I watched America’s Test Kitchens one Sunday in the middle of blueberry season.  They made the best looking blueberry muffins, so I had to try the recipe.

America’s Test Kitchens best blueberry muffins

The site has a video, plus step-by-step photos, so I won’t duplicate them with my experience.  All they require for this recipe is your email address.  Then you receive a weekly update with many interesting recipes and product testing results.

As usual, I used less than half the sugar.  And I don’t start preheating my oven until pouring the batter into the muffin tins.  For my tastes, just grating the lemon zest over the muffins after the blueberry jam is stirred into the tops worked better.  It didn’t have the crusty top that all the sugar added, but then it didn’t have all that sugar.

While I was making the blueberry jam I decided to make lots of extras to freeze.

This is just one of the packets I froze.  They were originally frozen in 1/4 cup containers, then popped out and put into bags.  The process made lots of blueberries fit into smaller spaces.  The muffins also freeze very well.  I agree that they are certainly the best muffins I’ve ever tasted.

The rhododendron and Columbine are prolific this year.  I thought the white azaleas under the hammock didn’t bloom because they were in the shade.  This year they proved me wrong.

The rhododendrons show up better because the Cotoneaster is gone, and there are fewer blueberry bushes.

I gave away four blueberry bushes which all lived in their new homes.  The six bushes that are left have abundant blueberries.

The Clematis try their best to climb to the top of the stumps, while I keep winding them around them.

Update on my previous post:

I heard the turkey hen yesterday among the rhododendron, but never could find her.  The food I put out is eaten, but I don’t really know if the turkey and poults are enjoying it or not.

After washing and coring an apple, slice off the top and bottom.  Then divide the rest  into four thick slices, enough for two carousels.   Next spread peanut butter on the top of each slice.

Position four colored toothpicks evenly spaced around one slice.  With the peanut butter side up, put the other slice on top of the toothpicks, and carefully press until it’s stable.

Place four animal cookies in the four spaces created by the toothpicks.  The peanut butter and the toothpicks can be used to keep them standing.  Add decorative candy to top, and anywhere else the child, or your inner child,  wants.

Take a pictures because it doesn’t save very well.  Enjoy eating all of it, or just the parts you like.

Another friend gave me some early apples. 

After washing them I cut them into fourths, eliminating the questionable parts.  The rest, seeds, stems, peels and all went into the juicer.

The juice poured out the spout, and the rest went into the waste bin.  However, some did accumulate inside the removable parts of the juicer. 

I ended up with about a gallon of pulpy apple juice.  It was all great fun until clean-up time.

Lime-Crab Soup

My cilantro in the garden was at the end of it’s productive cycle.  I wanted to use it in  something besides salsa.   This delicious sounding recipe had cilantro as one of the ingredients, so that was the first course in my Independence Day meal.

Next time I make it I will use homemade chicken stock to stand up to the other flavors.  Also I agree with most of the reviews that it had too much lime and chipotle.  After blending I did chill the soup for two hours.  It was a tasty cold soup for a hot holiday.

To end the meal I tried an easy variation of Blueberry Cream Pie.  It is also a red, white and blue dessert, even though the blueberries aren’t really a true blue.

It has the same vanilla pudding base as the pie.  The blueberry topping is just berries cooked down to a thick sauce, then fresh ones stirred in after it cools slightly.  I used thin lemon cookies for a crust substiture, and topped with sliced strawberries.  The dessert was a refreshing finish after watching fireworks.

The birds have been relentlessly finding ways to get under the netting.  The catbird and brown thrasher are able to peck right through the deer netting.  Once in, they eat a few berries, then often have trouble trying to find their way out.  That’s when Mia and I go into action to release them.  So far no birds have been harmed in this process.

The Supervisor is ever vigilant, watching for intruders,

until it’s nap time.

After hours of cutting, seeding and slicing eight cups of kumquats, the ones in the stainer were left.  As you can see if you looked at the kumquat grower’s site, there are many more recipes to choose from.

I used Pomona’s Pectin because I could use honey.  To the eight cups  of kumquats, I added the suggested pectin, calcium water (mixed from an included packet), a cup of orange juice and 2/3 cup of honey.  Then I followed the recipe for orange marmalade that is included with the pectin.  After filling sterilized jars I sealed them in a hot water bath for three minutes.  It had been so long since I’d canned anything I forgot about the delightful pings you hear as the jars seal.

It’s now ready to share and enjoy.

Above is a picture of about halfway through the clearing.  It shows some of the biggest roots that had been growing for years.

Now the brush has to be dragged to the burn pile.                                   

I tried to paint each exposed root end with brush killer.  If that works it would be wonderful, but cotoneaster is a persistent vine.  So it’s only been tamed, not eradicated.  At least the rhododendron and blueberries are breathing a little easier now.

The brush is ready to burn when it dries out, and a hay mulch is spread on the roots.  How good it feels to have that job done!

Between the rhododendrons and blueberries is a matted mass of cotoneaster.  It was started with just four roots pulled from some that were overflowing a garden area.  It looked harmless enough, and a friend said it was a good ground cover.  That it was, but it didn’t stop there.  It not only spread along the ground, but began growing higher and higher.  It even shades the blueberries, which need all the sun they can get.  It’s growing into the rhododendrons, stealing moisture and nutrients from them and the blueberries.  Every year I cut it back away from the blueberries, but now I want it gone.

The pile of cotoneaster brush in the foreground made very little dent in the mass that needs removing.  I may need some professional help, or just do it myself, some each year.  It’s a good winter project, but there are already way too many of those.

Mary Alice provided a clear photo of the directions on the top of the factory.  This is a better solution than composting certain scraps outside that would attract unwanted animals to her backyard.  She really did have an all out battle with a nest of rats under her deck steps. She does compost leaves and other yard and garden wastes in the backyard.

Take the lid off, and this is what you see if she is using dampened newspaper as the top layer.

Another day paper towels covered the top bin.  Pulled back you can see the place where the worms take their food and begin the process of turning it into their castings.  The litter consists of crushed old leaves, a bit of sand, and newspaper strips.  Worms are great pets.  You can abandon them for a few weeks at a time and start back feeding them from day to day.

The next two bins show how the screens filter the castings, attempting to separate the worms from their rich fertilizer. But a few wriggling worms manage to reach the lower levels.  The rest have the good sense to climb up to their food.

In the bin on the left the castings are held until it is full and ready for use.  Each month the bottom bin can be used and moved to the top for fresh bedding.  The lowest bin drains the liquid. 

Mary Alice lifts the spout to pour gardener’s liquid gold, the tea.  Once diluted, it adds valuable nutrients to the soil.  Houseplants just spring to life with this tea.

In the basement she had two bins, one made by a friend and the other by her daughter.  They serve the same purpose, but are not as streamlined as the Worm Factory. They work, but it is difficult to separate the worms from the castings, and to drain out the tea.

This site had comprehensive information about the redworms:

http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/redwormsedit.htm

Mary Alice’s nephew also has red wigglers, worm farms and other organic gardening supplies at Progressive Gardens, his store in Wilmington, NC. Call 910.395.1156 to order and visit www.progressivegardens.com/ for information on organic gardening.