Mom's Blueberry Muffins

I wasn't sure it was going to stop snowing this past winter. Now, I'm wondering if it's ever going to stop raining! In May, Havre got dumped with 3.51" of rain (average rainfall for May is 1.84"). This month, we already have 2.33" of rain when the average is 1.90". Enough already! We should have planted our garden Memorial Day weekend, but it was raining. When the rain stopped for a few days, the ground was soaked and my gardener couldn't get in there with the roto-tiller. 

I bought some big, beautiful, healthy herb plants and kept them indoors until they begged to be repotted. I put them outside and they got battered by wind and rain. I think they'll all make it, but they sure don't look very pretty now.

Sage

 Rosemary

 Basil

 Lemon Balm

 Thyme

 Flat Leaf Parsley

Chives

Stevia

 My gardener was going to plant last weekend come hell or high water (hehe). We kept the garden covered with a tarp during the night and, if it wasn't raining, uncovered it during the day to dry out. He tilled the ground and we planted, but you can see the clods of dirt here, which was the best we got, as wet as the soil was. I planted three foot sections of mixed lettuce, radishes, and spinach on this end of the garden and will plant another three foot section each week. 

Here are the tomato plants, bell pepper, banana pepper, jalapeno, sweet cherry peppers and zucchini. They don't look like very happy plants, do they?

 You may have noticed that our deck is gone! My gardener has been busy already this summer. He built floor-to-ceiling cabinets in the garage and tore the deck down. We were hoping to keep the framing and just replace the floor, but all of the wood was rotten, so down it came. See the ladder beneath the slider? Those were our temporary stairs while the deck was down. 


Oh, see those two rugs draped over chairs and the grill? Our basement flooded, so yes, we've been busy. On top of that, my computer crashed and I was without for two weeks. I didn't even freak when the computer crashed because several months ago I ditched my external hard drive where I backed up files and signed up with Carbonite, an online backup system. So easy and no worries. They offer a free 15-day trial, if you're interested. This ain't no paid advertisement... Carbonite doesn't know me from Adam... I'm just super impressed with the service they provide.

When the skies weren't pouring down rain, my gardener has been out working on the deck and nearly has the framing completed. When it's finished, we'll have a party and you're invited!  

Now for the blueberry muffins! This is the recipe that my mom used and I've not tasted any better muffins than these. No mixer required; just put the ingredients into a bowl and mix by hand. So good right out of the oven with some butter! Be sure to sprinkle the dough with plenty of granulated sugar - it adds a little sweetness and a nice crunch to the top of these muffins.

PRINT RECIPE

Mom's Blueberry Muffins

1 cup blueberries

4T butter

1-3/4 cups flour

2-1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

Melt butter in a mixing bowl. Sift flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into the butter. Add unbeaten egg and milk. Beat until smooth. Fold in blueberries. Put cupcake liners in muffin tins and fill 2/3 full. Top generously with additional granulated sugar. Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes. Makes 8 big muffins or 12 smaller ones.