Blueberries are one of the best things about summer. I love them in pies, cakes and muffins. This year I am going to try a salad I saw last year at Wegmans--blueberries, feta, cucumbers. But I need fresh produce all around for this, and the really good Bulgarian feta I get at the local greengrocer. 3 cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded and sliced thinly (half moon shape) (about 4 cups) 1 pint (2 cups) blueberries, rinsed and picked over Salt and pepper to taste 1/2 cup Wegmans White Balsamic Vinaigrette (Produce Dept) 3 Tbsp thinly sliced Fresh Mint Leaves 1 cup (about 1/4 lb) Crumbled Feta Cheese Combine and let sit for about 45 min. at least for flavors to blend. I also like to make blueberry preserves, which are the best way to perserve the fresh taste of summer berries. I just don't think frozen berries cut it, but I have never frozen my own, only had store bought ones. Blueberry Lime Jam (from the "Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving") 4 1/2 cups crushed blueberries (leave some whole for fun) Grated zest and juice of one large lime 1 package regular powdered fruit pectin 5 cups granulated sugar Prepare canning jars and lids by washing and boiling them for 10 min. Keep them hot for filling. This recipe makes six 8 oz. jars. In a large flat bottomed pot, combine the berries, pectin and lime. Stir until pectin dissolves and bring to a boil over high heat. Add sugar all at once and return to a full rolling boil. Boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Turn off the heat and ladle the jam into the empty jars. Leave 1/4 inch headspace. Put lids on, make sure rims are clean before you do this. Seal the jars and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Allow water to cool down for 5 min. then remove jars. This is to prevent heat shock which could crack the jars, but with this heat wave we're having, it shouldn't be a problem, lol! You can also add 2 TBLSP Frangelico to the jam, or put half the jam into jars and then add 1 TBLSP liquer to the remainder. Could also use orange zest and juice and Cointreau or Triple Sec., or lemon and Limoncello, but I actually just prefer plain old blueberry lime--YUM!

Well, thank you. I've been waiting for CindyMac to step in here as she's the one who posted the recipe link over on Kswl's Valentine's Day thread. She may be off working in her garden today and hasn't seen this yet. Anyhoo, here's the link to the recipe over on this great recipe website SmittenKitchen.com. The recipe is Lemon-Yogurt Anything Cake. Like I said, I try to use Bob's Red Mill Low Carb Baking Mix instead of white or wheat flour whenever I can. I also use unsweetened applesauce in place of oils when I bake. Works like a charm and between the two, the cake was very moist. I'm definitely making it again, but next time will not use the warm lemon juice-sugar mixture over it after it's baked. Instead, I'm going to try a lemon juice, powdered sugar glaze on top and see how that is. I like to experiment when I cook. Again, thanks to CindyMac for the recipe link. And, through it, I've found this great new recipe website, SmittenKitchen, and many more recipes I now want to try.

My new individual molds came and I made the green bean popsicles a few days ago. They're fab! Green beans are a fruit, after all. I'm the only one eating the popsicles. When I want something frozen, it's usually the freeze I'm looking for, not sugar, so I didn't make any invert sugar or simple syrup. I was just winging it, and didn't measure, but I think I had about a qua of a pound of green beans after cleaning, maybe a pint loose, and I'm guessing about 36 mint leaves on the stem. Into the Vita-Mix. It was clear that after a quick chop I was going to need more liquid just to run the blender before enough was released from the beans. At this point it tasted really good, with the flavors of both the mint and the beans playing well together, and I didn't want to change the proportions. Water sounded wrong and juice sounded too sweet, until I bethought me of a small bottle of unsweetened pomegranate juice lurking in the back of the fridge--it's less sweet than the raw beans. Maybe a third to half a cup of that. Not enough to change the color or flavor, but added a lot of depth of flavor to the minty green beanness, and maybe a hint of an idea of sweetness, mostly from the latent bitterness. When I checked it at the pulpy sludge state it was so delicious I didn't press my luck and go on to liquefy. The only tall space I had to stand up the new molds for freezing was the top shelf of the main freezer right in front of the air vent. That's often the coldest place. I think the fiber and pulpiness kept it from getting to that overhard icy place we were talking about. Even right out of the main freezer it was nicely biteable, or suckable, without being drippy melty. I have since moved them to the warmer, ice cream chiller for space management and so I'd have the tall space available for other popsicles. but haven't had one at the warmer temp. As to the general outcome, it's just as delicious as before it was frozen, with that lovely freeziness added. The bottom of the mold had some minty water separated out. I think it was more than the residual water that might have been left on the ingredients from cleaning, but probably separated out from the pulp. It's pleasant, though without it the pulpy part a bit too pulpy and needed more chewing than a popsicle should. Next time, I'll make it liquidier. There will definitely be a next time. I don't know what mad faerie prompted me to make green bean popsicles, but they're really good!

Lots of good info from Sleevendog. Not so much to add, Sooz, other than the tautological less water makes it less like frozen water. :) I add just enough actual water to make the blender go round. If I'm using a juicy kind of fruit, packed in right, and it doesn't need any. As S said, what I make is pretty much frozen thick smoothie. It still has a crystalline structure and an iciness, being that that's what a popsicle is, but it's not the frozen water you describe. Mine usually don't have any fat, but are high in fiber. Think of it as a continuum: There's the commercial popsicle of my childhood which we got once a week at camp after swim. You could suck on them and get all the flavor, color and sugar out, leaving white ice. Then there's the college girl put the "packed in juice" liquid from canned fruit (back when fruit was truly seasonal!) in a popsicle mold. That had the consistency of ice, but the fruit and water were inseparable. There are paletas made with fruit and milk. They're popsicles, just frozen, not churned or in any way ice creamed. They have a creamier texture than the prior versions, because of the milk, but they're more like frozen peaches and cream than frozen peach pudding/custard or ice cream. There's a crystalline structure, still, and an iciness. Next step would be the Fudgesicle, that once a Summer camp treat that everybody swooned for. Somewhere between ice cream and popsicle, it has a definite creaminess but also an obvious crystalline structure. It licks or sucks like ice cream, but bites like a popsicle, and has a more "frozen" feeling than an actual ice cream bar. The ne plus ultra of ice pops is the 50-50 bar (sometimes they showed up at camp and I was able to wangle one). Vanilla ice cream on the inside, covered in orange popsicle. The orange part was stage one icy and the middle was creamy ice cream without the iciness or crystalline texture. The combination of the two was delightful! After that, we're into full on ice cream bar territory. My veggie/fruit popsicles are mostly in the territory of the stage 2, juice popsicles. Add a little almond butter or yoghurt---or probably some banana or avocado--and it's the stage 3/paleta level of froziness. Sorbets turned popsicle can be at any of these levels, but add enough cream or maybe full fat Greek (drained) yoghurt and it might even get to the Fudgesicle stage. Given the continuum, however, frozen treats are based on the idea of freezing water. Using veggies and fruits just means the water is whacked out of them by the blender.