Blueberry Season

August is the month when one of my favorite fruits is ripe any ready to pick: blueberries! Blueberry season always brings back memories of picking blueberries in a blueberry field near my grandparent's house with all of my family when we would go down to visit in late August. We don't really get to do that anymore, now we rely on our local Farmer's Market for large boxes of fresh blueberries. Blueberries are a bit of a pain to pick anyway, because they are so small, and often small leaves, twigs, and grass end up in your collection as well, or too many blueberries end up in your mouth. I love baking with blueberries. My mother and I have a few go-to blueberry items we bake every year, which include her special blueberry muffins, and the recipe for blueberry yogurt cake we discovered in our newspaper a few years ago. I also like to try new blueberry recipes each year. Last year I tried Brown Butter Blueberry Muffins and Blueberry & Brown Butter Squares, a bit of a coincidence that they both used brown butter, but that flavor seems to pair very well with blueberries. I still have new recipes using blueberries on my list of baked goods I would like to try, so I will be sure to get to some of them. We keep some blueberries out to use for baking within a few days, and freeze the rest for baking with later on. Blueberries freeze very well, and frozen blueberries are almost interchangeable with fresh in baked items. I tend to use blueberries mostly in breads and muffins and loaves, but they are also good in squares, cakes, and even some savory dishes. And of course they make excellent jam!

PHOTO CREDIT:J-11.jpg" http://gardenofeaden.blogspot.ca/2012/04/how-to-grow-blueberries.html .The Garden of Eaden, n.d. Tuesday, August 14, 2012.