Blueberry Crisp

I haven't tried too many blueberry recipes because we usually just eat them straight out of the carton, but when we picked nine pounds of them last week I started searching for something else to do with them.

I don't have extraordinarily happy thoughts about anything I've eaten with cooked blueberries except for muffins, so I was a little unsure how this blueberry crisp would turn out, but I tried it anyway. In a word, it was AWESOME.

I didn't measure the blueberries, just used enough to fit in the bottom of an oval 13x9ish casserole dish and I tripled the topping. Everyone loved it! If you don't have (or don't like) almonds, I'm sure you could substitute walnuts or pecans, but honestly you couldn't even really taste the almonds. They just gave some nice texture.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Shortcake

Nothing says summer like Strawberry Shortcake. And nothing piles fat and sugar on a perfectly harmless piece of fruit either, but whatever. 

There are a million ways to make the shortcake part of strawberry shortcake- pound cake, angel food cake, etc.- but I prefer a sweetened biscuit, and have made them with Bisq*ick in the past. However, I recently stumbled upon a brown sugar scone that I'll be using from now on, simply because I'm trying to find any excuse to make and eat them. 

Although the part with the fat is my favorite part of any recipe (in this case the shortcake) the key to how good any strawberry shortcake is is how ripe and delicious the strawberries are, so make sure you start with ripe, fragrant berries. 

I also prefer freshly whipped cream as opposed to the store-bought version, but you can use whatever you prefer.

Strawberry Shortcake

2 lbs. strawberries, washed, trimmed and quartered
1/3 c. brown sugar
Toss cut strawberries with sugar and let sit while you prepare the rest of the recipe

Shortcakes (brown sugar scones):
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup (or more) chilled whipping cream

Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl or food processor. Add chilled butter; using fingertips, rub in until coarse meal forms (or pulse food processor). Gradually add cream to dry ingredients, tossing with fork until dough comes together in moist clumps (or pulse food processor). Add more cream by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather together in a ball, press into a rectangle about 3/4" thick and cut to desired shapes. I cut it into even sized rectangles so I don't waste any of the dough. Bake for 15 minutes until light golden brown and let cool.

Whipped cream:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
Beat with an electric mixer on medium high speed until it holds a soft shape but is not stiff.

Cut each shortcake in half, top with strawberries and whipped cream and serve to very grateful guests!