Berry Potpourri Preserves

I had some strawberries left from making the other jam. I decided since I have other frozen berries I needed to use up, to make a mixed berry combo this time. I added frozen raspberries, blueberries and blackberries that I picked last summer from my woods here. It turned out heavenly.

 Berry Potpourri Preserves Makes 5 pt. jars

2 qts. mixed berries (strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry or whatever you have on hand) frozen can be used too
Juice of 1 lemon if you use blueberries
1/2c. of Marion berry balsamic vinegar or plain balsamic*
6 Tb. low sugar pectin
2c. organic sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla

You can use any mix of berries you like. My mix for this recipe was about half strawberries (washed and hulled) to use up the flat I bought and the rest was from blackberries, raspberries and blueberries I had frozen in my freezer. If you use blueberries tho they are low acid so I added the lemon juice just to be sure. I do not cut these up. Strawberries are hulled but otherwise fruit is whole.

Put fruit in a lg. pot and turn heat on high. Add lemon juice and balsamic vinegar and stir. Add cinnamon and stir.  Add pectin and blend well. Bring to hard boil. A hard boil is one that cannot be stirred down. Watch carefully and keep stirring so berries don't burn. If some berries are still very lg. after the first boil you can break them apart with the spoon if you like.

 Add sugar and stir in well. Bring to a hard boil and let boil for 1min. Add vanilla and cook 1 min. more. Remove from heat, fill jars and can in water bath canner for 10min.

I wash all my jars and put the lids in a pot of boiling water. To keep jars warm while making jam, I heat my oven to 200 degrees. Jars get put on sheet pans and put in oven. You want warm jars with hot food or the jars may break. When all is ready fill jars to within a half in. of rim. Wipe edges well to get a good seal and top with lids. Put in water bath canner.

Water should be boiling, start timing from point of boil, 10 min. Shut heat off and let jars sit in canner 5min. This helps create a good seal. Remove and let cool.

*I have found at a local farmers market, someone who makes fruit flavored balsamic vinegars. I am madly in love with Marion berries since I moved here. This vendor has a Marion berry balsamic that Ive been dying to use somewhere. I thought it would add one more berry flavor to the mix. But I could see a fig balsamic or any other kind you may like adding another flavor to this too. But even a plain balsamic would be nice.

You have been warned....

Don't let this innocent looking muffin fool you. Its good, I mean really good,,,,,,seriously good. You wont want to eat just one. And I made them big. Trust me, you will still want another.....remember, you have been warned. lol

Streusel-Topped Blueberry Muffins

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. table salt
1/2 c. sugar
grated peel of one orange
1 large egg
1c. buttermilk
1/3 c. oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
1 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. sugar 


Streusel Topping
1/4 c. sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 Tbsp. butter


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


In a muffin pan that makes 6  large Texas size muffins, wipe the cups with some soft butter to ease removal.

Lightly spoon the flour into measuring cups and level  with a knife and combine it in a large bowl with the baking powder, salt, sugar, and citrus peel. Make a well in the center of the mixture. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, and oil. Add to the dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened.
In a small bowl, combine the remaining flour and sugar and then toss the blueberries in this mixture until they are well-coated. Gently fold the blueberry mixture into the batter. Spoon the batter into lined muffin tins, filling 2/3 full.


To make the streusel topping, combine the 1/4 c. sugar, 2 1/2 Tbsp. flour, and cinnamon. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over the batter and bake for 18 minutes or until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the muffins comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. Makes 6 large muffins.

Blueberry Cheesecake Coffeecake

I wanted to bake something blueberry the other day. I saw our store near here had a sale on berries but I still had a bunch in my freezer. I wanted to use those first. So I started to wander online to look for recipes. I was in one of those, I'd like to bake but don't want it complicated moods. When I'm like that I go for a mix.

I remembered I had this Krusteaz mix in my pantry. I love all their mixes, they are very, very good. No, I have no connection to them, I just happen to love their stuff. And since I don't always bake from scratch, they are a good place to start. I wanted a blueberry coffee cake and I do have an awesome from scratch recipe but it makes 3 cakes and I didn't want that around right now.  http://mermaidstreasures.blogspot.com/2008/03/crumb-cakes.html   And my bf loves anything cheesecake so I looked for that online too. But I just didn't want to make from scratch, I wasn't up to it. And so this recipe was born.

