Blackberries: another recipe

I picked enough blackberries to make just one more dessert. I decided to try to adapt my upside down cake recipe for blackberries and it turned out to be really good so I decided to share.

Blackberry Upside-Down Cake

3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups blackberries or enough blackberries to cover the bottom of a 9" pan.

Cake:
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup buttermilk

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in center. Spray the bottom and sides of an 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray and add 3 tablespoons melted butter to pan. Pour blackberries into pan and sprinkle 1/3 cup sugar over berries.
2. Pour cake ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix until well combined.
3. Spoon batter over berries in pan, and smooth top. Bake cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake and invert onto a rimmed platter. If blackberry mixture sticks to bottom of pan, just remove from pan with a spatula and smooth onto the top while warm.

Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

The only problem is that the blackberries are gone.

Here's a great craft for kids

I used to think that craft foam was kind of a ridiculous craft item. I couldn't understand what useful purpose it could have, but I have discovered it is a craft that can be very useful when you need to entertain a child.

I first discovered last Christmas that if I bought a bucket of foam Christmas tree and ornament stickers and gave them to a couple of three-year-olds with a large piece of paper, it would keep them occupied for hours. It was also less messy than other crafts.

At Easter, I discovered that decorating foam Easter egg ornaments could keep a child entertained and took the place of decorating real eggs with food coloring. It was so much fun.

This summer I bought a bucket of silly foam creatures, some foam stars and a package of visors. They are really cute and kids wear the visors they make with pride. We made bug visors and 4th of July visors and butterfly visors. A child of two, or a special needs child can use them with assistance, and a three year old really doesn't need help.

In addition to pictures, cards and ornaments we have made gifts and decorated paper cups. Children do need to be instructed where NOT to stick the stickers, but this has been one of the most entertaining crafts I have ever seen for kids. Boy was I wrong!

The cost is minimal. I usually buy a tub of stickers at Michael's and use a 40% or 50% off coupon. Check your paper for a coupon. Hobby Lobby is now open and you can get about the same deal there, too. The price for the foam stickers after the coupon is just under $5.00. You can get large foam sheets for under a dollar and I saw the visors at Michael's for 66 cents each.

I really want to buy foam sticker paper dolls which I have seen at the School Box for under $10. Pull them out on a rainy summer afternoon, which we are bound to have again soon, to keep your kids busy doing something easy and creative.

Through a child's eyes

Every now and then we all have to take time to enjoy the beauty of nature and the gift of life that God has given us. It really doesn't get any better than this.

Be sure to take some time out this summer to enjoy the little things.

Cool down with cranberry lemonade

It has been so hot the past few weeks and nothing is better in hot weather than a refreshing glass of ice cold lemonade. Here is a fairly healthy twist on lemonade that is easy, too.

Just purchase a large can of frozen lemonade, mix with 4 cans of water and add a large bottle of cranberry juice or pomegranate/cranberry juice. Use the kind without sugar added. There will be some sugar in the lemonade but the fruit juice has no added sugar. This is a great non-carbonated drink that is really refreshing and has nutritional value, too.

My cranberry lemonade was very inexpensive. I paid 89 cents for the lemonade and the cranberry juice was buy one get one free. I had a coupon for 50 cents offm so the total cost of my lemonade, which would easily serve at least 10 to 12, was about $2.50.

Add crushed ice and lemon slices and it makes a great party beverage. I recently served it at a shower and it was a big hit. In the photo I added a mint sprig for a garnish.

This recipe makes a little more than a gallon. If the lemonade will be sitting out for awhile, use less water. If you prefer a sparkling punch you can substitute 4 cups of sparkling water.

Try to keep cool. We have quite a number of summer days ahead.

Free download for the 4th

To help celebrate Independence Day, I have designed this simple card you can download and print on your home printer. This is a card you can make and give or use it as note cards around Independence Day, Flag Day or any day you want to say you love your country.

I want to wish you all a very blessed 4th of July weekend.

Download cards here. Print on card stock and cut in half on the dotted line. Each page will make two cards. After cutting, fold in half. They will fit in invitation envelopes.

