 This is the second blueberry recipe in a row - you know what that means - THEME week!!! Welcome to Blueberry-palooza friends!🫐 😅 My husband has never been so in board with a recipe theme week. He LOVES blueberries! Over the course of 24 hours, we had Blueberry Cream Pie recipe AND blueberry pancakes and fresh picked blueberries from the blueberry farm. 🥧🥞
I have a blueberry bush that I share with the neighborhood deer that wander through my yard and particularly hungry birds that happen to be passing by my house. By the time the animals fill their bellies, I get only a small portion of the blueberry crop, but I'll take it. I eat the handful of berries that I bring in every few days as an afternoon snack and sometimes I even have enough to sprinkle into a batch of pancakes for a fruity breakfast treat.  Blueberry pancakes are a favorite in this house. We eat A LOT of them. And they're not just reserved for our morning meal. We eat blueberry pancakes in the morning, we eat them for lunch (and call it brunch) and we eat them for dinner. There's really no wrong time of day to indulge in this decadent treat. And if you've never made a batch of homemade pancakes - you don't know what you're missing. 😉
Deluxe Blueberry Pancakes 5 Tablespoons butter 2 cups flour 3 Tablespoons malted milk powder 2 Tablespoon sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 cups buttermilk 1 egg 1 1/2 cups blueberries 1/2 teaspoon oil
 Repeat with remaining butter and pancakes.  Cook 1 minute and then flip and cook until second sides are golden brown.
I started making homemade pancakes out of necessity - I couldn't seem to keep pancake mix stocked in my pantry. I kept running out at the worst times - ie. when my family was requesting pancakes. 😬 Then I realized that I could make my own pancake mix that was just as easy and even more delicious than the boxed mixed. And you can you! You may have just bought your last box of pancake mix. I'm fairly certain that once you taste my homemade pancakes you're going to ditch the boxed mixes for good too. Ciao!
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 When we first moved to Georgia, back in 2005, I had the brilliant idea to pack up my two young children one June morning and drive them to the local blueberry farm to pick buckets of the fresh, ripe fruit. I can assure you that the idealistic vision that had played out in my head was entirely different from how our blueberry picking experience actually went down . 😅 Here's what I learned about blueberry picking that day: 1. Blueberry bushes are great habitats for bugs - Big bugs, flying bugs, crawling bugs, bugs that bite and sting - all the bugs. 🪲 2. It takes A LOT of tiny blueberries and A LOT of time to fill a bucket. 🪣 3. The blueberries at the bottom of the bushes - ie. the ones the kids can reach - get picked first - so if you want to find more berries, you have to bring a ladder or be willing to hoist kids up in the air for long periods of time. 🪜 4. Blueberries ripen in the hottest months of the summer and waking up early to stand outside in buggy blueberry bushes all morning, makes kids grumpy. 😅  Despite our unpleasant inaugural blueberry picking experience - I haven't give up on the dream of fresh picked Georgia blueberries. In my little corner of the world, blueberries, blackberries and peaches are all ripe and ready for picking this week. 🫐 And as luck would have it, my 23 year old has no memory of the fateful day that I dragged her to the blueberry farm as an innocent 6 year old. So I decided it would be best if I didn't bring it up before I asked if she would go with me to pick blueberries this week, either. 😅 (Yet another reason that I'm thankful for my kids repressed childhood memories.🤣) So with fresh perspective, and a healthy slathering of bug repellent, we headed to the farm - bright and early, to fill our buckets with fresh, summer fruit.
We ended up coming home with a decent supply of fresh blueberries. It was definitely hot and just as buggy as I remembered but still worth it. And now I get to decide how to best enjoy all our fresh blueberries. Pies, cakes, shortcakes, cobblers, ice cream - so many blueberry possibilities. 🤣 My better half is a big fan of all things fruit so it's not hard to find a sweet, fruity treat that he will enjoy. The hardest decision is choosing which blueberry themed treat to make first. After some thoughtful planning, I decided to plan a full day of blueberry indulgence in honor of Father's Day. A batch of blueberry pancakes to kick off the day and a Blueberry Cream Pie to finish off the day.  Blueberry Cream Pie Crust 12 whole graham crackers 2 Tablespoons sugar pinch salt 6 Tablespoons butter, melted Filling 1/2 cup sugar 4 teaspoons cornstarch 1/4 teaspoons salt 4 1/2 cups fresh blueberries 1 Tablespoon lemon juice Topping 8 ounces cream cheese 1/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup heavy cream
 Fill bag with cream and pipe rosettes over pie.  Freshly picked blueberries are not a requirement for this recipe. Really, you don't even need fresh berries at all - you can always substitute frozen berries if that's what's available to you. Happy summer.
