Blueberry Orange Muffins

This is one of my favorite muffin recipes. With a hint of orange and some warmth from nutmeg and cardamom, it's a perfect weekend morning treat. The addition of apple sauce cuts down on the oil, too. I love to sprinkle some coarse sugar on top before baking them to make the tops crunchy and sweet.

3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
5 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 orange (you need the zest, then cut it in 1/2 and juice it to have approximately 3 Tbsp juice)
1 1/2 cups fresh/frozen blueberries
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
3/4 cup skim milk

Pre-heat oven to 400 F.

Combine the sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, cardamom, nutmeg, and orange zest in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, applesauce, orange juice, and skim milk. Pour into the flour mixture and stir gently until just barely combined. Fold in blueberries. Divide batter among paper lined muffin cups. It will feel like you are filling them too full, but it's okay. They rise up nicely!



Bake 22-25 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then transfer to rack to cool.

Slather with some butter and devour them warm.

Makes 12

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Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

With the bumper crop of blueberries we had this summer, I have a whole bunch in my freezer to make pancakes with! Yum! Faced with a bunch of blueberries and little else in the fridge to make dinner one night, I scoured the Internets for a recipe and found this on Food Network Canada, by the Cook Works.

2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Turn your oven on to the lowest temperature possible. For me, that's 175 F.

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, butter milk and butter together. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir until blended. Don't stir them too much, because then your pancakes will be flat and tough. It will be a bit lumpy, but that's okay!

I have this big skillet to cook my pancakes on, and I love it. I brush it with oil and then turn it on. When it's good and hot, pour the batter on in however big you like your pancakes. Some people like them huge, some prefer small. I like mine on the smallish side. Dot the top of each pancake with some blueberries. I had never done it that way before, but this works so much better than folding them into the batter.


Allow the pancakes to cook until you see the edges beginning to set and bubble, then turn over and cook for another 2-3 minutes on the other side. Remove to a cookie sheet in a single layer and place in your warm-ish oven.

Makes 12 medium sized pancakes. We loved them slathered with butter and maple syrup, with some turkey sausages on the side.

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All-Purpose Spaghetti Sauce

Having a teenager in the house means that I've always got to have something available that is quick and filling. Every once in awhile make a batch of this, freeze it in single serving sized containers, and when Kevin is hungry he can just boil some pasta and heat up the sauce.

The original recipe is from Anne Lindsay's The New Lighthearted Cookbook. I made a few changes, mainly adding some more veggies and switching the 28 oz can of diced tomatoes to crushed tomatoes. Using diced tomatoes made the sauce somewhat watery, which is my biggest pet peeve with home made pasta sauces. Feel free to play with the recipe a little bit, adding fresh herbs, your favorite vegetables, or interesting things like sun dried tomatoes and sausage instead of beef.

1 lb lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 sweet red pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (5 1/2 oz) tomato paste
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes or a bottle of passata (if you use passata you won't need the tomato paste)
1 tsp honey
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp salt and pepper

In a pan, saute the ground beef with the onion, celery, red pepper and garlic until the veggies are soft and the meat is no longer pink. Add all the other ingredients and bring to a bubble, then turn the heat to medium low and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Yep, that's it! Easy, huh?

Makes 6 cups of sauce

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Orange Chocolate Brownie Cookies With M&Ms

When I saw this recipe over at the Crepes of Wrath, I just couldn't pass it by. How could I? Dark chocolate cookies with a hint of orange, dotted with dark chocolate  M&Ms?

Oh, MY.

If you aren't following Crepes of Wrath on Twitter, or at least subscribed to the blog, go do it now. Really. Sydney is by far the most talented 20 year old cook that I know, and Jake adores every recipe I have found on her blog.

These cookies were amazing! The only change that I made was to bump up the hit of orange flavor with some orange extract. Make sure you really pay attention to the baking time. This is a case where you don't follow my usual rule of waiting until the cookies are set on top, because they continue to bake once you remove them. The tops will be squishy but set up as they sit for a bit.

If you don't like orange and chocolate, just omit the orange peel and use vanilla extract.

