Monday's Recipe

Blueberry Time

Goodness, ya'll come on in the house and have a cold coke with me. It is hot as it can be today. The last time I looked it was 100 on the outside thermometer. This is stay in the house and stay cool time even for a South Georgia Peach who likes hot weather. I need to pull weeds out of several flower beds but it is just going to have to wait. A funny thing is that they won't go away when I twitch my nose like on Bewitched. Guess I will just have to pull them up with my own two hands.

We picked our first blueberries from our bushes on Friday and they are really good. Blueberries are one of our favorite fruits even though we did not grow up eating them. In fact, it was after we moved to Georgia many years ago we ate our first blueberries straight off the bushes and it has been a love affair since that time. We like them in cereal, pies, ice cream, mixed with other fruits or just eat them like candy.

In Alabama where we grew up we had dewberries, blackberries, plums, peaches, apples, strawberries and pears but no blueberries. I liked the dewberries better than the blackberries for every time I picked blackberries I saw a snake. King snakes and black snakes like blackberry bushes for some reason and if you carry them away they come back or some of their kin. That was not a pleasant experience for me for I don't like snakes unless they are dead. Dewberries also did not have seeds like the blackberries and made much better cobblers and jelly. Mama made jelly from all these fruits for remember if it grew and was edible, mama put it a jar and we ate it.

The one fact I like about blueberries, other than the taste, is that they grow on bushes and you can pick them standing up. They also don't get real dirty for they are not on the ground so I can pick them off the bush and eat them. A blueberry farmer in North Carolina would say when you picked from his bushes that if your mouth wasn't blue when you came to weigh out, you had to pay double. I never had to pay double for I can eat a lot of blueberries.

Because I had all those good blueberries I thought I would try the yogurt pie with them and it turned out well. Thought I would share it with ya'll so you can enjoy it also.

Blueberry Peach Yogurt Pie

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 cup diced peaches

2 cartons blueberry yogurt

1 small carton whipped topping

1 graham cracker crust or I make an animal cracker crust

Fold the yogurt into the whipped topping until well mixed. Do not beat but fold gently. Fold in the blueberries and peaches and put into the crust. Tent aluminum foil over the pie and refrigerate or freeze. If you like a soft fluffy pie - refrigerate or freeze if you prefer.

Animal Cracker Crust

1 1/2 cups animal cracker crumbs (option - any cookie can be used)

3 tbsp. of Splenda or sugar

4 tbsp. melted butter or margarine

Place animal crackers in plastic bag and crush them with rolling pin or use the food processor. Add sugar and stir. Gradually add the melted butter or margarine and stir until well blended. I find a fork is better than a spoon to combine the crumbs and butter. Spray a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray and press the crumbs firmly in the bottom and sides. Bake at 325 for 8-10 minutes and chill or skip the baking and chill for 30 minutes.

We enjoyed this a lot and our grandson, Jimmy, thought it was extra good. You can also use all blueberries or all peaches but these 2 fruits are great together.

Good eating and stay cool,

The Georgia Peach