Do you need all the butter?

I'm not a baker, so I wasn't sure of the answer to this. I've always suspected that the more butter one uses the better (or buttery-er) the end product, but I'm not a butter fan. I rarely use it when cooking, though of course baking is different. When I ran across this recipe for blueberry sour cream muffins using only 1 tablespoon of butter, I was skeptical to say the least (so skeptical that I used 2 tablespoons).

When my brother and I were little, we loved the after dinner treats my mother made us. They could be as simple as peanut butter and jelly on crackers or as unexpected as muffins (because who wanted to bake after cooking an entire meal?). She often made blueberry muffins, which we'd eat warm and slathered with butter and honey. That's how I ate these--sans the slathering of butter, but definitely with the honey.

Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins
courtesy of cooks.com

1 c. sugar
1 tbsp. soft butter (I used 2).
1 egg, beaten
1 c. sour cream
1 c. fresh blueberries
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda

Mix sugar and butter then add beaten eggs and sour cream. Mix and then add the rest of the ingredients. Add the blueberries last. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes (23 was perfect).
If using frozen blueberries, bake 5-10 minutes longer. Yields 12 large or 18 medium muffins.

I guess it was the sour cream that did the trick, because these were moist as can be, and just as good as I remember my mom's being.

Cool food

This will be a short post, mainly just to give you a recipe that will take about as long to make as it will to read this.

Summer, to me, is all about food, and I love a nice cool salad to go along as a side to my main meal. I just whipped this one up--a great way to use all those vegetables from the CSA.


Cucumber tomato and corn salad

2 vine tomatoes
1 medium cucumber
1 ear of fresh corn, already cooked
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon minced red onion
2 basil leaves
1 1/2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Olive oil (about 3 tablespoons, or more or less if you'd like)
Salt and pepper to taste

Chop the tomato and cucumber and combine in a bowl. Remove the corn from the ear and break apart with your hands and add to bowl. Tear two leaves of basil and add, along with the garlic, onion, vinegar and as much olive oil as you'd like. Add the salt and pepper and let sit in the fridge for about an hour before serving.

This made enough for about two people. Next time I'll double the recipe, for sure.

Buon appetito!