The end of July already?

It's been a while...work has really been beating me down! The days of summer are flying by and I feel like I'm missing out on a lot of it. I think a vacation is in the works...hopefully soon. A relaxing one, where all I do is sit on a beach and drink a few cocktails and maybe read a book. Ah! I spent 4 days in Nebraska this week and tonight when I got home I discovered some blueberries lurking in the back of the refrigerator. I forgot that I had bought them. Luckily, they were in perfect condition so I whipped up some muffins from a coffee cake recipe that I've made for years. I made some alterations to the recipe, as the milk in the refrigerator that the original recipe calls for had not fared so well in my weeks of travel.... This recipe can be made into a coffee cake or muffins.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins

1/2 cup butter + 2 Tablespoons

2 eggs

2 cups fresh blueberries

8oz. cream cheese, diced

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup water

2 teaspoons lemon zest

1 1/2 cups sugar, divided

3 cups flour, divided

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, cream the 1/2 cup butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add 2 1/4 cups flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the sour cream and water. In a small bowl, toss the blueberries in 1/2 cup flour. (This helps keep the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the batter while baking). Add the blueberries to the batter. Fold in the cream cheese and the lemon zest. Pour into a 9 x 13 inch greased and floured pan or muffin cups. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup sugar with 2 tablespoons butter until mixture is crumbly. Spread on top of batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes if making large muffins or 1 hour if making 9x13 coffee cake.

Happy 4th of July!!!!

As usual, it's been a busy week. I spent Monday through Thursday in Yuma, Arizona. It was so hot, and I was definitely thankful my job doesn't require me to spend much time outside. I came home Thursday night, although it had seemed the universe had been conspiring against me getting home that day. I had planned to see Celtic Women at Red Rocks on Thursday night. The day started with a cancelled flight from Yuma to Phoenix due to mechanical difficulties with the plane...fair enough, I don't want to fly on any planes that have mechanical difficulties. So, I drove (like a bat...)to Phoenix. Got to the airport, made it with about 10 minutes to spare before the plane was boarding. Then a thunderstorm is dropping rain at the airport in Denver, so we have to circle for an extra 20 minutes until the storm passes. The concert starts at 8pm, by the time I am in my car and on my way to Dan's house, it's 6:30pm. So, to save you the rest of the story, we made it in perfect time, saw an awesome concert and as we turned around to fold up our seats, rain drops started again. Friday was a vacation day and I spent a lot of time cooking up some deliciousness for the 4th. The menu included pulled pork bbq, oven roasted potatoes, bleu cheese coleslaw and baked beans. I also made one of the easiest pies ever when you have some fresh fruit. We have always made it with peaches, but you can actually use any fresh fruit or in a pinch, canned fruit works well too. But, it's summer so there is no excuse not to take advantage of the fresh fruit. I should also mention my version of beer margaritas...easy and so refreshingly good. Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July.

Fresh Fruit Pie

1 stick butter, melted

1 cup flour

2 Tablespoons powdered sugar

2 cups cold water

1 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 oz. package jello (same flavor as the fruit)

Fresh fruit

In a small bowl combine melted butter, flour and powdered sugar, pat mixture into a 9" pie pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, salt and water. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick. Remove from heat and add jello. Stir well to combine. Place mixture in refrigerator to cool and thicken. Add the fruit and mix well, pour into the baked pie shell. Chill at least 4 hours. Serve with whipped topping.

Beer Margaritas

1-12oz. can frozen limeade

2-12oz. cans beer

4oz. tequila

4oz. vodka

4oz. spiced rum

1-12oz. can sprite

Mix in pitcher and serve over ice.