Search Results for: berry

Farmhouse Blueberry Pie

July 31, 2020 By Chelsia Rief 2 Comments

Have some blueberries around the the house this summer? This farmhouse blueberry pie is a classic, simple, and approachable way to use them up!

First, let’s make one thing clear – the reason I’m calling this a farmhouse blueberry pie is not because I have a farmhouse. I don’t. Like a lot of inspired, wistful folks in the long, wide wake of Fixer Upper, I’m doing my darnedest to make my cookie cutter subdivision home as farmhouse-y as I can, despite my lack of acreage! I have a square of a backyard and, people, I can’t even have chickens because HOAs. (And, no, I’m not actually complaining – I’m fully aware that we are blessed to have a place of our own and little patch of grass for the kids to play on! Just trying to be funny!) But that doesn’t deter me in the least because even though I don’t live on a farm or have goats and chickens, horses and cows, I do have blueberry plants, and this year they gave us a ton of blueberries! A bounty of blueberries that the kids and I spent time cultivating!

See…cultivating…blueberry plants…bounties…these are farmhouse-y words I’m throwing around and it works for this recipe! Plus, it’s a blueberry pie and when I think of pie, I think of farms, because as a kid, I’d see scenes in cartoons or movies where someone would take a pie out of the oven and set it out on a windowsill to cool and in the background there would be a tree and a bird singing in the tree and a fence with corn stalks swaying in the breeze.

So, I’m just going to go ahead and call this a farmhouse blueberry pie, okay?

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Blackberry Mascarpone Popsicles

July 21, 2020 By Joshua Rief Leave a Comment

Yes, you can actually use your grill or smoker to make these smoked blackberry mascarpone popsicles (but you don’t have to). But, you do have to make ’em!

Okay, we’ve got to get a couple of things out of the way right here at the top. First – I am not a popsicle guy. I don’t care for them at all. In fact, before making this recipe, I probably hadn’t had a popsicle since I was like…10. There’s just something about the watery, slushy frozen fruit puree running down a popsicle stick while I desperately try to keep it under control…I don’t know. Not my scene.

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Pork Chops with Blackberry Sauce

June 27, 2020 By Joshua Rief 1 Comment

These grilled pork chops with blackberry sauce are a delightful whirlwind tour of your palate’s capabilities and a must-grill this season!

This post originally appeared on Catz in June of 2013. It’s quite delightful, and we realized, seven years later, that the recipe card and photos were outdated and in need of some attention! We’ve remade, reshot, and updated the recipe – we hope if you haven’t tried it yet, you will! If you’re here in the Pacific Northwest, berry season is coming up quickly, so get your grills, blenders, and freezers ready!

Chels came across this totally delicious looking recipe from Season with Spice on Pinterest. I can see why it caught her eye. Blackberries are always beautiful, of course, and up here in the Northwest, they are also ever-present. Seriously. We fight to keep them out of our yards. We had to use machetes and a chainsaw at my dad’s house the other day to reclaim a patch of land long surrendered to the constant forward march of the blackberries. But, even though they are a headache, come late summer, we remember why we love them. Everywhere you go, alongside roads, in parks, and, yes, even your own backyard, this aggressive foliage offers up its definitively redeeming quality – fresh blackberries.

Suffice to say, when “blackberry season” comes around, we snack on them, make pies (and even empanadas) with them, make cobblers with them, put them on ice cream, add them to our smoothies, crêpes, and salads, put them on cereal, and just generally try to enjoy them enough to remind us why we don’t burn them all with fire when they’re choking the life out of our gardens. One last thing we do is freeze them. A small bag of frozen blackberries at the grocery store out of season will run you a good three to four dollars. An enormous bag that you picked yourself and stocked away in the freezer last August? Why, that would be quite free of charge. This year, our freezer is still stocked with the marvelous little berries thanks to the picking efforts of Chels and Gracie last summer. Blackberry smoothies? Check.

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Copycat Cranberry Bliss Bars

December 22, 2019 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

Whether you’ve tried this treat at a certain coffee shop or not, you’re sure to love the creamy, citrusy winter goodness of these cranberry bliss bars!

This post originally appeared on Catz in December of 2012. Seven years on, cranberry bliss bars continue to be popular, Starbucks keeps making and selling them, and we keep eating them – both theirs and these ones that we make at home! We’ve remade and rephotographed this, well, blissful recipe, and updated the recipe and post a bit as well. Enjoy!

