Blueberry's are ready!

Growing up in upstate New York we were lucky to have  Blueberry Heaven in our own backyard in the Capital District.  For you upstate-challenged folks that would be the Pinebush Preserve. The Preserve is about 3000 acres of blueberry bushes, pine scrub, white pines and various lupines and flora. Tons of deer, rabbits, squirrels, grouse, turkeys and other fauna call it home. It even has it's own indigenous one-of-a-kind butterfly; the Karner Blue.

When we were conscripted to pick blueberries for jam, jelly cereal or buckle, you could pick all day to fill five-gallon bucket and eat as much as you would put in the bucket. Best part was when we got home and the berries were washed and sorted for whatever my mom decided to do with them...And of course that meant one thing for sure, a Blueberry Buckle....

A blueberry buckle is a coffee cake of sorts that embodies Christmas, Easter, Memorial and Labor days, the 4th of July and any other holiday that has great memories and smells all into one. It has cinnamon, sugar, blueberries, butter, flour and whatever you want to add to the mix such as semi-sweet chocolate morsels and walnuts. I'd post the recipe here but it is a family secret trusted only to me and my mom. My brother lives out of state and doesn't get to share it too often unless he drives or flies back. So I make sure to take a picture of one when it's almost done and send it to him on his phone.(Yea, I'm a rat) Last time I did he immediately texted back " Have fork...will travel"...

Be in the kitchen making another one. Last one lasted about 6 hours....Ok...Ok...here's the fixin's....

Blueberry Buckle

Ingredients for the batter
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup soft margarine or butter (melt it)
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
4 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 pints blueberries, fresh or frozen

Da Topping

1 cup confectionary sugar
1/3 cups flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup melted butter

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cooking spray or grease and flour 9 x 12 casserole or sheet cake pan.

Mix thoroughly the sugar, butter and eggs and stir in the milk. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and add to the wet ingredients. (Fact is; mix it all together and stir like hell) Now fold in the blueberries and other additions of your liking (walnuts, chocolate morsels, or peanuts.) Now spread the batter in the pan evenly. For the topping pour melted butter over the batter and sprinkle the confectionary sugar, flour and cinnamon on top. Bake it for 35-45 minutes and test it with toothpick, maybe even add about 10 minutes more bake-time if you add the chocolate morsels. Hey, I didn't say it was low-fat, low-carb or diet...But it will make memories, trust me.

Cookin', shakin' and bakin'

TK