I must say its moist and rich and not too sweet at all. I found tho that the crumbs on top of the berries and cream cheese mix made the center a bit too moist and so Ive mentioned the change in the recipe to do for next time. It was so good my bf wanted seconds. When he wants that, I KNOW its a good one, a keeper. Enjoy!

 Blueberry Cheesecake Coffeecake Makes one 9 in. spring-form pan cake

1 pkg. Krusteaz Cinnamon Crumb cake mix
2/3 c. buttermilk
1 egg

2 pkgs. (8oz. each) cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1/4 c. organic sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Empty cake mix pkg from box into a bowl. Add the buttermilk and egg and mix well. Prepare spring-form pan by greasing or buttering to prevent sticking. Pour batter into pan. Spread over the bottom and make a well in the middle. You want the sides higher than the middle to hold the cheesecake filling.

Mix cream cheese, eggs, sugar and vanilla well. Pour into pan over cake batter. Spread to the edge of pan.

Sprinkle blueberries over cheesecake batter.

Open crumb pkg that came with the mix. Sprinkle that over the berries. If you like larger crumbs, squeeze handfuls of the mix first and crumble that over the berries. Try to keep the middle free of the crumb mix. It has a tendency to melt and keep the center too moist.

Bake 45-60 min. I have a convection oven and it took 45 min. in there so test it towards the end. Test with a skewer inserted in the cake part on the sides. If it comes out clean and the middle is almost set, its done. Cool then chill in refrigerator. Run knife around the inside edge of pan when ready to serve and remove spring-form ring.

The day after Halloween - the breakfast

Lil man stayed overnight here after Trick or Treating in the neighborhood. His folks went to a party. And so I made some breakfast for us. Ive been wanting to try this recipe out, since I had some blueberries in the freezer I needed to use up. Ive been meaning to do it all week but kept forgetting to put it together so it could soak overnight. Last nite after dinner I decided to do it with lil man helping me put it together.

This is really easy, basically just layers, let it soak and bake the next morning. Its almost like dessert, a bread pudding. So while I cut up the bread......and I often have either sour dough or a nice Italian bread around, lil man cut up the cream cheese and helped assemble this. I like to make hearty french toast and so I use a good sturdy bread when I make it. I decided to do the same with this. You basically layer bread, cheese, blueberries, more bread and pour the custard mix over it all and let soak over nite. My proportions were off because I used more bread trying to use it up. I also added more eggs and milk. To the egg mixture I added some cinnamon and a bit of vanilla. I do that to my regular french toast too.

So while this was baking, I baked off some bacon to go with it. I warmed up some maple syrup too altho you could do without it. But because there is so very little sweet with this......I like it with the syrup, better. Maybe next time if I have more blueberries Ill make a blueberry topping. I certainly have leftovers and Ill be packaging them up to have later on.  I quick warm up in the oven or microwave, will be great. I do that to my leftover french toast too. This way I don't have to cook them all the time.

Fresh Blueberry-stuffed French Toast Casserole 

Assemble this simple casserole 12 to 24 hours ahead, or just before baking.


Ingredients:
4 large slices sourdough bread, crust removed and cubed
8 ounces cream cheese, cubed
2 cups fresh blueberries
6 large eggs
1 cup milk
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons powdered sugar


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375*F. Arrange half the bread cubes in an 8-inch square baking dish. Distribute the cream cheese cubes evenly over the top of the bread. Distribute the blueberries over the top.


2. Top with the remaining bread cubes.


3. Beat eggs, milk and cinnamon together and pour over. Bake for 35 minutes, uncovered. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

Sea's Creamy, Crummy Blueberry Pie

We love blueberries around here so when I went to Costco. this week I bought a big container full. When I got it home I realized, that was a lot of blueberries. I'd freeze them for later on but I'm trying to clean out the freezers for the move. So I decided to try to use as many as I could in a pie. I found a recipe for a creamy blueberry pie and made some changes. This is what I came up with:

Creamy Crummy Blueberry Pie Makes 1 10in. deep dish pie

5 cups fresh blueberries
1 (10 inch) deep dish pie crust
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tb. white sugar
1 tb. flour


1. Combine the 1tb of white sugar with the 1tb. flour. Roll out pastry and fit to pie plate. Trim edge decoratively. Sprinkle the sugar/flour mixture over the bottom and sides of the pie shell. This is to absorb any extra juices and keep the crust from getting soggy.

2. Combine 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup flour, cinnamon and salt. Add eggs, sour cream, and vanilla, stirring until blended.

