Blueberry Pastry Delights

As the name of this recipe implies this pastry recipe is delightful.  Very rarely will you see me using “something in a can or a box”.  I almost always make everything from :”scratch”.  This was one exception and I admit, they were quite good and very quick and easy to make.  Go ahead … try some delight!  ENJOY!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 can crescent rolls
• 1 cup blueberries

Instructions

1. Begin by combining the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon in a small bowl.
2. Roll the crescent roll dough out and press the perforations together.
3. Slice the dough into 8 equal squares.
4. Top each square with a spoonful of the cream cheese mixture.
5. Pile the blueberries on top of the cream cheese.
6. Fold the corners of the dough into the middle and place each pastry on a baking stone.
7. Place in the oven at 375° for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.  (My oven took 11 minutes.)

 

Source: Littleleopardbook.com

Blueberries for Sal and Lemon Blueberry Bread

Blueberry picking is in full swing here in Northeast Ohio until Labor Day.  I have wonderful memories of blueberry picking as a child with my mother and friends.  Only then we went wild blueberry picking and spent a greater part of the day “hunting” for blueberries.  It was fun, we were kids, we found fun in the ordinary and simple pleasures of life; much like I do in my adult life.  The simple pleasures bring the most joy.

Does anyone remember the classic book “Blueberries for Sal”?  I loved this book as a child and I haven’t seen it since I was a child. I do remember reading it over and over and over.  Maybe because I was a bit like Sal!

 

Wikpedia describes the book:  “The book opens and closes with a picture of little Sal and her mother in the kitchen, the mother is canning blueberries… One sees in this opening picture Sal entertaining herself by placing the canning rings on her wrist and a spoon, a simple childlike act which helps to set the stage for Sal’s obvious child actions throughout the books. This is not to be the overly diligent or angelic girl of so many other books, Sal is a real child figure. She gets into mischief and causes her mom no end of trouble.”^[2]

Little Sal’s Mother takes her to Blueberry Hill to pick berries. Sal drops three berries in her bucket, then eats them. This continues as she and her mother concentrate on the berries and gradually get separated on the hill. What they don’t realize is that a mother bear and her cub have also come to Blueberry Hill to eat berries for the winter. The book uses a number of visual and verbal techniques to compare and contrast the bear and the human families. Both families pictures are similar in compositions, but they head in opposite directions when they reach the blueberry patch. Little Sal’s Mother tells her that they can’t eat all the berries because they need to save them to can for the winter, but the bear mother tells her child to eat as much as it can to store up fat for winter. The bear’s way of preparing for winter is more natural for Sal who soon wanders off to eat.

Sal and the bear cub get mixed up and follow after the wrong mother. It takes the mothers several minutes to realize they’re being followed by the wrong child; it isn’t until the bear cub tries to eat from Sal’s mother’s bucket and the mother bear hears the “ku-plink, ku-plank, ku-plunk” sound of Sal dropping blueberries into her tin pail that they realize what happened. Ultimately each child is reunited with its proper mother and they both leave the hill. Just before leaving Sal drops a blueberry into her empty pail. The end papers show Sal again playing in the kitchen while her mother cans berries.

If you haven’t done so why not go out blueberry picking and capture the memories of your childhood?  Or … take your children along and create new memories.  However you get your blueberries you will love this moist lemon bread bursting with blueberries.  It is over the top good!  ENJOY!

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 cup white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8×4 inch loaf pan.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat together butter, 1 cup sugar, juice and eggs. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; stir into egg mixture alternately with milk. Fold in lemon zest, nuts, and blueberries. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool bread in pan for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl. Remove bread from pan and drizzle with glaze. Cool on a wire rack.

Source:  allrecipes.com

Blueberries, Blueberries, Blueberries and more Blueberries! You Can Can It! Blueberry Chutney

I went to the local Farmers Market looking to score some pickling cucumbers.  I found some and then my eyes lighted on a sign “Case of blueberries $5.00”.  That was too good to not at least investigate even though I had no intentions of buying blueberries … well … you know how that goes!  Same with the cute dress or shoes you can’t pass up because “they are on sale”!  I looked them over and they were good … good to go, paid for the blueberries and my husband toted them out to the car along with my bags of pickling cucumbers.   Somehow I always get myself into these predicaments … not planning on doing a lot of canning and spending the day in the kitchen, but how could I pass up that deal!

So my next dilemma was what to do with all these beautiful ripe blueberries?!  I had not canned for a very long time and in fact, sold all my canning equipment and jars at a garage sale many years ago – call me crazy!  This year I decided I would start canning since I had a garden and fresh produce.  I had already purchased all the equipment and jars so I was halfway there.  I found a canning recipe for Blueberry Chutney – I’ve never had it but I liked the ingredients.  So Blueberry Chutney it was.

I canned about 8 jars of Blueberry Chutney and was so happy to see all my jars had sealed – Yeah for me!  I let them sit for a few weeks and decided open one up and serve it with grilled chicken.  It was really good and made for a quick easy dinner after work!  I think this Chutney would also pair very nicely with fish and pork.

Give it a try …. You Can Can It!  Enjoy!

Blueberry Chutney

Ingredients:

• 8 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and chopped
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 3 cups red wine vinegar
• 1 cup gold yellow raisins
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger root
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

Rinse and stem blueberries

Place blueberries in a large stockpot with onion, vinegar, raisins, brown sugar, mustard seeds, ginger root, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and red pepper flakes.  Bring mixture to a boil.

Lower heat; simmer, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes, or until chutney is thick.

Ladle hot chutney into sterilized jars, leaving ½” headspace.  Wipe rims; cap and seal.

Process in water bath canner 15 minutes. Cool.

Put in a cool, dark place; leave 6-8 weeks before using

Blueberry Crumb Bars – Bites of pure bliss

To all you blueberry lovers out there …. if you haven’t made these before you need to make them now.  I’m not sure words can do these blueberry crumb bars justice because they are quite simply bites of pure bliss.  They remind me of the best and my favorite part of a blueberry crumb pie and that is the topping.   Oh my … bursting with fresh blueberries in every bite you will love these!  I discovered this recipe at smittenkitchen.com – check out the site – it is full of great recipes!  An added plus is they are super simple to make – I multi-tasked and made these as I was making dinner!Enjoy!!

These are easiest to cut once chilled, and store even better in the fridge than they do at room temperature.

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Zest and juice of one lemon
• 4 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown.  Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Source:  Smittenkitchen.com