2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter (melt it and let it cool a bit)
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp pure orange extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 cup M&Ms (personally, I like dark chocolate best)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

For the first time ever, I lined my cookie sheets with parchment paper. I used to scoff at people who did this, but seriously-it was great! The cookies just came right off, I didn't have to really wash them after, and it was fantastic!

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl and set aside.

In a different bowl, stir together the melted butter and sugars. Whisk in the eggs, stirring them in one at a time, then add the vanilla, orange extract, and orange zest.

Pour the butter/egg mixture into the flour mixture, and stir with a wooden spoon just until no streaks of flour remain. Don't over mix. Fold in the M&Ms.

With your hands, roll the dough into approx. 1 inch balls. Don't be afraid to make sure they have lots of candy in them-about 5 is good. Put them on the cookie sheets, leaving about 2-3 inches between them. They will spread out. Push the balls of dough down slightly with the palm of your hand to flatten a bit.

Bake for about 9-11 minutes, watching carefully. The cookies will set at the edges and the tops will become cracked looking, like brownies. They won't appear baked, because the tops will be squishy, but they will set up nicely after you remove them from the oven.

Remove from the oven and allow to sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before you remove them to a cooling rack.
Store in an airtight container.

Makes 30-35 cookies.

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Andrea's No Fail Tortilla Pitas

Awhile ago Andrea at A Peek Inside the Fishbowl posted about these, and I could resist trying them. Paired with some greek-ish marinated chicken and a cucumber yogurt salad, they were amazing. I then tried them the next week in this recipe, and again, they were delicious. Jake loves them so much he's asked me to make a bunch and stash them in the freezer, ready to pop into his lunches to dip into soups or hummus.

If you are looking for a way to save some money on groceries, and don't mind whipping up a batch of you own flatbread, then this is perfect for you. The ingredients are few, and I even happened to have them all just sitting around in my cupboard. I used all purpose flour because I didn't have any bread flour on hand, although I'd love to try them with the bread flour as well and see if there's a difference.

You could put some spices or herbs in them as well, such as basil, oregano, or Italian seasoning.

2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 cup warm water (105° to 115°F)

Put a baking stone or inverted (upside down!) baking sheet in the oven and pre-heat to 450 F.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl or with an electric mixer until they come together and form a dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured counter and knead until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 minutes.

Pinch off into 8 pieces, and roll each into a ball. Allow to rest for 20 minutes covered with a clean tea towel.

Roll balls out into circles about 6-8 inches in diameter, about 1/8 inch thick. Like Andrea said, don't worry if you can't get it perfect! Place on the hot stone or cookie sheet and bake, watching carefully. Andrea baked hers for 3 minutes per side, I might just bake mine for two. It's hard to tell. Don't leave the stove! Just stand and watch them carefully. I flipped mine over and baked both sides until they were a nice golden brown.

Remove them to a cooling rack and top however you wish, or rip them apart right then and there and greedily snarf them down while they're still warm.

Makes eight.

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Chicken Stew and Cornmeal Buttermilk Dumplings

If you have a hankering for chicken stew but don't have hours to make it, this quick recipe is just perfect for you! Dumplings can be made with the stew or you can omit them altogether, and if you want to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs that's okay too. Stew is fairly easy to make and freezes or heats up well. You can even put some in a thermos and tuck into a lunch.

Adapted from Canadian Living


3 lb chicken (1.5 kg)-cut up...ask your grocer to do this for you
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp salt and pepper
1/4 tsp marjoram
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
3 tbsp flour

Dumplings
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
2 Tbsp cold butter, cubed
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (I forgot this, and they were still amazing)

In a shallow Dutch oven, heat a bit of oil and saute the carrots, celery, onion and garlic until onion is soft. Add 1 1/2 cups water, broth, bay leaves, thyme, salt, pepper, and marjoram. Bring to a boil. Add the chicken and reduce the heat; cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes.

Add the potatoes; cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Whisk flour with 1/3 cup cold water, and stir into the broth mixture.

