Our Annual Blueberry Harvest

From the City and the Country...

Here are some pics from our annual blueberry harvest at Wilmot farms in Orono.  We picked extra this year as we got some new babies to feed.  In total, we picked about 40lbs. of blueberries.  The freezer is packed and our bellies are full of crisp, it's pretty great.  

How can anyone not love ontario in the summer??????? 

Laura & Amelia

Our Blueberry Harvest

From the City (temporarily in a small town)...

So we made our annual trip to the blueberry patch yesterday: kids, babies, buckets and all. It was hot but there was a pretty nice breeze which kept our endurance up long enough to pick about 50 litres of blueberries.

I'm in the process of freezing the majority (laid out flat on a baking sheet over night and then bagged in the morning) but I'm also thinking of baking a batch of muffins. Here's my standby recipe that I'll probably use : Bran Muffins but there is also a great recipe that I came across that might help you use up some of those zucchini's you have kicking around:

• 
  
• Zucchini Blueberry Bread
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pint fresh blueberries

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans.
• In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans.
• Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

This is what you wake up to at the farm...

From the City: in the country

So I went to the farm for a couple of days to get out of the bustle and noise of the city and spent my days cooking, eating and taking pictures. My three favorite things combined.

Mark made these incredible Blueberry Bran muffins for breakfast one morning and I couldn't not take pictures and blog the recipe. So here it is, make 'em and enjoy 'em.

Extra-Easy, Extra Moist Bran Muffins

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 4 tbsp dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 1 1/2 cup unbleached white flour
• 1 cup wheat bran
• 1 tsp baking soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup blueberries (raisins, cranberries etc etc)

Preheat oven to 375. Grease muffin tins thoroughly and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine first four ingredients.

In a medium sized bowl, sift together the dry ingredients, adding the blueberries if desired.

In a cup or small bowl, combine the yogurt and milk.

Add dry ingredients alternately with the yogurt/milk to the first ingredients, stirring JUST to combine, don't overmix! (Overmixing kills good muffins and they don't deserve that)

Pour into prepared muffin pans.

Bake 15-20 min until done.

Enjoy with butter, jam, jelly, honey or just on their own .

Sunday Deliciousness

From the City:

Simon loves pancakes, like loves pancakes. Whenever we go out for breakfast, he always orders a standard breakfast (eggs, bacon, toast) with a side of pancakes. For him, this is the perfect combination of sweet, salt and fat.

So in order for our relationship to be long lasting (7 years this September) certain things had to be mastered:

• I had to learn the art of tickies. This is a family term for tickling the head, arms or back and occurs mainly in the evenings
• Learn the art of multi- tasking by watching a movie while also working on a laptop and carrying on conversation
• Make a mean stack of blueberry pancakes

Here are some tips to making perfect pancakes:

1. Before you ladle on the pancake batter, wipe access butter off the griddle with a folded paper towel. This will make sure you have perfectly browned pancakes.

2. Use all purpose flour in the batter. Cake flour can turn soggy when you top it with syrup. Experiment with different flours like buckwheat or whole wheat just substitute half of the all purpose for any of these.

3. Never whisk batter until it's smooth. Lumps are a good thing and will result in fluffier pancakes.

4. Flip pancakes just as the surface bubbles begin to burst. Flipping them after makes for flatter pancakes.

5. When adding blueberries, bananas or chocolate chips (only some of the many additions you can make) sprinkle them over the batter right after they have been poured on the griddle. This will make sure they are distributed evenly and it also makes them look prettier on the plate, which can sometimes be just as important as how they taste.

6. Warm pure maple syrup before serving. It makes for a certain extra little bit of specialness to the morning (or evening, whatever, no judgement here)

Here's a good (basic) recipe that should keep 'em coming for more:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, or vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Assorted toppings, such as butter, maple syrup, confectioners' sugar, honey, jams, preserves, sweetened whipped cream, or chocolate syrup
• Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees; have a baking sheet or heatproof platter ready to keep cooked pancakes warm in the oven. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, butter (or oil), and egg. Add dry ingredients to milk mixture; whisk until just moistened (do not overmix; a few small lumps are fine).
3. Heat a large skillet (nonstick or cast-iron) or griddle over medium. Fold a sheet of paper towel in half, and moisten with oil; carefully rub skillet with oiled paper towel.
4. For each pancake, spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter onto skillet, using the back of the spoon to spread batter into a round (you should be able to fit 2 to 3 in a large skillet).
5. Cook until surface of pancakes have some bubbles and a few have burst, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip carefully with a thin spatula, and cook until browned on the underside, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer to a baking sheet or platter; cover loosely with aluminum foil, and keep warm in oven. Continue with more oil and remaining batter. (You'll have 12 to 15 pancakes.) Serve warm, with desired toppings.

Side note:

These are some pics from the summer when Laura and I took the kids and went blueberry picking. It's a great, really economical way to stock your freezer with juicy berries for the long winter months.

Have a nice Sunday everyone!