Rainbow Fruit Salad

Summer is approaching and that means you'll need your fair share of snacks to cool you down.  This is one that you need to have in your refrigerator, for those hot days.  

Of course fruit is good by itself but if you leave it cut up in your refrigerator for too long, it begins to turn strange colors.  Especially those darn bananas.  This recipe is great because it isn't covering up that great fruit flavor, but adding a hint of extra flavor.  Coincidentally it's also helping to preserve that lovely color.  Lime juice is good like that. And you can't go wring with honey, I mean, really. 

This recipe is perfect for a quick snack on a hot day.  

Rainbow Fruit Salad

Recipe from Buzzfeed

Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh strawberries, quartered
• 4 kiwi's, peeled and diced
• 2 mango's, peeled and diced
• 2 bananas, peeled and diced
• 12 ounces fresh blueberries
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1 limed, juiced

Cooking Directions

1. Combine the cut up fruit in a medium sized bowl. Mix together the honey and lime juice and pour over the fruit, stir. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Peach Blueberry Pie

It's peach season in the South so naturally we've been eating all we can.  I love to can peaches but haven't had time this year, so we've just been eating them fresh.  However, to change things up a bit I decided to try a pie.  Blueberries are my husbands favorite so when I saw this recipe I thought it was perfect.  Also, I had a handful of raspberries in my refrigerator so I threw those in too.

I loved the flavor of this pie.  Sweet and interesting because of the multiple fruit flavors.  The mixture is perfect and held up very well when sliced and served up. Perfect with some ice cream or whipped cream.

I just used a store bought crust which is not what I normally do, but it was still delicious.  If you make a homemade crust it'll be the hit of dessert!  I hope you can try this one this summer with some of your local peaches.

Peach Blueberry Pie
Recipe from Taste of Home

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground allspice
• 3 cups peaches, sliced and peeled
• 1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
• pastry for double crust 9 inch pie
• 1 Tbsp butter, at room temperature
• 1 Tbsp milk
• cinnamon sugar

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400º
2. Make the pie crust and put it in the pie plate (or use pre-made)
3. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and allspice and whisk. Add the fruit and stir to coat.
4. You can either top the pie with a full pie crust and cut to ventilate or create a lattice top.
5. After you've added the top crust, cut off the excess crust around the edges leaving about 1/2 an inch overhand so you can tuck it under the bottom crust and seal with your fingers or a fork.
6. Use a brush to spread milk over the top and then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden. Let cool slightly before serving.

Bakery Style Blueberry Muffins

I made this muffin recipe twice in quick succession.  Here's what happened:

Me: Honey I made these blueberry muffins for a friends family because her son just had surgery and is recovering.  Don't you think they'll like that?

Husband: Yeah, they'll love it.

30 minutes later....

Husband: Where are those muffins you made?

Me: I sent them over to the neighbors house....remember?

Husband: You didn't even save me one?

Me: No, I mean, you didn't say you wanted one when I told you I made them.

Husband: (glaring at me) you didn't save a blueberry muffin for the biggest blueberry lover in this house?

Me: Um, I was going to make another batch just for you....so you can have all of them...all to yourself.

Husband: Oh really? (smiling now) that's really great, thank you!

Me: (moving off toward the kitchen to make yet another batch of muffins) whew that was a close call.

So, I can vouch for them being a dependable muffin.  They turned out great both times and they tasted amazing.  Yes, he shared.  Great crumb, moist with plenty of blueberries.  The streusel topping is amazing and really takes these muffins into the "Bakery" type.  My husband loves them, my daughter loves them, I love them.

Even though there isn't any school here, we still enjoy a quick snack or breakfast.  We take them to the community pool with us, on drives or as an after workout energy boost.  Very convenient and very delicious.

Bakery Style Blueberry Muffins
Recipe from Little Sweet Baker

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup milk or buttermilk
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

Streusel Topping

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp cold butter
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425º and spray a 12 cup muffin pan or use cupcake papers.
2. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the melted butter and sugar. Add the eggs and whisk. Add the milk or buttermilk and vanilla and whisk again.
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and mix just until all the dry ingredients are moist.
5. Fold in the blueberries.
6. Distribute the batter evenly into the 12 muffin cups.
7. Make the streusel
8. Combine the sugar, flour, cold butter and cinnamon in a small bowl and use a fork to break up the butter until small pieces remain.
9. Sprinkle the tops of the muffin cups with the streusel.
10. Bake for 5 minutes at 425º and then leaving the muffins in the oven, turn the heat down to 375º and bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Blueberry Lemonade

This will be one of my summer drinks this year.  Seriously, it's so refreshing. The blueberry flavor and the lemon flavor meld so nicely without one flavor overpowering the other. Perfect on a hot day by the pool or after a long day doing yard work.

