I'll miss you, summer berries

Well, I barely squeezed this post in on the last day of summer. On the one hand, I am happy that fall will be here tomorrow - backyard bonfires, a little chill in the air, soups, little kids dressed up in their Halloween finery, Thanksgiving. On the other hand, I will miss the warm, lazy days we've enjoyed these last three months.

We had a wonderful summer, filled with long vacations (the pools, the beaches!) and lots of visits with family and friends. Here in the midwest, the weather has been absolutely delightful. And the berries.....oh my. I hope to enjoy them for a couple of more weeks (still haven't made a berry shortcake yet) but then, alas, we'll all have to wait 'til next year to truly enjoy their deliciously plump sweetness. sigh.


All the berries have been great this year, and the blueberries here have been especially good. I made these Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins from JoyofBaking.com for my fifth grade Sunday School class. The blueberries were just bursting throughout these and the kids really enjoyed them.




It was actually was pretty funny - the girls daintily ate one each and watched aghast as each of the boys ate three of these, and then asked for more! I just had to smile - I've got two little growing boys of my own and some days they can put away such a huge amount of food for their relative size that the hubby and I seriously wonder how we'll afford to feed them when they're teenagers. Second mortgage? Just plain scary.

Hope you all get to try these muffins, they are really delicious - moist inside and the sugar on top made for a really nice crunch.


Please let me know if you've got any really good berry recipes for me to enjoy before berry season's gone for 8 months!

Another yummy use for all those blackberries

Another friend from church had a baby (another darling little boy - we've had a run on them ;-) and I brought them dinner the other day. I wanted to try something a little different (but not too far out there) so this is what they had for dessert:

I can't actually say how this tasted, because I didn't keep any for us, but I just had to slice it up and get a picture - it looks pretty darn tasty if I do say so myself. And just to guild the lily a little, I also took them some vanilla ice cream to go with it.

You can find the recipe at epicurious.com. I ended up following the advice of some of the reviewers and lowered the temperature to 350 after about 20 minutes (the top was getting pretty brown) and baked it for about 15 more minutes. 400 is awfully hot for a cake, maybe that's a mistake in the recipe. I think if I were to make this again I'd just cook it at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes.

Unfortunately, this put an end to my blackberry stash. Karen, I will be calling you soon for more!

Let's hear it for the berries!

Ah, summer .... did I mention before how much I LOVE summer - the heat, the sun, the fresh berries!? Oh yes, I did. A friend of mine from church has been picking blackberries and had some extra she needed to find a home for. I was quite happy to take them off her hands - I ended up with about a gallon of them. Thank you so much, Karen! They are tart and juicy and delicious!




Today we are going to a pool party and cookout and I said I'd bring the dessert. Obviously, I needed something that was pretty easy to transport and serve - these are perfect because you can just pick em up and eat em on the go:

The recipe is from Martha Stewart's "Baking Handbook", but you can find it on her website here. My only problem with the recipe is the crust - it's delicious, don't get me wrong, there was just not enough of it to cover my pan. I am not talented enough to roll it really thin and still manage to get it in the pan in one piece. I had some help though -

So, this is definitely not the prettiest pie I've ever made, but after some patching in the corners, it turned out ok, I guess. Next time I make this, I will be doubling the crust recipe and using whatever might be left for individual tartlettes at a later time.

As for the taste, well it's fantastic. I hope you try it and be sure to let me know how it turns out!

I've got more blackberries left, so stay tuned for another recipe to come soon!

Berry good!

One of the reasons I absolutely LOVE summertime (besides the warm weather and sunny days - I am a southern girl at heart, afterall) is being able to get fresh, deliciously sweet berries at the store.

Check out these beauties


Meijer had quite the sale on blueberries last week (2 pounds for $4.99 - yes pounds!), so I stocked up. Actually, I wish I had bought some more to freeze - but instead we all ate a lot of blueberries!

A friend of mine from church recently had a baby and I was to bring her dinner last night and I always include dessert with it. So, I decided to make this:

Blueberry Crumb Bars - YUM!

This is a slightly modified recipe from Everyday Food (a magazine which I have really come to love, BTW - lots of great recipes that are pretty easy too - my only beef is that they only rarely include nutritional info). Theirs called for fresh blackberries, but since Meijer blueberries were such a deal, well I just had to use those. Here's the recipe:

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup packed lt brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt, divided
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
2 containers (5 ounces each) blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries (I just thought of something - you could mix them all up for a mixed berry crumb bars - yum, I'll have to try that one!)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8x8 baking pan with Pam. Line bottom with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides. Spray paper with Pam.

2. Make topping: In a medium bowl, mix melted butter, brown sugar and 1/4 tsp salt; add 1 cup flour and mix until large moist crumbs form. Set aside (the original recipe says to put this in the fridge so the crumb topping comes out looking "nubbly", but I didn't and it came out fine, but you can if you'd like).

I dare you to not try sampling some of that buttery sweet goodness! No dare, not even the triple-dog dare, could keep me from trying it - the topping, IMHO, is the best part!

3. In bowl of electric mixer, beat softened butter, confectioner's sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy; add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Reduce speed to low and add remaining 1/4 tsp salt and baking powder. Mix in remaining 3/4 cup flour.

Spread batter evenly in pan.

Sprinkle with berries,

then topping.

4. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 40-45 minutes. Cool completely in pan.

Using paper overhang, lift cake out onto work surface and cut into squares. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired. (Keeps in airtight container for 3 days)

I sure hope my friend and her family enjoyed these last night. Thankfully for my family, I made extra (they hate it when I make something and don't have any left for them - and I can't blame them).

Bon Appetit!