Berries, cherries and crochet

Hello Everyone!
We're in the thick of summer and we're still breaking the records for not having rain in 30+ days!  I would greatly appreciate a good downpour to wash down the summer dust.  Motel business is absolutely and insanely busy and not a break in site.  Logger's Weekend festival, along with seafood cookery competitions coming up this weekend, so we will have guests every which way.
 
Picked up my winter stock of blueberries from a local grower.  They are soooo yummy...nothing like fresh blueberries. Besides eating them by the handful the first day we got them, I made a blueberry crisp (recipe here).  It turned out really nice.

These blueberries are very good for you, antioxidants and all that.

 

Here is my blueberry crisp.

 
That gooey goodness in the corner...yummy stuff.

With a dollop of vanilla ice cream.... The taste of summertime.  Great thing is, I will make this in the dead of winter too....O joy! :)

Picked up some BC Cherries, too...we just gobbled these up lickity-split.  These dark cherries are so sweet and juicy.  One could taste the sunshine almost!

Well, couldn't get by the week without some 'happy hookiness' as Lucy might say. Very simple slipper pattern which you can crochet up in an evening.

These blues ones are double strand with a I/9  5.5 mm hook, using just an ordinary worsted 4 ply.
You can find the pattern here by Emy on Youtube.  Simple yet very satisfying to crochet.  I added a pompom for fun.

So made a second pair.  This time using a very soft chunky yarn with the same I/9 5.5 mm hook. Instead of a pompom you could use a button, a crocheted flower, or anything you'd like to personalize your slippers.

 
These are so soft and comfy, altho' a little warm for this time of year.

I haven't been on an outing or walk-about recently and really must do that soon.  We've been so busy here this last week that we both just flop down in the evenings.  Even so, in the motel business you have people checking-in in the evenings and sometimes in the middle of the night.  Travellers coming to the Island sometimes misjudge the time the ferry trip takes from the mainland or the length of the drive up island, so we've had the doorbell ring at 2:30 a.m. and as early as 5:00 a.m. "Your turn", I groggily say...stumble, stumble, groan and moan, R gets up and gets it done.  He always handles these ones.                                   Until next time my lovelies, MO

Biscuits & Jam & Crochet

Thought I would stray from my normal oatmeal flavored with maple syrup breakfast that I have EVERY morning rain or shine.  So I made some biscuits to have with fresh strawberry jam and they were delish!  Here's my never fail, flakey biscuit recipe.

Biscuit Recipe:
2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 TB butter (or use margarine)
3/4 cup whole milk  (or use 2%)

Add sifted dry ingredients to the butter and mix evenly.  Add milk all at once, stir just until it is  puffy-moist. Turn out onto lightly floured surface, kneed just enough to keep it together.  Do not overwork the dough or it will not be flaky.  Pat dough into a 1 inch thick square, cut into squares or rounds as desired.  Place 1 inch apart on greased (or foil sprayed with Pam) cookie sheet.  Bake in 425 oven for 12 minutes or until golden.  Makes 10-12 biscuits.  (What I do sometimes is to roll out the dough until it's about 1/4 inch and then use a round cookie cutter to punch out little biscuits.  Then I put one round atop another to bake.  This makes a removable top to the biscuit.  Weird I know, but that's the way I like 'em.)

 

Notice that the rounds are stacked one atop another.

 

O Yum!  A dollop of real butter, with fresh strawberry jam!  And add a cuppa with frothy skim milk topped  with finely grated chocolate. 

 

 

 

A treat from my normal everyday breakfast...even tho' I luv my oatmeal!

 

Did some crochet this last weekend as well.  I made these mandala flowers, inspired by some of my favorite bloggers  (see those listed on my side bar).  I am still enamored by the mandala and did a small blog on the subject awhile back.  There is something very satisfying for me doing a colorful mandala...just going with the flow and choosing the colors that appeal to me at the moment.  No planning, just color and crochet. :)   And the colorful leaves are a bit of fun as well.  And added a few buttons to the centers for a little dimension.  I took these pictures outdoors on my patio table...these are kissed by the sun's brightness!

 

 

 This one I did up last night, but not sure what it will become as yet or how big it will get. 