It cools you right down.

It makes you want more.

I'm gonna go get some.

Blueberry Lemonade
Recipe from Damn Delicious

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup fine granulated sugar
• 1 cup blueberries
• 3/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

Cooking Directions

1. in a medium saucepan, add the sugar and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil and let the sugar dissolve. Add the blueberries and bring back up to a boil, then lower to simmer for about 3-4 minutes.
2. Strain the mixture with cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer and let cool.
3. Add 5 cups of water to a pitcher and add the lemon juice. Stir in the blueberry mixture and chill.
4. Serve over ice with additional blueberries if desired.

Blueberry Baked Oatmeal

This breakfast is a great suggestion for those busy mornings.  Easy to make and have ready first thing in the morning or else to make the night before and refrigerate so you can grab and run out the door.

My daughter actually liked this, which is saying something for her.  Miss picky.

Also a great idea if you've got company over and are looking for a filling breakfast that everyone will love.

I used frozen wild blueberries which tend to be smaller.  If you're using large berries you may want to add more.

Enjoy!

Baked Blueberry Oatmeal Bars

Recipe from Crazy For Crust

Ingredients

• 2 whole eggs
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Cooking Directions

1. Heat oven to 350
2. Spray a 11x7 or 9x13 inch baking dish with non-stick spray. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, applesauce, brown sugar and vanilla until smooth. 
4. Add the cinnamon, salt and baking powder. 
5. Add the oats and milk. 
6. Gently stir in the blueberries. Spread in the prepared pan. 
7. Bake for 24-38 minutes or until golden brown and not jiggly in the middle anymore. 
8. Serve hot with syrup or yogurt, or refrigerate and cut into bars. You can also freeze in portions and unthaw overnight so it's ready the next morning. 

Paleo Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

As you may or may not know, I've been doing an eating plan called Whole30.  Whole30 is slightly different from Paleo, but it's close enough that you can use many of the same recipes. So, I happen to have a Paleo cookbook in my possession.  Lucky for me, because some mornings I just don't have time to cook an omelet or make some bacon.

Coconut flour is the key to this recipe.  If you're not having any luck finding any it's because it depends on your grocery store as to it's placement. I bought the Bob's Red Mill brand and I saw that some grocery stores had it in the flour section while others had a gluten free section and still others had a Bob's Red Mill section of some random isle. I'd just ask when you first walk in and save yourself some frustration.

There was some unapproved Whole30 ingredients in this recipe that I want to reveal to you now. You aren't supposed to have maple syrup or vanilla extract.  I've already done my 30 days and so I didn't feel that the minor cheats in this recipe would hurt that much.

This recipe is very different from a traditional lemon-blueberry muffin.  Good, but very different. We get so accustomed to the sweet flavors and the taste of all-purpose flour of regular muffins that sometimes it takes a while to get ourselves off those flavors.  The good news is that in my opinion this muffin had a nice sweet flavor, and the blueberries were perfect.  The lemon flavor was very mild and the texture is different but not in a bad way from a regular muffin. Not as fluffy but still moist.

Great alternative to the meat or eggs I have gotten used to with this eating plan.

Paleo Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

Recipe from Practical Paleo page 246

Ingredients

• 6 whole eggs
• 1/2 cup butter or coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup grade B maple syrup
• 1 whole lemon, juiced and zest
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350º
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the eggs, butter, coconut oil, vanilla extract, maple syrup, lemon juice and lemon peel.
3. Sift in the coconut flour, sea salt and baking soda and stir until well combined.
4. Fold in the blueberries.
5. Line a muffin pan with muffin papers (natural parchment muffin papers work best) and use a 1/4 cup scoop to fill each muffin cup. Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Blueberry Turnovers

Boy it's been an interesting week already.  School has started here and that requires some adjustment on my part.  I need to think about earlier bedtimes and snacks and lunches.  All the things I sort of forgot about over the summer. As soon as we've gotten used to all this, I'll get back on schedule with my posts, I promise!

