 Give me all the berries this season: raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries and even cranberries. I want them scattered in my morning bowl of cornflakes and baked into my breakfast muffins. I want them made into delicious holiday treats and coated with sugar and sitting on top of my favorite cakes.  Berries make the best decorations for any holiday treats. Coating this particular red berry in sugar has a very interesting effect on peoples animosity toward the cranberry. If I were to guess, I'd say that there's only a very small percentage of the population that actually enjoys eating fresh cranberries. I'm happen to be one of that elite group and I know that I could increase the number of cranberry fans in the world if I could get people to taste just one of my sugared cranberries. 😋  I can get away with serving homemade cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving but given it's limited appeal, I tend to steer clear of cranberry desserts for any other occasion. When I make dinner for guests, I stick to berries that are more universally accepted like black, blue and rasp. (rasp?) 😅 This blackberry crisp is one of the easiest and most delicious way to enjoy fresh berries. I love this crisp so much that whenever I have extra berries on hand, I put this together, pop it in the freezer and save it for a rainy day. Did I mention that this recipe works with any fruit? Even cranberries. 🤣  Blackberry Crisp 1 1/2 cup quick oats 1 cup flour 1 cup brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces FRUIT: 8-10 cups fresh blackberries 1/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup flour 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
 Bake 45 minutes at 350.  Serve with a scoop of ice cream.  If you don't have access to fresh berries - you can always substitute frozen berries. There are endless possibilities of fruit options and fruit combinations that you can create. Peach and cranberry crisp anyone?
Ciao!
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 Hold onto your hats, friends. I've got a big announcement. As of late last night - I AM THE OFFICIAL OWNER OF TWO OVENS!!! In case you couldn't tell - I'm crazy excited about doubling my oven capacity. We've been planning for this moment for a long time and now that it's finally here, I have an overwhelming desire to fire them both up and see how many cookies I can bake at once. 🍪😂 Adding a second oven was one of the major driving factors that started our conversations about renovating the kitchen. My previous kitchen was sufficient in many ways but it was definitely lacking in oven and pantry space. The problem is that things kind of snowballed from there into what became a total kitchen demolition and rebuild. 😬 One electric and one gas. Two ovens - two different heat sources. I haven't cooked in an electric oven for a really long time so I'm anxious to do some comparison baking. How's that for an excuse to bake more pie?🥧 Thank goodness Thanksgiving is right around the corner because I'm going to need some more mouths and stomachs to keep up with all this baking that I have planned. 🤣  Do you know what happens when your new oven gets installed and hooked up at 10:00 at night? You go to bed and dream about all the things you want to bake in your new appliance. 🤣 Should there be some significance to the first food baked in a new oven? Can I make something great without counters or a sink? What if the very first thing that I put in the oven, makes a mess? I can seriously overthink things in my sleep. 😂😴 As of this moment - I haven't baked anything - I'm still trying to figure out how to operate this new appliance that is clearly, way smarter than me. 🤓 😅 Did you know that you can actually scan a food from the grocery store into an app and my oven will automatically cook it to perfection. WHAT?! Maybe by the time I figure out how to use this fancy machine, I'll have water and a sink in my kitchen. 😂 Pies are a Thanksgiving staple and you better believe that they will be one of the first things that goes into my new oven. I love fruit pies and this blueberry pie is no exception. Even though we're nearing the end of summer, I've still been able to find decent blueberries in the grocery store. If you see happen to see some great looking berries on your next supermarket trip - pick up about 6 cups for a blueberry crumble pie. Enjoy it now or freeze it or Thanksgiving --- or make two. 🤷🏻♀️  Blueberry Crumble Pie single pie crust 5 and 1/2 cups fresh blueberries 1/2 cup sugar 1/3 cup flour 1 Tablespoon cornstarch 1 Tablespoon lemon juice 2 teaspoons lemon zest Crumble Topping 1/2 cup brown sugar 6 Tablespoons flour 1 teaspoon cinnamon 6 Tablespoons butter 2/3 cup old-fashioned oats
 Sprinkle over pie.  Bake 25 minutes at 400. Reduce heat to 375 and bake 30-35 minutes longer. Cover with foil if browning too quickly.  Cool at least 3 hours before slicing.
A slice of blueberry crumble pie might just be the perfect way to initiate my new oven. 😉 Ciao!  Pie making is no joke. 🥧 There's an art to making the perfect buttery crust that can be delicately rolled into a perfect circle and artfully fit inside of a pie plate. The perfect pie dough isn't overworked making it tough and chewy and it's not under-kneaded and crumbly. There's no denying that achieving the perfectly flaky, crispy pie crust is not something that can be rushed. Mastering the art of homemade pie crust is only the first step to making a perfect pie. Blanching, peeling, slicing, simmering and seasoning fruit to fill that beautiful homemade crust inevitably involves a big commitment of time as well. Pie baking takes practice, it takes patience, it takes quality ingredients and even though I don't believe in luck - I feel like pie baking takes a fair amount of "luck."  I've come to the realization recently that sailing is a whole lot like pie baking. ⛵️It requires patience, practice, strong equipment and some good old fashioned luck. This became remarkably clear last weekend when Ben and I took this little vessel out for a spin. On our inaugural trip, one of the lines holding the sail, broke in two, leaving us stranded in the middle of the lake. 😬 Fortunately, we were able to rework the shortened line and finagle the tiny boat back to shore where we could replace the broken rope. A few days later, feeling like we needed to complete our journey that was cut short, we embarked on a second voyage. We were happily cruised along to the opposite end of the bay with the wind filling our sail when suddenly, for no apparent reason, the wind just ... died - like, completely. 😅 So there we sat on our motionless yacht, staring at each other, waiting for wind. After 15 minutes, we ran out of patience and started paddling our boat back to shore - more accurately, Ben started paddling. 🤣
Patience is defined as "the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset." Hmmm. 🤔 That doesn't sound like me at all. 😂 I didn't have a lot of patience on the sailboat and I certainly don't demonstrate a lot of patience while I'm baking. 😬 Maybe that's why pies have never been my forte. I'm not ignorant to the fact that there are easier ways to make pie. I've used the pre-rolled crusts, canned pie filling and bought whole frozen pies. They're all good options, but for me, the real joy of a pie lies in the art of creating. There's no question that I'm still trying to master the skills of baking the perfect pie. I've loving the process and who knows, maybe I'll even learn to have a little more patience, along the way.  Peach Raspberry Pie 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 recipe double crust pie dough 1 large egg 1 tablespoon milk 4 pounds (about 8 large) peaches, sliced 1/2 pint raspberries 1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
 Roll out remaining pie dough. Brush rim of bottom crust with egg mixture. Top with second crust.  Crimp the edges of the pie and refrigerate 30 minutes. Brush pie with egg glaze and sprinkle with sugar.  Bake 20 minutes at 425. Reduce heat to 350 and bake another 30-40 minutes.
