Saturday morning, my mother and I got up bright and early and
headed to the blueberry farm! Our friend, Craig Head, owns Headacres Farm in Bethany, North Carolina, which is about 25-30 minutes from our house.
We’ve been visiting Headacres for a few years now, and have never been
disappointed. Between the delicious blueberries, the fainting goats, and the great company, it’s nearly impossible to not have a good time
out there. In the past we've brought along with us our friends, family, and the kids I used to nanny for during the summers. The kids always had fun watching the goats faint all over the place, and particularly loved Van Goat -- the one who seems to be missing part of his ear. No matter what you're doing on the farm you're bound to have fun!
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| Headacres Farm |
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| Toast time! |
Mom and I arrived around 8:30; just in time for the first champagne toast of the morning...lucky us! We enjoyed our glass of champagne and a few blueberries with Craig before Mom and I got to work! Blueberry picking is something my mother and I did long before moving to Greensboro. I remember going as a little girl back when we lived in Pennsylvania. We would end the day at home with delicious home-made blueberry muffins. Here we are, 15 or 16 years later, still picking blueberries and having just as much fun.
It was already established that I was planning to make a countless number of treats so we both knew we were going to have pick plenty of berries to go around. Once we started picking we were on a roll and within 20 minutes we had gathered enough berries to feed the rest of North Carolina. Mom seemed to think we picked too many but I told her that was just not possible! After hanging out for a bit and chatting, we said our good-byes and headed home. On the ride home we talked about what I would be baking and what we had planned for the rest of the weekend. We listened to music and my mom shared that if it were up to her only happy songs, aka, the songs that play on her Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville station, would be played on the radio. "I'm going to invent a new music genre -- it's going to be genre, "Happy!" Okay, Mother. Can't wait.
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| Our beautiful blueberries! |
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| Mama pickin' her berries |
The rest of our Saturday consisted of us laying in the sun and experimenting with a couple different batches of homemade margaritas. It went without saying that the baking festivities would have to wait until Sunday.
I woke up Sunday morning ready to get to work in the kitchen! First, I decided to make a pie. When it comes to blueberry pie, there is only one recipe I've ever used -- my great-grandmother's. While picking up pie shells in the frozen section at the grocery store, I let out a gasp and a little squeal. Not because of the uncomfortably cold temperature throughout the frozen foods aisle, but because of what I found along the way -- MINI pie shells! I knew immediately that I just had to make cute mini pies so I snagged 4 packs of them and quickly scooted on over to the checkout counter.
Once I got back home, I began making my pies. Because I was making multiple small ones instead of one large pie, I had to change a couple things during the process. I made the mixture following the instructions and evenly distributed it among the shells. I wasn't sure how long they would each need to bake, so I just made sure to keep an eye on them while they were in the oven. I removed them from the oven when the outer shell began to brown. They looked as amazing as they smelled and I was too happy about it!
The second thing I made were blueberry muffins! I wanted them to be bursting with berries and flavor. I based my recipe on a basic muffins recipe found in Mrs. Lacy's cookbook. Mrs. Lacy's Magnolia House Tea Room is a little restaurant I've been going to all my life located in Sanford, North Carolina. Each time I visit Nana, we either make a trip to Mrs. Lacy's or place a to-go order and enjoy it at Nana's house. It's one of those small town places where you see almost everyone you know, especially in our family because my mom and her two sisters were born and raised there. I have so many fond memories of being there and always look forward to going back each time I head to Sanford.
I had planned on transforming Mrs. Lacy's basic muffins recipe into one full of mouth-watering flavor and personality. After thinking long and hard, I finally assembled my very own recipe -- blueberry muffins with a cream cheese filling and cinnamon streusel topping. YUM! I was quite nervous about making these because there were multiple components and I was experimenting. However, they baked and came out looking lovely and I couldn't have been more pleased!
Sunday night we had family dinner and of course had some of these pies and muffins for dessert, and the rest I took into work Monday morning. It seemed like everyone really enjoyed them and I got lots of positive feedback! It's safe to say that these treats will definitely be made again.
The recipes for both are below.
And as usual, until next time, enjoy and happy baking!
Mini Blueberry Pies (makes 1 large pie or 12 minis):
2 cups blueberries
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
ground cinnamon
dash of salt
butter
1. Mix all together except butter.
2. Pour evenly into 6 mini pie shells.
3. Dot each with butter.
4. Place another pie shell on top.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes or until shells are nicely browned.
Blueberry Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling and Cinnamon Streusel Topping (makes about one dozen):
Cream Cheese Filling:
8 oz cream cheese
3 tbsp sugar
1 egg (if you are looking for a more dense filling then leave this out)
Combine ingredients and mix with electric mixer on low speed until all ingredients are integrated; set aside until needed.
Cinnamon Streusel Topping:
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I used light brown sugar)
ground cinnamon (about 1 tsp or to taste)
1/4 cup butter, melted
Combine all of ingredients and mix thoroughly. For best results use your hands; set aside until ready to use.
Muffins:
2 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk (I prefer baking with 2%)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup blueberries
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place paper muffin liners in muffin tin.
2. Combine flour and sugar in a mixing bowl. Then, make a well in the center of the mixture and set aside.
3. In another bowl combine egg, milk, oil, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened.
4. Add the blueberries.
5. Spoon mixture into muffin pan, about halfway. Add a spoon full of filling to each muffin, then add more muffin batter to each, filling them to the brim.
6. Using your fingers, crumble the cinnamon streusel topping until each entire muffin is covered completely.
7. Bake for about 12-14 minutes. It may take longer depending on your oven so just keep an eye on them while they are baking!