Ciao!  It's official - I'm a regular (insert name of famous gardener here.) 😅 The thing is... with the exception of Adam and Eve - I don't actually know of any famous gardeners. 😅 But I'm grateful for all of their anonymous hard work in perfecting these vegetables that I'm able to plant in my garden today. Here is a little peak into what my garden looks like this week. Eggplant, tomatoes, basil, oregano, and a very big cucumber-less vine with lots of flowers. 😅 🍆🍅🥒🌿 Just ignore the weeds. 🤣
I take great pride in being the caregiver and nurturer of these precious vegetables. I launch into overprotective mamma bear mode the minute someone makes a face after tasting one of my prized vegetables. 🤣 I think it's the time commitment involved in the watering of these plants in oppressive 100 degree temperatures every day that bonds me to them. 💦  I decided to take advantage of all of the fresh vegetables in the backyard and make a dinner from our summer harvest this week. I searched the internet for eggplant/tomato/basil inspiration and it didn't take long before I landed on an eggplant crostini. Eggplant crostini is an incredible garden fresh appetizer. But, if you're me, it also serves as a complete meal - paired with a nice glass of red wine, of course. 😅🍷 This was truly delicious and I will certainly be making this again - as soon as my next eggplant ripens.  Eggplant Crostini 1 zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise 1 medium eggplant, sliced into ¼-inch thick rounds 1 red bell pepper, halved, ribs and seeds removed 3 whole scallions extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes 1 garlic clove, minced 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar 1 teaspoon herbs de Provence ¼ cup chopped fresh basil 8 slices of bread, toasted hummus
 Spread hummus on toast. Top with vegetable mixture.  Add a sprinkle of shaved parmesan and serve.  Summer never tasted so good. Enjoy!
Ciao!  “Failure is just part of the process, and it’s not just okay; it’s better than okay." - Bob Goff. I'm thankful for the reassurance that my cooking failures aren't a three-strikes-and-you’re-out sort of thing. Sometimes I need that gentle reminder to dust myself off so I can swing for the fences again. And the only person keeping meticulous records of my screw-ups - is me. 😅 You see where I'm going with this don't you? As soon as I start to gain some confidence in my baking skills - I have a REALLY off day and I manage to screw up the same recipe 4 times!! No joke! Allow me to break down my Chevron Cake Roll experience for you. Attempt #1: I forgot to grease the parchment paper and the cake stuck to the pan. Attempt #2: I greased the parchment but forgot to add flour to the cake. 🤦🏻♀️ Attempt #3: I forgot to add sugar to the egg whites. Attempt #4: I rolled the cake inside out so the chevron detail that I so painstakingly added to my cake, wasn't even visible.  Yep, baking professional right here. 😅 I will spare you the details about why I failed at this recipe so many times, but you should know that on more than one occasion during this Chevron cake journey, I considered scraping the entire thing, cutting my losses and just serving a bowl of strawberries and whipped cream. Fortunately, there was a small part of me that had to see this process through, just to prove to myself that I could actually do it. #stubbornnessatitsfinest 😂  So after many (5 total) attempts, here is my Chevron cake roll recipe. The pictures were taken from all 4 practice runs so just ignore any inconsistencies in the photographs. Just remember that they're a compilation of all of my trials. At the end of the day - I'm glad that my stick-to-it-ness took over my desire to give up on this recipe. It really was worth all the effort. 🍓  Strawberry Chevron Cake Roll 4 egg whites 4 egg yolks 2/3 cup sugar 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 1/3 cup flour Filling 1 cup heavy whipping cream 3 Tablespoons powdered sugar 3/4 cup fresh strawberries (quartered)
Reroll cake and slice. (Preferably, not inside out.)  Slice and enjoy. 🍓  Don't let my failed attempts at this cake roll discourage you from making it. I'm pretty sure that I screwed up this recipe in every way possible. I did my best to document each of my failures for you though so that you don't make the same mistakes. And I can tell you from experience that even if you're cake doesn't look exactly like mine - as long as you add flour and sugar - it will still taste amazing. 💕
Ciao!  The Monroe Blooms festival was last weekend and I feel like it's better if I show you the spectacularness of this event from last weekend instead of me trying to adequately articulate its splendor in words.
I can hardly think of a better way to spend a Saturday morning than being surrounded by this bounty of glorious botanicals. 💐🌻🌺 I have zero actual evidence that this is true, but the flowers at the festival just seemed bigger, more fragrant and more vibrant than the flowers in my own yard. 🤷🏻♀️ There were tiny bouquets of brilliant yellows, pinks and blues and big beautiful planters with eye catching salmon and bold reds tucked in amongst a sea of green.  Whether I'm strolling through a flower festival or running through the supermarket, I can't seem to walk past a colorful bouquet of flowers without stopping to admire and then inhale a long, slow, deep breath - taking in all of its glorious scent. A beautiful bowl of fried rice has a similar effect on me - minus the long, deep breath of course. 😅 Bright, orange carrots, the brilliant green onions, the rosy, pink ham cubes and the sunshine colored egg in this dish work together to make the most amazing rainbow colored creation. We can all agree that this fried rice is a spectacularly colorful and enticing dish but unfortunately, colorful doesn't always translate to healthy. 😓 Most fried rice recipes are high in fat and calories - despite all the vegetables. That doesn't have to be the case though. My "fried" rice is actually a deliciously beautiful AND healthy dish.  Fried Rice 3 eggs 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 2 Tablespoons oil 1 carrot, peeled and cut into 1/4" pieces 3/4 cup ham, diced 4 scallions, sliced (whites and greens seperated) 4 cups cooked jasmine rice 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1/2 cup frozen peas
  Sprinkle scallion greens on top.  I'm a fan of all rice but rice that's been made to look this beautiful is absolutely irresistible.
Ciao! |
