Culture Bit: New Hampshire Blueberries

New Hampshire grows delicious blueberries.  I have become a huge fan since our move.  I have them with my morning cereal, dessert, sometimes alongside a lunch sandwich.  Delicious.  The BF and I decided to take advantage of a local farm that featured "Pick Your Own".  We found this handy information on the NH site: 

Super Acres - blueberries

722 River Road, Lyme, NH 03768. Phone: (603) 353-9807. Email us at:patrice.g.super@valley.net . Directions: Located just south of the covered bridge, or 4 miles north of the Thetford/Lyme Bridge. Click here for a map to our farm. We are open July, August. Our hours are: 8am-7pm daily during blueberry season. Late July through August. Pick Unsprayed blueberries in our 1,200 plant orchard near the Connecticut River and Clay Brook.

Onsite, they provided pints to take your berries home in, as well as picking buckets for customers to borrow.  They also had a handy sign to help us figure out what to do.

1.  Pick Blueberries

2.  Weigh blueberries (arrow pointing to scale right next to sign)

3.  Pay $2.50/pound

Simple, and a fun evening outing.  When we got home I spent an hour or so washing our 7 pounds of blueberries.  A kitchen sieve helped me pick through them, removing small bugs, leaves, twigs, and damaged berries.  Now I am onto the fun part: baking time.  I found two recipes to try:

Blueberry Gallettes from Haniela's blog

Blueberry Crisp from King Arthur Flour (another local feature!)

Herb Gardens

My grandmother has had beautiful gardens at all of her houses that I have visited.  Her project this summer is a potted herb garden.  When I arrived for our visit, I was informed within 24 hours that she needed to go to the Nursery to pick up Dill.  We went to Planted Earth, just outside of Aspen and she scoured the herb selection triumphant upon finding dill, and momentarily defeated to not find Tarragon (don't worry, they will call her when its in).

She has arranged her herbs in three large pots on the patio and in small earth plots under her trellis.  The patio is directly out of the kitchen, so as her plants mature it will be very easy for her to snip some fresh herbs to complete her dishes.

We planted Basil last year and harvested it several times.  Basil can be harvested down to only a couple inches above the ground, and should be harvested before it goes to bloom (the taste changes then).  We would put basil leaves in salad, on pizza, and make delicious pesto.  Who doesn't love fresh pesto all summer long?

Additionally, herbs are beautiful plants that do have gorgeous flowers.  As a thank you for her hospitality (and being awesome and being awesome with training puppy Mona) I gave Granma a blooming lavender plant.  While on her patio table now, she is already planning where she will plant it so that it can grow even more.

Easter Banana Bread Muffins

This year, instead of the more traditional Easter Hot Cross Buns, I decided to make the King Arthur Flour Heavenly Healthy Banana Bread but in muffin form.

I do have a problem with this recipe, I have a hard time rationing it... hence turning it into muffins.  This also allowed me to try out a new muffin solution, instead of store bought wrappers, I used cut parchment paper.  (I love the rustic look.)  I changed the baking time to 30 minutes at 350.

In the past I have also replaced the butter in this recipe with sunflower oil.  Sunflower oil gives a great flavor to baked goods, however I have noticed that it decreases the baking time by a couple minutes.

Serve with chunky peanut butter...

Happy Easter!

Make-Your-Own Brownie Mix

The BF and I recently had a heated couples discussion about a personal problem of mine.  It would appear that I am something of a choc-aholic.  Often on the weekends I will make various baked chocolate goodies that I then freeze to have throughout the week as warmed up dessert wonderfulness.  (It's my reward for being an adult).

Unfortunately this has led to a diminished amount of freezer space and organization (hence the heated couples discussion) which ultimately led to me bringing a variety of baked goods to the office to share with hungry coworkers.  I've changed my tactic, I will now take over a part of the pantry, which is much larger than either of our freezers (yes we have two, one is dedicated to wild game).

This weekend I found a lovely little recipe from King Arthur Flour for Make-Your-Own Brownie Mix.  What a fun idea!  To have the simplicity of a box mix on hand, without all of the preservatives.

2 1/4 cups (16 ounces) sugar1 1/4 cups (3 3/4 ounces) Dutch-process  cocoa (we love our deep-dark Double- Dutch Cocoa)1 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon baking powder1 teaspoon espresso powder1 1/2 cups (6 1/4 ounces) King Arthur  Unbleached All-Purpose Flour2 cups (12 ounces) chocolate chips 

In a large bowl, thoroughly stir together everything but the chocolate chips. If you’re using a stand mixer, let it mix on low speed for 5 minutes; it’s important to make sure everything is well combined, especially if you’re making a double batch of the mix. Stir in the chocolate chips at the end. 
Note: If you’re making a double batch, stir 2 cups of chips into each separately (rather than stirring 4 cups of chips into the entire batch). Scoop mix into an airtight container, and store at room temperature for up to 6 months.

Freya's Notes: She added a dash of cinnamon (I've read it helps controls sugar spikes), extra espresso powder, and 1/2 cup brown sugar, then decreased the white sugar to just 1 1/2 cups.

Wine-o: Friday's Folly & Venison Steak Marinade

Friday's Folly Red Table Wine, Boulder CO

And a folly this wine is.  I should've known by the label as there is no year printed.  However it does note "100% Colorado Grown" which I thought was a good sign...  


This wine tastes off, it has a musty overpowering smoky flavor.  The first night I opened it I felt it was drinkable, and I looked forward to trying it again after it had aired a day.  But alas, it tasted only worse a day later.  

It was when I realized drinking it was a chore that I decided to convert it into marinade.  I have no doubt that it will flavor our venison backstrap steak deliciously tonight.

Simple venison marinade:

5 parts red wine

sprinkle of Tarragon 

1 part Dale's Seasoning sauce (optional: any steak sauce will do, omitting the sauce and using just wine will also work)

Allow steak to sit out for a couple hours.  It is important to thaw the steak in warm saltwater.  This will take away some of the "gamey" flavor.  After steak is mostly thawed, cover with marinade and let sit until ready to cook.


Wild game is a much leaner (and healthier) meat than beef or farm raised meat that you will find in the grocery store.  Because of this it is important to cook the meat very hot and very fast.  If the meat is left on the heat for a longer time it will lose a lot of it's moisture and gain a touch texture.

 Freya's Score: 3 I give this wine points for being a local wine where I bought it.  The wine has a better flavor than Arkansas red wines, it is more musty than overly sweet.

Cost: ~ $15  from a liquor store between Boulder and Denver