Very Best Blueberry Cobbler

Well you may have read about all the blueberries I just picked.

Now I need to start cooking!

Don't forget to leave your comments. I love hearing from you!

 

I looked at several Blueberry Cobbler recipes before settling on this one from allrecipes.com. It had really good reviews and the steps looked simple and easy to follow. You know me, I love uncomplicated! lol

I started with my just picked blueberries.

Lightly grease an 8 inch square baking dish. Place the blueberries into the baking dish, and mix with vanilla and lemon juice. Sprinkle with 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of flour, then stir in the tablespoon of melted butter. Set aside.

  

In a medium bowl, stir together 1 3/4 cups of flour, baking powder, and 6 tablespoons sugar. Rub in the 5 tablespoons butter using your fingers, or cut in with a pastry blender until it is in small pieces.

 

Make a well in the center, and quickly stir in the milk. Mix just until moistened. You should have a very thick batter, or very wet dough. You may need to add a splash more milk. Cover, and let batter rest for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spoon the batter over the blueberries, leaving only a few small holes for the berries to peek through. Mix together the cinnamon and 2 teaspoons sugar; sprinkle over the top.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden brown. A knife inserted into the topping should come out clean - of course there will be blueberry syrup on the knife. Let cool until just warm before serving. This can store in the refrigerator for 2 days.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1 cup white sugar, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 6 tablespoons white sugar
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Lightly grease an 8 inch square baking dish. Place the blueberries into the baking dish, and mix with vanilla and lemon juice. Sprinkle with 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of flour, then stir in the tablespoon of melted butter. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 3/4 cups of flour, baking powder, and 6 tablespoons sugar. Rub in the 5 tablespoons butter using your fingers, or cut in with a pastry blender until it is in small pieces. Make a well in the center, and quickly stir in the milk. Mix just until moistened. You should have a very thick batter, or very wet dough. You may need to add a splash more milk. Cover, and let batter rest for 10 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spoon the batter over the blueberries, leaving only a few small holes for the berries to peek through. Mix together the cinnamon and 2 teaspoons sugar; sprinkle over the top.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden brown. A knife inserted into the topping should come out clean - of course there will be blueberry syrup on the knife. Let cool until just warm before serving. This can store in the refrigerator for 2 days.

Blueberry Picking

 

So I finally went blueberry picking. We had a nice morning for it, hot but cloudy with a nice breeze. I went with a good friend who has been many times before so she was my instructor. One thing I discovered real quick is that it takes a lot longer to fill a bucket with blueberries than with strawberries! I only got about 5 pounds and have them waiting in my kitchen for blueberry cobbler, blueberry pie, and freezing the rest. I read that I shouldn't wash them just yet, so I haven't done anything with them so far.

I tried to get clusters of blueberries but often had to pick them one by one.

Great activity for kids! There were several there today.



Want to know more? Here's some information and tips from http://www.pickyourown.org/freezingblueberries.htm

Blueberry Measurements and Conversions

Keep in mind that blueberries vary in density and moisture content, so these ranges are approximates.

• 1 pint of fresh blueberries weights about 3/4 of a pound.
• 1 pound of fresh blueberries is  about 2 and 2/3 cups of berries.
• It takes about 4 cups (about  of blueberries to make a blueberry pie
• A normal batch of blueberry preserves, jam or jelly requires 5 pints of berries.

---

• Once picked, don't place the berries, still warm from the sun, in a closed bag or container. Leave the container open so moisture doesn't form in the container.
• Don't wash berries until just before using to prevent berries from becoming mushy.
• Chill berries soon after picking to increase shelf life.  If refrigerated, fresh-picked blueberries will keep 10 to 14 days.
• Freeze berries in freezer containers without washing to keep the skins from toughening.  Place berries one layer deep. Freeze, then pour the frozen berries into freezer containers. Because unwashed blueberries freeze individually, they can be easily poured from containers in desired amounts. Remember both frozen and fresh berries should be rinsed and drained just before serving. Just before using, wash the berries in cold water.
• Blueberries are ranked No. 1 in antioxidant activity compared with 40 other commercially available fruits and vegetables. That means a serving of blueberries has more of the antioxidant power you need to fight aging, cancer and heart disease.
• Put this in your pipe! Indians in the Northwest Territory smoked wild blueberries to preserve them for the winter. (Bet you didn't know that!)
• Want to grow your own blueberries?  Here's an article about how to: Growing Blueberries in the Home Garden, HYG-1422-98
• Weights and measures: 1 cup of blueberries normally weighs about 143 grams, which about 1/3 of a pound, so 1 pound of blueberries is almost 3 cup's worth. Of course, this can vary considerably based on the variety, weather conditions and degree of ripeness. Typically, many recipes call for 3 to 4 pounds of blueberries for a 9 inch pie.
• Nutrition and miscellaneous facts:  1 cup  (143 grams) of blueberries is 84 calories (technically, kcal).  Blueberries contain no cholesterol or fat and are also low in calories. Blueberries are high in dietary fiber, Vitamin A and niacin. They contain iron and other trace minerals and are a fair source of Vitamin C.  Blueberries have a diverse range of micronutrients, with notably high levels (relative to respective Dietary Reference Intakes) of the essential dietary mineral manganese, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin K and dietary fiber (table below). One serving provides a relatively low glycemic load score of 4 out of 100 per day.
  Especially in wild species, blueberries contain anthocyanins, other antioxidant pigments and various phytochemicals possibly having a role in reducing risks of some diseases, including inflammation and different cancers. Blueberries may have anti-disease effects, too. Researchers have shown that blueberry anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, resveratrol, flavonols, and tannins inhibit mechanisms of cancer cell development and inflammation in vitro. Similar to red grape, some blueberry species contain in their skins significant levels of resveratrol, a phytochemical with increasing evidence as an anti-cancer compound.[source: Wikipedia]

