Blueberries

This ACEO is done in watercolors on 140# paper.

Blueberry Muffins

I think blueberries are just about the perfect fruit. And one of the best things I got from my years of living in Massachusetts was the recipe for blueberry muffins. While Maine is famous for its blueberries, the best muffin recipe came from the venerable Jordan Marsh department store. I wasn’t a bit surprised to find that my new neighbors in Ohio also had the recipe from their time spent back East in Rhode Island. Even the famed food critic Martin Burros wrote of the famous muffin and the debate over its superiority in the NY Times. Do NOT substitute anything for real butter!

JORDAN MARSH'S BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cups sugar, plus 3 teaspoons
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt, optional
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
2 cups blueberries, washed, drained and picked over
3 teaspoons sugar

1. Cream the butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar until light.

2. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder, and add to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk.

4. Crush 1/2 cup blueberries with a fork, and mix into the batter. Fold in the remaining whole berries.

5. Grease 12 large muffin cups, and fill with batter. Sprinkle the 3 teaspoons sugar over the tops of the muffins, and bake at 375 degrees 30 minutes.

6. Cool 30 minutes before removing. Store, uncovered, or the muffins will be too moist the second day, if they last that long.

Yield: 12 muffins.