Fabulous Blueberry Buckle - A Tribute to my mom

My beautiful, precious mom passed away on July 13th, she took with her a piece of my heart that will never be replaced.  She taught me lots of things, she taught me to love life, embrace it, spread happiness, always be respectful and most of all the love of food and how important it is to prepare with passion.  We never sat at her table with just one dish.  We had courses, side dishes and beautifully presented dessert.  Mom never went half way, it was always all or nothing.  She loved to hear the compliments of her culinary masterpiece where she lovingly used her hands to bring ordinary ingredients to extraordinary.

     Mom at 17

She was a great mom

Are you digging those great hats?  Guess which holiday...

A wonderful mom-mom to my daughter

Her little doll

Loved and cherished her summers in Wildwood with her children and grandchildren

Summer lovin-had me a blast....

My wedding day

She was so proud and happy to gain another son

So blessed to have this photo,  5 generations!!!

Great grandmom Olivia
Grandmom Pauline
Mom
Me
My Alana
All first born and all were girls

Beautiful person inside and out

Always and forever in my heart, heaven gained a true angel!  RIP mom until we meet again!!
I love you!!!

My daughter got to know and love her.  Most of all, she got to be loved by her.  We cried together on the sofa, I promised Alana we will always keep her memory alive.  

My mom was everything to us, she was loving, caring, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good and gentle.

She was perfect.

She was my mother.

I will love and miss her every day for the rest of my life and I thank God for every second I spent with her!

Here is one of the wonderful desserts she would make to end her delicious meal.  Believe me, you wanted to save room because her desserts were scrumptious!  This requires a 9 inch square baking pan, use  9  X 13 if you want to double it.  This recipe serves 4-6.

Moist, sweet with a crunchy topping!

Preheat the oven to 375

Ingredients:

1/4 Cup Butter - Softened

3/4 Cup Sugar

1 Egg

2 Cups All Purpose Flour

2 Tsp Baking Powder

1/4 Tsp Salt

1/2 Cup Milk

2 Cups Fresh or Frozen Blueberries

Topping:

1/4 Cup Sugar

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour

1/2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/3 Cup Cold Butter - Cubed

1/4 Cup Chopped Pecans or Walnuts - (Optional)

Directions:

In a small bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg.  Combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition.  Fold in blueberries.  Pour into greased 9 inch square baking pan.

For topping, in a small bowl, combine the sugars, flour and cinnamon.  Cut in butter until crumbly, add the chopped nuts and mix.  Sprinkle over blueberry mixture.  

Bake at 375 for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Cool a wire rack.

Yummy Broccoli Salad

Mom suggestion today is a summer salad perfect for 4th of July.

The flavors in this salad are perfect together.  I owe this recipe to my sister-in-law Lynn who prepares this all the time for our summer BBQ's.  I cannot get enough of it, it's that good!

I will say it's healthy too since it does have broccoli, who cares if it has bacon and mayo, that is where all the flavor comes from and you will still have the health benefits broccoli has to offer.

Be sure if you take this to a BBQ, keep it cold or if you have a food chiller plastic container that would be perfect.

Thank you Lynn for all the love and support you have given us during a very difficult time and also thanks for this great recipe!  It's sweet, it's salty, it's crunchy, it is perfectly delicious!!

2 Heads Broccoli, Broken up into bite size pieces
1 lb Bacon, Fried crispy and crumbled
2 Cups Mayo (Preferably Hellman's)
2 Tablespoons White or Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 Cup Sugar
8 Ounce Bag Shredded Cheddar

Combine all the ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve.  The longer it sits the better it will taste.

Sauteed Crab Cakes

I have been quite busy since my last post in October.

My mom who is suffering from Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma has been through so much during this time, including a stem cell transplant due to recurrence of her disease at the age of 72.   As many folks do, juggling work, home, my 9 year old daughter and caring for my mom, I was forced to give up something, so my blog took the hit.

Unfortunately, the transplant failed and we are back to square one.  The stress of this situation is overwhelming.  I am now sitting by my mom bedside as she's been in ICU for over 6 weeks with many different complications but she is one strong lady and a fighter is just too small of a word to describe her.

Against all odds she is still here fighting the BIG C!

She told me to keep up with my passion for food.  I pondered this and realized I have the perfect opportunity while sitting in her hospital room by adding posts to my blog.  I asked her to help me in which recipe I should do first, she thought a crab recipe would be fitting since it's July.  I totally agree!

Mom, this one is for you, the strength you have shown the past year has been nothing short of amazing and I am extremely proud to be your daughter, I love you so much!

I've experimented with many different crab cake recipes until I finally came up with this one. It's actually a recipe taken from many others to create what I think are perfect, delicious, tender cakes.  A lot of ingredients but very easy, the recipe will make 4 to 6 depending on the size you want or roll them into balls and deep fry for a great appetizer.

If you have a situation similar to mine, and the mere thought of mayonnaise coming close to your mouth instantly ruins your appetite as it does my dear husband, please feel free to substitute the mayo with buttermilk.   

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons Dry Bread Crumbs
1 Stalk Scallion, Chopped
1 1/2 Tablespoon Green Pepper, Finely Chopped
1 1/2 Tablespoon Red Pepper, Finely Chopped
1 Teaspoon Hot Pepper, Finely Chopped (Optional)
2 Cloves Garlic, Finely Chopped
2 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley, Finely Chopped

Mix Together in a bowl

In a separate larger bowl add:

1 lb of Jumbo Lump Crab meat
2 Tablespoons Mayo (Hellman's Preferably)
1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1/2 Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
2 Teaspoons Old Bay or To Taste (I like lots)
1 Egg White

Mix together

In a pie plate or wide dish with sides add more bread crumbs for coating.
2 Tablespoons of Butter for sauteing

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir well but being careful not to break up the beautiful lumps of crab meat.

Make patties to your desired size and pat the bread crumbs on both sides.

Sprinkle some bread crumbs onto a cookie sheet, place the cakes onto the sheet and into the refrigerator for about 1/2 hour.   It will give them time to set and also make it easier to fry.

Heat the 2 tablespoons of butter in a large frying on medium high heat until hot but be careful not to burn the butter, once it starts to sizzle add the cakes.  Cook for 5 to 8 minutes on each side or until golden brown, be very careful when flipping over so they don't fall apart.

Serve alone or with tarter and cocktail sauce.  These are also great in a sandwich or on top of a salad.