Muffins, muffins, and flavor combinations

This Labor Day weekend is going by in a blur for me. We’ve been enjoying much cooler weather, and I took a little urban hike through the Mount Airy Forest on Saturday. Sunday I went to the movies and finally saw Avatar. Let me tell you, the 3D Imax really strained my eyes and that movie took up almost my whole day between driving to the suburbs and back. I know, first world problem. While I was out there, though, I stopped by Jungle Jim’s International Market and loaded up on all kinds of goodies.

The fun thing to report, though, is that I made two batches of muffins. First up, my favorite zucchini bread recipe from Vegan Brunch, zucchini spelt muffins. I remembered that I like having muffins around, so I decided to make some another recipe.

When I was getting ready to make the oat balls, I asked Alex what his favorite nut was, but I didn’t tell him I intended to make the balls. Not unexpectedly, he said pistachio – which I should have known already – but he carefully restricted his answer by asking why needed to know about his favorite nut. He said he wouldn’t want pistachios in blueberry muffins, for instance.

So, I made blueberry muffins with pistachios.

I might not have been so eager to try what I had been warned against, except I had recently seen several pairings of blueberry and pistachio over at Seitan is my Motor, including muffins. Not only did baking the pistachios give them a wonderful texture, but they were a great and colorful companion to the blueberries. I might have to see if I can find more good blueberries this late in the season and try another recipe.

Now Alex says he wants to combine two other unexpected favorites, Pad Thai and pizza. Any ideas?

Dessert! Blueberry crumble

Maybe I should have given more thought to naming my blog. I rarely make desserts. I don’t crave them. I enjoy a sweet treat every now and then, but I don’t go nuts for brownies or chocolates. My favorite dessert is a nut-laden oatmeal cookie.

Lately, the market has been overloaded with blueberries, and the farmers are just trying to sell their stock. I picked some up and went debated the merits of muffins over pancakes, but I decided to give the crumble a try. I’ve made something like this before with rhubarb (which was a bit tart for my taste) – but the crumble part of that dessert was delish.

To make this, I adapted and combined a bunch of recipes. I was looking for something that contained oats, walnuts, and sugar. My crumble was like a chewy granola bar, and the blueberry flavor really shined through. Here’s what I did:

Toss the blueberries with some orange juice, a little sugar, and some corn starch (this will help soak up some of the liquid ooze).

For the crumble, combine with your fingers or a fork

• 1/2 cup wheat flour
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 4 tablespoons cold Earth Balance
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon, or more to taste
• A pinch of salt

Crumble the crumble (get it?) over the berries. Bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes. Enjoy warm.

The crumble mix may seem a little dry, but when the berries bake their juices ’splode, so it’ll all turn out okay. Then again, I mentioned that I liked this because it was like a chewy granola bar, so you don’t have to take my word for it.

Turning on the oven for a summer treat with these fresh blueberries was well worth it.

The weather here has cooled down some (hence the oven recipes lately!), and two nights ago it was cool enough to open the windows. The cats loved this, and my tabby cat I’ve had for seven years was nice enough to share the window with one of our new cats. This is a big deal, folks. She’s been a mean old lady ever since I brought in the two kittens in March. Front and center: a Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan beer I found in the grocery store in Memphis.

Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes

I’m on vacation this week. The first part of this week I’m staying at home, and then I’m headed to Memphis, my hometown, to visit my family for the holiday weekend. I’m trying to think of foods I can make that we can all enjoy. Any suggestions? I think I’ll make a stir-fry and focus on dips and snacks for the holiday.

To kick off my week with no work, I made blueberry pancakes using the Arrowhead Mills buckwheat pancake mix. Except I didn’t read the directions and just added water instead of the ingredients it actually called for. I ended up with tasty, thin pancakes. My blueberries sat right on top and burst open when the hit the hot skillet. The pancake was just enough to hold them together. I liked the buckwheat and blueberry, though.

Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins

I had some blueberries I wanted to use and asked Alex whether he’d prefer I make pancakes or muffins. Secretly, I hoped he would say pancakes because I thought that was easiest. Maybe I should have just made pancakes for us, but I’m glad I didn’t! The muffins were just as easy, plus they make for better leftovers. I had another one this morning.

I used this recipe I found online and just substituted whole wheat flour, soymilk, and an Ener-G egg. Perfect! Now that I’ve made muffins twice in the past three weeks, I’m getting into a baking mood. I would be more excited if it weren’t coinciding with the summer heat.