One of my favorite summer time dessert recipes is Fresh Blueberry Cobbler.  A very good friend of mine asked me to make this recipe for his birthday "cake".  I couldn't say no. And of course, I had to make sure it came with fresh, homemade, whipped cream topping.  It would be an absolute sin to serve it with anything else.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

Topping

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoon sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons milk

Filling

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 8 cups fresh blueberries (frozen works, too)
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Heat oven to 400º F. degrees.

For the topping: Cut the butter into the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until dry ingredients resemble pea size crumbles.  Stir in milk until mixture forms a dough.  Set aside.

For the filling:  mix the sugar, cornstarch, blueberries and lemon juice in a large saucepan.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until it thickens and boils.  Boil and stir for 1 minute.  Pour filling into an ungreased 13-inch by 9-inch casserole dish.

Drop dough by the spoonfuls on to hot blueberry filling. Bake 23 to 30 minutes, until topping is golden brown.  Serve warm and topped with homemade whipped cream.

CLICK HERE for HOMEMADE WHIPPED CREAM RECIPE

The first growing season I spent putting up jams and jellies, I used pectin in everything.  That's what the recipe said to add, so that's what I did.  This past strawberry pickin' season, I made strawberry jam the old fashion way or the classic way.  I kept the pectin box in the pantry and I pulled up my high chair next to the stove and went to stirring.

There's nothing to working with homemade jam recipes, especially when there's only stirring, patience and a watchful eye needed.  And you won't believe the intense flavor that comes from slow cooked strawberry jam.  IT IS AMAZING.  I had a couple of friends over to taste this recipe.  You should've seen their eyes light up!  They both said it was the best tasting jam they had ever tasted.  I completely agree.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

Makes about 4 pints

• 2 quarts fresh picked strawberries
• 6 cups sugar

Wash strawberries and drain.  Remove stems.  Crush strawberries one layer at a time with a potato masher or use an immersion blender.

Combine strawberries and sugar in a large saucepot.  Bring slowly to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Cook rapidly to gelling point, about 20 to 30 minutes.  As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking.  Remove from heat.  Skim foam if necessary.

Gel Test: When two drops become one - that's the happy moment call sheeting.  Stir the spread with a wooden spoon.  Lift the spoon out of the bubbling liquid so it's parallel to the floor and tilt it to face you.  The spread will run off the spoon in a stream at first and then in individual drops.  When two drops lean into each other on the edge of the spoon and join into one big sloppy drop before dripping off the edge of the spoon, you have sheeting.

Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace.  Adjust two-piece caps.  Process 15 minutes in a boiling water canner.

Did y'all catch that video I made when I went to pick strawberries?

Sour cherries are available in late May through June here in Texas.  So, I wanted to take advantage of this time and try making a batch of Cherry Jam.  I've made applesauce, blueberry jam, red plum jam, strawberry jam and I figured we could never have enough jam in the pantry.

This recipe includes instructions for canning the jam.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

to make 6 cups

• 3 pounds sour cherries, enough to make 4 cups finely chopped cherries
• 1 box Sure-Jell Premium Fruit Pectin
• 4 3/4 cups sugar

Bring boiling-water canner to a simmer.

Wash jars and bands in hot, soapy water; rinse in warm water.  Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat.  Let stand in hot water until ready to use.  Drain well before filling.

Wash, pit and finely chop cherries. Chop finer than I show in the photo below. You can run the cherries through a food processor to pulse to chop.  Do not puree because jam should have bits of fruit throughout.

Measure exact amount of prepared fruit into a 6- to 8-quart saucepot.  Add and stir in 1 box of pectin.  Bring mixture to a full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly.

Stir in sugar quickly.  Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Skim off any foam.

Ladle quickly into prepared jars, filling to with 1/8-inch of tops (to the top screw thread of the jar).  Wipe jar rims and threads with a clean moist towel.  Cover with two-piece lids.  Screw bands on finger tight.  Place jars on elevated rack in canner.  Lower rack into canner.  WAter must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches; add boiling water if needed.  Cover; bring water to a gentle boil.  Process jams 10 minutes.  Adjust processing time according to Altitude Chart below.

Remove jars and place upright on a towel to cool completely.  After jars cook, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger.  (If lid springs back, lid is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.)