Blueberry nutritional values, raw
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 60 kcal   240 kJ

Carbohydrates	14.5 g
- Dietary fiber   2.4 g
Fat	0.3 g
Protein	0.7 g
Thiamin (Vit. B1)  0.04 mg	3%
Riboflavin (Vit. B2)  0.04 mg	3%
Niacin (Vit. B3)  0.42 mg	3%
Pantothenic acid (B5)  0.1 mg	2%
Vitamin B6  0.1 mg	8%
Vitamin C  10 mg	17%
Vitamin E  0.6 mg	4%
Calcium  6 mg	1%
Iron  0.3 mg	2%
Magnesium  6 mg	2%
Phosphorus  12 mg	2%
Potassium  77 mg	2%
Zinc  0.2 mg	2%
manganese 0.3 mg	20%
vitamin K 19 mcg	24%

Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient database

---

Peanut Butter and Jam Muffins

Seriously? I love Peanut Butter. So when I saw this recipe I was interested.

I also like the fact that there aren't many ingredients and pretty simple to make.

So, lets get started...assemble your ingredients.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray muffin pan with no stick spray or grease the cups with butter or oil. Personally I don't like using the no stick spray so I coated the inside of the cups with butter.

Stir together flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl.

Add milk, eggs, sugar, peanut butter and oil to bowl. Combine ingredients on the low speed of an electric mixer, just until moistened. Do not over beat. Yep, theres my trusty 1966 Rival mixer again. It just keeps going, and going....

Fill muffin cups evenly with half of the batter. Place 2 level teaspoons jam or preserves in the center of each muffin. I used strawberry preserves and to be honest I just keep putting a bit in each muffin until I had used the whole 1/2 cup.

Evenly divide remaining batter between muffin cups and sprinkle with sugar. Oooops. I forgot to put the sugar on top! I tried to add it later just before the baking was complete but it didn't work. Oh well, next time I'll remember.

Bake for 18-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool in pan for 5 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

Now for the best part, lets eat! Mummm

Ingredients

• No-Stick Cooking Spray
• 2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1/2 cup Jam or Preserves
• 1/4 cup sugar

Preparation Directions

• HEAT oven to 375ºF. Spray muffin pan with no-stick cooking spray. Stir together flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Add milk, eggs, 2/3 cup sugar, peanut butter and oil to bowl. Combine ingredients on low speed of electric mixer, just until moistened. Do not over beat.
• FILL prepared muffin cups evenly with half of the batter. Place 2 level teaspoons jam or preserves in the center of each muffin. Evenly divide remaining batter between muffin cups. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar. Bake 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool in pan 5 minutes.

Make 12 muffins.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Pound Cake....sweet, moist, dense. Couple that with cream cheese? Oh my.....

According to http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Cakes/PoundCake.htm ...."The name (Pound Cake) comes from the fact that the original pound cakes contained one pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. No leaveners were used other than the air whipped into the batter."  Today we make a smaller cake but the name Pound Cake has stayed with it.

Seems to me that pound cakes are traditionally baked in loaf pans. The one I made today was made in a bundt pan because I thinks its prettier.

Be careful measuring the flour. If your an experienced cook you already know this but just in case you don't here's the "scoop" on measuring flour. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Flour should always be sifted. Even if the bag says presifted, sift the flour again anyway as it will settle during storage. If a recipe says to use "3 cups sifted flour" you sift first then measure. If a recipe says to use "3 cups flour" you gently spoon flour in measuring cup (do not shake or pat down), even off top with a flat edge like the back of a knife blade, and then sift. Once you have used a recipe a few times you sort of know if it looks right. If it looks too thin or too thick and you can adjust. But if your not experienced or using a recipe for the first time it can be tricky.

Here is the recipe from Elizabeths Edible Experience. Please leave your own comments, I love to know if you made this and if so if you changed it up in any way!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened at room temp
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened at room temp
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy (do not over beat)

I don't have a fancy dancy KitchenAid Mixer in a pretty color (yet) but my old Rival hand mixer, that I have had and USED since 1966, worked just fine. Well, I do have a very old KitchenAid Mixer. From the late 40's I think, and it still works. I also have the original white glass bowls and lots of attachments. I'll have to show you some pictures of it sometime.