3. Place blueberries in pastry shell, and spoon sour cream mixture over berries.

4. In another bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup flour. Cut in butter or margarine with pastry blender until mixture resembles course meal.

Sprinkle this mixture over sour cream mixture and berries in the pie shell. We like big crumbs so I squeeze some together in my hand first , then sprinkle the chunks over the berries.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 50 to 55 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Blueberry Cobbler

Yesterday was a tough day and on the way home I had to stop and do a lil grocery shopping. I saw the blueberries and they just looked so tempting....a big container too. So I grabbed them not knowing exactly what I was going to do with them. I was too tired to make dinner so we ordered pizza. Guess I got my second wind after that so I asked the man would he like Blueberry Cobbler or Blueberry Muffins in the morning. He wanted cobbler. So here it is......

Blueberry Cobbler 6 servings

* 2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 lemon, juiced
* 1 cup white sugar, or to taste
* 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon all-purpose flour
* 1 tablespoon butter, melted
* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 4 teaspoons baking powder
* 6 tablespoons white sugar
* 6 tablespoons butter
* 1 cup milk
* 2 teaspoons sugar
* 1 pinch ground cinnamon

1. Lightly grease an 8 inch square baking dish. Place the blueberries into the baking dish, and mix with vanilla and lemon juice. Sprinkle with 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of flour and the 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon, then stir in the tablespoon of melted butter. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 3/4 cups of flour, baking powder, and 6 tablespoons sugar. Rub in the 5 tablespoons butter using your fingers, or cut in with a pastry blender until it is in small pieces.

Make a well in the center, and quickly stir in the milk. Mix just until moistened. You should have a very thick batter, or very wet dough. You may need to add a splash more milk. Cover, and let batter rest for 10 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Spoon the batter over the blueberries, leaving only a few small holes for the berries to peek through.

Mix together the cinnamon and 2 teaspoons sugar; sprinkle over the top.

4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden brown. A knife inserted into the topping should come out clean - of course there will be blueberry syrup on the knife. Let cool until just warm before serving. This can store in the refrigerator for 2 days. I served this with whipped cream but I was wishing I had some vanilla ice cream in the house. It was yummy tho.

The Zucchini Bakery

Well its that time of year where everything in the garden is bursting out and you try to figure out what to do with it all. I don't have a garden this year but I have had one almost every year for the last 35. I remember going on a trip once a few yrs back. I had two zucchini plants , that's all. When I came back and checked out my garden I found 3 HUGEEEEEEEEEE and I do mean huge zucchini. When I picked them to bring in the house I could barely carry all 3. They had to have been 3ft long and as fat as a cantaloupe around. I almost tossed them in the garbage. Then I thought no .....zucchini bread! So I took the first one, peeled it, shredded it to get it ready for zucchini bread. It made 10 loaves from that one zucchini!!! I sent some to work with my ex, and we ate some but I gave the rest away. How much of that stuff can you eat? I did end up tossing away the other zucchini considering I still had a few cups left of shredded from the first one that I froze. So in honor of that I thought Id post a few more kinds of zucchini bread types to help give you ideas to use it all up.

Zucchini Dill Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tsp. fresh minced dill, OR 1/2 teaspoon dill weed

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup butter -- melted

2 large eggs

2/3 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup shredded zucchini

Heat oven to 400°. Grease muffin tins or line with 12 baking cups. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup, level off. In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and dill. Mix well. In medium bowl combine milk, butter, and eggs. Stir in ricotta cheese and zucchini, beat well. Add to dry ingredients, stirring until just moistened (batter will be stiff).Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan and serve warm with lots of fresh butter! These are great with a nice luncheon salad.

Carrot, zucchini and dill muffins

2 cups self-raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons caster sugar

1/2 cup finely grated carrot

1/2 cup finely grated zucchini, squeezed between your hands to remove excess moisture

1/2 cup coarsely grated Swiss cheese

2 tablespoons dill, chopped

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup extra light olive oil

2 eggs

2 teaspoons sea salt flakes

Preheat oven to 400°. Lightly grease a 12 x 1/3-cup capacity muffin pan. Sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Stir in sugar, carrot, zucchini, cheese and dill. Whisk milk, oil and eggs together in a jug. Add to dry ingredients. Use a large metal spoon to stir until just combined. Divide mixture evenly between muffin holes. Sprinkle tops with sea salt. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Stand for 5 minutes in pan before turning onto a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 12

Zucchini-Lemon Muffins

2 c All-purpose flour

1/2 c Sugar

1 tb Baking powder

2 ts Grated lemon rind

1/4 ts Salt

1/4 ts Ground nutmeg

1 c Coarsely shredded zucchini

3/4 c Skim milk

3 tb Vegetable oil

1 Egg
Vegetable cooking spray

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl, and make a well in center of mixture. Combine zucchini, milk, oil, and egg; stir well. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Divide batter evenly among 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden. Remove from pans immediately, and let cool on a wire rack. Yield: 1 dozen.

