Sunday, August 8, 2010

Blueberry Cobbler

This is a new recipe for me. It comes straight from Pioneer Woman Cooks, with no changes, except that I baked it for 50 minutes instead of 1 hour. Oh, and I used blueberries instead of blackberries. My pan may be shallower than the one she used, but it smelled done, so I took it out of the oven. It is also a new baking pan, a birthday gift from OSLO. Isn't it pretty? I am taking it to a neighborhood gathering of about 12 people tonight -- the couple who live next door to Lynne have sold their house and are moving. I am also taking wild rice, with bacon,mushrooms, onions and celery. I have no photos of that.
I am also taking a can of spray whipped cream, about a dozen plastic forks, and small paper plates, just in case she runs out of plates. The menu includes grilled salmon, shrimp, flank steak, potato salad and fruit, and I am sure some other goodies. I think someone mentioned a green salad, too.
I think my oven needs to be leveled. And cleaned. Though I did run it through the self clean cycle a while back, but I didn't wipe out all of the ash afterwards. Lazy. Anyway, the cobbler looks and smells quite good, and I think it would even be good with Elliots, as it has a cup of sugar in it. If it passes tonight's taste test, I'll make some more the next time I get company.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Blueberry, Oatmeal, Banana 'Quick' Bread

The finished product. Hot out of the oven. (55-60 minutes at 350 degrees.) I'm sorry, Emily, if this comes too late to help you out with your extra Traverse City blueberries. It is good bread, though. Worth buying more blueberries for if you're in a mood to bake something.
I have some very ripe, soft blueberries on hand. Blueberries do have a pretty long shelf life if refrigerated, but the softness of these bothers me a bit. So today I used a cup of them to make some blueberry, oatmeal, banana bread. The bread freezes well, and also keeps well in the refrigerator for quite a while.
This (medium) bowl has 1 5/8 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of regular cooking oatmeal, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1 cup of blueberries in it.
This (small) bowl has about 3 mashed bananas in it -- less the part of a banana that I ate. About 1 cup.
This (large) bowl has 1 stick of margarine, 1 cup of white sugar and 2 eggs, beaten together. Add the bananas to this and beat, then fold in the dry ingredients. You could add a half cup of chopped nuts, too, if you like nuts in your bread. Put the batter in a greased bread pan, and bake it until it is done.
Cool the bread in the pan on a rack for about 10 minutes, or however long it takes to put up a blog post about it, then remove the bread from the pan and let it cool completely before storing it in the refrigerator or freezer. Or eating it.