To Die For Blueberry Muffins

My girls asked me to make blueberry muffins when they had friends spend the night.  Of course I wanted extra tasty ones to impress their friends so I looked for a really good recipe.  I found one called To Die For Blueberry Muffins that truly did look like they might be to die for.  I whipped them up. and sure enough they almost were to die for.  My girls (ages 11 and 8) asked to make them on their own today.  The recipe is simple so I just turned them loose. (We have cooked together enough that they know how to measure correctly, spoon flour into a cup instead of scooping it, etc.)  They did need a bit of help from me, but mostly they did it all on their own.  Our crumble doesn't turn out like the one in the picture, but it does taste delicious.  In the end, that's what matters most, right?

To Die For Blueberry Muffins

Click Here for Original Recipe

Makes 8 - 12 muffins depending on the size of your muffin tins.  Our standard Wilton pan makes 12.

Ingredients:

     Batter

• 1 1/2 C all purpose flour
• 3/4  C granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/3 C vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 C milk
• 1 C fresh blueberries (we used frozen and it worked fine)

     Crumb Topping:

• 1/2 C granulated sugar
• 1/3 C all purpose flour (we plan to add a bit more next time - our topping was more crusty than crumbly)
• 1/4 C butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 C flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place 1/3 C vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups almost to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.  
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.  This is a great job for younger helpers.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

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Slow Cooker Baked Beans

 I totally forgot I had this recipe till I started this little project, but since my eight year old simply loves baked beans, I'm happy to have rediscovered it!  I don't know yet what we'll have with them, but I'm pretty sure we should have these beans at some point this weekend.  The best part about this recipe is, this looks easy enough that my daughter can help me make them!

*quick reminder - I did not create this recipe.  I copied/pasted it from some forgotten website several years ago and it's been lounging in my email archives.  If it's yours, please alert me not only so that I can direct traffic your way, but also because I'm sure you have more yummy stuff I need to make.

Slow Cooker Baked Beans

Ingredients:

12 oz. Salt Pork, chopped into small strips

1 large onion, chopped

2 lbs. Michigan Navy Beans (if you can't find Michigan, just use Navy Beans!)

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup Ketchup

3 Tbsp. Mustard

7 cups Water

Directions:

Sort your beans to make sure there are no rocks/bad beans.

Soak them in water overnight, with at enough water to cover them plus 4"

In the morning, drain and rinse your beans.

Spray your Slow Cooker Liner with non-stick spray.

Place half of your salt pork at the bottom.

Add half the beans

Top that with half of the onions.

Mix together the Brown Sugar, Ketchup and Mustard.

Pour half of this over the onion layer.

Repeat this process with the remaining salt pork, beans, onions and sauce.

Pour in your 7 cups of water.

Cover and cook on LOW for 12+ hours.  

When the mixture has thickened and turned brow, the beans are done!  If you'd like them even thicker, leave the lid off and continue cooking, checking often, until they reach desired consistency.  

Any Berry Jam

Way back in 2002 I was pregnant with my first child.  I discovered BabyCenter and all their excellent content for moms.  One of their featured bloggers was a lady named Catherine Newman.  I instantly loved her entries and have been following her ever since where ever she may write.  This recipe was published in the now defunct Family Fun magazine and really is easy enough for older kids to make (mostly) on their own.  I'll cut/paste her recipe here, but since I have the link to her post I strongly encourage you to go read her whole post.  She gives good tips for making good jam and you get to see her cute son in cooking action.  Plus, she includes many pictures that are informative and pretty.  Seriously, check her out.  You'll thank me.

Any Berry Jam

Recipe and picture by Catherine Newman

Click HERE to read all of Catherine Newman's wonderful words.

Makes 4-5 cups

This is a recipe I developed for FamilyFun, and it's in this month's issue along with a couple others, including Pool Noodle Salad, which I've made many times this summer. As for the jam, which is bright, fruity, and fantastic: there are lots of different kinds of pectin, and they all seem to work fine with this super-easy, fool-proof method.

4 cups crushed blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, or strawberries (hulled). Crush the berries with a potato masher before measuring--it will likely take about a quart and a half of berries to make 4 cups crushed. If the strawberries are not crushably ripe, slice them first.

1 ½ cups sugar

1 pouch powdered or liquid pectin

Put the berries in a large, heavy pot. Stir together the sugar and pectin in a bowl (if you are using liquid pectin, skip this step), then stir the sugar and pectin thoroughly into the berry mixture. Bring the berries to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. You are looking for a full, rolling boil--the kind that can't be stirred down. Boil for one minute, then ladle the jam into very clean jars (leave an inch of headroom for expansion in the freezer), cap, cool to room temperature, and then use or freeze.