Blueberry Bran Muffins

Bran muffins are something that take me back to childhood. It seems like my mom was always pulling a batch of muffins out of the oven, so good on their own but even better with a smear of butter. My take on my mom’s recipe calls for dried blueberries (it was always raisins in our house when I was growing up) and uses applesauce instead of shortening to lighten things up a bit.

Blueberry Bran Muffins 
1 cup bulk oat bran
1 cup boiling water
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups low-fat buttermilk
2 cups bran cereal
2 ½ cups flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups dried blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Stir water and oat bran together in a small bowl. Mix applesauce and sugar in large bowl. Add eggs and continue mixing. Stir in buttermilk. Mix in oat bran, bran cereal, flour, baking soda and salt. Fold in blueberries and stir until mixed. Grease muffin tins with butter or cooking spray. Scoop ⅓ cup mix per muffin cup. Bake for 20 minutes.

Yields 24 muffins.

Summer of Smoothies: Blueberry Banana Bonanza

I love fresh blueberries, but would rather snack on them whole than throw them in a blender. Frozen blueberries whirl up nicely in this smoothie.

Blueberry Banana Bonanza
2 cups frozen blueberries
2 bananas
½ cup apple juice
½ plain low-fat yogurt

Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.

Making wine syrup turns drink into dessert

We were so full after a delicious Valentine’s Day dinner at home (steaks from Roseville Meat Company, spicy asparagus and scalloped potatoes made with an awesome truffle cheese I found at Trader Joe’s) that we didn’t get around to dessert.

We also didn’t get around to finishing the beautifully bold Luna Canto we’d cracked open for our special meal, and it sat out on the kitchen counter in the decanter overnight. There was just around a serving left, and while the wine was probably fine, I thought I’d try turning it into wine syrup. I put equal parts wine and sugar (in this case, about a half cup each) in a saucepan and stirred over medium heat for a few minutes until the sugar had dissolved and the mixture developed a syrup-like consistency.

Because I’m impatient, I spooned the still-warm syrup over scoops of vanilla ice cream topped with blueberries and chopped strawberries to make a sort of adult ice cream sundae. The syrup tasted just as sweet, and had thickened a little more, when pulled out of the fridge the next night for ice cream, round two. I’m sure this would work just as well with white wine as it did with red.

On a side note, forgive me for not posting for a few days, as our Internet has been on the fritz for a good chunk of the week ... keep your eyes peeled for more new posts in the next couple days!