On Friday afternoon we were blessed to be given some blueberries and I tried a new recipe for blue berry muffins.  Hubby declared them the best blue berry muffins he ever had and the kids and I agree that they are delicious!  So I decided to share the recipe that I found on Food.com.


Best Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 1/4 cups sour cream 
• 1 1/2 cups frozen of fresh blueberries

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick vegetable cooking spray.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl until combined. Whisk egg in second medium bowl until well-combined and light-colored, about 20 seconds. Add sugar and whisk vigorously until thick and homogeneous, about 30 seconds; add melted butter in 2 or 3 steps, whisking to combine after each addition. Add sour cream in 2 steps, whisking just to combine.
3. Add frozen berries to dry ingredients and gently toss to combine. Add sour cream mixture and fold with rubber spatula until batter comes together and berries are evenly distributed, 25 to 30 seconds (small spots of flour may remain and batter will be thick). Do not over mix.
4. Use ice cream scoop or large spoon to drop batter into greased muffin tin. Bake until light golden brown and toothpick or skewer inserted into center of muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating pan from front to back halfway through baking time. Invert muffins onto wire rack, stand muffins upright, and cool 5 minutes.

The picture shows the second time I made them, when I upped the amount of blueberries to two cups and I think that was a little much.  But they were still very yummy!

The blackberries are really ripening this week and I noticed there sure were a lot of them in the bucks summer pasture so I picked enough to make a quick cobbler for tonights dinner.   Now that sounds like a simple task, but to get to the berries you have to throw a plank into the thicket and then inch your way along.  Did I mention this was inside the bucks pasture?  Yup - they thought the plank was a great way of getting more berries and I had quite the time keeping my balance when they were trying to muscle their way past me to get their share too.

Blackberry Cobbler

2 Tbsp butter
1 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup goats milk
3 cup fruit

Melt butter in an 8x8 glass baking dish.  Mix Bisquick, sugar and milk together and then pour over the butter.  Add fruit to the top and very lightly dust with sugar. 

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.  Enjoy!

Everyone in the house is sick or recovering right now, so I thought I'd post a great recipe for a hot drink that does a great job of soothing sore throats.  

Russian Spiced Tea
3/4 c. instant tea
1 c. instant orange drink (Tang)
1/2 c. instant lemonade mix
1 -1 /2 c. sugar
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Mix together and store in a airtight container. Use about 2 tablespoons per cup in boiling water.  Feel free to adjust any of the ingredient amounts to suit your own tastes.

I posted this recipe for apple butter that I got from my friend Holli last year on my previous blog, but I've had several requests for it again recently so here it is.

 It is very simple to make and since I usually make it overnight we wake up to a wonderful smelling house in the morning.

All Day Apple Butter

5 1/2 lbs of apples
2 cups sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt

Peel, core and finely chop apples.  (I shred the quarters in my Salad Shooter) Place the apples in a slow cooker (crock pot).  In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt.  Pour the mixture over the apples and mix well.  Cover and cook on high for 1 hour.

Reduce heat to low and cook 9-11 hours (now you know why I do it overnight) stirring occasionally , until the mixture is thickened and dark brown.

Uncover and continue cooking on low for 1 hour.  Stir with a whisk if desired, to increase smoothness.  Or you can use an immersion blender if you want to make it extra smooth after its finished cooking.  Personally I prefer it a little chunky.

Spoon the mixture into sterile containers, cover and refrigerate or freeze.   This makes about a quart total.

I have found that if you put this into hot canning jars and with hot lids they will seal and then there isn’t a need to freeze or refrigerate.  If you want to be absolutely certain you could run them through a pressure canner like you would applesauce.

This is one of my favorite recipes for Rosh HaShannah. L'Shanah Tovah to all our family and friends.

Glazed Fresh Apple Cookies
(from cooks.com)

1/2 c. butter
1 1/3 c. brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 c. flour
1 tsp. soda
1 c. raisins, plumped in 3 tbsp. water
1 c. apples, unpeeled, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. milk

 Mix shortening, sugar, egg, vanilla and salt. Add one half of dry ingredients. Add raisins, apples, milk and remaining flour. Drop by teaspoons on cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees about 12 minutes.

 GLAZE FOR APPLE COOKIE:
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
2 1/2 tbsp. milk
1 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Melt butter and add to other ingredients. Frost cookies when warm.