Pie baking experts - why are my fruit pies soggy sometimes? The peaches that I used for this pie were not very juicy and I used fresh raspberries so I don't understand why this pie turned out so soggy on the bottom. Do I need to add more flour or maybe some cornstarch? Any suggestions or insight would be appreciated. Ciao!  Does anyone else think it's possible that this whole charcuterie craze is being fueled by a generation that grew up on lunchables? 😅 I didn't grow up as part of the "lunchable generation" but I do think it's likely that these original bento box style eaters have grown up and popularized the charcuterie board. The definition of charcuterie refers to smoked or cured meats. I use the term in a much broader sense and less of a literal interpretation. 😅 Some of my charcuterie boards don't actually include any meat at all. I labelled this creation an Independence Day dessert charcuterie board. 👇🏻  For the record, no matter what they're called - I'm on board with the charcuterie board movement. I love designing them. I love making them and most importantly, I love eating them. 😋  I designed this colorful creation over a bed of lettuce so technically - it's a charcuterie salad. 🤣 I started with a very basic recipe and then added all of my favorites. A layer of crisp romaine covers the bottom and ripe peaches, sweet corn, crispy red onion, turkey bacon, creamy avocado, blueberries, salty parmesan, fresh herbs and the most tasty, grilled chicken ever, decorate the top. 🍑🌽🥑That's the thing about charcuterie boards - I can add whatever I like. 💁🏻♀️  Rosemary Chicken and Peach Salad 3 Tablespoons sodium soy sauce 3 Tablespoons olive oil, divided 1 Tablespoon honey 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs 2 ears corn 6 slices turkey bacon, cut into thirds 1 head romaine, roughly chopped 2 peaches, sliced 1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and sliced 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced Balsamic Dressing 1/4 cup olive oil 1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 1 tablespoon honey 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 Tablespoon fresh basil
 Add corn, bacon, peaches, avocado and onion. Honestly, I think that the hardest part of this whole salad charcuterie process was eating it. 🤣 It was hard to get some of each ingredient on our plates along with some of the crispy lettuce from underneath. I considered dumping the whole platter into a bowl and tossing it but that kind of defeats the purpose of a charcuterie style salad. I guess if figuring out how to eat it is my biggest obstacle - I'm okay with that. 😉
Ciao!  The blueberry bush in my backyard is circa 2007. It's not planted in the best location, I don't remember to water it very enough and let's just say - pruning it is not my forte.😂 But despite my shortcomings as a blueberry farmer - it survives. It does more than survive really - it thrives - in spite of me. It makes me so happy to watch as the hundreds of tiny berries that hang from its branches turn from green to a deep blue as the summer progresses. Every summer I look forward to snacking on fresh berries while I'm outside watering the garden or passing by the bush on the way to the neighbors house. A handful of berries at a time is about all that I ever got at one time. I was totally okay with that. I assumed that the birds and the deer around my house were enjoying the sweet berries just as much as I was. 🦉🦌I realize that I could have covered the bush but I never bothered because I felt like the animals needed a snack too.  Fast forward to 2021 and I am picking BUCKETS of blueberries from my 14 year old blueberry bush. 💁🏻♀️ What changed? This is the first summer that we haven't had a mischievous Weimeriner. I am absolutely convinced that it wasn't the birds or the deer after all. Mia was eating all of the precious berries off of my bush. 🤣 Our crazy dog was sneaking around the backyard, stealing berries without me ever knowing. 🐶😅 Since I find myself with an abundance of fresh blueberries this summer - I'm making all the fun blueberry recipes. My latest creation is a blueberry vanilla mini muffin. I normally opt for giant, oversized, bakery style muffins but for some reason, I was feeling like a more dainty and bite sized muffin today. Calories don't count when muffins are tiny, right? These muffins are amazing and if you don't have yogurt on hand, you can substitute sour cream.  Blueberry Vanilla Mini Muffins 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups Greek yogurt, plain 2/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted 1 large egg 1 tablespoon vanilla 1 cup blueberries 2 tablespoons sparkling sugar
 Bake 10-12 minutes at 350.
These muffins are delicious but I've got so many blueberries - I need you to share your favorite ways to enjoy blueberries. I want to see your cobbler recipes, your shortcakes, your famous pies and grandma's blueberry cheesecake recipe. You can send them in a comment or shoot me an email. mystoryinrecipes@gmail.com TIA
Ciao! |
