Back at the end of July, Chincoteague Island had their Annual Blueberry Festival. In addition to a wide array of arts and crafts, and delicious food offerings, they sell flats of blueberries for a great price. We ordered a flat, and brought it home. We immediately froze and bagged most of them, to be used through out the year in various recipes. My home brewing husband, Jon, brewed a blueberry cream ale a few weeks ago. It’s getting ready to be kegged next week, and should be pouring shortly thereafter. Neither of us can wait to try it! That, however, is another post…

I’d been wanting to make these beautiful cupcakes for some time now, back when Annie posted them in the spring. They looked so deliciously light, and airy. And lemon/blueberry is just about one of my favorite combinations on the planet. This one is definitely a winner! A  fresh change of pace from a traditional run-of-the-mill standard cupcakes (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). I love that the cream cheese frosting has a hint of lemon too, just puts it over the edge. Try these!

pineappleupside

Who doesn’t remember this cake from their childhood? I remember my “Aunt Sissy” making a notorious Upside-Down Cake. She’s been gone for quite a few years now. Unfortunately I wasn’t into cooking and/or baking at that time. So, sadly I never got the recipe. However, this recipe was close, and certainly brought back memories.

The cake itself is ultra moist and dense. The lovely caramelized sugar and pineapple rings on top are loaded with flavor, and make for a beautiful presentation as well.  It would be an excellent choice to make for an upcoming Holiday get together, as “that time of year” will be here before we know it. I know I can’t speak for anybody else – but I myself cannot wait! I’m counting down the days my friends. Enjoy!

blueberrymuffins

My mother-in-law was visiting with us last week. Unfortunately, we don’t get to see her often as her current job has her based in California. So, when she comes to visit…it’s always a real treat. I had thought that I would get a lot done while she was here, as far as gardening and cooking goes. But, sometimes it’s just nice to take a break from it all, and that’s kind of what I did. Hence, the lack of recent blog posts.

One thing I did manage to make while she was here are these blueberry muffins. I’m very glad I did, because this will be my go -to blueberry muffin recipe from now on. I have tried several recipes before, and every time, have been let down. The muffins were either too dense, not sweet enough, or dry. Not these though; they were perfect in every way, shape, and form.

peachberrycrumble

For this trip to the orchard I got white peaches, as they were larger and prettier in general this week. Blueberries happened to be on sale this week too, for $1.28 a pint. So, I made this dessert for almost nothing. I think it would also be absolutely wonderful with raspberries, or even blackberries.

The original recipe calls for making individual crumbles in ramekin dishes. But, it was just us chickens here tonight – and I diddn’t feel like getting into all that for just us. I went ahead and doubled the crumble portion of the recipe as well – just ’cause that’s how I roll.  If you do decide to do individual portions, you’ll want to cut the crumble amounts in half and shorten the cooking time to 40 to 45 minutes.