Frozen berries...

I prefer fresh blueberries when making scones... they don't leave streaks of colour ... but, not many fresh berries around now...so ... we'll take 'em how we can... just to get scones at all.

Days go by and by the time I think about putting some wonderful recipe on here... the moment passes... or it is a day when I haven't done any baking or perhaps haven't made a very exciting meal...or.... as in this day... I baked Blueberry muffins...which are already on the blog... somewhere.... and... Artichoke Chicken... which is also on here.

All of a sudden a month passes... yikes! how it flies...the time that is... not the chicken..

Today I found some old Homemaker magazines in my purging and moving of "stuff". Tomorrow, ...I'm trying parsnip puffs. I've got parsnips... let's see what puffs taste like.

Give the Artichoke Chicken a try sometime...it's yummy.....

More blueberries!

This one is a keeper.... not too sweet, but it has a lovely, sweet, crispy topping that gives it that little something extra. Definitely the perfect afternoon snack with coffee or tea.....













....or, for later with a sip of wine.......











perhaps a dollop of ice cream or frozen yogurt if you are eating healthy. I ain't sayin' that other word..you know the one that starts with die?....

This recipe is from Company's Coming Muffins and More. I used butter instead of the cooking oil... just can't seem to bring myself to use oil for baking...... and so I changed the mixing method a bit to the old standby...beat butter, sugar, eggs, etc.. for my method... however, here I give you the original and you can give it a try as is.. or change things as you please. Remember what Michael Smith always says about recipes being more or less a guideline....and every single time I hear him say it I laugh... thinking of Johnny Depp and the pirates... .. arrrhhhh, matey.... "it's not really a code.. it's more like yer guidelines" ... ..... lol...



Blueberry Coffee Cake

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup cooking oil
3/4 cup milk
1 cup blueberries fresh or frozen

Topping:
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp. Cinnamon


Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in mixing bowl. (I don't bother with salt as I use salted butter)

In another bowl beat eggs until frothy. Mix in oil and milk. Pour into dry ingredients. Mix together. Fold in blueberries. Scrape into greased 9 inch tube pan. I used a shallow 9 inch cake pan and panicked a bit when it rose almost over the top... but, it was fine.

Topping: Mix flour, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon together. Sprinkle over top of batter. Bake in 350F (180C) for 50-60 minutes or til it begins to shrink away from sides of pan. Cool about 30 minutes before removing from pan. Turn right side up.


(when I turned it out of the pan..I used a cookie sheet instead of cake rack over pan so I wouldn't have a million crumbs all over the place. Then..put cake plate on bottom of cake... turn right side up and take off the cookie sheet.) whew...but, it worked...hardly any crumb-y mess!

You could use cranberries, raspberries or even a bumbleberry mix instead of blueberries....










okay...there you have it...now, I'm off for tea and blueberries....oh, and cake....

finally...got this recipe on here !!

Lemon Cranberry Muffins

1/2 cup of butter

3/4 cup of granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Grated zest of about ½ a big lemon

Juice from the lemon..about ½ to ¾ of a cup

2 cups of all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

2 good tbsps. of plain yogurt..or milk, to make dough less dry

Small handful (about ½ cup or less…up to you) of dried cranberries

….. For drizzle….

2 tbsps. lemon juice

1 tbsp. granulated sugar

I use my mixer but by hand is fine too. Beat butter well…add sugar and beat ‘til fluffy; add eggs, one at a time; beating after each addition. Add vanilla, grated lemon zest and lemon juice.. mix well. Measure and mix together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. If you like a bit of extra salt add it to this mix…I find enough salt with just the butter. Add flour mixture all at once and mix ‘til just incorporated…(too much mixing will make the texture too fine; more like cupcakes!)…if you don’t get enough juice from the lemon..it may seem a bit dry so gently fold in the yogurt…I always add it to mine as I like them nice and moist (but not so moist that they don't hold some shape when I put the mix in the cups) Toss in some cranberries at the same time.. gently fold in….

I use giant muffin cups..so I only get 8 of what I like to call MY size! It probably makes 12 for most folks. Bake at 350F. or 180C for about 20 to 25 mins… check with toothpick … when it comes out clean they are done. If you want to add drizzle…now is the time…. Mix the lemon juice and sugar….poke a few holes in the top of each with a skewer or something similar and drizzle a bit of lemony sugar over each while they are hot. Wait a few minutes if possible..and then…give ‘em a taste!

To make these into Blueberry Muffins... just add some fresh or frozen blueberries instead of the cranberries. Try to toss thawed berries (hopefully they were frozen separately and are not just mush) ick.... with a tiny bit of flour or some sugar and then fold in very gently, just near the end of mixing. Don't over mix..as they will turn the whole muffin streaky blue. Remember, over-mixing also takes away the rustic texture .. ... unless of course, you prefer that ... then... by all means, just mix away. I prefer muffins with a rustic appearance.

Muffins

Hey!! No fair checking out the backsplash...you should be looking at those steaming muffins! See my Picturetrail Site... you will understand. This place is Renovation Central. The tiles really are coming...................................

Yesterday was a perfect baking day. Pouring rain most of it. Love it when the smell of baking pervades the whole house on a cold and dreary day. Today it was Banana Chocolate Chip mega muffins. Well, my muffins are always mega as I have a wonderful muffin tin that only has 8 spots. When I make muffins...I want a MUFFIN! Not that I eat many of them.... I just like to have plenty in the freezer because my husband takes lunches to work and usually a muffin goes along for the ride. But...if I want one..I know where to find one.

I have a thing about home made muffins.....'cuz "store bought" are horrible in my book!! I bought a couple once....wouldn't waste my money on them now that I know how to bake. They are what I call "cake disguised as muffins"....which is really a cupcake to me..ick. Cake batter is fine texture; muffin batter is more .... er...rustic looking. That's how I like my muffins .... rustic looking; not all smooth and fine. Perhaps because they are baked in such quantities for business, and I suppose they do have to make sure the ingredients are all mixed, but to my way of thinking it gets mixed too much. Too much for me anyway.

When I do muffins I thoroughly combine wet ingredients in my mixer... then..add all the dry ingredients at the same time... gently fold in by hand with my wooden spoon ...just until incorporated.... spoon huge dollops into each of the 8 spaces of my muffin tin (with muffin papers in each of course so that clean up is minimal) and yummy, perfect muffins! Of course, ingredients also make a huge difference.... what can I say? With home baked goodies we can regulate the ingredients and adjust anything and everything to suit our taste buds, our lifestyle and our health concerns.

On Teddy Talk the other day there was talk of ... "when life gives u lemons"?.... well, my response is always... hey..lemons!! I can use those..... for Lemon Loaf.... or Lemon Blueberry Muffins.... or my sister's Lemon Squares... or.... Well, anyway.... there is absolutely no shortage of what to do if I am handed lemons or find them hiding in my crisper. What?...it doesn't mean literally?..... oh...........

Lemon blueberry muffins. When I heard that Tim Horton's was coming out with those I absolutely had to try one because those two flavours together?... all I can say is YUM! Ran out to my car with my coffee and a muffin... ready to savour each bite... yech! Do you know I tossed it? What a shame. So...I went home and over the winter I perfected my own. Yeah... you probably think I am nuts..but this is a blog about baking, cooking etc.... so.... read on, move on or send me your own recipes.... ....hahahhahha ..My Lemon Blueberry muffins are great if I do say so myself; and I do.... They get great comments from anybody who tries them and I even have people that call to order a batch every so often for their own freezers.