Let stand at room temperature 24 hours.  Store unopened jams in cool, dry, dark place up to 1 year.  Refrigerate opened jams up to 3 weeks.

So let me tell ya how I came to making the best damn blueberry pie recipe we've ever eaten.

I had just finished up with the kids and their studies and noticed I had about an hour to do whatever needed to be done, before I needed to get done what needed to be done next.  For all you multi-taskers out there, you understand exactly what I'm talking about.

CONFIDENTIAL MOMENT: You need to know something about me that I don't think I've ever admitted out loud.  I love L-O-V-E, love sweets, desserts, chocolate, pies, cakes, fudge, chocolate, ice cream, doughnuts, just about everything with natural sugars and real sucrose sugar in it.  I'm addicted to the stuff.  I crave something sweet to eat after dinner every night.  No matter what form it comes in, I want a small bite of something just to round out the meal.  I don't feel the need to gorge myself.  Quite the opposite. A few bites of something and I'm good.  Now, you know of my quiet addiction.

So, here I was with an hour and the discovery that there was no after-dinner dessert sitting out on the counter.  As I surveyed the pantry and considered the past desserts of the week, Fudgey Pecan Brownies and Chocolate Lemon Swirl Cake, I figured it was time for something on the fruity side.  I went digging around in the freezer and found two balls of pie crusts that I had completely forgotten about making.  Then, I hit the bag of blueberries leftover from last summer's bounty.  Immediately, I thought, "Pie."

I popped the frozen balls of crust into the microwave and every so gently defrosted them until they reached that workable dough temperature.  Meanwhile, I researched through all my cookbooks for all the right out of the pantry blueberry recipes.  I was interested in a simple yet something different combination of ingredients.  I didn't find anything too unusual, but I was inspired to use cinnamon in the blueberry filling.  So, I went with a traditional blueberry pie recipe and added cinnamon.

Once the pie dough had thawed, it took maybe, maybe, five minutes to roll them out and lay them in a buttered dish.  I used a glass 8 x 8 x 2-inch casserole dish; I was going for a deep dish, loaded with blueberries, kind of pie.  The kind of pie where the amount of blueberries with all their nutritional value would somehow outweigh the calories of the buttery pie crust.  I laid out the bottom layer of pie dough, filled the dish with lightly sugar coated, cinnamony blueberries, then topped it with another layer of dough.  Rolled and pinch the edges and popped it in the oven for 35 minutes.

Oh, it made the house smell so good, too.  My family came into the kitchen like zombies being led by their noses.  Each one inquiring what and when would whatever is baking be ready to devour.  And devour we did.  This blueberry pie recipe had the perfect crust and the blueberries let off just enough juice while staying whole inside the pie.  It was a perfect balance of pastry, whole fruits and sweet juice that not once did we feel the need to chase it down with a glass of milk.  Nor did this incredible dessert call out for whipped cream or a side of ice cream, like other fruit pies often do.  It was complete, as is.

I felt so good about eating this recipe, I ate it for breakfast. I figured with all those healthy blueberries, it had to be better than a doughnut. ;D

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

Serves 6

• Pastry for 10-inch two-crust pie
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 5 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter

Heat oven to 425ºF.

Prepare pastry.  Mix sugar, flour and cinnamon.  Stir in blueberries and lemon juice.  Turn into pastry-lined pie plate; dot with butter.  Cover with top crust.  Make a few decorative cuts into the crust to allow for steam to escape; seal crust and make decorative edging.

Bake until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through cuts in crust, about 35 to 40 minutes.

For a Blackberry, or Raspberry Pie: substitute 5 cups fresh berries for the blue berries.  Increase sugar by 1/4 cup and omit the lemon juice.

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Nutritional analysis per serving: 462 calories | 24g total fat, 6g sat fat, 0 trans fat | 3mg cholesterol | 315mg sodium | 59g carbs | 6g dietary fiber | 22g sugars | 5g protein | Vitamin A 185 IU | Vitamin C 3.9mg | Vitamin E 1.0 mg | Vitamin K 32.2 mcg | Thiamin 0.3mg | Riboflavin 0.2 mg | Niacin 3.0 mg | Vitamin B6 0.1 mg | Folate 67.9 mcg | Iron 2.2 mg | Potassium 119 mg

CLICK HERE for the recipe for Fresh Whipped Cream Topping!

