I came back from a weekend in Maine with lots (and I mean lots!) of Wild Maine Blueberries. I find them about a million times better than the culivated high bush kind from New Jersey or Michigan or where ever else they are grown. In addition to the better flavor, I think that because they are smaller, they distribute better in muffins and such. So I made this “coffee cake” like blueberry loaf. Oh so good. Extremely light and fluffy and I am trying not to eat it all at once.
August 2016
I few weeks ago, I had run out of frozen blueberries (this is unusual) and wanted to make blueberry muffins before the shops opened so I couldn’t buy any fresh ones, so I resorted to using blueberry jam. Turns out: best. blueberry. jam. ever. And you don’t have to worry about having the berries. This would also work with other jam, so use whatever you’ve got!
So, I’m pretty famous for my potato salad, but normally I make my Southern German (Bavarian or Swabian variety). Today, I thought I’d try a new and different kind for the BBQ that I am going to: French-style Herb Potato and Egg Salad. A little sweet, a little dill, very herby and turned out really really well, for a recipe that I made up on the fly. The eggs are semi-soft boiled (“7 minute eggs”) so their yolks actually mix well into the dressing, making it very creamy.
As promised, there is more pie. 🙂 Last week, I made a blueberry pie with this flower like pattern, made with a small, circular cookie cutter. I’d never tried that before, but loved the way that it turned out, so I made another pie this week along the same lines. The filling also involved blueberries, but also plums and blackberries — very late summer-ish. Note the little heart with wings in the middle … it’s all in the details, eh?
October 19, 1999 is a date that will forever remain in my memory. Why, you say? What is so important about that very day? It is the day that I ate the most perfect Caesar Salad salad ever made in the history of Caesar salads.
Yes, I remember the date. I remember the place (it was a restaurant attached to a Holiday Inn between Sausalito and Mill Valley, CA) and I remember the salad as if I ate it yesterday and yet it is almost 17 years later. That is how good this salad was. Think that I am crazy now? Yes, I remember the date of a salad. 🙂 Ever since then, I have tried Caesar Salads often, in the hope that maybe, just maybe I could find one just as good. Either the dressing doesn’t taste quite right, or there is too much of it (nothing like dressing with a side of romaine [shudder]) or (more often than not) it is just bad.
This salad doesn’t come close to the 1999 Salad, but I have found this dressing to be pretty awesome. As you know, the base of Caesar salad is egg yolks, but dealing with raw egg yolks can be a little problematic at times, so I thought of what else I could use as a base and came up with mayonnaise, which is in essence … eggs! This dressing should stay fridge-stable for a couple of days, if you don’t end up using it all at once.