Blueberry Jam

This recipe won a Second Place ribbon at the 2012 Tillamook County Fair.  I used frozen berries from my freezer to make these.  You can use fresh or frozen.  If frozen - they need to thaw.

Blueberry Jam

3 3/4 cups crushed blueberries
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup water
6 cups sugar
1 box MCP pectin (it's my favorite brand)

Before you start - make sure your jars are clean.  Put lids in saucepan with water and turn on low.  You want them hot - but not boiling.

Measure exact amount of fruit.  Place in 6-8 quart pot.  Stir in lemon juice and water.  Measure exact amount of sugar into separate bowl.  Set aside.
Stir pectin into fruit.  Bring mixture to a full rolling boil.  (A boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat - stir constantly.
Stir in sugar quickly.  Return to a full rolling boil and Boil 4 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Skim off any foam.  Ladle quickly into prepared jars.  Wipe rims, add lids and bands.  Process in water bath - making sure jars are covered with water.  Process for 10 minutes.
Next day - remove bands and wash jars and bands.  Label jars.

Lemon-Blueberry Cheesecake Parfait

 

This recipe comes from Tracy Wright.  She served it for a boy's baby shower and it's amazing!  The raspberry filling would go well with a girl's baby shower.  Thanks for sharing Tracy!

 

 

Lemon-Blueberry Cheesecake Parfait

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese

1 12 oz can of sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 tsp. vanilla

1 package graham crackers (about 8 whole crackers)

blueberries

mint for garnish

Directions:

Soften the cream cheese at room temperature, then beat it in a mixer until fluffy. Mix in the sweetened condensed milk, then add the lemon juice and vanilla. Break the graham crackers into little pieces. In a single serving dish, layer graham cracker pieces, then cream cheese mixture, then graham crackers and blueberries, more cream cheese mixture, then top with some graham cracker crumbs, blueberries and a mint sprig for garnish. Refrigerate several hours or overnight for the graham crackers to soften, or eat immediately for crunchy graham crackers.

I have made a variation of this recipe that is a little less "cream-cheesy". Whip up a box of vanilla pudding. Add it and a container of cool whip to the cream cheese mixture. Layer a 9 by 13 pan with graham crackers, cream cheese/pudding mixture and raspberry filling. Repeat.. I make my own raspberry filling from frozen raspberries.

Raspberry filling:

2 cups sugar

4 T cornstarch

3/4 c water

1 tsp vanilla

2 c frozen raspberries, thawed

Mix and heat over medium heat. Stir until thick, about 10 minutes.

Yogurt Berry Muffins

I made these for an afterschool snack today. They went over quite well with the family. This recipe comes from my Canadian teammate ~Leslie~ in the Aussie/NZ recipe swap for February 2010. Her recipe calls for strawberry yogurt and strawberries. I went with blueberries. Peach or raspberry would also work well I think.

Yogurt Berry Muffins
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 TBSP baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup blueberry yogurt (I did notice the yogurt at the store only comes in 6 oz now - it still works.)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Glaze:
1/3 cup powdered sugar
3 TBSP orange juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin tins or use cupcake liners.
Combine all muffin ingredients except glaze. Pour into 18 muffin cups and bake for 25 - 30 minutes. Let cool.
For the glaze:
Combine both ingredients. This makes a runny glaze. Just so you know. Pour over muffins. Wait for a little bit and the glaze will harden.

Blueberry Pie

This recipe comes from MrsMM in Massachusetts. She was on my team for the September Aussie/NZ recipe swap. A very tasty pie with lots of yummy blueberries!

Blueberry Pie
2 pie crusts - either buy them or make your own
3 3/4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (thaw the frozen berries) (If using fresh - make sure to clean them over)
3/4 cup sugar
3 TBSP cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 TBSP butter
1/4 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss berries with sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt until evenly coated. Pour berries into pie crust. Dot with butter. Add top crust. Cut slits to ventilate. Bake for 45 minutes. I like to sprinkle the top crust with water then add cinnamon sugar.

Canning blueberries...

I can blueberries for my family for the sole purpose of using them for blueberry muffins. They are on sale this week at the grocery store. 2 lb clamshell for $3.98. That is an awesome deal. This 2 lb clamshell of berries yields 8 half pints of canned blueberries.

Fill your jars with firm berries. If you run across mushy ones - don't use them.
Simmer your canning lids in hot water until your syrup is ready. Do not boil this water. It will melt the rubber sealant on the lid. Just let this simmer. It's all you need to do.

I have a huge pot of syrup here. I am doing the 3 cups water/1 cup sugar ratio. I have such a large pot because I will need it again in a couple days for peaches and more blueberries.

Back to the topic of syrup - get this very, very, very hot. It doesn't need to boil though.

Have your canner ready to add the jars. My canner happens to be a steamer canner. I love it. It's been a very good friend for 14 years now. We have had lots of use out of it.

**Just a reminder - steamer/water bath canners are not to be used for meats or veggies. When in doubt - contact your local extension office.
Remove the top of the canner and place your jars on the metal tray. Cover and process 15 minutes.
Your next best friend in the canning process are these jar tongs. They help get your finished product to some towels to cool off.
All done! This didn't take long. Now I have enough blueberries to make 8 batches of blueberry muffins.