blueberry cream muffins

we made these while the leiningers were here with our hand-picked blueberries and they were so fantastic. the original recipe calls for a little bit less sugar and no cinnamon, but i read some of the comments on allrecipes.com and added them and it made a fannnntastic muffin. the cinnamon really gave it its kick. i would add a crumble topping next time, because they were really good but i just LOVE crumble toppings.

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups sour cream
• 2 cups blueberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease 24 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
2. In large bowl beat eggs, gradually add sugar while beating. Continue beating while slowly pouring in oil. Stir in vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda.
3. Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture alternately with sour cream. Gently fold in blueberries. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.

for my own future reference, here's a crumbly topping recipe:

To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

black bean soup

easiest soup you'll ever make, but really oh, so good.

2-3 cans black beans (do not drain)

2 cans chicken broth

1 tsp. salt

3 cups cooked rice

avacado, sliced

grated cheese

tortilla chips, crushed

sour cream

Blend together the black beans with one of the cans chicken broth. Add black bean mixture, other can of chicken broth, and salt to a large pan. Cook on medium heat until nice and hot. (You don't need to bring it to a boil). In individual bowls, layer the rice, then the soup, then the other toppings.

cobb salad sandwich

yep, they're exactly what you think they are. but man, we felt so gourmet eating these for lunch! add a bit of bacon and avocado to a sandwich and it seems wayyyy better. you could even do it on just two toasted pieces of bread, as we discovered after i'd bought 12 croissants (they didn't sell them in any smaller quantities at the grocery store). we also ditched the bleu cheese and just went with cheddar. the ranch is what made the sandwich!

• 4 croissants, cut in half lengthwise
• 4 lettuce leaves
• 1 tomato, sliced
• 4 slices of crisply cooked bacon, halved
• 8 slices of deli ham, turkey, or chicken
• 4 slices of red onion
• 2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
• 1 ripe avocado, sliced
• 1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
• mayonnaise, blue cheese dressing, or ranch dressing

Directions

1. 1Spread your choice of mayonnaise, blue cheese dressing, or ranch dressing on both halves of the croissant.
2. 2Layer one half of each croissant with lettuce, tomato, bacon, 2 slices of ham (or turkey\chicken), onion, sliced egg, 2 avocado slices, and a tablespoon of blue cheese crumbles. Place other croissant half on top and enjoy!

peach and raspberry crumble

wow, this was a super-delicious AND easy dessert to make! and so good and summery! you HAVE to eat it with ice cream, of course. i wanted to put it up here so i didn't forget about it. enjoy!

the only thing is that the "crumble" part makes a ton. so i didn't put it all on because i thought i had enough already. put on more than you think. it's necessary!

Peach and Raspberry Crumble

makes 1 8×8-inch square baking dish

5-6 medium ripe peaches, sliced

1 cup fresh raspberries (if using frozen, just thaw and drain)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup old fashioned oats

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Place sliced peaches and raspberries in a square 8×8-inch baking dish and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, oats, spices, and salt. Add the butter and toss the mixture together with your hands. Break the butter up into the flour mixture until the butter is the size of small pebbles and oat flakes. This took me about 4 minutes.

Toss a generous handful (about 1 cup) of crumble topping into the peach and raspberry mixture. Toss loosely with your hands. Spread fruit evenly in the pan and top with the remaining crumble mixture. Bake until fruit is juicy and bubbling, and the top of the crumble is slightly browned and crisp, about 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven, let cool slightly, and serve with vanilla ice cream. Crumble is delicious served warm and can be stored, covered, in the fridge and reheated in the oven or microwave for serving.