Zucchini Cranberry Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

2/3 tbsp. pure vanilla extract

2 cups grated zucchini

1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple

1 1/2 cups whole cranberry sauce

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup walnuts

Sift dry ingredients together. Beat eggs. Blend in sugar, oil and vanilla. Fold in zucchini, pineapple and cranberries. Add wet ingredients to dry. Mix just until blended. Fold in nuts/raisins. Pour into muffin cups and bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center of muffin comes out clean.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

3 eggs lightly beaten

1 cup vegetable oil

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 tsp. ground cinnamon (you can use up to a Tablespoon. It just depends how much cinnamon flavor you want)

1 pint fresh blueberries, coat with some flour before adding to mixture (can use frozen blueberries for this bread, cheaper and works just fine. Quickly mix in 1 tsp. of flour with the measured out blueberries before you fold them into the batter so they won’t all sink to the bottom)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, 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 1 hour, 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.
Do not eat the same day you bake it. It is much better if it is wrapped after it cools and then let sit on the counter for a day or two to mellow. Can also make one full loaf and then used the rest of the batter to make muffins. It freezes well too.

Zucchini Chip Cupcakes

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1-3/4 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup baking cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups shredded zucchini

1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup chopped pecans

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, oil and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, milk and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; gradually add to creamed mixture. Fold in zucchini and chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Top with pecans. Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in muffin comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: about 2 dozen.

BERRY BUNDT CAKES........YUMMY!

Berries seem to be all over right about now. Out here they are on sale alot in the grocery stores. I buy some now and then to put in my cottage cheese in the morning but theres always too many and they end up rotting and I toss them out. I stumbled tho on this recipe and I must admit.....its tempting me enough to go buy a bunch and make it....I bet you will feel the same way too!
Berry Bundt CakeIngredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup cholesterol-free egg substitute
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups frozen unsweetened raspberries
2 cups frozen unsweetened blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 6-cup Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Combine sugar, buttermilk, egg substitute and oil in medium bowl. Add sugar mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moistened.
3. Fold in raspberries and blueberries. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 1 hour or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack. Serve with fresh berries, if desired.
Yield: Makes 12 servings

A cup of fresh, delicious blueberries or raspberries supplies about one-third of your daily vitamin C requirements. This fantastic berry cake contains 4 cups of berries!
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And heres another that looks yummy and a bit more upscale....

William's Sonoma's Mixed Berry Bundt Cake

5 eggs
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
20 Tbs. (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces
2 Tbs. kirsch or other fruit liqueur
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
3 1/2 cups raspberries
1 1/2 cups blueberries or blackberries
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting (optional)
Mixing bowls
Electric handmixer
Measuring cups and spoons
Bundt cake pan
Saucepan for making the glaze

Preheat your oven to 325°F. Take your bundt pan and Butter and flour it.
Mix all of the following ingredients together in a large bowl. Start by blending the eggs and granulated sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat in the butter and liqueur until fluffy. Add all but 2 Tbs. of the flour and the baking powder and salt, and beat until well incorporated and no lumps remain.

In another bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups of the raspberries and the blueberries with the remaining 2 Tbs. flour. Toss to coat the berries evenly with the flour. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the berries into the batter. Pour the batter into the bundt pan. Bake for approximately 1 hour.

Remove the cake out of the oven and place it on a cooling rack. Let the cake cool for 20-25 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and let it continue to cool.

Once the cake has cooled you can add a glaze to it. While this is not in the recipe this adds a little something special. Make the glaze by combining butter, sugar and Chambord in a small souce pan. Bring to a boil and then brush it on.
Once the glaze has been applied you can put the finishing touches on the cake. Dust it with powdered sugar and garnish with blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.

********************************While these recipes call for mixed berries, you could vary the mix or just use all of one kind, just make sure the amounts add up to the same needed for the recipe. I could see adding almond extract a bit to enhance the berry flavor or even orange or lemon. With this last one....same thing for the glaze.... some grand marnier if you use orange extract in it......or just keep with the Chambord since its berry flavored.