In a USDA Human Nutrition Research Center laboratory, neuroscientists discovered that feeding blueberries to laboratory rats slowed age-related loss in their mental capacity, a finding that has important implications for humans.
Blueberry Crisp
4 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and completely dried
1-1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (set aside the extra tablespoon)
1-1/2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick (1/4 pound) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Preheat oven to 350◦ F. Spread the blueberries in an 8x8x2” square baking dish. Sprinkle the 1 tablespoon of flour over the berries. Thoroughly blend the remaining flour, brown sugar and cinnamon; cut in the butter to make coarse crumbs. Sprinkle crumb mixture over berries. Bake 40-45 minutes, or until berry juice starts to bubble and the topping is light to medium brown. Best served slightly warm, or at room temperature if you don’t melt the vanilla ice cream on top. Warning – if you reheat this, the topping gets soggy; however, it is fine eaten cold from the pan the next day. I don't have any idea how those last two informational gems were discovered, just that they are true.
Enjoy your antioxidants. I think you will have more fun than the lab rats if you try this.
8 comments:
Lynn, I shall expect you to deliver a pan of this to my doorstep by noon tomorrow.
BLUEBERRIES!!!! UMMMMMM Now I'm "ahungered".
mmmmmmmm....maybe tomorrow night, after the gym and the two-piano-four-hand session.
:-)
The recipe sounds delicious. I love blueberries. My husband grows them, but the season is too short. Now we have to buy them at the market. They're still good, but not quite the same as the freshly picked berries.
Mimi - my grandparents grew blueberries as well, and they were wonderful. I remember the long row of plants with nets to keep the birds from eating too much of the precious fruit. They were my brother's favorites, and Grandma S made blueberry pies that were never too sweet, full of the wonderful perries.
But I remember the raspberries most of all, particularly learning how to pick them! As a young girl, I was sure you really needed three special hands; one to hold turn over the leaves (without pricking your fingers), one to pick the fruit (gently, gently), and one to hold the handled cups we used to capture the berries. When I see the store prices, I understand why they are so expensive.
Don't get me started on her tomatoes...Grandma was always on a quest for the perfect variety to grow. Grandpa was her faithful helper through all of this, and didn't mind all the good things on the table at mealtime, either :-)
I had raspberries around the perimeter of the back yard (lots of trees and pretty nearly wetland) until a few summers ago when the yard guys got a little too enthusiastic with their new rider-mower and thought they were mowing weeds. Sigh.
Our tomatoes have just finished. They will be greatly missed.
Lynn,
How is it that rats living longer and healthier helps us? ;-)
Fred, I think you have made a valid point. You should hide all blueberries from certain people in the SJ Valley.
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