At this point, I often like to fish out all the chicken pieces onto a plate and pick off all the yummy meaty bits, shredding them into more bite sized pieces, and then dumping them back into the stew. This keeps me from having to deal with the bones and stuff while I'm eating, and I prefer it that way.

Meanwhile, make the dumplings. In medium bowl, whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Stir in the buttermilk and parsley to make a sticky dough.

Drop by 8 spoonfuls onto the simmering stew and cook, covered and without lifting the pan, for 15 minutes or until the dumplings are no longer doughy and the chicken is no longer pink when pierced. Remove the bay leaves and serve the stew with a green tossed salad.

Serves 4

Ps...Leftovers are divine, and just the thing on a cold, blustery day.

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Orange Poppy Seed Muffins

Muffins are a cheap, healthy alternative to bought granola bars for school lunches. I had been wanting to try these ones for awhile, and only recently got around to it. They are very mild, with little sugar. I think that if I make them again I would switch orange extract for the vanilla to enhance the orange flavor. The glaze ads a nice, sweet, touch.

This recipe is from Canadian Living April 2005

2 1/4 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1 tbsp orange rind
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Glaze:
2 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp orange juice

Pre-heat your oven to 375 F.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt with a whisk. Set aside.

In a different bowl, whisk together the yogurt, orange rind, orange juice, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla. Pour over the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Spoon into paper lined muffin cups and bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a rack. Combine the glaze ingredients in a bowl and brush over the warm muffins. Let cool.

Makes 12.

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Blueberry Jam

With a bumper crop of blueberries in Richmond this season, it's been easy to get them for a fairly decent price. Usually I don't buy a flat of blueberries, but this year I couldn't resist.

Without enough space in my fridge to just keep adding blueberries, I did what any other canning woman would do-I made jam! I'd forgotten how delicious blueberry jam is. This recipe is straight out of the box of Liquid Certo and yes, it has a lot of sugar. If you would prefer one that is lighter, I did find this recipe on Canadian Living's website. It uses Certo Light instead and 1/3 of the sugar of my recipe. I haven't tried it though so I don't know how it tastes.

4 1/2 cups (about 2 lbs) of blueberries, crushed (so much easier if you pop them in a food processor and give them a whirl. Honest!)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
7 cups of sugar
2 packets of Liquid Certo

Measure the blueberries, lemon juice, and sugar into a large pot. Over medium heat, stir and bring to a boil.

Boil the mixture hard for a full minute, then remove from the heat and stir in both packets of Liquid Certo. Continue to stir for 5 minutes, while the jam cools. Ladle into hot sterilized jars, wipe the rims, and top with prepared Snap Lids, then rings until finger tip tight.

Process in a boiling water canner for 5 minutes. Makes about 5 jars (four 500 ml and one 250 ml).

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Apricot Vanilla Jam

This cooked jam has a vanilla bean added, which gives it a deliciously sinful, smooth flavor! Don't worry about the black specks, that's just the vanilla. The original recipe is from inside my packet of Liquid Certo. The idea of adding the vanilla bean is however, all mine.

3 cups of fresh apricots (about 2 lbs); pit, cut into quarters, then chop in food processor.
1/4 cup lemon juice
7 cups sugar
1 pouch liquid Certo
1 vanilla bean

Put the apricots, mango, lemon juice, and sugar in a really large pot. Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise, then using a spoon, scrape out the seeds and stir into the sugar/apricot mixture. Put the remaining pods into the mixture as well. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly so it won't burn.

When the jam begins to boil hard, time it for 1 minute and then remove it from the heat. Discard the vanilla pods. Immediately stir the Certo liquid pectin into the hot jam and stir. Don't worry too much about the foam. Sometimes I skim it off, but I find that it really dies back down when the jam cools a bit.

Allow the jam to cool for 5 minutes, stirring. Ladle into hot jars, wipe the rims, then top with hot snap lids and screw the bands on. Process in a boiling water canner for 5 minutes, then allow to cool to room temperature and store.

Makes approximately four 500 ml jars of jam, but have a few extra jars ready just in case.

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