Blueberry Cupcakes for Ali

(from Martha Stewart's "Cupcakes")

Hmmm, Blueberries for Sal...My best friend Ali, whom I've known since 6th grade, came to visit with her fantastic fiance, Patrick this weekend. It just so happened to be Ali's birthday, so we celebrated with these delicious cupcakes. They're definitely the easiest cupcakes I've made yet; I will say that they turned out a little messier than Martha's looked (probably because of the liquid released by the blueberries), but hey - they tasted great. The topping is a simple whipped cream, with a little sugar added.

So, for 30 cupcakes:

BATTER
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups milk, room temp
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries, plus more for garnish

Preheat overn to 350. Line muffin tins with paper liners.

Mix together flours, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the butter and sugar with a handheld mixer on medium-high until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the vanilla.

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk. Mix in blueberries by hand.

Divide the batter evenly in the tins, filling each cup 3/4 full. Bake, rotating halfway through, for about 25 minutes. Allow them to cool, then top (see below).

TOPPING
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar

Whip with a handheld mixer until thick. Dollop onto cupcakes once they've cooled, then top with more blueberries.

La Piccina: Camping Edition

This year's trip to the Boundary Waters was quite the culinary adventure, mostly thanks to my fellow campers/portagers. We had fresh-caught bass and northern pike, steak, bacon, fresh raspberry and blueberry pancakes, and - blueberry compote (or, in camping terms, blueberry "sauce"). Of course, we had our fair share of pastaroni and grilled summer sausage (delicious, actually), too. But considering it's a pack-in, pack-out kind of deal, we did pretty well. Well enough to deserve a special camping edition post.

Dinner: Steaks with Carrots, Potatoes, and Onions
Pat had the brilliant idea to bring some fresh foods in for the first night. He devised a freezer system using a brown box, ice, and plastic garbage bags to keep the steaks and bacon cold. We sauteed - or directly grilled - the steaks over the fire, then ate them with a side of potatoes and carrots sauteed with onions and a little cajun seasoning. A perfect way to round out a day of canoeing!

Breakfast: Bacon
There's not really anything unique about bacon, and there's certainly no recipe. But there are no WORDS for how delicious bacon is when you're camping.

Breakfast: Pancakes
We could've had pancakes every day if we hadn't run out of Hungry Jack and Krusteaz towards the end of the trip. The best part was picking fresh raspberries and fresh blueberries to put in the batter (all you need is water to make a great pancake). And of course we packed syrup. Innovation of the trip: summer sausage cooked INTO a pancake.









Breakfast: Blueberry Compote


But we didn't need syrup when Justin and Joef figured out we could make our own from fresh blueberries, sugar, and water. Proportions are about 1:1 for the blueberries and water, then add sugar to taste. Wash the spider eggs off the blueberries, then combine all ingredients in a pot over the fire and bring it to a boil. Boil it down, occasionally mashing the blueberries against the side of the pot. Add a splash of whiskey with a couple minutes left to boil if you're feeling adventurous.


Lunch and Dinner: Fried Fish
Catch a fish, gut it, bread it in Shore Lunch, and drop it in extra-hot oil and you're done. On the last night, we used the oil we fried the fish in to make crispy tortillas (just drop the tortilla in the oil, watch it puff up, flip it, then put it directly on the grill for a couple minutes). Tony divided his up into wedges and actually made tortilla chips.




























And finally - well, this isn't exactly a recipe, but...Joef made a sauna. Yes, a sauna. Using downed tree limbs gathered from a neighboring island, tarp, twine, some tape, and large granite rocks heated for two hours in the fire. Just pour water over the rocks and you're good to go.