Blueberry Nirvana

I looked up the definition of the word "nirvana" today and here's what it said:

"A transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self...."

It sort of ended after the word "self" - but I got the gist.

Yeah, I'd have to say that I experienced a little "loss of consciousness" when I ate this cobbler.  I was lost in a world of blueberry-ish-iousness.   There was absolutely no suffering (regardless of what my hips said), and I certainly had no sense of self (or I may not have eaten as much as I did).

But, no matter, I was just as content and satisfied as if I had eaten the "fanciest pants" of desserts!  It was gooey, yet crispy, yet, chewy, and golden and purple, and....let's just get to it, shall we?

It's another one of those oh-so-simple-but-oh-so-good recipes.  I first had this cobbler when my aunt brought it over with peaches peeking out of the crust.  I'm tellin' ya, it's all about that crust!  Everyone has their favorite type of cobbler crust.  There's the crispy "pie crust" type, and there's the tender biscuit-crumb style that my mother just can't stand.  Must be the Libra in me, because I like it somewhere in the middle and this recipe is my new standard to which all crusts must now aspire to be!

Oh, yes, let's get to it...again.  (one last interjection...recipe to follow)

Here we are, the usual suspects in any good cobbler line-up

Mix your dry ingredients and then add the beaten egg for a  little "egg art".

Mix it all up and it transforms in to pre-crust goodness!

Sprinkle your crumble over the blueberries and prepare 

thyself for a wee bit of magic!

Welcome to Blueberry Nirvana.  You may now take your cobbler and transcend 

 about the cabin with no sense of suffering, desire, or self.

You wanna see that again?  Well, if you insist.

Blueberries are just so photogenic and sweetly accommodating, aren't they?  

Now, you must go forth and share the nirvana.

Blueberry Crumble

4 cups of blueberries 

1 T cornstarch

1/2 cup sugar

1 t lemon juice

1 t lemon zest

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

1 beaten egg

1/2 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a medium bowl, toss blueberries with cornstarch, sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest.  Pour into 8x8  ovenproof dish.  In another medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt.  Stir in beaten egg until dough forms crumbles.  Sprinkle over blueberries.  Pour melted butter evenly over topping.  (it'll seem like it isn't soaking in, but it will.  Have faith!    Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

Note:  I used a little less sugar and a little less butter. 

Solar Cooking

What do you get when you add a heat wave to the end of the summer and a mom that's scraping the bottom of the barrel of fun but educational things to do with her daughter on the cheap?

You get SOLAR COOKING!  

I searched the net for the best (and easiest and cheapest) way to create a solar cooker.  The one I chose was...wait for it...the dashboard reflector solar cooker.  I know, I know, I couldn't believe it either.  Apparently, you buy one of those silvery screens that go in the dash of your car, twist it into a cone shape and voila!  Instant solar cooker!

I found a lot of sites for solar cooking recipes, but here's the one (click here) I settled on.   We tried the beer bread, which was great!  The process, uh, it went pretty well, for the most part.

 Here's what you'll need: some flour, salt, baking soda, beer, a bowl and a oiled loaf pan.  

You'll also need a sun reflector, a large black pot with a lid, and a thermometer 

wouldn't hurt to know how hot your "oven" is.

 Mix everything together in a big bowl.

 We decided to kick things up a bit and add a little cheese in and on top of the batter.  

This particular cheese is called "buffalo wing" cheese.  It's essentially a Monteray

Jack" with spices - but no heat.  

(We are in Wisconsin after all...  

I think it's in some statute book somewhere that as a resident you are expected 

to at least attempt adding cheese to everything.)

  I grab my extra-large canner that's been "preheating" with the oven thermometer,  place the bread inside, and pop a lid on it.  The canner is sitting inside sun reflector that I've circled up.  Right now it's a little over 200 degrees.   

After you've sealed it up, it needs at least 2-3 hours to bake in direct sunlight.

(I'll interject here that getting that thing into a cone shape was not as easy as it sounds.  It took me about 30 minutes of absolutely intense wrangling!  Halfway through it was more a "I will not be defeated by a piece of mylar" expedition.  I nearly lost the battle.  No lie.  Thankfully, there's no photographic evidence of me wrestling with an inanimate object.)