"Crabby patties," a healthy alternative to beef

I don't often grill because my husband is the "Grill Meister" in our home but every now and then he has to work late and I do my best. One of the things we love to grill are turkey burgers. On these hot summer days, grilling is the perfect solution to keeping a cool kitchen and turkey burgers are the healthy alternative to hamburgers made with ground beef.

We call our turkey burgers "crabby patties" because our grandson likes the name better. It is, of course, what Sponge Bob cooks on a daily basis and when you are four, it is nice to know you can have the same favorite food as one of your favorite cartoon characters.

My recipe follows, but I also would like to recommend frozen Jennie-O turkey burgers. They can be purchased at Publix and they are an easy alternative to my recipe. I think my recipe is better, but I think things from scratch generally are better.

Barbecued Turkey Burgers

2 lbs ground turkey
2 chopped green onions (or 2 tablespoons finely chopped Vidalia onions)
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper
Optional: 1 tablespoon chopped, fresh parsley

Mix all ingredients well and form into 8 small patties or 6 larger ones. Put formed patties onto waxed paper on a plate or small pan and put in the freezer for at least 10 minutes. Prepare the grill by spraying with Pam grilling spray. Turn the grill on medium low and allow to warm for at least 5 minutes. Place patties on the grill. Cook about 8 minutes or until burgers are firm on one side and there are grill marks on the patties. Carefully turn them over. Turn the grill down to low and cook about 10 to 12 minutes more, or until all are well done but still juicy.

Dress your burgers by adding cheese and toppings of your choice. I always use a whole wheat bun. I think it is better, in addition to being better for you. You could also add Monterrey Jack cheese, jalapeno peppers and avocado for a southwestern-style burger.

My grandson's advice was, "flip them up real high," which is after al, the way Sponge Bob would do it.

Blackberry cobbler: the perfect 4th of July treat

I finally made that blackberry pie I have been talking about in an earlier blog. Actually it is a blackberry cobbler.

And, besides having a little accident (dumping some hot pie in my lap), it was really, really good. Just like I remembered. My dad was born on the 4th of July and blackberry pie was always one of the features at the party we had every year in his honor. We would cook for days and the blackberry pie was the 'piece de resistance'!

The pan I used for baking was handed down from my Granny (dad's mother) to my mother and she recently gave it to me. I felt I had to christen it with a blackberry cobbler which was what the pan was accustomed to over the years.

Was it as good as my mother used to make? Really close. I did use a pate brisee (french for pie dough) which was made using butter and virgin coconut oil. I have been trying not to use trans fats over the years and my old recipe called for vegetable shortening which I no longer use. The old fashioned way would be to use lard and I am not against that, but it can have a flavor I don't care for. I really do like cooking with butter and the coconut oil made it even better. It has the slightest coconut taste.
My pate brisee recipe:
3/4 cup of butter, softened
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 to 1/2 cup of ice water

Mix butter and oil. Add flour salt and sugar and mix well with pastry knife. Mixture will clump together and have a grainy appearance. Add 1/4 cup of ice water and mix well. Add more water as needed until the mixture forms a ball. Store in the refrigerator for a few hours. Roll out on a floured board. This will make a generous portion for a 9 x 13 pan. It would also make two 9" pie crusts. (This pie crust doesn't have to be rolled really thin to be good.)

Blackberry Cobbler
(like my mother used to make)
6 to 8 cups of blackberries (mine were frozen)
3/4 cup of sugar
1/3 to 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour (I used the smaller amount)
1/4 cup butter, cut into small pieces
Pate brisee

Spray pan with cooking spray and put the pie dough around the sides. I put the dough in the bottom but you don't have to. It is really good either way. Without the bottom crust is the more traditional way to make a cobbler. Mix the blackberries, sugar and flour in a mixing bowl, until berries are well coated. I like plenty of fruit. If my pie isn't heaping on the top, I add more fruit. Pour mixture into baking pan. Add the pieces of butter over the top of the fruit mixture. Roll out the top crust and place on top of the mixture. Press sides and top of dough together. Cut slits in the top. Bake at 325 degrees for about twenty minutes and turn the oven up to 375 degrees. Bake for forty minutes more or until pie is golden brown. Remove from oven and serve immediately with ice cream.

My family really enjoyed this cobbler. We are now picking more blackberries because we are thinking it would be a great dessert for the 4th of July.