Tag: Food

What happened to summer?

Having September open up like the summer we had been waiting for was odd, in itself.  Temperatures in the mid to upper 60’s was the best we’d had for the summer of 2010 and we were thrilled to be fishing for silver salmon in our shirt sleeves.   A bumper crop of salmonberries was the bonus for them being almost  a month late.  And we were fooled into thinking the blueberries would be just as late, but they were already ripe before the salmonberries were done.  And so were the mossberries and so were the cranberries.  And then the weather started turning, like hitting fast-forward while watching a movie.

My mamma picking berries surrounded by the changing colors of the tundra.

Now, mind you, I am not complaining about the weather!  That is against the values of the Unangax^.  I am just disconcerted with the unpredictability of our weather over the last several years.  I guess I have become complacent over the last 30 years, or so, in knowing what to expect and when to expect it.  I am all for a good storm.  I never sleep better than when the wind is blowing at least 50 miles per hour.  I just was taken unawares by the termination dust in September and the north wind sneaking into my berry patches.

The most simple blueberry recipe.

Ever feel like having something homemade, but are too tired to bake?  Well, this recipe is one of the easiest, fastest recipes I  have ever used.  It actually comes from my husband, who gets a wild hair occasionally, and decides he needs to bake something.  He always seems to be on the lookout for something unusual, but in this case, he found down-to-earth basic.  He got the recipe from a blogger named Jennifer Cisney, who got it from her mom, who got it from her mom.  It is actually called a pudding – I think because it is suggested that it is good warm, with milk poured over it, but it is definitely a coffee-type cake.   

Blueberry Pudding??

The original recipe gives no directions, so I have changed it a bit – not the amounts, or ingredients, but the order of ingredients, with some added directions.

Butter the size of an egg

1 Cup sugar

1 Egg

1/2 Cup milk

1 and 3/4 Cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 Pint Unalaska blueberries (of course, you can use any kind of blueberries)

Cream butter and sugar.  (I do this by hand – it only takes a couple of seconds.)  Add egg and incorporate well.  Add milk in about 4 increments.  In a separate bowl, mix flour and baking powder.  Add to wet ingredients and mix until all dry ingredients are incorporated.  Fold in blueberries.  Pour into 8×8 pan (spray with non-stick spray, or butter and flour your pan) and bake for 35 minutes at 375 degrees F.  If you are using frozen blueberries, an additional 10 minutes should be added to the cook time.  (That is, if the blueberries are still frozen when you throw them in the batter!)  Test the center of the cake to see if it is done.

You can eat this right when it comes out of the oven, steaming.  Just be careful not to burn your tongue on the smoking blueberries.  It is great with coffee in the morning.  If you like a sweeter cake, you can add a struesel topping or simply sprinkle the top with cinnamon sugar.  I like it just as it is – the perfect amount of sweet for our tart Unalaska blueberries.  Yummy!