You know what's really disappointing? I bought at least a gallon and a half of blueberries this summer that we picked ourselves, and I STILL don't have any in the freezer to get me through winter. My daughter eats them like they are candy.  Believe me, I'm happy about that but still.  Oh well, on the up side you can make these turnovers with frozen blueberries too. 

I seem to have my biggest sugar cravings in the morning, so this turnover is just right for me.  The pastry is flaky and tender, the filling is perfect.  Thick yet flavorful filling. Ton's of blueberry goodness with a hint of lemon.  The filling is thick, so it doesn't run out when you cut it open.  I actually like these turnovers best when they are a day old, I know I'm weird.  I like how the pasty is a little less fluffy.  I might be the only one who feels that way.

I can't wait to try this same basic recipes with some different fillings, but this blueberry one is pretty darn amazing.

Blueberry Turnovers

Recipe from Taste of Home

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp corn starch
• 2 tsp grated lemon peel
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 package (17.3 ounces) frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 1 whole egg
• 1 Tbsp water
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 Tbsp milk

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450º
2. In a medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup blueberries, sugar, corn starch and lemon peel and bring to a boil. Boil for about 2 minutes or until thick.
3. Add the butter and the remaining blueberries, stir to combine.
4. On a floured surface, roll out each square of pastry puff so it becomes 12x12. You should have two separate squares, both that size.
5. Cut each square into 4 equal sized pieces so you have 8 total.
6. Drop about 3 Tbsp of filling into the middle of each square and fold over so you form a rectangle. Pinch the ends together so they are sealed and place on a ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Brush the tops with the egg/water mixture that has been whisked together.
8. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Wait until the pastry's are cooled before applying the glaze.  To make the glaze just mix the confectioners' sugar together with the milk and drizzle over each pastry. 

Blueberry Loaf Cake with Lemon Glaze

Blueberries are in season right now, quick go pick some!  Just kidding, well not about them being in season.  They are, and you should if you're able. 

I have two blueberry bushes in my back yard and they are nowhere near enough for my family.  I pick about 20, bring them in and watch my daughter devour them.  If I want any, I better eat them outside.  Luckily there are plenty of farms around here where you can go pick your own.  My daughter and I did go pick a half gallon and it's already gone.  Took about three days. 

This bread was one that I made for the 4th of July party with my neighbors. Very moist, yet light and the fresh blueberries just popped in your mouth.  I topped mine with some leftover lemon glaze I made for the lavender cookies I brought.  (link below) and I thought it was a great combination.  You can't beat the taste of lemon with blueberries.  This recipe is nice because you can use frozen blueberries too, making it a bread you can enjoy anytime.  I'll make it again, for sure. 
Blueberry Loaf Cake with Lemon Glaze
Recipe form Taste of Home

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 whole eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350º
2. Spray a 9x5 inch loaf pan with non-stick spray
3. Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy. 
4. Add the eggs one at a time, while the mixer is on low. 
5. Add the milk and vanilla and mix until creamy and smooth. 
6. Add the flour and baking powder to a separate bowl and then slowly add to the creamed ingredients until smooth. 
7. Remove the bowl from the mixer and add the blueberries, incorporate carefully by hand so they don't break. 
8. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the top comes out clean.  The loaf should be nice and golden brown on top. 
9. Let cool completely before adding the glaze. 

Glaze recipe found here

Banana-Blueberry Muffins

I'm in the middle of a month long vegan attempt.  I say attempt because I'm not very good at being a vegan but so far I've been doing pretty well.  I'm also happy to say that I have had some nice weight loss and that has made it easier to continue. 

One thing I've enjoyed in the mornings are muffins.  I made some blueberry muffins early on and then I made these and I love them.  The thing about vegan recipes is that sometimes they can turn out try.  I've been lucky and both muffin recipes I made were totally moist and delicious.  This recipe is dense and full of flavor.  I think adding the dish of water to the oven while cooking really works. 

You're going to love this muffin regardless of whether you're watching your diet or not.  Moist, and full of flavor.  What more could you want? 

Banana-Blueberry Muffins

Recipe from examiner.com

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• pinch of cinnamon
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (defrosted and rinsed)

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325º
2. Place an oven safe dish of water in the cold oven, about 2 inches of water.
3. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake papers, 12 total.
4. In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon.
5. In the bowl of your stand mixer add the bananas, sugar, oil and vanilla.
6. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients a little at a time until combined.
7. Stir in the blueberries by hand so they won't break as much.
8. Fill each cupcake paper with equal amounts of batter and bake for about 25-30 minutes. Check for doneness using a toothpick in the center, when it comes out clean they are done.

