Ode to Summer

I loved summer when I was growing up.  Looking forward to helping my grandparents harvest all the vegetables we had planted in the spring, then, helping my Mom with canning tomatoes, string beans, relishes, chutneys, etc., and freezing the last of the blueberries knowing we'd continue to enjoy this harvest through the fall and winter.   I remember once when Erin and Kelly were helping in the garden to pick the last of the tomatoes and they came across a rotten tomato.  They decided any of the "past" tomatoes they found would be fun to toss at each other.  With each splat, the giggles became louder, especially when they hit me on the leg with one.  It may not have been the most productive harvest, but it was the most fun!

I thought about these last blueberries I had gotten at the farmer's market and decided to do a muffin, unique in flavor and giving me that final ode to summer as they did with baking with my Mom before autumn is truly upon us.

Finally, in between the rainy, overcast weather, wandering around my garden, I noticed the changes that have occurred just in the past week.  My beautiful hydrangeas have "aged" and started to dry on the bushes, but it's this combination of colors that today, I find so appealing.   I decided to do some pruning and use these blossoms to create a wreath to enjoy through the fall, just like I would do with preserving the fruits and vegetables with Mom.

Blueberry~Maple Muffins
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 cup granulated sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3 eggs
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups fresh (or frozen) blueberries
1/2 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup Maple Flav-R-Bites

Preheat oven 375F-degrees.  Brush the Popover pan cups with melted butter and set aside.
In a large bowl, measure your flours, sugar, baking powder and salt and stir to combine.  Add the Maple Flav-R-Bites and dried blueberries and stir well.  In a 2-cup glass measure, add the milk and eggs, and vanilla, then whisk to combine.  Make a "well" in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients, including the melted butter.  Fold and stir to combine.  Finally, add the fresh blueberries to the batter.  

Scoop the batter into the prepared popover pan. 

Bake 18-20 minutes until golden brown.  Cool 15 minutes in the pan before turning out to cool completely.  Using this popover pan, it made 10 large muffins.  The addition of the maple Flav-R-Bites is optional, but I can tell you, these taste like you're eating blueberry pancakes!


I had a surprising package from a friend in the UK a few weeks ago.  So, when the muffin was ready, I steeped some English Tea and imagined I was expecting Denise to join me for this last of the summer berries.  

Close your eyes...it's unbelievable what the mind can imagine.  Enjoy!