Tag Archives: food

Printy-print-print

Hi folks! I’m just stopping by to highlight something about my frequent cooking and recipe posts–there are printable links to all my recipes at the bottom of the post. They look something like this:

Click here for printer-friendly version: Parmesan Orzo with Asparagus

When you click on the recipe name, it will open a Word document with the simple text of the recipe–no pictures, no falderals, and absolutely no silly rhymes. Not one.

Sometimes they take a minute or so to open, and I think there may be a better way to handle things in order to quicken the download speed (through Google docs?) but, being a creature of habit, I am simply robotically repeating my lil’ method here until something better comes along and hits me on the head with a lead pipe. Or a small thermonuclear device. Only then will I change my stolid ways.

I’ve been providing these lovely links almost since the inception of my blog (and all my recipes have them, though some are .doc files and some .docx), but in the past few weeks 3 different people have told me that they completely missed the fact, and were instead (bless their souls) copying and pasting from the text between the pictures. Which is frequently rife with tangents, rabbit-trails, and general nonsensity.

So in conclusion: print away, my darling friends! I love you all, every one, and I want to make sure the pathways you tramp through my blog are user-friendly, saturated in organization and common sense, and festooned with garlands.

I also want to welcome suggestions from you all! Anyone who has anything to say regarding improvements I could make in terms of the organization, user-friendliness and presentation of the blogging content, Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Now is the time to speak forth! Or forever keep it to yourself.

At least until you boot up your computer tomorrow morning.

And now for something completely different:

My youngest sister Heidi in a toothpaste costume.

You can thank me later for satisfying the urge you never knew you had–the urge to look upon a Human Toothpaste Tube and say you lived to see another day.

Thus endeth today’s public service announcement.

Cheerio, McFeerio!

Blueberry Port Cobbler

Blueberries were recently on sale at my grocery store–$5 for 2 pounds! This blueberry cobbler was the result. I had seen it just a few days prior on Soup Addict’s blog (who in turn took her inspiration from Paul Deen), switched out the Grand Marnier for Port and called it Rin Tin Tin.

Of course, this cobbler didn’t take care of all those blueberries, so I did what any other rational, sensient being would do and simply drowned the rest of them in heavy cream. With a sprinkling of sugar. Ahoy mateys! What ho! It looketh to me piratey eyes like we’ve spotted a cream-lovin’ land-lubber! With all that cream she will turn into blubber! Lubber-blubber! Oh hoh hoh and a bottle or rum!

I realize that little flight of fancy made no sense. For accuracy’s sake, please strike the ‘sensient’ and ‘rational’ descriptors above, and for heaven’s sake let’s move on before this post completely disintegrates into nonsense.

Ingredients

(Serves 6)

2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
3 TBS cup water
1 cup sugar, divided
1 TBS corn starch
1 TBS Port
1 pinch freshly ground nutmeg

4 TBS butter
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk

Yikes! I’m already forgetting ingredients.

This guy was hiding out in the liquor cabinet. Yo hoh hoh and a bottle of port, say I.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Put the butter in a 1 1/2 quart baking dish, and place it in the oven to melt.

Grab yon cute yellow pot.

Pour in the berries, 1/2 of the sugar . . .

. . . and the water.

I should note that though I used 1/4 cup of water when I made it, I reduced the amount to 3 TBS in the printable recipe (linked at the bottom of the post) per Soup Addict’s recommendation. You’ll see why later.

Heat the fruit over medium high until it’s boiling, and add the cornstarch.

Stir in the cornstarch, and add the nutmeg . . .

. . . and port.

In fact, next time I’ll probably just substitute the water for port.

Now turn down the heat to low, and simmer it for 10 minutes.

Mix the flour, remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl, combining well so that there are no lumps.

(I gave it a quick sift with my fingers to make sure–no one wants a baking powder surprise hidden in the batter)

Add the milk in slowly, stirring vigorously, to prevent clumping.

Pour the flour/milk mixture into the baking dish over the melted butter. I should note that Soup Addict’s batter looked much thicker than mine. I have no idea why. I think I’ll blame the kitchen imps–the same ones that try to cause something to fall out of the freezer every time I open it. I’m not naming names–but they know who they are.

Don’t stir the batter and butter together! Just let them coexist–together, but separate.

Spoon the fruit over top, ladling in the syrup at the end.

Beautiful!

And I love the deep magenta color of the berry syrup.

Mmmm. I want to bathe myself in it. Or possibly have a dress made in that exact shade.

Bake the cobbler for 40-50 minutes. The batter should rise to the top . . .

Mine didn’t.

It stubbornly decided to bake up differently than Soup Addict’s cobbler.

But it was still awesome.

The sides pulled away easily from the baking dish.

It’s the butter at work, I can tell you that much.

My cobbler turned out more like a berry sauce with floating bits of deliciously spongey cake. See? It’s like a (thick) fruit soup in there.

Not that I’m complaining, mind you. But this is the reason behind the after-the-fact reduction of the water to 3 TBS in the printable recipe, which will hopefully reduce the soupiness of yours.

Serve with ice cream!

It stores well in the fridge, and when you reheat it the next day, the cake is just as spongey.

Click here for printer-friendly version: Blueberry Port Cobbler