It’s 12am, Do You Know Where Your Cookies Are?
You're awoken by the sound of distant thunder. Flashes of heat lighting stream through the drapes and reflect off the wall. Restless, you lay awake in bed, a thin sheet your only protection against the crisp night air. The heavy blanket long since set aside for colder weather. The scent of imminent rain filters through the open windows and a new breeze disturbs the curtains.
Curiously drawn, you carelessly throw off the sheet and pad downstairs in your bare feet. The light from the refrigerator floods the kitchen and you squint, you're eyes not accustomed to the sudden brightness. You snatch a midnight snack and welcome the darkness back.
Blindly, you find your way to the window. The storm rolls in, clouds of violet and black blanket the sky decorated with intermittent shimmers of silver and gold. You nibble idly on your Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Cookie as the rain falls in an impetuous torrent.
These cookies are fresh, sweet and quickly disappearing. Just like Summer. Best enjoyed with an accompaniment of thunder and lighting.
Bumblebees and Blueberries.
The last few days have been wet and dreary. It feels like the rain and chill are interminable and we'll never see the sun come out from behind the dark clouds.
The air is thick with the fresh earthy scent of fresh rain. If you venture outside even for a moment you return with frizzy rain hair, water droplets decorating it like a halo of mini lights.
The normally cheerful pansies drop their tiny faces to the ground under the weight of a few raindrops. But nothing seems to dampen the spirits of this determined little bumblebee. He buzzes from flower to fragrant flower and seems to inject new life and colour into the otherwise grey world.
I decided I'd pick up where the sweet bumblebee left off and bake up some happiness of my own. There's nothing like fresh from the oven Blueberry Vanilla Bean Muffins to brighten your morning. The sweet scent of vanilla paired with the bursting flavour of blueberry.
Heebee Jeebees.
Popsicles. Is there anything better on a hot Summer day? But it's not all fun and games. There's evil lurking in your popsicle. Splintery, wooden, spongy evil.
Is it just me or does the thought of biting into a refreshing popsicle down to the wooden stick give you the heebee jeebese? It not only ruins the whole experience it also incites a physical reaction in me that is most unpleasant.
You know that feeling when you drag your fingernails across a chalkboard or when you accidentally touch a bug? It feels like you need to chop your fingers off to get rid of the weirdness. Either that or run your fingertips across an SOS pad until the pain replaces the icks.
I used to chew on popsicle sticks when I was a kid then promptly hide them in the basement couch because I was too lazy to take them upstairs to throw them out. The thought of doing that now makes me cringe for a few reasons.
Sorry to make you think of bugs, amputation and skin abrasions while setting eyes on this rainbow of Fruit Punch Yogurt Popsicles. These have plastic sticks so no worries.
Enough of my neurosis. Let's get crack-a-lackin of some popsicles.
I’m Cool Like That.
Like most of you out there I've been trying to figure out any way possible to avoid turning on the oven in this summer heat. Lots on BBQ pork chops and salads. It's not enough to avoid heating up the house but I'm also trying to devise ways to cool down too.
Sitting directly in front of the air conditioner is good, if not a little restricting.
Pony tails are nice. Just the act of getting my thick hair off the back of my neck is a relief.
Popsicles help. Yes they do. Especially the orange ones. I think they're a couple degrees more refreshing.
Ice cream too. Oh my yes. Lots and lots of ice cream.
Have you ever been to a Marble Slab Creamery? If not you need to get yourself to one as soon as humanly possible. You'll thank me later. It's custom. It's fancy. It's expensive. It makes you feel like you should be clutching your White Chocolate Raspberry Swirl chocolate dipped waffle cone with your pinkies out.
After reading a recent post by Brown Eyed Baker on how you can make ice cream without an ice cream maker it was decided. I needed to do this. There was no way around it. I do still plan on getting an ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, but in the mean time I can still live it up in custom made ice cream fabulousness.
But I made it frozen yogurt because I kind of prefer it. Or at least that's what I tell myself.
Blondies, Who Knew?
So there I was in my kitchen, my mouth hanging open in a frozen gasp and my eyes popping out of my head. It was one of those eureka moments. You know the one. Brownies not made of dark or milk chocolate but white chocolate. I'm clearly a genius.
Not.
Then I was left with the difficult task of naming my brain child. Whities was a bad choice for obvious reasons. Plus they wouldn't really be white. It's kind of difficult to bake white food. So beigies? No, that's just lame and rather hard to pronounce.
Naturally I couldn't get it out of my head. So I googled it like a good obsessive compulsive person and, to my great disappointment, I not only found a name for them but also found they already existed. Blondies. There's not much left in the world that someone hasn't already thought of. Silly me. I never would have thought of that.
Blueberries were on sale. I like blueberries. Blueberries and white chocolate go together nicely. So there you have it. Sometimes it's best you don't over think dessert.
Got The Blues.
I baked you a cake. A Blueberry Boy Bait Bundt Cake with Lemon Blueberry Glaze. Try to say that ten times fast.
I love blueberries not just for their adorable smallness, their violet blue hue and explosion of sweetness. Blueberries also hold a special place in my heart right there next to jars of buttons, kittens and antique brooches.
I have fond memories of picking giant, juicy wild blueberries when I was a kid camping in Algonquin Park with my family. We spent every summer there until I was eleven. It's where I learned to swim in Lake of Two Rivers. It's where I learned to draw in the sand of the warm beaches. It's where I distinctly recall drinking orange juice so cold every morning that you could feel it going down into your stomach. It's where I fell in love with fresh blueberry pancakes and bumbleberry pies.
Granted this cake is made with frozen blueberries, but still full of lots of blueberry goodness. Next time, fresh blueberries. Promise.
Food for Thought.
I take things personally. I try not to, but I can't help it.
If I discover that a person dislikes me I'll wrack my brain for the answer to their derision. I'm not the type of person to hate anyone so it's hard for me to understand why someone would point their hatred at me. This is especially annoying when I've done everything I can to be pleasant to someone. Some people just can't be pleased I guess.
I cry when I burn dinner.
I feel like a failure if I forgot to get something at the grocery store.
I mope around disconsolate and detached when Tastespotting declines my photos.
This might have something to do with being a perfectionist. It makes me my own worst enemy. If I expect perfection in all things then I'm just asking for disappointment. No one and nothing is ever perfect. It's hard to love the flaws. It's hard to turn failure into success.
But I'll try.
For now, here's some pretty darn close to perfect Apple Berry Crisp.
The Price of Great Muffins.
So I just burnt my nose. Seems odd right? It get's weirder. I burnt the inside of my nose. I was a little too anxious about inhaling the intoxicating scent of a fresh batch of Lemon Blueberry Streusel Muffins that when I opened the oven to check on them I got a face full of 350 degree air.
That's normal right? They smelled so good I burnt my nose. It was worth it though. So worth it.
I was first intrigued by this recipe when I found that it included lemon. Who doesn't like the combination of lemon and blueberry? No one, that's who. Then I wanted to add cinnamon to the streusel recipe because, let's face it, cinnamon is just awesome. I was worried about how the lemon and cinnamon flavours would mingle. You might be too. Don't let them scare you, they're just muffins. Delicious, delicious muffins. Nothing to fear here except an unhealthy compulsion to eat every last crumb. I double dog dare you.
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