I don't have a photo of this INCREDIBLE FIG BAR recipe, yet.  You see, I didn't bake this recipe; my friend baked it and I ate it.  Mind you, it's one thing to eat fresh picked figs warm off the tree, which is my favorite way to eat them.  However, eating them as a cold dessert bar is slap my grandma for never making these for me- good!

At the time of this posting, figs have finished the first yield of the Texas summer in July.  Figs will put on again in September.  That's when I will have my chance to bake up a HUGE batch of fig bars for all my friends and family and to show off to you.  I can't wait.  Until then, I wanted you to be prepared to bake your own batch when you get your chance.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

fills a 13- by 9-inch pan

Filling

• 4 cups fresh figs, chopped
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup honey
• pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons lemon peel, finely grated
• 2 tablespoons unbleached flour
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Crust

• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar firmly packed
• 2 cup unbleached flour
• 3 cup quick-cooking or old fashion oats
• 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped

Heat Oven to 350ºF.

For Filling: Combine figs, water, honey, 1/4 teaspoon salt and lemon peel in saucepan and simmer 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until dark and thickened, stirring occasionally. Combine 2 tablespoons flour and water and stir into fig mixture. Cook 5 minutes longer, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and walnuts.

For Crust: Cream shortening with brown sugar until light and fluffy. Combine flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and oats and stir into creamed mixture. Divide mixture in half and place half into the bottom of a well-greased 9 x 13 inch pan.  Spread the fig filling evenly over bottom layer. Sprinkle remaining half of crust mixture on top and press with fork.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Cut into squares while still warm. Cool completely before removing from pan.

A city-dwelling locavore walks into a country store to buy fresh produce and starts eyeing a small box of peaches.  The wise farm matron behind the counter says to the city slicker, "I could make you a REAL good deal on some #2 peaches, half a bushel for $18.00."  The small box of peaches was going for $10/box and maybe had 10 to 12 peaches inside.

Well, thinking that was a GREAT DEAL, the city slicker asked the farmer, "What are #2 peaches?"

The farmer explained that those are peaches that are ripe and ready to put up, but too ripe to make it to the  grocery store shelf.  Or, the peach has a soft spot or brown spot and the grocery store won't take them.  They're all good to eat; washed and ready, perfect for freezing or baking, but can't go to the chain stores.

To which the eager city dweller replied, "I'll take a whole box!"

Then the wise woman surprised the locavore.  She said, "You know you can freeze those peaches WHOLE?"

"Really?"

"Oh yea, Honey, all you have to do is lay'em on a sheet pan and let'em get rock hard in the freezer.  Then you bag'em up and keep'em frozen 'til you're ready to use them.  Now to peel the skins off, all you have to do is run'em under cold water and the skin pulls right off the peach.  Don't let them thaw!  Work with them frozen; it's easier to peel and cut them up that way."

"Will do, ma'am.  Thank you!" said the city slicker.

______________________________________________________

So let me tell ya, a half bushel of peaches is A LOT, A LOT, A LOT of peaches.  WHAT WAS I THINKING?  The box was very deceiving.  It didn't look that big, but the number of peaches it could hold was surprising.  I quickly ran out of sheet pans and had to rearrange my freezers' shelves to get the peaches all in the freezer just so.

What am going to do with all those peaches?  Well, I've been dreaming about that since the ride home from the farm.  I'll definitely make peach cobbler; it's our absolute favorite way to eat peaches.  I'll make peach bellini drinks, and smoothies for breakfast. And I'll have to try my hand at peach ice cream, most certainly.  But first, I couldn't wait to test out the farmer's technique of peeling frozen peaches.

I got out enough peaches to make a batch of peach breakfast smoothies.  Ran one peach at a time under cold water, broke the skin and it just came off.  EASIER THAN A BANDAID!  Whole sides of skin came off in one piece.  NO KNIFE NEEDED.  Well, except when I needed to cut them up into chunks.

If I hadn't been so fascinated with trying to take off the entire peel at once, I know the process of removing the skins would have been much faster.  Like a kid, I was having fun.  I went on to cut up the peaches into chunks and hit them with my handy dandy hand blender.

