I found blueberries for $3/pound last week, so I actually felt like I could buy enough to do something more than sprinkle a few in my oatmeal.  Cherries were cheap too, so I modified my grandmother Meme’s blueberry muffin recipe to include some cherries too. I was hoping they’d look kind of belatedly patriotic, but actually the cherries turn darker and the blueberries turn purple when cooked, so you really can’t see the difference.

Isn’t it wonderful what happens to blueberries when they bake?  I love the way they sort of explode and seem even juicier than when you pop them in your mouth raw.  I didn’t have any lemons so I added some lemon extract, otherwise I would’ve just used lemon zest.  I like the almond flavor with the cherries and blueberries, but you could also just use vanilla.
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I know this is a bit redundant with the Daring Bakers post earlier this week, but I did end up making a quiche with the leftover filling, and it turned out so well, I wanted to share.  Also, I realized I’ve never shared my quiche recipe with you, which comes from Matt’s grandmother by way of my mother-in-law.  She always filled it with bacon and swiss cheese, but here I used the mushroom barley filling from the strudel instead of the bacon (though I added a couple slices of bacon, too).  Also, I usually use cream but I didn’t have any so I substituted the buttermilk I had on hand from making a strawberry buttermilk cake.  I’ll be repeating that substitution — it added a nice rich tang.

I’ll admit that the mushroom barley filling made the quiche just a tad watery, but the flavor was so good we really didn’t mind.  Matt said “I didn’t even notice I hadn’t put hot sauce on it until I was more than halfway through a slice,” and usually even his favorite quiche, from his grandmother, is drowning in it before he even starts eating.  So I considered that high praise indeed!

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I’m sorry I couldn’t get a better picture of this — our camera is still screwed up so that everything is coming out dark, so I’m having to use flash on all my pictures, which makes them not look as good. But, I hate to just stop blogging because I’m less than thrilled with the pictures I’m getting, so, you’re just going to have to take what you can get for a little while! Our camera is still within warranty, so we’re going to have to send it off to Nikon to be repaired, which means it may be a while before we get it back. So please be patient with us!

So anyway, I promise that pimento cheese is much tastier than it might look in the above photo. If you’re not a Southerner, you may not have heard of this spread, which is extremely easy to make, and is a pretty yummy snack. Since we’ve been exercising more, we’ve found the need to keep more quick and easy snacks or meals on hand, so I made a batch last week. We like to use it to fill celery sticks (so you can tell yourself you’re balancing out the healthiness of mixing cheese with mayo), or spread it on sandwiches. If you’re going to put it on a sandwich, I think it’s much, much better if you toast the sandwich (in a toaster oven, already filled with the spread, so the cheese gets gooey and melty), but there are those in my family that disagree and think it’s better without toasting. Either way, you should give it a try, as it takes all of 10 minutes to whip up a batch.

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This recipe comes from my grandmother Pat, my dad’s mom. I think of these marinated carrots as one of her specialties. They’re great because they don’t take too long to make, and they will keep for a couple weeks in the fridge. Pat always seems to keep them on hand, and they often appear as a side dish at lunchtime. I especially think of eating them at my grandparents’ house in Blowing Rock, NC, so they remind me of summer. The perfect accompaniment to a Memorial Day hot dog to kick off the start of the season!

Marinated Carrots

I keep these in a jar in the fridge, just like my grandmother. But we don’t actually preserve them or anything, so they do need to be refrigerated. They’ll keep for a couple weeks.

2 lbs sliced carrots
1 onion sliced thin
1 c chopped celery
1 can tomato soup
1 t prepared mustard
1 t Worcestershire sauce
1 c sugar
1/2 c salad oil
3/4 c vinegar
salt and pepper

Boil carrots until almost done but they still have a nice crunch (less than 5 minutes). Drain and cool. Mix in onion and celery.

Combine remaining ingredients and pour over carrot mixture. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate at least 12 hours. Drain to serve.

I remember this recipe from when I was a little kid and it is one of my favorites as I like almost any sort of pasta. My grandmother, whom I called Granny Pat, made this recipe for my mom many years. I latch on to traditions more than the rest of my family did when I was growing up. One tradition we had was having this for Christmas Eve either right before or right after a movie.

The sauce is a mix between chili and a traditional spaghetti sauce. I truly don’t know the origins of the recipe, but it very well could have come from a Campbell’s soup recipe book. I have written the recipe just as my mom has given to me, but it is fairly forgiving to add a few things for a change. I like to add garlic, fresh mushrooms, or a fresh spice like basil or oregano. One of these days I will try it in a crock pot. I hope you enjoy.

Recipe after the break.

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