Berries that are blue
by Sue Zelickson, Tastemaker in Residence
A summer fruit that's good for you!
Photo by Abigail Lynn on Unsplash
As the midsummer heat and sunshine comes upon us, those delicious fresh round blueberries of all sizes hit the farmers markets in our state of Minnesota. Eat them plain, with cream, (whipped or straight, no need to add sugar), or in tarts, pies, cakes, scones, muffins, crisps, cobblers and sweetbreads: Great in sundaes, smoothies or over pancakes, waffles, yogurts and cereals. WOW!
And while you are enjoying the only natural true blue food, you are digesting fiber, potassium, vitamin C, B6, zinc, and antioxidants, all of which are needed for healthy hearts, skin, bone strength, diabetes management, cancer prevention and mental health. It’s also nice to know that 1 cup of blueberries provides 24% of our daily recommended allowance of Vitamin C. So who cares if we don't have orange groves in the Northwest? We have lots of blueberry patches.
Yes, you can freeze these precious blueberries by placing them on a rimmed cookie sheet, then put them in the freezer till frozen. Store these frozen treasures in covered plastic containers to use all year long.
In case you don't have a favorite blueberry recipe from your grandma or great aunt, there is a fabulous blueberry coffee cake recipe on page 71 in Celebrations to Remember - Exceptional Party Decor and Fabulous Food by Soile Anderson and Eleanor Ostman. This recipe is good with breakfast, coffee or tea time or as a super delicious healthy dessert. It really is spectacular and so is the cookbook! Click here for recipe. Here's to a happy healthy blueberry summer.
Urban Ventures, a local non-profit with an amazing coffee company urbanventures.org has a new blueberry tea blend: they also make small bags of chocolate covered salted caramel balls that are to die for…way better than malted milk balls.
To order the book or have Soile and Eleanor do a book signing , demo or speaking engagement, contact her at soilescelebrations@gmail.com.