When I was four or five months pregnant with my oldest daughter, Grace, I went to Starbucks after work one evening to wait for Josh to pick me up. After sitting there for awhile, I grew hungry…as pregnant women have a tendency to do. I needed a snack! Cause, you know…pregnant! I went up to the pastry counter and looked over all the muffins, cookies, and other desserts before finally settling on a cranberry bliss bar…my very first time trying one. In a word, that first bite was bliss…so it makes sense that they’re called cranberry bliss bars.

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Blueberry Coffee Cake

June 20, 2019 By Chelsia Rief 4 Comments

Make it with fresh berries or frozen – either way, this blueberry coffee cake is an easy, slightly indulgent way to start any morning!

Josh’s job has recently had a shift which is requiring him to travel at least once a week and for how long he’s gone for varies depending on the needs of his clients. While it sucks to have him gone, I’m determined to make the most of it and I’ve been using dinner time as a chance to do a lot of recipe testing.

So, during dinner time we’re playing with recipes. Grace is currently working on a macaroni and cheese recipe to share and I’ve been working on a bunch of new recipes for dinner, dessert, and I’ve got some seasonal ideas, too. One of the recipes I worked on while Josh was out of town a few weeks back was the Oven Baked Fried Chicken – and we love it if you haven’t made it yet!…

Chocolate Covered Blueberry Protein Smoothie

April 9, 2019 By Joshua Rief Leave a Comment

We stumbled upon this one by accident! Intending to make something else entirely, we ended up with this yummy chocolate covered blueberry protein smoothie!

I’ve said this before, but we love smoothies. As a family, we make them at least once a week (typically the aptly named Sunday Morning Smoothie), and often more than that. I make one when I need a boost after a workout, we make them when we’re needing a little Vitamin C boost, and almost always to accompany pancakes, waffles, or just about any other brunch. Basically, any excuse to make a smoothie, we’re there.

Problem is…sometimes we forget to replenish our supply of frozen fruit. Bananas going bad? We flash freeze them. Costco run? Grab a couple of pineapples for chopping and freezing. You get the picture. But, yeah, sometimes we miss that one is running low. ‘Twas the case a couple of weeks ago when I went downstairs to whip up a tasty, greens-forward citrus-based smoothie for Chels after she was done working out. I quickly discovered a problem. There was no pineapple. No mangoes. Just bananas, and while Chels tolerates bananas, there was no way she was going to enjoy a basically banana-based beverage. What’s a guy to do?…

Cranberry Orange Croissant French Toast

December 16, 2018 By Joshua Rief Leave a Comment

This baked cranberry orange croissant French toast is one of those dishes that comes out gourmet-looking and sophisticated, but is actually absurdly simple!

Let’s talk Christmas breakfast. Or Christmas brunch, as the case often is. Or, you know what, let’s not keep it that narrow. Let’s say just any holiday morning meal situation that happens during the fall and winter-ish months. Whether you’re feeling festive, feeding visiting relatives, or just looking for a warm, easy way to get your own little fam some tasty brunch, this cranberry orange croissant French toast is an excellent choice.

We have a traditional Thanksgiving / Christmas breakfast option that we normally go with, a simple recipe I grew up on and still cherish, this ever-popular overnight sausage egg and cheese breakfast casserole. We make it pretty much every Thanksgiving and Christmas morning, but sometimes you’ve got to shake things up. Chels came across this recipe for croissant French toast (which we’ve ordered at restaurants occasionally), delectably enhanced with a bit of citrus flavor, and thought…wouldn’t this be a great holiday dish if there were some cranberries involved? (We love cranberries.)

When I say this dish is simple…I mean, like, unbelievably so. It’s tasty and sophisticated and oh-so-tasty when complete, but the process of whipping up this little brunch delight is outrageously uncomplicated. Everyone can (and should) make this at some point this holiday season!

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Spiced Cranberry Sauce with Pecans

November 17, 2018 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

Forget the canned stuff and whip up a flavorful, homemade spiced cranberry sauce with pecans and raisins this Thanksgiving – in about 15 minutes!

I’m not going to lie, I actually don’t hate or even dislike canned cranberry sauce. I know, shocking, right? I think it gets a bad rap, and I kind of like it. Whether it’s the jelly molded kind or a more traditional variety, I think it can be used as an excellent vehicle for other recipes.

For example, I used canned cranberry sauce in these chicken cordon bleu burgers, and it’s good – a really fun fall and winter burger recipe.

