Abigail's Blueberry White Chocolate Chip Muffins

Last Sunday, Abigail and I checked on our blueberry bushes and were excited to see so many blueberries ripe! She was very careful getting under the netting I have up so the birds don't steal our berries. If you are not careful getting under the net, sometimes it can stag on the berries causing them to fall into the grass, making them difficult to find or worse, causing them to fall before they are ripe. Abigail was gentle picking the blueberries and at some point asked if we could make muffins with them. Why not? Abigail helped me make the batch of muffins and she decided she wanted to take them to share with our friends at community group so we did. The muffins were a hit! All we brought home was an empty container. I knew I wanted to make them again but somehow the week just flew right on by, and here we are, Sunday again...and time for more muffins!

For a generic muffin recipe, I used my Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book (I registered for this over 7yrs ago so it's not really "new" but it has great recipes. 

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil (we substitute applesauce)
3/4 cup blueberries

This recipe says it makes 12 muffins, but we used mini muffin pans and it made 40 minis. They cook at 400* for 18 minutes if you're cooking regular muffins, it only took 10 minutes for our minis.

Abigail posing with all the ingredients.

Abigail helped me count out the cups of sugar and flour and couldn't wait to crack the eggs herself. For the most part she does very well, I just end up picking out a few shells. She loves beating the eggs with a springy egg beater. Abigail helps stir the batter too. She is very careful not to keep all the ingredients in the bowl. This week I decided we should double the recipe, we still have so many blueberries!

Abigail's extra special ingredient is the white chocolate chips. I added a 1/2 cup per recipe.

Ready to fold the blueberries and white chocolate chips in!

Once all the ingredients are ready, it's my turn to fill the muffin tin and Abigail heads off to wash her hands. She was sweet to return and put the blueberries away for me too. The finished product of these muffins may not look pretty, but they sure are delicious! The blueberries are so fresh some seem to explode while baking and the while chocolate chips melt, so they are a surprise when you take a bite. I know what we're having in the morning for breakfast!

Yummy muffins, ready to be devoured!

QUESTIONS:
-Do you grow any fruit or vegetables in your yard?
-What is a yummy recipe you like to make with blueberries?

How Is It Spring?

It is officially Spring but from the cold weather we've still been having in Atlanta, you would never know it. The weather has been insane these last few month. When I ran the 20th Anniversary WDW Marathon on January 13th, I ended up with a minor sunburn. Now it's the end of March, I'm still sporting my UGG boots and heaviest jacket daily.

Normally I dread Spring. I'm allergic to 90% of trees which results in a few very miserable weeks for me. Since I was diagnosed in 1987 (when I was in Kindergarten), I have tried just about every medication on the market and none of them work as prescribed for me. But right now, I completely welcome these few miserable weeks if it means I can say "Adios" to the cold temperatures!

I'm ready for our yard to bloom into beautiful colors! I never cared for Azaleas but there a huge bush in our backyard that get covers perfectly white. Last year, the Azaleas bloomed before the last cold snap and all the white turned brown and they sat like that through summer and fall. I'm hoping for a different view this season. I'm hoping this last cold snap won't affect all the buds that have started to appear! (I'm also hoping this is the LAST cold snap!!!)

I'm also ready for our four blueberry bushes to not look like sticks . There are tiny little buds on the edges of all the little limbs. Abigail and I really enjoyed picking blueberries last year. I covered the bushes with a bird net and I couldn't believe how many berries came off our small bushes. I'm anxious to see what grows this year.

Last year I started a bunch of seedlings indoors, then when I moved them outdoors they were all eaten by rolypoly bugs. I ended up purchasing some habanero pepper plants and a small fig tree. The habanero plants did great & we got a few peppers but I never moved them indoors for fall/winter so they died. I did move the fig indoor and it's doing great. It has already come out of winter hibernation, has new stem growth and has sprouted lots of leaves.

Also last year, my aunt & uncle in Florida inspired me to try to grow my own pineapple plants after purchasing from the grocery store. They said to slice the "crown" off the pineapple then plant it directly in soil. It sounded too easy to be true. Then I decided to try it out for myself after finding a new dinner recipe that called for pineapple. I now have two pineapple plants growing in pots, they are also indoor as they would not survive the cold temps.

Hopefully April will be the turning point for this weather, I'm a FLgrl born and raise and cannot handle much more of this cold. Abigail is ready to play more outdoors too!

QUESTIONS:
-What are you most looking forward to about Spring?
-Have you had luck growing your own fruits or vegetables?