blue: birds & hope & berries

Though it's still FRrrr-eezing here
the sun is out and melting last weekend's snow;
and we change our clocks this weekend to Daylight Saving Time,
so we'll have a little more daylight into the evening hours.
That makes me happy.
The bluebirds are here visiting the back forty, and
I spied my first robin this week.
Those are sure signs that
the freezer door may be closing
weather pattern may be finally changing.
Happy, Happy!!

While at the grocery this week, I found a beautiful basket
of blue hope, aka blueberries.
 and they sure cheered me up when I saw them.
Those blueberries (from Chile) prove that there is warm weather somewhere in the world,
and another sign that Spring will be here soon!
Happy, Happy, Happy!!!

What's better than sunshine,
bluebirds,
and blueberries?
In my book, better would be
if the blueberries where dropped into muffins!

So, in honor of the surely coming Spring,
I made me some muffins...well, I made muffin-tops:

I've been asked for the recipe a few times lately,
so thought I'd share so you can make them also
and maybe have some blueberry goodness in your world today.

Blueberry Muffins -
the Good Kind of Blueberry Muffins (as the kids used to say, though I don't know why.  They must have had muffins somewhere, sometime that weren't made from the family favorite recipe).
(And, it's only a quarter of the original recipe, you're welcome :)

In mixing bowl, stir together:

1 1/2 cups flour (I use half wheat)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder

In liquid measuring cup whisk together:

1/3 cup oil (I use extra virgin Olive or coconut)
1 egg
Add:
1/3 cup milk (or enough to make measurement ONE cup)
Stir the liquids into the dry mixture and stir only until dry is incorporated.
Gently fold in a generous cup of fresh blueberries.
Spoon mixture into well-buttered muffin cups and top with Streusel.

Streusel - stir together with a fork until crumbly:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. cinnamon 

Bake at 400 degrees:

muffin tops about 13-15 minutes

regular sized muffins 30-40 minutes.

Test with toothpick.  They are done when toothpick comes out with little moist crumbs, not coated with liquid.
Makes 6 generously-sized muffins or tops.

Cool completely before removing from pans (yeah, right :)
and store in airtight container or freeze for later use.

Can you tell from the picture that I probably didn't wait until they cooled to plop one onto the awaiting plate?? :)
Just what I needed - blueberry goodness, fresh from the oven!

Hope there are some bluebirds, sunshine, and blueberries
in your little part of the world today, too.
And Happy Stitching!