Claiming the Blueberry

More on these blue berries...

Many states here in the U.S. have particular foods that they claim as "their own".

The blueberry is popular.

Three states here in the U.S. (Maine, New Jersey and North Carolina) claim the blueberry as "their own" State Fruit.

For those of you who are wondering about our state fruit here in Massachusetts, it's the cranberry.

Further, Minnesota has a State Muffin.

And it is a...

Yep, you guessed it: blueberry muffin.

And nope, not all states have a state muffin.

To find out more,

check out this curious list of state foods if you have a moment.

Moving on to America's favorite muffin...

The Blueberry Muffin!

Above are "To Die for Blueberry Muffins" that I made.

And below is the recipe allrecipes.com.

(Psst, the website has a button for metric conversion.)

Ingredients for 8 muffins with crumb topping

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1 Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.2 Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with the flour mixture. Fold in the blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

3 Crumb topping: Mix 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Mix with fork and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

4 Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until done.

Notes from the pastry chef.

I made 12 smaller muffins instead of suggested 8, just because I wanted to use my new muffin tin and liners from IKEA.

And, I used less crumb topping because I dropped the bowl with the crumb topping mix on the floor. Oooops! Unfortunate, because the crumb topping makes the muffin top veeeery delish.

And here is where I'll sit.

On a bench by the apple tree.

Eating my really yummy muffins.

Waiting for the apples to ripen.

Mmmm...

Gooseberries and currants...

Gooseberry

So sweet, juicy, and just ripe.

Great for eating, jam making, pies and saft.

(Saft is a Scandinavian word for a fruit or berry blend concentrate

that is mixed with water to make a refreshing drink)

I ate a lot while staying at my parents house in Sweden.

Red Currant

I want some in my own garden here in Massachusetts.

But there seems to be a problem. They were banned for decades in the U.S. because they belong to a spices that help in the spread of the white pine blister rust that killed a lot of white pines in the early 1900s. The curious thing is that this deadly fungus needs to spend part of its life cycle on an alternate host. And that alternate host? Currant or gooseberry.

While doing research trying to find plants for my garden, I've found information that says that it is either illegal or strongly discouraged to plant these shrubs here in Massachusetts. But I've also found information that says that plants have been developed that are highly resistant to the decease.

All I want is someone to give me some information on what the names are on these highly decease resistant plants, were to find them, and that it is okay for me to plant them in my garden.

Can you help me?

Very strawberry

On my way to get groceries this afternoon, I spotted the OPEN flag at Shelburne Farm. I had time to pick a few strawberries before getting my groceries, so I pulled in.

This is what the strawberry plants looked like last time I visited.

"Just a couple of weeks now", the owner had told me. Back then, that was hard to believe, but she was right. A couple of weeks was all it took.

The farm was fairly empty. Not many people are yet aware that they are open.

But the strawberry field was not empty. Lots of big beautiful red berries were waiting for me in the straw.

Here are the only other customers. A mom with her three girls. The mom literally had to pull the youngest from the field when they were leaving. The little girl couldn't get enough of the juicy, super-sweet strawberries.

Ever wonder why they are called straw-berries? I've heard three different versions.

1. Farmers use straw to protect the berries from the dirt
2. Children used to take a straw to thread the berries on them and sell them as "straws of berries."
3. The berries are "strewn" about on the plant, and the word strewn eventually turned in to straw.

In Sweden they are called "jordgubbar" which means soil- or dirt- berries. Not quite as romantic.

This rusty tractor has seen its best days. I think it's pretty handsome though.

My little basked of freshly picked strawberries.

At home, I mixed fresh strawberries, lemonade and ice in my blender to make a cool refreshing drink for my kids as they got off the hot school bus.

For me, a splash of Tequila was added. After all, it was Friday afternoon and it was five O'clock somewhere. Yummy start to the weekend with lot's of vitamin C!