 

Well, that was my weekend.  Nothing too exciting or earth-shattering...just some quiet summertime moments.  The sun is bright, skies are blue and 'summertime' is in full swing.  We are fortunate here on Vancouver Island, BC Canada in that the sea breezes cool off the evenings quite nicely.  I love the smell of summer...that mixture of everything warmed by the sun, the salty sea, and the fragrance of summer blooms.  LUV IT!!!

Until next time, MO

Coho Salmon...Yummy!

Hello
This week has been busy with summertime.  Lots of warm sunshine, blue skies, and ocean breezes. We were gifted with some fresh caught coho salmon.





I made a marinade for the salmon, and it was oh so good.

Recipe for Marinade:
2 finely chopped garlic cloves
6 TB oil  (I used a light veggie oil, olive oil is good too)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 T lemon juice
1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley 
1/4 cup freshly chopped basil
Mix the above ingredients pour over fish and let marinate for 1 hour.  I used fresh herbs from my little garden.  Nothing beats fresh herbs!  I Pam sprayed the aluminum foil for easy clean up.






Cover with foil and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Heat over to 400.  Remove foil cover and bake salmon for 35 - 45 minutes depending on thickness.  Do not overcook or salmon with get dry.

I made a salad using: cucumber, tomato, yellow pepper, celery, crumbled feta cheese, salt & pepper and olive oil.  This goes soooooooooo well with salmon!

 

Also steamed some sticky rice in my rice cooker...I luv my rice cooker!!!  Cooked up some fresh peas and Ta-dah......a scrum-tilly-ish-ous summertime meal!!!

 

 

 

Summertime fishing seems to be doing well... coho and pink salmon and ling cod are what the sport fishermen are pulling in these days.

 

Until next time, MO

 

My Blueberry Pie

Blueberries are my absolute favorite berry.  I like them fresh picked and eaten by the handful...O Yum!!!  Have some frozen berries from last year that I wanted to use up so decided to make a pie.  With frozen blueberries, I let them thaw and drain before I use them.

Meet the berries...6 cups of them

 

 

Make your favorite pie pastry & chill in fridge.

 
Roll out to fit your pie plate.

 
 I like my Watkins ceramic pie plate.

 

 

So I measure by putting the pie plate upside down on my rolled pie dough.

 
Here's my egg and water wash mixture.

 
My pie all put together and glazed with the egg wash.

 
All baked and the crust is flakey and crispy.

 
Oops, I almost forgot to take a picture of the finished prize...topped with creamy vanilla ice-cream.



 

  And it WAS yummy!!!

 

Here is the recipe I use:

CRUST

One double recipe of your favorite pie crust

FILLING

6 cups of fresh (or frozen) blueberries, rinsed and stems removed (if using frozen, defrost and drain first)

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup all-purpose flour (for thickening)

3/4-1 cup cup white granulated sugar (depending on sweetness of berries)

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 Tbsp butter, cut into small pieces (margarine will work as well)

EGG WASH

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk  (I use iced water)

Heat oven to 425°F.

METHOD

Prepare the crust. Roll out half of the dough to 1/8-inch-thick circle on a lightly floured work surface to fit over a 9-inch pie pan with 1/2 inch to spare around the edge. Put into the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes.

Gently mix the blueberries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a large bowl. Transfer them to the chilled bottom crust of the pie pan. Dot with butter pieces. Roll out remaining dough to the same size and thickness as the first. Place on top of the berry filling. Tuck the top dough over and under the edge of the bottom dough, and crimp the edges with your fingers. I sometimes use a fork to press the edges together as I did here. Transfer the pie to the refrigerator to chill until the dough is firm, about 30 minutes. Whisk egg and water together to make an egg wash.

Remove the unbaked pie from refrigerator & brush the top with egg wash. Score the pie on the top with decorative cuts (so steam can escape while cooking). Place the pie on the middle rack of the oven. Place a baking pan lined with parchment paper positioned on the lower rack to catch any filling that may bubble over. Bake for 20 minutes at 425°. Reduce heat to 350°F and bake for 30 to 40 minutes more or until juices are bubbling and have thickened.  With my oven I had to put a piece of aluminum foil over the crust for the last 20 minutes of the baking process as the crust would get too dark in my oven...I have a finicky oven.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Let cool completely before serving.

Yield: Makes one pie with 8 servings.

Hope you give this one a try...until next time, MO