Thursday, July 23, 2015

Not only do we have a lot of blackberries around here, but we also have (had) a lot of blueberries.  We've made gobs of blueberry muffins this summer and I needed a twist of something new. 

I added some orange juice and zest to our most recent batch and love how it turned out.  It was just the right amount of something different.  I was considering even doing an orange glaze on the top - I love anything with a glaze, but opted for a crunchy sugar sprinkling instead. 

I also baked these a little longer than I normally do because I had a craving for a browned sugar top.  Don't ever underestimate the power of texture when it comes to food.  Yum! 

A morning baking at the baking counter - I really do love having a big separate area to spread out on. 

This is the morning we went blue berry picking with our friends.  Sweet Emma. 

I think she tried a green one ; )

Blueberry Orange Muffins

1¾ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cups granulated sugar

2¼ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup milk

4 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 large egg

1 orange, zested and juiced

6 oz.  fresh blueberries

....

coarse sanding sugar*

For the muffin batter, stir together flour sugar baking powder, soda and salt in a large bowl.  Add melted butter, eggs, orange juice, zest and milk and stir just until combined.  Fold in blueberries.  With an ice cream scoop, scoop batter into a muffin tin lined with papers. 

Top generously with coarse sanding sugar. 

Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes. 

I sprinkled generously with sanding sugar before baking. 

I don't have any in-stock in the store right now, but they will be restocked soon. 

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Not only are there so many items on sale, but now I'm offering 20% off all orders over $50.  This sale includes some of my favorite items that have just been restocked like the Kitchen Brush Set, Laundry & Bathroom Bottles and the Classic Platters Collection.  Just yesterday, I restocked all of the Tablet + Le Pens - sorry it took so long for all of you that have emailed me : ) It is the perfect essential to get you organized for fall. 

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

As I mentioned last week, we have a prolific amount of blackberries due to my Dad's blackberry patch.  After making several Blackberry Cobblers, we still didn't seem to make a dent in the berries. 

Sometimes in the middle of summer bounty, you can almost forget the bleakness of winter that is just 6 months away.  Our Granny used to always put up peaches in the summer and get them out on Christmas morning.  They were always a little frozen and slushy, and delicious on Christmas morning.  A little breath of summer. 

The thought of bottling a little bit of our carefree summer in the form of Blackberry preserves gave Emma and me a little motivation after school last week.  I can't wait to get these out to top our biscuits for a snuggly fire-side breakfast this winter. 

While I did consults some recipes, truth-be-told, I have no idea how much sugar is in our preserves. 

That's what happens when I'm behind the camera and Emma is in charge. 

I was shocked to find out how much sugar other recipes sited - ours was not nearly as sugar heavy.  I wanted it to taste like fresh blackberries, not sugared jelly. 

I think it was a little something like this :

6 cups of Blackberries

1 1/2 - 2 cups of sugar

juice of 1 lemon

Put it in a big saucepan and cook for maybe 30 minutes. 

As I said, I wanted to preserve the taste of a fresh summer blackberry, so I didn't mash or smash or attempt to remove the seeds.  Not only will they be more of the essence of a real summer berry, it was much easier.  Much easier. 

While the berries continued to simmer and thicken (cooking for almost 1 hour on low heat), I sterilized the jars in water for 5 minutes.  Just make sure the water is simmering. 

I removed the jars with tongs and put them on a pan for filling.  Make sure jars are still hot when spooning in hot jam so the jars don't break. 

I found that ladaling the mixture into a pouring measuring cup made filling very easy. 

Our recipe made 5 jars. 

I sealed the jars by submerging them in simmering water for 10 minutes and watching until there were no more bubbles coming out.  For detailed canning instructions, try here. 

Of course I needed some cute labels for our jars.  I used the 2.5" Printable Circle Labels from my store.  They come as 6 sheets of 12 for $5.  I love having them around to make homemade goodies look great. 

Monday, July 20, 2015

Good food is really so simple.  In the thick of tomato season, every restaurant, bistro and cafe in America is featuring a tomato salad or appetizer of some sort (if they're smart!).  However, so many times when I order out and about, I'm disappointed.  Sometimes there is an infused vinaigrette dousing the tomatoes, or the bread isn't toasted, or the tomatoes are not good and flavorful.  The worst is when there are two thin tiny slivers of tomato and the tiniest bit of mozzarella.  Ugh.  Bounty, folks!  It is summer, I want a huge, huge tomato salad. Keeping it simple is the key.  And big and bountiful.  Delicious summer tomatoes rarely need anything but a little sea salt and olive oil.  While this is hardly a complex recipe, there are a few key details that shouldn't be skipped or (worse) embellished.  If you come to our house July - August, you will likely be confronted by this platter with a glass of rose before dinner, or as a side dish with steaks, shrimp, fish, etc.  It is also so lovely to take to a party - beautiful and goes with almost any summer menu. 

We'll start with the Grilled Toast.  I love grilled bread with tomatoes.  Something about the slight char bitterness and crunch with the silky sweet tomatoes that is so divine.  You can also toast/broil in the oven for a couple of minutes to achieve the same browning.  I like to only toast one side so the other side stays soft.  After you grill or broil for about 2 minutes, remove from heat at rub all over with a garlic clove immediately.  The heat from the toast take the slightest bite out of the garlic. 

I slice the baguette into very thin pieces - maybe 1/4 inch.  Any thicker then it will be hard to bite into when topped with tomato. 

If you don't have an oil bottle with a pour spout, get one.  I missed mine so much - I didn't realize how much a relied on it for quickly drizzling oil over bread, veggies, everything. 

I place mine on a baking sheet ready to go out to the grill, or go into the oven. 

I usually slice the garlic clove in half - 1 clove will work for an entire loaf. 

It is easy to make this appetizer look beautiful - the tomatoes do all of the work for you.  I really like them all lined up.  It is modern and clean, but very bountiful, too.  I like to do a couple of big bunches of basil leaves instead of chopped.  Mike is not a big fan of basil, so this makes it easy for him to avoid and others to pick whole leaves. 

This is the Classic Service Tray in my store with a Pewter Finish.  It is the perfect size for an appetizer platter. 

Just before serving, I drizzle olive oil and sprinkle sea salt and pepper - generously. 

So simple and such a treat in the summertime.  Seriously, with a steak and ear of sweet corn, why would you make anything else for dinner?