Blackberry Cream Cheese Muffins With Sweet Berry Drizzle

Blackberry Cream Cheese Muffins With Sweet Berry Drizzle (adapted from Better Homes and Garden Nov. 1997)

10 oz fresh blackberries
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 stick softened butter
8 oz softened cream cheese
1 Cup sugar
1 Tablespoon orange zest
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Cup all purpose flour
¾ Cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 Cup heavy cream

Heaping ¼ Cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place blackberries and sugar in a large bowl. Stir to combine so that berries are coated in sugar. Set aside.
2. In a stand or electric mixer cream the butter, cream cheese, sugar and orange zest until well combined. Slowly beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined.
3. Place the flour, wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. With mixer on low, add half the flour, then half cream, then remaining flour, then remaining cream until just combined.4. Fill 6 extra large muffins tins or 24 regular size tins with muffin batter, about ¾ full, that has been greased or sprayed with cooking spray. Press 3-4 berries into tops of each unbaked muffin, Reserve any berry juice in bowl for drizzle. Bake for 23-28 minutes or until golden brown on top and cooked through. Remove and let cool.5. In the same bowl as berries were in, place powdered sugar and milk. Whisk until smooth and drizzling consistency; should be a light pink color from the berry juice. Drizzle over top muffins and enjoy!

Picky Palate

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins With A Sweet Lemon Drizzle

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins With A Sweet Lemon Drizzle
3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder (make sure your baking powder is no older than 6 months)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tbsp poppy seeds
10 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/4 stick), softened
1 cup sugar2 large eggs
1 1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 Tbsp lemon zest

Glaze
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)
1 Adjust the oven rack to the middle-lower part of the oven.

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, poppy seeds, and salt and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together, beating until fluffy (about 2 minutes with an electric mixer). Add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated after each one. Beat in the lemon zest.
4. Beat in one half of the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Beat in one third of the yogurt. Beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients. Beat in a second third of the yogurt. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients and then the remaining yogurt. Again be careful to beat until just incorporated. Do not over beat.
5. Use a standard 12-muffin muffin pan, or Texas size muffin tin. Coat each muffin cup lightly with olive oil, grapeseed oil, or a little melted butter using a pastry brush. Distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups. Bake until muffins are golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick (we use a thin bamboo skewer) to make sure the center of the muffins are done. Set muffin pan on wire rack to cool. After 5 minutes, remove muffins from pan.
6 While the muffins are cooling, in a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice for the glaze. Add more lemon juice if necessary. While the muffins are still a bit warm, use a pastry brush to brush the glaze over each muffin. The muffins will absorb some of the glaze, so you add more glaze to each muffin if you like.
Makes 12 muffins. Best eaten fresh and warm.
Recipe- Picky Palate

Mediterranean Pasta

Cooked pasta noodles
Sun-dried tomoatoes- sliced
Red onion
Marinated Artichoke Heart
Feta Cheese and/or Parm. cheese
Rosted Pine Nuts

Optional:
Olives
Cucumber


Balsamic Vinegar to taste
Olive oil to taste

Lemon Ricotta Crepes

Lemon Ricotta Crêpes with Blueberries and Fresh Bananas
Serves 4
Ingredients
Crêpes

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 large pinch salt

1 3/4 cups milk

2 large eggs

10 tbsp

(1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

plus a little more for cooking crêpes
1 (15-oz.) container ricotta cheese

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1 large egg
2 tbsp unsalted butter

2 pints blueberries

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp cornstarchjuice of

1 lemon

2 ripe bananas, quartered lengthwise into long spears

Directions
In a blender, combine flour, salt, milk and eggs. Blend on medium speed until batter is smooth. Pour in melted butter and blend for just one second. Batter should be shiny. Pour it through a fine sieve into a bowl to get of any lumps. Refrigerate 2-3 hours.

Put 8" crêpe pan or nonstick skillet over medium heat; brush lightly with melted butter. Pour 1/4 cup batter into pan and swirl so it just covers pan bottom; pour any excess back into bowl (a good crêpe should be paper thin). Cook 30-45 seconds until batter just sets and edge turns golden brown. Bang edge of pan with wooden spoon to loosen crêpe, then flip it and cook another 30 seconds to brown other side. Remove crêpe, then repeat process until all batter is used. Cover crêpes with plastic wrap to keep them from drying out

For filling, stir together ricotta, sugar, lemon zest and egg in a bowl. Cover and chill.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Put crêpe on cutting board. Spoon about 1/4 cup cheese filling along lower third of crêpe. Fold bottom edge to just cover filling, then fold 2 sides into the center. Roll crêpe over and away from you to make a package, seam side down. Continue to fill and roll all crêpes.
Melt a little butter in medium skillet over medium heat. Put half of filled crêpes into pan and cook 2 minutes on each side until crisp and golden. Brown rest of crêpes, then transfer all into a baking dish and place in oven. Bake 10 minutes to firm filling.

While crêpes are in oven, combine butter, blueberries, sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice in small saucepan to make sauce. Cook over medium-high heat until berries burst and sauce glistens, 3-5 minutes.

To serve, put 2 crêpes on each plate. Drizzle with warm sauce and garnish with 2 banana spears.

Italian & Swiss Chicken

Marinate and Cook Chicken in Fat Free Italian Dressing
Once Chicken is cooked- top with ham & swiss cheese.
Broil until cheese is melted.
- Serve with brown rice

Fruit Dip

1 container cream cheese
Powerdered Sugar to taste
Jam to taste

Mix and fold in Cool Whip to taste