Blueberry-Lemon-Sour Cream Squares

Wild Blueberry Lemon Squares

One of the nice things about being at Marble Mountain in August is it is the peak of wild blueberry season, and this year there was a bumper crop.  There are fields of wild blueberries near our place and friend Beverly went blueberry picking with our neighbor Maggie.  She brought home almost a quart of berries.

Beverly's wild blueberries.

I decided it was time I did some baking.  Having the blueberries, a lemon, and some sour cream on hand, I googled a recipe using these three ingredients.  Blueberry-lemon-sourcream bars fit the bill.  I enlisted the help of Rufus (introduced him to home baking.)

Blueberry-lemon-sourcream Bars

Ingredients:

Crust

• ½ c butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
• ½ c light brown sugar
• 1½ cup all purpose flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt

I didn't have the ingredients for making the crust, but I did have a ready made graham cracker crust.  I crumbled this and had Rufus add melted butter until all the butter was incorporated.

Mixing melted butter with crushed graham cracker crust.

Graham cracker-butter mixture pressed into bottom of parchment lined pan.

• Filling:
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• ½ c sour cream
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 egg
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 and prepare an 8×8 square pan by lining with parchment paper and spraying with cooking spray.
2. Make the crust by whisking together in a medium bowl the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the melted butter. The dough will be crumbly but make sure all of the butter is incorporated.
3. Reserve ¾ cup of the crust and press the remaining into the bottom of your 8×8 prepared baking pan.
4. Combine the fresh blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice in a small bowl until the combined and set aside. 

   

   Mixing blueberries with sugar, corn starch and lemon juice.

5. For the sour cream filling, mix together in a large bowl the sour cream, sugar, 1 Tbsp flour, egg, and vanilla. Pour over the crust in your 8×8 pan.

   

   Sour cream mixture poured over bottom crust

6. Spoon the fresh blueberry mixture evenly over the sour cream.

   

   Blueberry mixture spread over sour cream mixture.

7. Sprinkle your reserved ¾ cup crust over the top and bake for 25-28 minutes or until golden brown. 

   

   Ready for the oven.

8. Cool completely and serve in squares. 

   

   Blueberry square served with vanilla ice cream.

   This can be stored in the refrigerator.  With Rufus helping this took only minutes to prepare and we had dessert for several meals. 

Masstown Market at Truro, Nova Scotia

Masstown Market.

When my friend Wendy saw that I was in Halifax she sent me a message saying I might enjoy checking out the Masstown Market, since we would be near it on our trip back to Cape Breton.  I am so glad she clued us in to that Market.  It is fabulous!  So many fresh vegetables from local farmers and fresh fish as well.

When we arrived the parking lot was almost full, but luckily we found a spot right beside the lighthouse, and it was in a shady area that was perfect for Maggie.  It wasn't hot though because it was an overcast day.

Lots of folks at the Market on a Friday morning.

The little white car to the left of the "lighthouse" is ours. 

Dan stayed with Maggie while Alice and I headed for the fresh vegetable area of the market.  There was a little bit of everything--we found beet greens, green beans, yellow beans, and sweet potatoes.

Yellow wax beans from a local farmer.

 It is blueberry season here and we got a small carton of wild blueberries.  The wild ones have so much more flavor than the cultivar that is usually grown.  We have quite a bit of frozen berries or else we would have gotten a really big carton of those.

Wild blueberries.

A box of wild blueberries.

There were all kinds of baked goods, but when I found shortcake biscuits I knew I had to try those.

I'll use these to make blueberry shortcake.

A new kind of brownie.

I resisted most of the sweet baked goods, except for macaroon brownies---that's a new take on brownies.  Yes we brought some of those home.  

The highlight for Dan was the fish market in the "lighthouse".  They had quite an array of fish and seafood goodies.

Varied seafood at the Market.

Dan liked the looks of the farm raised Arctic char, and we baked one for dinner tonight.  It tastes like a blend between a salmon and a trout.  Really delish and oh so fresh.  

Baked Arctic char for dinner.

I don't know how we have missed this place all these years, but I am very grateful to Wendy for suggesting we visit it.  We will go back.


You might like to check out their website..


  

Laura’s Blueberry Pancakes

Laura's wild blueberry pancakes.

It’s always nice having Laura and Anthony with us at Marble Mountain.  Laura treats us to blueberry pancakes quite frequently for breakfast.  She makes the BEST pancakes I’ve ever had.  Lots of wild blueberries are incorporated into the batter that she makes using multi-grain pancake mix and her secret ingredients.

Here are some of the ingredients.

She mixes in lots of wild blueberries.

Mixing in lots of wild blueberries.

Apparently the temperature at which the pancakes cook is critical.  And Laura seems to get it just right.

Pancake filled with wild blueberries.

Pancake browning.

Pancake garnished with bananas, blackberries, maple syrup, cassis syrup, and butter.

We garnish our pancakes with melted butter, pure maple syrup, and in this case bananas, wild black berries, and  cassis (black currant) syrup.  Yum!!

Nothing left behind here.

I cleaned my plate.

Our dogs get a special treat as well, because both Mona and Maggie enjoy the pancakes.
Here's Laura and Anthony's dog, Mona, having her share of the pancakes.

Mona waiting patiently to get a bite of pancakes.

Wild Blueberry Smoothies

A smoothie for Dan and one for me.

 In the summertime we like healthy fruit smoothies for an afternoon snack or even for dinner if we've had a heavy lunch.  It's wild blueberry season here in Cape Breton and just the right time for a wild blueberry smoothie.  Place the following in a blender:  1 cup of wild blueberries, 1 cup of blueberry juice, 1 cup of milk, and 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream.  (2 tablespoons of honey optional),  Blend and serve.  Makes four 8 ounce servings.

1 cup of wild blueberries.

 

 

1 cup of blueberry juice.

1 cup of milk.

2 scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Blend all of the above and ENJOY!!