 

Here's our finished bread.  Beautiful, huh?  Well, I have to be honest here.  We put it out at noon, and didn't take it in till 4pm.  The picture you don't see is me putting it in the traditional oven and browning the bread.  So - it worked, but didn't.  But very educational and at the end of the day, we had some bread that was delicious and cheesy!  

The bread sliced just fine after it cooled, but I have hard time waiting for that. 

Next time, I think I'll try to wrangle my reflector so that it aims more of the sunlight into the pot.  I'm not sure it was able to be very efficient because it wasn't a true cone-shape.  It was more a walled circle.  

We still had lots of fun and certainly learned a lot. I think we'll try it again and might even attempt to  build the box solar cooker.

Have you tried solar cooking? 

I'd love to hear your tips, suggestions, successes and successful failures!

WOODSTOCK!

Each year some friends of ours throw their annual backyard version of "Woodstock".  Conveniently, their last name just happens to be "Wood".  I'm saying that just to clarify that it's not exactly within the same perimeters as the ever-popular 1960s version.  Oh, there's great people, really great food, and fantastic music.  But we're more...er, huh, what you would say only high on LIFE.

Anywho, our gracious hosts provide the main meal and the guests bring everything else - a potluck of sorts.  Since what I brought last year worked out so well (nothing left over), I figured, why reinvent the wheel?  So I was a repeat offender and took the same dishes:  Corn relish and pineapple ice box pie.  mmmmm, delish!
Recipes to follow.

Just looks like summer!  Fresh from the garden!

After you've chopped all the veggies, time to make the dressing...

A little vinegar, a little sugar, a little oil.

Stir, chill, serve. 

And of course, the easiest icebox pie ever!  This is my go-to when I have no time to spare.  It is such a great hot summer's day treat.  Not too heavy, not too sweet.

Essentially, here's what you'll need.  Apparently the thought of making this put my brain on a little vaca and I forgot to take a picture of the ingredients added to the bowl - See the white peaks of sour cream popping out of the bowl?  Whoops! 

Don't mind if I do...

I love making an extra-thick graham cracker crust for any cream pie.  

Ready for the recipes?


Corn Relish

1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup veggie oil
3 cups cooked corn (fresh is best, but frozen is okay)
1 cup chopped tomato
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
salt and celery seed to taste

Combine the sugar, vinegar and oil in a small bowl.  Set aside.  Combine all other ingredients in a large bowl and pour over sugar mixture.  Chill at least 2 hours and serve.

This is so good on its own as a side, but most folks scooped it up with scooper corn chips like a salsa.  Whatever works!!



Pineapple Icebox Pie

1 small box instant vanilla pudding mix (used dry)
1 8 oz. can of crushed pineapple, with the juice
2 cups sour cream
1 prepared graham cracker crust (store-bought or homemade)

Combine dry pudding mix, crushed pineapple with juice, and sour cream in a large bowl.  Mix well, ensuring all pudding mix is incorporated.  Pour into graham cracker crust and chill at least 1 hour.  Prepare to be hailed a rockstar!

How it all came to be.

When was the last time I skipped?  Heaven knows!  But isn't that the point?  Somewhere along the way some of us stopped skipping.  It's more like we run in an effervescent, "big bear chase me" sort of way.      The calendar beats us into submission constantly.  Eventually, somethings gotta give.  

Can a skip be delicious?  I don't know, but it sounds good - so we're going to roll with it.

Consider that none of us are grown-ups....we're more like "growing ups", a constant work in progress.  When we think we've "arrived" for lack of a better word, we get way too serious and forget to enjoy the journey that all those self-help books are always talking about.  Even the most delicious wines take a little time, so while we're aging, why not not make the most of it?  Slow down, make a few new friends, reacquaint with the family and just skip a while.  Make sure your finger is pointed at the right definition now - don't skip over anything - just give your otherwise dreary walk a little energy, a bit of a lift, and an intentional pause.  I need this reminder. 

Yes, of course all at the same time.  We are master multi-taskers.  We are ninjas.