Blueberry Muffins (Vegan but you'd never know it)

This recipe surprised me.  Not because it's vegan but because my daughter loves them!  My daughter is such a picky eater and yet she still loves them.  I couldn't be happier.

Some people ask me what vegan actually is, so here's a short description and it can change depending on personal preference. Vegan's don't eat dairy (including eggs) or meat.  Some vegan's don't eat oil and some people just try not to have sugar either.  So there  you have it, you'll notice by the recipe below that there aren't any eggs or butter in this recipe.  I used frozen blueberries which is why mine sort of had a blue tinge of color, if you use fresh berries that won't happen as much.

The muffins had ton's of blueberry flavor, they were moist inside and golden brown with a little crunch from the sugar on top.  I love them and so does my husband.  I usually include one in my daughter's lunch or for a quick breakfast when we're on the run.

I hope you'll give these a try even if you aren't vegan, you'd be surprised by how many things you probably already eat that would be classified as vegan foods. :)

Vegan Blueberry Muffins

From Good Housekeeping's Family Vegetarian Cooking page 23

Ingredients

• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cups unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used almond/coconut)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (I used cinnamon)
• 3 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups blueberries (I used frozen)
• 1 tsp granulated sugar

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400º
2. Put 12 muffin cup liners in a muffin tin.
3. Use a food processor to grind up the oats into a fine power. 
4. Add the ground up oats to the bowl along with both flour's, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
5. In a small bowl use a fork to combine the non-dairy milk, applesauce, oil and vanilla extract.
6. Now add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until moist.
7. Add the blueberries and incorporate well.
8. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin, the cups will be very full.
9. Sprinkle the sugar over the tops of the muffins.
10. Bake for 23-25 minutes. Muffins are done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. 
11. Remove to a wire rack to cool. 

Some 4th of July Favorites

This Crepe Cake is a show stopper.  If you're looking for a dessert that will make people's eye's grow wide and mouth start to water, this is it.

Sour Cream Blueberry Pie has 4th of July written all over it!

PW's Barbecue Sauce will make any barbecue better.

Nellie & Joe's Tropical Ice is so cool and refreshing that it'll cool you down from the 4th of July sizzle.

Fudge Pop's are a family favorite, just try to find a kid who doesn't like them!

Blueberry Raspberry Cobbler has all the 4th of July colors! Doesn't hurt that it's delicious too.

How about a yummy Peach Margarita to cool you off?

Peach Cobbler is one of my favorites!  This recipe will rock your world.

I hope you all have a safe and happy 4th of July!

Sour Cream Blueberry Pie

This is the dessert I made for my husband for Fathers Day.  He liked it. He's a huge blueberry lover so I thought this would be a nice change from the blueberry pie I usually make. I think it was a refreshing change and I'm glad I tried it.  If you're not much of a sour cream fan then don't worry, it's not a overpowering sour cream flavor. The blueberries were definitely the star and the sour cream just added the creaminess.

I recommend refrigerating or even slightly freezing it so it cuts well, otherwise it did sort of spread out a bit.

I hope all you fathers out there had a great day!

Sour Cream Blueberry Pie
Recipe from Cinnamon Freud via Bon Appetite Desserts

Ingredients

• 1 fresh or frozen pie crust
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 3/4 cup fresh blueberries

Cooking Directions

1. Partially bake your pie crust for about 6 minutes. 
2. Turn the oven to 400º if it's not already there. 
3. Whisk all of the ingredients (except the blueberries) in a large bowl.
4. Fold in the blueberries.
5. Pour filling into the warm pie crust and bake for about 30-35 minutes.
6. The filling should jiggle slightly in the middle but be set on the sides.
7. Cool to room temperature.

Blueberry Lemonade

I bought a bottle of blueberry juice from my local farmers market a while back and really had no idea what I was going to do with it. But I figured, how can you go wrong with blueberry juice?

This is the bottle I bought, I don't know if this is available in the Internet but I've seen it other places as well so I know it's findable, probably wherever you could go and get fresh produce or farmers markets would be your best bet.

My husband and daughter got hold of this and drank it all up practically before I could even get any.  They're blueberry fans to say the very least.

The lemon and blueberry work perfectly together of course and what's nice about using blueberry juice is there isn't any seeds or pulp.

