about 1 packet of crackers)
1/2 stick (4 Tbsp) butter, melted
1 lb cream cheese
3/4 cup superfine sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
2/3 cup sour cream
3 extra-large eggs
finely grated zest and juice of 1 or 2 limes
1 cup fresh blueberries, plus 1-1/4 cups to decorate

1- Grease a 10-inch (23-cm) round springform cake pan. Stir the crumbs into the melted butter, then spread over the bottom of the prepared pan, pressing down to make an even base. Chill for 30 minutes. Wrap the base and sides of pan in two layers of foil to make a watertight seal. Use wide foil, so that it comes all the way up the side of the pan all the way around.

2- Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F (180 deg. C). Put a tea kettle full of water on to boil.

3-Beat the cream cheese until creamy, then beat in the sugar and cornstarch. Stir in the sour cream until smooth and creamy, then beat in the eggs followed by the lime zest and juice. Fold in 1 cup blueberries. Pour filling into the cake pan, tapping the sides of the pan to level the surface.

4- Place the pan inside a roasting pan and pour boiling water around it to about 1 to 1-1/2 inches deep, shielding the cake so you don't spatter boiling water onto it. Bake for 45 minutes until set (but still with a wobble in the middle).

5- Let the cake cool in it's pan on a wire rack, then chill for at least 4 hours or overnight. To serve, carefully remove the outer ring and top with remaining fresh blueberries.

Berry Nice

The first food blog I ever read was Orangette. I was still on my quest for the elusive chocolate covered macaroon and I googled it. One of the hits was this Orangette post. It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but her amazing description of the macaroons made me want to try them, even though no one in my family but me will eat coconut.

I was such a foodie newbie at the time that I didn’t know what ganache was, other than it sounded fancy. Molly’s macaroons introduced me to ganache and opened up new food vistas to me.


I had a question about the cooking process of the macaroons and I wrote to her with my question. She wrote back, warmly and personably, answering my question and encouraging me. I was so impressed that she’d take the time to do that. I was hooked. On Molly, her food, and her blog. She was what inspired me to start my own blog. Writing stories, cooking, and sharing recipes. I wanted to do that!

As a nod to Molly and her new book, A Homemade Life, I made her Summer Berry Poundcake. The recipe is in her book as well as on her blog. It embodies all the qualities I love about Molly’s stories and recipes - simple, unpretentious, approachable, and most of all, delicious.


This cake is like a big hug from mamma on a plate. It’s got blueberries and raspberries wrapped up in a delicate, buttery pound cake, moist and tender. If the berries are homegrown, like mine, even better. And, according to Molly, you can wrap it tightly and freeze it to pull out and enjoy after the berry season is over and savor the flavor of summer past.