"Make everyday bluelicious"

MY STORY

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I have loved cooking since my early childhood days and being a Mum and an international student home stay host, my cooking skills and knowledge have grown considerably over the years along with my recipe collection and waistline. My passion for blueberries started with my first visit to Sandy Cooper’s Bluebank Blueberry & Emu Farm in Akatarawa, north of Wellington, New Zealand. I first met Sandy several years ago when she came to the Wellington Egg Crafters Club where I teach the art of decorating eggshells in the Fabergé style. I was keen to purchase some of Sandy’s Emu eggshells for the club. When I visited her farm to collect them, I experienced something special. Getting out among the tall blueberry bushes in the warm sun and country air, listening to the singing crickets with soothing sounds coming from the river nearby and looking for the biggest, ripest, blueberries on each bush was just amazing. As I went from bush to bush finding these lush, delectable little blueberries, the joy of gathering became compulsive and so much fun! To then take them home and make a batch of fresh blueberry muffins was pleasurable indeed. So began my love affair with blueberries.

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Blueberry Recipes started off as a simple idea for Sandy’s farm shop with the purpose of promoting the use and nutritional value of blueberries. With a small collection of recipes gathered by Sandy, I got into the process of creating a small booklet that quickly began to grow as I rediscovered my joy of cooking and creating combining with my new passion for this little blue berry. I found several of my favorite recipes were easily adapted to include blueberries but I wanted to provide a greater variety of recipes to cover every part of the day. I began to experiment and to also search on the internet for more recipes.

I shared my idea with other ‘foodies’ from USA, Canada, Australia, UK and New Zealand. Their enthusiastic response was rewarding with many allowing their recipes and photographs to be included in my ever expanding project. USA and Canada are experts when it comes to blueberries as it is one of their native plants. 

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My own Baking Mix has been included in Blueberry Recipes which, over the years, has been invaluable when unexpected visitors call in. It is quick to make up and so versatile for speedy sweet or savory cooking.

It is important to note that fresh or frozen blueberries can be used in most of the recipes unless the recipe says fresh blueberries. This is because some commercial frozen blueberries often bleed, possibly because they’ve been washed before freezing. When using your own handpicked organic blueberries that you have frozen, there is no problem as they do not need to be washed before freezing therefore no bleeding. Frozen blueberries are the cheapest option. I keep my freezer fully stocked all year round. Also note in the recipes, the spoon measures are rounded not heaped and cup measures are the standard 250 ml cup.

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I have thoroughly enjoyed designing and putting the Blueberry Recipes together. The benefits of this little blue berry are multiple. I hope you experience much pleasure trying out these bluelicious recipes.

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Adapted from the introduction pages of "Make everyday bluelicious" Blueberry Recipes

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N.B There is a measure conversion chart at the back of the book for those who prefer Imperial measurements.