Now add your sugar, beating as you go.

Then add the eggs, one at a time. Breaking them into a separate dish first will prevent egg shells getting into your cake.

Next mix the flour with the salt and add gradually, mixing a you go.

Yes, I know. My sifter is really old too. What can I say, I like my old stuff.

Now add the vanilla and mix in.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch Bundt pan. Smooth out the top with a spatula.

Bake at 300° for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan, and let cool completely on wire rack.



My cake tester, yeah its really old too. lol



Now for the good part! Enjoy.

Kayaking

I was going to bake a cake today but I didn't. I had to go for my regular mammogram this morning and was thinking of postphoning it because I really wanted to go to the beach. But I decided to go ahead and get it done and then I got a call from my eldest son and his wife asking me to go kayaking with them. Once the mammogram was done they picked me up and went out for lunch and then we took to the water.

Let's see....bake or go kayaking. No-brainer really, right?

We went to an area called Taylor's Creek. Its not really a creek, its a small bit of salt water that runs between Carrot Island and the mainland. There are lots of sailboats moored there. Some have come some distance, some are there year round. There are some who live on their boats only staying ashore occasionally when there are hurricane threats or other bad storm warnings.

Aeriel view of Taylor's Creek

Here on the east coast of North Carolina we have a line of barrier islands that not only shelter us, they provide waterways for endless recreation opportunities.

Wild horses have existed on many of these barrier islands for hundreds of years. In the 16th century, their ancestors came from Spain via Hispaniola (located between Cuba and Puerto Rico) to live on these islands off the coast that make up the Outer Banks. Here a stallion and mare have come out to graze.

A kayak and a paddle board. Taking a rest and enjoying the view.

Learn more about these fascinating horses here http://www.shacklefordhorses.org/

I like to paddle board too! 

 So anyway, if I don't get sidetracked again, you will see my post here tomorrow on my delicious Cream Cheese Pound Cake! You don't want to miss it.

Coffee Smoothie

I ask you, what could be better than a smoothie made with coffee? I love the taste of coffee and I love smoothies. Mind you this is not one of those fit and healthy smoothies but its not too unhealthy either. Made with real brewed coffee, milk, ice, a little sugar, and bit of instant pudding mix! I actually found I didn't even need the sugar.

The recipe is from thecornerkitchen.blogspot

I made this yesterday and it was really good. I want to try freezing some of it to see if leftovers can be whipped up in the blender later. More on that to come

The coffee I used was made really strong. About three times as strong as I would normally make.

Coffee Smoothie

Serves 4

1 cup strongly brewed coffee, cooled

1 cup milk, cold (whole, 2 percent or skim, whatever you fancy)

2 heaping tablespoons instant vanilla pudding

1-3 teaspoons of sugar, depending on how sweet you like your coffee

2 cups of small ice cubes (more to further thicken the smoothie)

Add all of the ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth and frothy.

Possible additions or changes....

Use chocolate or butterscotch pudding mix

Add half a frozen banana

Add Kahlua
Add almond extract

Shrimp Salad

Shrimp Salad is an everyday sort of dish where I live.  Having said that I don't think any two people I know make it the same way. This is a basic recipe with some suggestions for additions that you may want to try.

Let me begin by saying that fresh shrimp means they were caught the night before. My son and I am getting ready to buy around 90 pounds or so for $2.50/pound. The couple I am buying from go shrimping the night before and sell the shrimp the next day. They are generally sold with the heads on and we will "head" the shrimp ourselves. There will be a later post on that process. The heads will account for about 1/3 of the weight so we should end up with about 60 pounds of headed shrimp. They will be a medium size, about 30 count. That means there are about 30 shrimp per pound. This chart is from http://www.finecooking.com/ and may help with choosing the size of the shrimp you want.

We had cooked some shrimp seasoned with Old Bay and had some left over. This is what I used for my shrimp salad.

First I needed to peel the shrimp. If you have never done this just know that you need to be careful of the sharp point just over the back fins.

Next use a sharp knife to cut down the back of the shrimp to devein it. BTW, this has nothing to do with a vein but that is what it looks like. The shrimp's stomach is actually located in the head area and is removed when the shrimp is headed. The intestine runs down the back of the shrimp and may need to be cleaned out. This is what is referred to as deveining. If you can see it you need to remove it. It will look like a black thread. If it is not visible it is empty and you can leave it.

Now chop them up! I had a heaping cup of diced shrimp today.

To the shrimp I added about 3 tablespoons Duke's mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion, 1/2 stalk finely chopped celery, salt, and pepper. I usually add a little Old Bay but since these were previously seasoned with it I left it out this time. I do recommend using Duke's mayonnaise instead of other brands.

We like this served with saltine crackers. For a different twist you could add a bit of dill weed or some sweet pickle cubes.