The results left me with a the smoothest frozen delight I didn't expect.  The consistency was that of sherbet and it was great eating it all natural.

When I made the breakfast smoothies, I used a 1 to 1 ratio of organic vanilla yogurt and frozen peach puree. Then, added enough milk to make the mix drinkable through a straw.  The kiddos slurped them up faster than it took to make them.

Have you ever heard of freezing peaches whole before now?

to serve 4 friends

• 10-15 radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
• 2 celery sticks, think sliced
• 1 small ripe mango
• fresh dill sprigs, to garnish

for the dressing

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons creamed horseradish
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
• salt and fresh ground pepper

Prep the dressing first by blending the sour cream, horseradish and dill in a small bowl and season with a little salt and pepper.  Set aside.

Trim the radishes and slice them thinly.  Put in a bowl with the sliced apple and celery.

Halve the mango length-ways, cutting either side of the stone pit.  Make even, criss-cross cuts through the flesh of each side section and bend it back to separate the cubes.  Remove the cubes with a paring knife and add to the bowl.

Stir the dressing again, then pour it over the vegetables and fruit and stir gently so that all the ingredients are well coated without breaking up the mango.  Garnish with dill sprigs and serve.

Don't be afraid to make your own organic applesauce at home.  It's SUPER easy and costs a great deal less than the stuff at the store, not including the costs of the recyclable jars and lids, of course.  If you've never ventured into the art of home canning, I'm here to tell you that it's not hard and certainly not as mysterious as scaredy cats say it is.  All that droning that goes on about food poisoning, having super sterile conditions, and the lengthy time it takes to preserve foods.  BAH!

While yes it's true that canning jars and lids must be hot and sterile before adding the foods, it doesn't take much to keep them clean.  If you're already a neat and organized person in the kitchen, a cleaning as you go type and having your tools and food ready, home canning is just another recipe.  And as for the time it takes to "put up" a recipe, well, that really depends on the amount of food being put up.  However, I've experienced home canning to take 2 to 3 hours tops.  And that was with me taking my time, having my kids help me peel and cut, just sitting around the kitchen making memories.

The first time I cooked and photographed this recipe, I only made enough to yield 2-pints of applesauce, as seen from the photo above.  Now that my family has tasted and approved of it, I've made several batches.  And just to give you an idea of how good this recipe is... my sugar-addicted, picky-eating, daughter told me that she would give up sweets if I would always make this applesauce.  Okay then.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

to make 4 quarts

• 1/2 case organic red or tart apples
• juice of 2 small organic lemons
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 1 cup REAL organic maple syrup (Grade B is the BEST!)
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

PREP YOUR WORK AREA
Fill your water-bath canner enough to cover jars with 1 to 2-inches of water, begin heating the water to boil.  Make sure you have a metal rack to keep the jars from touching the sides and bottom on the pot.  I use a large stockpot that has its own steam basket.

Be sure that your jars, lids and bands have been washed in hot, soapy water and rinsed well.  Metal lids with a sealing compound may need holding in hot, boiled water for a few minutes.

Get all your canning tools and clean towels out and have them ready to grab.

PREP AND PREPARE THE APPLESAUCE
Peel, core and cut apples into 1-inch chunks and fill a very large enamel or stainless steel pot.  Squeeze lemon juice over top and add water to the pot.

Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes to an hour, until apples are very tender and can be mashed with a fork.  Stir occasionally to keep apples from scorching on the bottom of the pot.

Use a hand blender to puree the hot cooked apples to a smooth consistency.

Stir in syrup and spices.  Don't let the applesauce cool down.  You need it hot for what they call the 'hot-pack method'.

Fill the jars and allow for 1/2-inch head space. Wipe top and threads of jar before applying metal lid.  Screw on metal band to be hand-tight but DO NOT over tighten.  The band is only there to keep the lid in place during the water-bath processing. Be sure the band is screwed down evenly all the way around.

As each jar is filled, place in rack of canner.  When filled, place rack in canner with water hot or boiling.  Add more hot water to cover top of containers if needed.  Bring water to a boil.  Reduce heat to hold water at a steady, but gentle boil.  START COUNTING PROCESSING TIME AFTER WATER HAS REACHED A BOIL.

Processing Time:  Pints and quarts size jars need 10 minutes.

