What can you say really … when you have an overload of delicious berries from the Pick Your Own at Russell Orchards, you just have to go crazy. This is amazing, if I do say so myself. You might call it a cheesecake (very lemony!), you might call it a pie. I call it yummy. Topped with red and champagne currants (disclaimer: I got the champagne / pink ones from Whole Foods), jostaberries, strawberries (the very last of the season!), blueberries and raspberries. It’s a time consuming project, but oh so very very good. If you have 24 hours to spare (or at minimum twelve, but half of that is cooling time anyway), give it a go.
sweets
Here is Kat’s silly tip for the day, which you probably already know, but I am going to tell you again. When making muffins or quick breads, has it ever happened to you that the “stuff” (i.e. blueberries, chocolate chips, nuts) all gravitates to the bottom and then you have a nice top but everything else ends up in a gooey mess? solution: toss the berries, chocolate chips and/or nuts with a couple of spoonfuls of flour, creating a light coating. Then mix them into the batter. This makes the “stuff” grippier and it doesn’t all sink to the bottom!
when I was a little girl, my Oma and Opa in greater-Stuttgart had this great cherry tree. I used to love hanging out under that tree, playing in the mud in the early summer, and then enjoying the bounty of the tree later in the summers. My sister once pulled me out of that tree (well, she pulled the ladder, not realizing that my legs were still looped over it, while I was sitting on a pretty high branch) and I broke my foot, but that is the only bad memories that I have of cherries from when I was a child. I love love love cherries.
Birthday Breakfast for America! OK, I’m not patriotic in the slightest (or if I am patriotic, it’s to more than one of my countries), but it is the 4th of July and I did make these very typical Blueberry Muffins, with an Almond Struesel (there is the German in me) topping. Great way to start off this celebratory day while up at a camp on the lake in Maine. Breakfast is good, weather is great, friends are fantastic!
What is better than regular ole s’mores? Make the graham crackers yourself (I make them round in this case) and then add a Reece’s Peanut Butter cup and proceed as usual. These are absolutely crazy good. Be forewarned that you will likely only be able to manage one though, as they are rich rich rich!