The lemon juice adds a little tart bite in the background and the blueberry is front and center but it mixes perfectly.  I'm just sad it only makes a gallon, seriously, I'm off to find more blueberry juice!

Blueberry Lemonade

Recipe from Hillcrest Blueberry Farm website

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups lemon juice
• 1 quart (4 cups) blueberry juice

Cooking Directions

1. Place all the ingredients in a gallon sized container and fill the rest with cold water. Mix until the sugar dissolves.

Blueberry Scones

I've got a really big event on Thursday at my office and I've been pretty stressed out about it.  This doesn't have much to do with scones does it.  Well, two co-workers from other markets are coming to help me with this event.  So I made them breakfast.  I'm hoping that these scones will be so good that if the event is a total flop they'll really only remember the wonderful homemade scones with blueberries right out of my garden that they got.   Do you think my plan will work? I'm not sure either. The other reason I made scones is because baking is a stress relief for me.  So yeah, I have selfish reasons for making them too. Whatever. 

This recipe was easy and came together very quickly.  I think start to finish I was done in 30 minutes.

Form the dough into a 6 inch square and then cut in quarters and then cut those quarters into halves.

Coat the tops with heavy cream and then sprinkle with sugar and bake.

When golden brown they are done.  These scones made my whole house smell like blueberries.  Yum, I can't wait to see if my co-workers like them!


Blueberry Scones
Recipe from Martha Stewart

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar, plus more for sprinkling tops
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries, picked over and rinsed
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/3 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing tops
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Set aside. 

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Add the cold butter cut into cubes and then use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour mixture until pea sized pieces form.  Pour in the blueberries and lemon zest. 

In a separate cup combine the cream and eggs and beat slightly to break up the eggs.  

Pour the cream/egg mixture into the flour mixture and use a fork to blend until it just comes together and is moist. 

Dump the dough onto a floured surface and using your hands, shape into a 6 inch square.  Cut the square in quarters using a floured knife.  Cut each 1/4 in half diagonally and place on the prepared cookie sheet. 

Coat the tops of the scones with some cream and then sprinkle with sugar and bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown. 

Transfer to wire wracks to cool. 

Bluebarb Pie

Blueberries and Rhubarb together? What a great idea!  I wish I'd thought of it. When I saw this recipe in Taste of Home magazine I knew I'd have to make it.  First of all my husband LOVES blueberries.  He's been asking me to make a blueberry pie for a long time so I was happy to see this one that had the little rhubarb twist to it.  Blueberry pie in it's own is very good obviously, but I wanted something beyond "good"; I wanted GREAT!

This recipe is very easy, I did use a different crust because I have tried one from The Pioneer Woman that I just love and use it because I know I already love it.  The filling is perfect; even my husband was impressed and even said (and I quote) "this might even be better then just regular blueberry pie".  That's a pretty big statement coming from him.

To make this crust you simply put the flour and shortening in a bowl and use a pastry cutter (or two forks) to work it until you get small pebble sized pieces.
Beat an egg with a fork and then add it to the flour mixture.
Add the cold water, vinegar and salt and stir until incorporated.  This makes three crusts.  I just put one in the freezer until I need it.

Recipe will be at the bottom of this post.

In a large bowl combine the sugar, tapioca and salt.

Mix in the berries and stir together until all the berries and rhubarb are coated.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell. Dot with butter.

After you put the top crust on, crimp the edges together and cut slits into the top.  Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did! I'll be making it again soon!

You can find the recipe for the crust here.

You can find the recipe for the filling here.

Crust:
1 1/2 C. Crisco shortening
3 C. all-purpose flour
1 whole egg
5 Tbsp cold water
1 Tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp salt

Put the flour and shortening in a bowl and use a pastry cutter to work together until pea sized pieces form.  Beat an egg in a separate bowl and then add to the mixture.  Add the remaining ingredients and mix until incorporated. 

Separate the dough into three even pieces.  Roll each segment into a ball, then flatten slightly.  You can either use right away or put each piece in a zip lock bag and freeze for later.

Filling:
1 1/2 C. Sugar
3 Tbsp quick cooking tapioca
1/4 tsp salt
4 cups sliced or frozen rhubarb - thawed. (I only had 2 cups frozen rhubarb)
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries - thawed (I used 4 cups of fresh berries)
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp. 2% milk (I used 1% and it was fine).
Course sugar or granulated sugar.

