Mush

Alas, today brings the last of the blueberry recipes—and it only seems fitting, as we experience a break in the heat and wake to a crisp, dry 60-degree morning. It's as if, just like that, the summer weather has set its sights on back to school and apple-picking season.

We have eaten the majority of our blueberry glut frozen, like little hard candies. The remainder of those berries went into yogurt and scones, were served up with homemade whipped cream, or as an icy treat.

Today's recipe is the result of setting the girls free in the kitchen to do what they wished with a bowl of berries. They raided the drawers choosing a cheese grater, meat tenderizer, and wire whisk, among other tools, to transform bananas and blueberries into, well, mush.

The final product was surprisingly delicious, with a pudding-like consistency and a rich flavor. This is a snack to be eaten immediately, as the mashed banana will soon turn brown.

Those little chefs have thought up a healthy snack—one they plan to put on the menu at the restaurant they are going to have when they grow up (it's a perfect plan, since one girl aspires to be a chef and the other longs to be a waitress). They have generously given me permission to share the recipe with you. Enjoy!

Blueberry Granita

An icy blueberry treat...the perfect berry recipe for these hot muggy days. You may have noticed that since the scones, we have not baked any other blueberry recipes. No thanks. In fact, I don't think we have turned on the oven at all. It's been sandwiches and grilled fare for meals all week. So enjoy another blueberry recipe that involves very little cooking:


Blueberry Granita
1 cup blueberries
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 granulated sugar
water

Combine blueberries, brown sugar and water in medium pan. Heat over low flame, stirring often and using back of spoon to break up berries, cook for about 10 minutes. You want the consistency to be syrupy-mush.

Dissolve 1/2 cup granulated sugar into 1 cup boiling water. Combine with blueberry mixture and pour into shallow pan and put in freezer. Use a fork to scrape the freezing mixture every 15 minutes or so, to make ice shavings. Once the mixture is completely frozen, scoop out into small dishes. Enjoy!

They're SUCH Hippies, They...

Another Blueberry Idea
A friend of mine once described a family he knows as follows: "they are such hippies they make their own yogurt." To which I whole-heartedly agreed, "wow, total hippies."

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, when we made yogurt for the first time. Or maybe "grew" is a better word than "made". In any case, it was a cinch and the yogurt was delicious. We sweetened the plain yogurt with honey and vanilla—so yummy.

I found the recipe in Kathy Farrell-Kingsley's book The Home Creamery, a gorgeous book that has inspired me to even try making cheese again. (I tried my hand at making mozzarella once—I put it on a pizza and, long story short, we had takeout for dinner that night. )

The blueberry recipe? Blueberry yogurt, of course (it's not so much a recipe as a suggestion, I suppose). Processing fresh blueberries into this yogurt gave it a seasonal zing, tangy and sweet. I should mention that the blueberries did make the yogurt a bit thinner.


If you're not up for making your own yogurt, simply blending (or food-processing) the berries into plain or vanilla yogurt would work just as well. Store-bought blueberry yogurt does not compare to the freshness of adding your own berries.

Homemade yogurt has now made its way into our regular kitchen routine. So this begs the question, does that make us "hippies"?

{note: the recipe for making yogurt is available if you follow the link above to Amazon.com, then click on the "search inside this book" link on the left}

Berries and Beating the Heat

Blueberry Recipe of the Day:
Blueberry Scones
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 6-oz vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup melted butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp lemon zest
1 cup blueberries

Instructions:
Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. In a smaller bowl, combine wet ingredients. Stir wet ingredients into dry until just moistened. Fold in berries. Drop onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes. This recipe yields from 8-30 scones, depending on preferred size. We made 24 smaller ones.

In this near-record heat, we will not be turning the oven on to 400 degrees again today. Look for another no-cook blueberry recipe soon. Until then, we'll be here:

Happy summer days of berries and beating the heat!

Desk Job

This weekend brought new life to an old desk. The husband made this desk and stool set for our oldest daughter when she was one. Another child and countless craft projects later, this desk was in serious need of a makeover—and a new owner. Yes, sadly, our girls no longer fit at it. But the set, handcrafted by "A", is a quality family heirloom, not something I'm willing to Freecycle or yard sale away.

So we scrubbed, sanded, scraped, and washed (believe it or not, this photo was taken after it was cleaned). Orange and olive green paint were the chosen to revitalize this tiny work station.

The finished product is headed to the nephews' home today, for many more years of use and abuse.

As for the blueberry overload—I will be featuring blueberry recipes for the next few days (however many days it takes us to eat them all).

Today's recipe: Simple Blueberries and Cream

Ingredients:

Heavy Cream

Maple Syrup

Blueberries

Instructions: Beat heavy cream with an electric mixer until it is the consistency of whipped cream. Add a bit of maple syrup to sweeten the cream to desired taste. Continue to beat for another minute. Add blueberries and enjoy!
note: we froze some blueberries and used those in our cream, for a yummy cooling treat.