Sugar & Spice by Celeste

Well, the blueberry recipes just keep coming, don't they?   I hope that's okay with you guys, because this Whole Wheat Oatmeal Blueberry Bread sure is scrumptious!  With all the streusel-topped blueberry yumminess that's been making appearances around our kitchen, I was in the mood for something a little more hearty and healthy.  This bread really hit the spot. It's packed with wonderfully fresh blueberries, oats and whole wheat flour, plus the buttermilk was a great substitution for the regular milk that the original recipe called for.  The original recipe also called for 1 cup of frozen berries.  I doubled it to two full cups and used fresh instead of frozen fruit.  Quite delightful, if you ask me.  :) While the fresh berries really make this bread something special, if blueberries aren't in season and frozen is all that you can find, then by all means go for it.  It will still be delicious! Bon appetit, my friends!  :) ...

It's cherry season, my friends!  And what goes perfectly with cherries?  Chocolate, of course! I can't remember a time when I didn't love cherries.  In fact, I once drank so many cherry-flavored SqueezeIt drinks (does anyone else remember those??), that I broke out in a cherry-induced acid rash.  I know, I know...lovely.  Although, I must admit that I only really developed an appreciation for FRESH cherries...pits and all...as an adult.  My cherries of choice as a kid were of the maraschino variety, plucked right out of a glass jar. I recently brought a bag of the gorgeous red fruit home from the store and didn't know right off what I wanted to make with them.  The answer came in the form of chocolatey, intensely rich and fudgy brownies , studded with roasted cherries and sliced almonds...Oh, yeah! Now, these definitely aren't your normal, boring ole' cakey brownies.  The juices from the cherries keep these brownies incredibly moist a...

I love a good scone for breakfast.  They're easy to grab as I run out the door for work in the morning, and they're delicious, too.  It had actually been a while since I've made scones, and with it being blueberry season and all, what better time?? I sure have been on a blueberry kick lately...Scones, Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes , Blueberry Muffins , a Blueberry Buckle , and even Whole Wheat Blueberry Oat Bread (coming soon to a blog near you!).   This scone recipe from Martha Stewart is really scrumptious.  Some scones are extra dry and hard as bricks, but not these.  They come together quickly, and as they bake, the blueberries sort of burst and make these scones so pretty it's hard not to gobble one down right out of the oven (but why wait, anyway?). These are fantastic warmed up, with a little butter melted over the top and a hot cup of coffee on the side.  That sounds like the perfect way to start the day, if you ask me. Bon Appetit,...

The epitome of summertime deliciousness! Brad recently surprised me with a subscription to Food Network Magazine , and I love it.  In their July/August 2012 issue, they featured a Farmers' Market Menu, which starred this Peach-Almond Upside-Down Cake as dessert.  All of the juicy, marvelous peaches at the farmers' market lately has had me dreaming of peachy flavored goodness, so when I saw this recipe I made a mental note to try it. That opportunity came about a week later when Brad's parent's invited us over for a steak dinner.  Oh boy, does Brad's dad know how to make an awesome steak!  We never EVER turn down dinner at their house.  I had the baking bug that day, and the peaches were calling my name.  So, I got to work making this cake to take to dinner for everyone to enjoy. Oh.my.gosh.   This.cake.was.divine. In fact, my father-in-law declared that this cake was one of his favorite desserts that I've EVER made...ever! ...

We just can't get enough blueberries around here lately!  We've bought huge buckets of them at the farmer's market the past two times we've been, so I've had to come up with different ways to use the perfect little berries full of blue summer deliciousness. I know, I know...sounds like such a terrible predicament.  ;-) I saw a photo of a Blueberry Buckle while perusing blueberry recipes, and it made me stop in my tracks.  It sounded like perfection - A rich, moist cake batter packed full of so many blueberries that there's probably more berry than actual cake, with a streusel topping made of cinnamon, butter and light brown sugar sprinkled over the top.  Oh MY goodness, folks. Blueberry muffins are one of my weaknesses, and this cake is so much like a huge blueberry muffin in cake form.  It's quite wonderful! After making this dessert, I got to wondering why it's called a "buckle." As it turns out, the cake batter rises up ...