Pre heat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl combine the tapioca, sugar and salt. Mix in the berries and rhubarb and coat well.  Add to the prepared pie shell and dot with butter. Cover with another dough piece, crimp the edges and flute the edges.  Brush with milk and then sprinkle with sugar.

Cook for 40-45 minutes.  Put tin foil on the edges of the crust for the last 15 minutes if needed.

Cool on a wire rack before cutting.

Blueberry Raspberry Cobbler

Just in time for the 4th of July! This has the red and blue part covered, topped with some whipped cream or ice cream and you've got the white part covered.  I modified this recipe from a peach cobbler post I did last year. I just love the crumb topping!

First wash all the fruit, picking through it carefully to remove any leaves or stem, then mix it together in a large bowl. To this, add the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice and cornstarch.

Let the fruit sit for a few minutes and start working on the topping.  Add the flour, both sugars, baking powder, salt, and butter in a bowl and mix with a fork or a pastry cutter to get the butter combined well.  Next add the hot water and mix until just combined.

In a 9x9 inch dish pour the fruit, top with the dough mixture.  Try to spread the dough out as much as possible but it doesn't have to cover the entire surface.  Now sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the top of the dough mixture.

Let this sit for a little while after you remove from the oven.

Here's what you'll need:

4 C. Raspberries
2 C. Blueberries
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp cornstarch

Topping:
1 C. all-purpose flour
1/4 C. white sugar
1/4 C. brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 C boiling water

Sugar:
3 Tbsp white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine raspberries and blueberries with 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Toss to coat evenly, and pour into a 9x9 inch baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.

While the fruit bakes; in a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips, or a pastry cutter, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.

Remove the berries from the oven, and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Sprinkle entire cobbler with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake until topping is golden, about 30 minutes.

Lemon Blueberry Scones

I bought a bunch of lemons.  I'm telling you this because you will see this ingredient in a lot of recipes until I use them all up.  I hope you like lemons.

While searching for the perfect recipes for my lemon weakness I found the perfect one to start things off in these Lemon Blueberry Scones.  I hardly ever make scones.  I have no good reason for that, I really like them, they aren't complicated, they're yummy, and their pretty.  See? No reason why you shouldn't go whip some up right now.

I really enjoyed these and surprisingly, so did my daughter.  Really, I was shocked.  She does love blueberries though and the lemon flavor is only coming from the lemon zest so it's very mild. She calls them cookies....hey whatever helps her eat them.

Another plus to this recipe?  I got to use my brand new food processor.  Can you make these without a food processor?  Of course you can.  But it was really fun to see what mine could do.  I was impressed.  I think I'll keep it.

Add the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt and pulse briefly just to blend.

Cut the cold butter into cubes and toss them in, then cover each piece with flour.  Add the lemon zest too.

Pulse again until the mixture looks like coarse meal.  12 pulses were recommended, and that's what I did.

I used frozen blueberries, do not thaw if using frozen.  Otherwise use fresh.

Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and pour in the heavy cream.  Mix until just combined.

Pour the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until no longer sticky.  Try to do this quickly,  you do not what the heat in your hands to heat up the butter in the dough.  It needs to stay nice and cold in order to bake up tender and flaky.  Form into an 8 inch circle.

Cut the circle into 8 triangles.

Place the triangles onto your cookies sheet that has been covered with parchment paper.

If you choose do use the glaze, spread some heavy cream over the top of each triangle.

Sprinkle sugar on top.  Bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until the tops have begun to turn golden brown.

The inside is nice and moist while the sugar on top makes a nice sweet little coating to bite through.  The lemon flavor is very mild and goes beautifully with the blueberries.

Lemon Blueberry Scones
Recipe from Tracey's Culinary Adventures found here

Ingredients:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen, but not thawed)
1 cup heavy cream

Optional Glaze:
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar

Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse to combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Add the cubes of butter to the bowl and use your fingers (carefully) to coat the butter with the flour mixture and distribute it evenly. Add the lemon zest. Pulse until the mixture requires coarse meal (about 12 pulses) then transfer to a large bowl. Add the blueberries and gently toss to mix. Stir in the heavy cream with a rubber spatula or fork until the dough begins to come together, about 30 seconds.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter top and knead by hand just until it comes together in a rough, slightly sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds.

Gently press the ball of dough into an 8-inch circle. Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into 8 wedges and transfer them to the prepared baking sheet. If you want to glaze the scones, brush the tops with the cream and then sprinkle with the sugar.
Bake until the scones are light brown, about 12-15 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before serving.