Blueberry Muffins

Growing up, one of my favorite things in the world to eat was the blueberry muffins my mom would make, with - of course - wild Maine blueberries. If you have only eaten the larger-than-a-pea sized blueberry, you're missing out. Those are good, it is true, but they are just one variety of blueberry - high bush. The low bush ones, which crawl all over hillsides and mountain tops in Maine, are a bit harder to find. They may well grow in the midwest, but I haven't come across them. I can buy something called "Wild Blueberries" in the freezer section of Trader Joe's, and they were the right size and color, but didn't have the same flavor as those I grew up with - but, I digress.

In honor of the long weekend - and of Independence Day, I suppose - I made myself some blueberry muffins on Sunday. I used the Trader Joe's berries, because that's what I had available. Hot out of the oven, split in half with butter melting into the insides... well, that's nearly heaven.

Blueberry Muffins, as made by Mom

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup fresh blueberries - or 3/4 cup frozen blueberries

Beat the egg, stir in the liquids. Mix in remaining ingredients until the flour is moist. Lumpy batter is fine. Bake in greased muffin tin (I prefer the larger muffins, 6 to a tin - I think the liners are called "Texas cupcake liners" or something like that). Bake 15-20 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

(When I don't have blueberries around, I often bake them with jam in the middle.... or mix in 1/2 tsp of almond flavoring and 3/4 cup of dried cranberries! You can also make them with chopped up apples and some cinnamon, or really whatever you think might taste delicious.)

A food filled trip to Maine!

Well, Sarah and I had a great vacation! She drove to Chicago, while I flew, and then together we drove to Maine, with stops in Ohio for a wedding, Pennsylvania to visit a friend and Connecticut for a family pig roast. What a crazy drive! We explored Columbus by car (fascinating city!), discovered a great pizza place in charming Cambridge, OH and learned of the beauty of northern West Virginia and western Pennsylvania. Did you know that you have to drive through West Virginia to get from Ohio to Pennsylvania? Neither did we! As you can see, we were welcomed by many a state!

Anyway. There are two things I love to eat in Maine.

Lobsters and blueberries. Stereotypical I know, but hey. There's a reason we're known for them, they're both delicious and bountiful! So. Lobster we ate. Lot's of it! We had lobster rolls (exactly what they sound like. It's essentially a toasted hot dog bun with the meat from an entire lobster, if not more, piled on top. If you want, they'll give you a side of mayo to do as you wish), lobster salad, plain old delicious steamed whole lobsters, and more lobster rolls. Delicious. delicious, delicious!

As for the blueberries. Ohhh did we eat blueberries. I was initially a bit worried about the blueberry prospects. Maine has had the rainiest, stormiest, wettest summer ever. There has been very little sun, and my dad warned me that it wasn't a great blueberry season. When I went out to my favorite spot in our blueberry field, I found maybe 10 blueberries. And it's not like there were a million little ones, just 10 that were ripe, there were maybe 15 more on their way. Oy! I was devestated. But then we hiked. We climbed to the top of Bald Mountain (a favorite local mountain) and boy oh boy oh boy! Blueberries galore! What little sun they'd had must have warmed up the rocks and warmed up the blueberries, or something. Or perhaps because the blueberries were growing on crevices in rock, the rain drained well. I don't know, but the blueberries were great, I was picking them by the handful, and they were so tasty! Later on, Sarah and I went to a field that always has blueberries, and the blueberries there were a lot better too. Not like on top of Bald Mt, but certainly good enough that Sarah and I managed to pick 4 or 5 cups...enough to make (drumroll please....) BLUEBERRY COBBLER!!!

Hooray! I was perusing the cookbooks in the kitchen and lo and behold a teathered and worn index card with a recipe for blueberry cobbler, in my sisters handwriting, fell out of one of the cookbooks. Excellent! The only problem? It was pretty vague. No mention of how many berries the recipe was for, or what size dish, not much at all. But. We tried it out, determined that perhaps half the amount of berries would have been better for the amount of topping, but who wants half the berries? Not I! So. Here follows the recipe for an 8" x 8", 4 cups of blueberries, blueberry cobbler!

Crust: 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 1/2 t baking powder, 1 1/2 t salt, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup butter. Filling: 3/4 cup sugar, 3 t corn starch, 1/2 t cinnamon, 1/4 t nutmeg. Directions: Stir filling mixture with approx 4 cups of blueberries, and pour into an ungreased 8" x 8" pan. Stir together crust ingredients and spoon over berry mixture. Try to spread evenly, but precision isn't a huge deal, it's going to be delicous no matter what! Cook at 375 degrees for 25-35 minutes, or until crust looks cooked through but still soft. Let cool. Honestly. The berries will be VERY hot, and the juices need time to firm up a bit. So. Be patient, let cool for a bit, and then....enjoy!!!