Blueberry Peach Tart!

The Mother Unit sent me this yummy recipe. It was nice way to use up some of the four pounds of blueberries I picked this summer. She had used a mix of blueberries, peaches, and mangos which sounds delicious. While mine was delicious it didn't hold it's form well, or I just suck at taking the pieces out, so it was definitely more on the crumble side of things.

Peach Blueberry Crumble Tart

(from a taste of home)

Ingredients:

1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups frozen unsweetened blueberries, thawed
2 cups frozen unsweetened sliced peaches, thawed
1 tablespoon honey
CRUMB TOPPING:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup chopped Diamond of California® Pecans
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Directions:
1. In a small bowl, mix the flour, sugar and cinnamon; stir in butter just until blended. Press onto the bottom and up the side of a 9-in. fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Bake at 350° for 15-20
minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.
2. In a large bowl, combine the blueberries, peaches and honey; toss to coat. In a small bowl, combine the first five topping ingredients; stir in butter.
3. Spoon fruit mixture into crust; sprinkle with topping. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Lake Love!

This is where I have been all week.

Heaven.

I also picked four pounds of blueberries with my munchkins. 

Anybody have any good blueberry recipes?

I also received some super fresh eggs from W's chickens. Guess I need to make a frittata or quiche this weekend! Or bake a lot.

Holy Fresh Fish!

I spent the most marvelous weekend doing just about nothing at the shore. I didn't think about the stack of papers waiting to be graded or making stressful wedding decisions, I was chillin' like a villain. It was perfect: solo beach walks, being a porch bum and catching up on six cooking magazines (I have a problem), painting my toenails, catnapping in the sunshine....all while the boys were out catching dinner!

From this:

 To this:

 And this in a matter of hours!

Doesn't get any more fresh!

 We rubbed the Striped Bass in olive oil, put on a coating of Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning and threw it on the grill. This seasoning was banging and satisfied my craving for spicy!

Our freshly caught meal was rounded out with my salt-pepper-garlic asparagus and potatoes. This was an easy decision because it requires few ingredients and I can do it with my eyes closed.

We winged dessert with some fresh blueberries heated up in some gin (based off my kid sundae) and served up with shortbread and cool whip.

 We were some thirsty fishermen/porch bums.

 And we ended the day with this:

Perfect.

Big Kid Ice Cream

We all know that I have a soft spot of gin (and ice cream!) so when I saw this recipe I knew it must be done immediately. I made it while watching the documentary "Forks Over Knives" (highly recommended!). We're all going to die and I need to go vegan asap. At least I wasn't adding any extra refined sugar to my....ice cream... We do okay when it comes to food but we can do better! Tomorrow I think I shall venture to Reading Terminal Market for a veggie adventure. I've also been reading some scary things about food dye and preservatives (see the Feingold Diet). Yikes! Right, back to the ice cream. This sauce was nice because it wasn't overly sweet like many ice cream toppings. Loved it.

Blueberry-Gin Sundaes

(adapted from Real Simple Magazine)

Ingredients:

1 cup blueberries

1/3 cup gin

Vanilla Ice Cream
Directions:
1. In a small saucepan, combine blueberries and gin. Simmer, stirring frequently, until the berries burst and the mixture begins to thicken, 5 to 8 minutes; let cool.
2. Divide vanilla ice cream among bowls and top with the blueberry sauce.

Brown Sugar Booooberry Cookies!

Hannah picked a bunch of blueberries the other day and asked me for recipe suggestions. This one has been sitting on the top of my "To Bake List" for a couple of weeks now. I finally made them today to celebrate Mr. Lawyer's new job! Woo!

These cookies were pretty amazing. Sweet but not too sweet and not in a sugary way but in a nice fruity way. It was a great alternative to blueberry muffins. I will definitely be keeping this recipe and I can't wait to have some for breakfast!

Brown Sugar Blueberry Cookies

Ingredients:
1 stick butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon milk
3/4 cup fresh blueberries

Directions:
1. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, mixing well until combine, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon with the mixer on low speed. Mix until dough comes together. Add in milk. If dough is still crumbly, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until it comes together. Fold in blueberries. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Remove dough from fridge and roll into 1 1/2 inch balls. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.