Recipe #20: Crustless Blueberry-Pear Pie

I had some pears that were quite ripe and used them to make this tasty Pinterest recipe.

This is how mine turned out:

CRUSTLESS GINGER BLUEBERRY-PEAR PIE

Serves 8-12

Ingredients:
2 large pears, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 9-inch pie plate.
Fan the pears slices out in the pie plate. Top with blueberries.
In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter, sugar, eggs, ginger, vanilla, salt and milk. Sift in the flour and whisk until batter is well combined and very smooth, no lumps.
Pour batter over the top of the pears and blueberries.
Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until custard is set and the top is a light golden brown.
Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.
Source: Adapted slightly from Baking Bites.

My revisions to the recipe:
I didn't have ginger, so I used allspice and a dash of cinnamon. The allspice was an nice, unexpected surprise.
I also used frozen blueberries.
I didn't have unsalted butter, so I used regular butter and skipped the salt.
I did not sift my flour.

My friends, parents, and co-workers loved it! It was so easy; I'll definitely make it again!

Recipe #19: Blueberry Breakfast Grilled Cheese

I'll cut to the chase; these are as wonderful as they sound!

After a rough day, nothing sounded appetizing. Thankfully, I remembered the recipe a co-worker had shared with me for Blueberry Breakfast Grilled Cheese. For once, I actually had all the ingredients.

As always, I tweak recipes based on ingredients I have. I used blueberries covered in greek yogurt from my freezer. I sprinkled sugar on my cream cheese too. I don't have a sandwich press, so I just used a skillet. This was so good!

I was talking about this recipe with a friend while at the grocery store and it must've sounded good to the lady behind us in line, because she asked for details. :) We all started talking about other fruit combinations, like strawberries and/or bananas.

So, I dreamed up a banana and brown sugar mix. I tried it this morning and it was wow! The heat made the banana nice and gooey!

Try it, you know you want to! What other fruit combinations do you think would work well?

Easy Berry Cobbler

This summer my parents and I grew blackberries. I love blackberries, but my parents aren't fans of the seeds, so I have a freezer nearly filled with blackberries. I've been using them in shakes. You know greek yogurt, skim milk, bananas, blackberries, and honey... Pretty much all those ingregients are my favorite on their own. Together they're so refreshing.

Well, I was invited to dinner at a friend's house. They said I could bring an appetizer, side, or dessert. It also happens to be the day before that friend's birthday and she just so happens to love berry pie. I realized I wouldn't have time to bother with crust, etc., so I decided on something easier; berry cobbler. For recipes, I of course turned to Pinterest!

I found numerous recipes and chose a very easy one. From there, I of course tweaked it. Don't I always?!

Here's the recipe:


At the store, I bought a mix of frozen blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. I used two cups of blackberries and two cups of the three berries. So, technically this is a quadruple berry cobbler. Some recipes mentioned adding tabs of butter and a cup of sugar. I added roughly six small tabs of butter to the finished product. I ended up using roughly eight ounces of soda. I also used roughly a tablespoon of sugar. I probably should've added the sugar when I only had the berries in the dish, but we'll see. I also slightly greased the pan. Some recipes said to cover with aluminum foil, so I compromised and added foil about 15 minutes in. It ended up needing to be baked longer than the recommended time; needed about 55 minutes total. So far, it smells delightful!

Yay, it was yummy! My friends enjoyed it and I left most with them. Looks tasty right?!