Blueberry Boy Bait

When I traveled north to view the cherry blossoms last Spring, I stayed at the Bellaire B & B. Owners Jim and Dave are great hosts. The attention to detail is impeccable from the nicely appointed rooms to the departing gift of locally made chocolate truffles. While there, they served Blueberry Boy Bait for breakfast.

The history of the recipe is that it was a Betty Crocker Bake-Off winner in the junior category. When the teenage winner was asked why she named it Blueberry Boy Bait, she said that whenever she makes it, the boys come around. The recipe is below in celebration of the Michigan blueberry season.

Blueberry Boy Bait
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour (I used Jennings Spring Wheat whole grain flour)
1.5 cups sugar
¾ cups shortening (half butter, half margarine)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 egg yolks
1 cup milk (I used Edensoy soy milk)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg whites, beaten stiff
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1. Grease and lightly flour a 9 x 13 baking pan
2. In a large bowl, blend the flour, sugar, and shortening together with a pastry cutter until it resembles a course meal. Remove 1 cup of the mixture to use for the topping and set aside.
3. To the mixture remaining in the bowl, add the baking powder, egg yolks, milk, salt, and vanilla. Mix with an electric mixer until very smooth.
4. In a second bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the mixture. Pour into the greased and floured baking pan.
5. Place fairly dry blueberries evenly on top of the batter. Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture over the fruit.
6. Bake for about 40 minutes in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F.

Enjoy and let me know who you snag!

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One Muffin, Many Ways

Late last year I blogged about the tasty Michigan flours from Jennings. Since discovering how great the flours are I have been making healthy whole grain muffins regularly. The flours are also certified organic. Jennings provides various recipes for use with the flours. The one that I use most often was developed by Mattie Jennings and is below.

Spelt Flour Shortcake
2 ½ cups spelt flour
½ tsp baking powder
¼ cup oil
¾ - 1 cup buttermilk (I add a bit of vinegar or lemon juice to soy milk to make vegan buttermilk)
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
a little honey

Mix all together and bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes.

I mix the dry ingredients together and then the wet ingredients together before combining the two. Only mix until just combined. I have used the recipe as shortcake served with strawberries or blueberry-strawberry fruit compote. And, I have made many batches as muffins. The recipe makes a dozen and works well with the spring wheat, spelt, or multi-grain flours. For muffins, I find that when I add fruit, the baking time often is longer. And, if I bake them on the outdoor grill, the baking time is shorter.

I have used the spelt, multi-grain, and spring wheat flours. I have even baked spelt blueberry muffins outdoors on our gas grill when it was too hot to bake indoors. The multi-grain flour is heavier than the others.

Sweet Variations:
- Blueberry
- Cherry, almond slices, and almond extract (instead of the vanilla extract)
- Banana, blueberries, and walnuts
- Walnuts, cranberries, 1/3 cup orange juice, regular soy milk instead of buttermilk (used less because of the OJ)
- Pumpkin and walnuts
- Apple cinnamon with streusel topping

Savory Variations (be sure to refrigerate muffins with cheese):
For the savory I had to make a few adjustments. I cut the sugar to 1/3 cup and did not add the vanilla.
- Farm Country Cheese sharp cheddar with sage leaves (frozen last summer) with multi-grain flour
- Dancing Goat Creamery goat cheese with basil leaves (frozen last summer) and the first chives of spring with spelt flour.







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Michigan Millers

I probably baked quite often with rancid whole wheat flour until I met Archie Jennings at my local farmers market. This is because whole wheat flour contains the germ which has natural oils that can go rancid quickly if not stored properly. The flour needs to be stored in the freezer or refrigerator. Now, I purchase freshly milled flours from Jennings Brothers; they sell buckwheat, spelt, whole wheat, and whole wheat pastry flours as well as corn meal. And, I store it in the freezer. It does not actually freeze, so I can use it at any time.


Recently, I took a drive to visit Archie and his wife Mattie at their farm in Barry County, south of Hastings, MI. I drove up to the yard - with a classic tire swing in the tree - where the white house sits in front of the two barns and acres of grains. The house has what I refer to as an old Michigan fieldstone basement. And, that basement contains two walls of shelves filled with home canned products. Very impressive!

Back in the barn, the antique milling equipment is nestled along the sides of an airplane. Wait. What? Yes, Archie is a pilot and owns a 182K Cessna plane which is stored in one of the barns. That day, corn was drying prior to becoming corn meal. The corn is all open-pollinated and organic. He has: Truckers Favorite (developed in 1907), Reed Yellow Dent (1846), Bloody Butcher (1856), and the 6,000 year old Hopi Blue. One of the “parents” of Reed Yellow Dent was, according to Archie, the yellow corn that the Native Americans shared with the first settlers of New England.

The corn is shelled, cleaned, ground, and packaged with the equipment shown below that Archie purchased second hand. The equipment was built during the first half of the 20th Century - when things were built to last. The parts of the grain not meant for human consumption are sent to other farms to be used as animal feed. It’s a truly sustainable production process. The Jennings’ sell monthly at the Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids farmers markets, and the grains are available through the West Michigan Co-op.

Click here for the Jennings recipe page.

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