Carefully remove jars and set upright and well spaced apart in out of a draft to cool  Allow to cool for 12 hours.  Test to be sure jars are properly sealed.  To test a jar that has a flat metal lid, press center of lid; if the lid is down and will not move, the jar is sealed.

This fruit spread recipe is a sister to the Homemade Blueberry Syrup recipe.  I took notice that the syrup recipe did not spell out to discard the fruit after it was drained.  I tasted the berries and thought they just needed a little extra sugar and they could easily to be converted to a spread.  I couldn't bare to throw them out, it didn't seem fittin'.

HERE'S WHAT I DID

• 8 cups cooked & drained blueberries from the Homemade Blueberry Syrup recipe
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

In a small saucepan on medium heat, combine all the ingredients, except lemon juice and cook until the blueberries are cooked down and thickened, 10 minutes.  Stir occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

Ladle fruit spread into a sterile glass 1 pint jar and cover with lid and band.  Process in water canner for 10 minutes if you want to store in pantry and eat later.  Or store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.  It will go fast.  Trust me.

Think of a blueberry syrup that you would use to make fresh fruit sodas or stir into a milkshake, yogurt or ice cream.  This recipe makes a thin, flavor packed syrup, not a thick pancake syrup.  Now with that being said, let me just say this stuff is GRRRRR-EAT!  The kiddos and I have been enjoying blueberry sodas made with 1 part blueberry syrup and 2 parts club soda on ice.  They LOVE mixing up their own drinks and away they go.  I feel good knowing they're drinking a carbonated soda free of high-fructose corn syrup and unnecessary ingredients.  We're back to the basics, blueberries, water, sugar, carbonated soda.  Everyone is happy!

Before I start explaining the steps to canning the syrup, I just realized we could easily store the cooled syrup in freezer containers and freeze it.  Just divide up the syrup in portions that can be consumed in 2 weeks time.  Store thawed or unused syrup in refrigerator.

Now if you've never tried home canning, this is a super simple recipe to begin with.  Don't be scared.  It's too easy. And so long as you follow the instructions, you can't go wrong and make anyone ill.  Let's just have fun with the whole experience.

TOOLS & JARS

• wide mouth funnel
• magnetic lid lifter
• vinyl coated jar lifter
• vinyl coated tongs
  All easily obtained from an inexpensive canning kit. I paid $10 for mine.

TOOLS continued

• tall, large stockpot with lid and cooking rack
  I happen to have a 30 quart stockpot with a strainer basket. Works great.
• 4 pint (16 ounce) glass preserving jars
• 4 lids and bands
• cooking thermometer that registers over 230ºF
• large saucepan
• small saucepan
• tea towel or jelly bag, dampened
• wire mesh strainer
• large bowl
• stirring spoon
• clean towel

INGREDIENTS

• 8 cups blueberries (about 3 1/2 pounds)
• 6 cups water, divided
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest

• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

HERE'S WHAT TO DO

Combine blueberries, 2 cups of water and lemon zest in a large stainless steel saucepan.  Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat and boil gently for 5 minutes.

Transfer to a dampened tea towel or a strainer lined with several layers of cheesecloth set over a deep bowl.  Let drip, undisturbed for at least 2 hours.  Save the drained blueberries to make a delicious blueberry spread.

Prepare boiling water canner.  Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use.  Do not boil.  Set bands aside.

Combine sugar and remaining 4 cups of water in a clean large stainless steel saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar, and cook until temperature reaches 230ºF, adjusting for altitude.  Add blueberry juice.  Increase heat to high, bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from the heat and stir in lemon juice.

Ladle hot syrup into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace.  Wipe rim.  Center lid on jar.  Apply band until fit is fingertip tight.

Process jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude.  Remove jars and cool.  Check lids for seal after 24 hours.  Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.

While you have everything out and the water canner is still hot, you may as well use those leftover blueberries to make a fruit spread for your morning toast or over your yogurt.  You know what Memaw used to say, "Waste not, want not."

Blueberry Spread Recipe

If you would like to watch a veteran home-canner in the kitchen, then watch my mentor Linda Tanton in this video.  In the video she's cooking up a Cucumber Relish to be canned.  The tools and steps for canning are the virtually the same.  She shows us just how simple it is.