Blueberry Crumble Cake and a Busy Summer

It has been quite some time since my last post.  What have we been up to you might ask—hey I said might.  Here is a little run down…

• The cat disappears
• Swim lessons
• New septic —oh yeah fun times—I will leave that one alone
• Jake almost loses part of his ring finger—again… I will leave that one alone
• The cat returns…a month later!
• A trip to the OBX
• VBS
• 2 month vaccinations for one child
• 4 year vaccinations for the other child—that trip was FULL of drama
• Leaving one preschool and joining another
• And a myriad of other things but this list making has reached an obnoxious level.

The good thing is we are slowly getting into a routine and Lillie

and I continue to cook and craft.  Here is a blueberry cake we made with a few modifications.  I think anything blueberry deserves a good crumb topping—and I am not talking the “healthy” kind with all those oats.  Who needs oats when you can just have buttah!  Oh yeah. 

Need crumb topping ingredients—soooo easy!

You need:

• Butter
• Sugar (brown or white)
• and Flour

I would play with proportions but roughly speaking a stick of butter cubed and mixed with pastry cutter (or just the back of a fork) into a cup of sugar and 3/4 cup of flour—but play around  with proportions until you get consistency you like.  It is always fun to zing it up with some cinnamon and nutmeg and if you must…rolled oats.

del.icio.us Tags: blueberry,crumb topping,how to make blueberry cake,summer fun

Black Bean Salsa

This is the easiest little dish I learned from my friend Melissa.  It is quick and easy and makes a nice amount to share with a crowd.  I love it and think that I am going to give a whirl sometime soon with my homemade salsa instead of the canned.  On a side note… It is so wonderful to have my homegrown tomatoes coming in!  Eat your heart out mealy hot house tomatoes!

2 cans of black beans  rinsed and drained

1 can of corn  drained

1 cup of pre-made salsa

1 clove of garlic minced

1 red pepper chopped

1/2 cup of cilantro chopped

1 teaspoon cumin

1 tablespoon limejuice

3 spring onions  the white and green part

dash of salt

So easy and serve with your favorite type of tortilla chips

**If you want to add a little heat you could add:

Chopped jalapenos

Medium or Hot Salsa

Hot sauce

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