However, we’re not talking about burgers. We are talking about Thanksgiving. I think one of the reasons I like cranberry sauce, be it canned or homemade, is that it tastes…fresh. Something about how because it’s not warmed up it adds that cooling factor to your plate…plus it’s really really good mixed into your mashed potatoes, your turkey, your stuffing…I mean I don’t think cranberry sauce can do anything wrong at Thanksgiving.

Or really any other time of the year.

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Strawberry Almond Streusel Muffins

October 6, 2018 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

Oregon berries brighten up the inside of these yummy, easy strawberry almond streusel muffins, while streusel & glaze topping adds texture and sweetness!

The summer completely got away from us this year and we never made it – not even once! – to our favorite local berry farm. It’s a highlight for our kids, but with the heat of the summer + baby, we just never made it over there. This is, however, one of the reasons why I like to keep a reserve of frozen berries in our freezer at all times. If I’m in the mood to make a smoothie, a berry syrup, or even bake up something…I have a stash.…

End-of-Summer Blackberry Lemonade Ice Cream

September 4, 2018 By Joshua Rief Leave a Comment

Looking for a delectable way to close out summer? We recommend indulging in delicious Oregon berries and whipping up some blackberry lemonade ice cream!

We’re slowly (and sadly) acknowledging that our summer is drawing to a close here in the Pacific Northwest. It’s not over yet – the forecast still has a number of days in the 80’s, I’m wearing shorts as I type this, and we’re still spending evenings out on the patio as often as possible. But…the reality is that the kids are going back to school, the nights are getting cooler, and the first official day of fall is a short three weeks away. So, from a foodie standpoint, we’re ticking off a number of food-related activities we want to enjoy as much as we can before the rain and colder temperatures drive us back indoors. Lots of grilling is high on the list, as you can probably guess, but so is homemade ice cream!

We’ve always wished we made more homemade ice cream than we typically do, if that makes sense. It’s really easy, and it’s incredibly, well, addicting. Especially if you eat it right out of the ice cream maker. My goodness. And if you don’t have any ice cream maker at home for some reason…add one to your wish list. They are fun and CHEAP. Cuisinart makes several models (of which we have two), and the base one, which is wonderful and simple, has been known to go on sale for as little as $25. Just grab one. The reality is that the local ice cream is SO GOOD (is this a “problem” everywhere?!), that between Tillamook, Umpqua, Salt & Straw, and others, it can be hard to work up the motivation to make your own! …

Grilled Blueberry French Toast

July 14, 2018 By Joshua Rief Leave a Comment

Made on the grill or the campfire, this Grilled Blueberry French Toast is smoky & decadent, but still fresh and sweet, thanks to the blueberries and syrup!

It’s July in the Pacific Northwest, which means the sun is more reliably out, the average temps are pushing the mercury higher (quite a bit higher this week, actually), and our summer is really beginning to feel like a proper summer. Sometimes we get some summer in May or June, but you really can’t count on it until the latter part of July, and sometimes even August. But, regardless, with the sunshine…comes the grilling!

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Blackberry Arugula Salad

August 3, 2017 By Chelsia Rief 1 Comment

This slightly modified version of Fogo de Chão’s delectable Blackberry Arugula Salad is an easy, affordable way to get your fix between visits!

Ice cream and the occasional cookie have been my go to sweet treat cravings. I’m not even joking, since the first trimester I’ve been eating ice cream bars and as the pregnancy progressed it’s turned into ice cream sandwiches and pints of Halo Top Ice Cream.

But, I’ve also craved smoothies, meat (like that rib eye in our nachos), and salads. Like, ALL the salads! My favorite has been the Caesar salad, mainly from one of my favorite little eateries, Pastini! (Seriously, they make the best!)

But when we went to a resort in Texas on our “baby moon” back in April, we went out to dinner with my cousin and her beautiful little family to Fogo de Chão (a Brazilian steakhouse chain, if you’re not familiar) and it was GOOD! It’s not the cheapest date night, but it is definitely a dining experience that every foodie should have. Aside from the crazy good, tender, juicy meat that’s being carried around on skewers by the servers (which smells amazing), the salad bar (which I think they call the “market table”) is out of this world incredible! It’s got a charcuterie board on one end, fresh fruits scattered all over, and then the salads – a wide variety, including this Blackberry Arugula Salad that I’ve adapted just a bit….

Search Results for: berry

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