Azoresgal~Life on an Island

This is such a great breakfast dish, it is a cross between bread pudding and french toast. It is prepared the night before, so it is great for any holiday breakfast or brunch, or a lazy Sunday morning. It's filled with blueberries and cream cheese, and served with a very yummy blueberry sauce that just make it...the breakfast of Champions ! Seriously I wouldn't lie to you! The sauce really takes it over the top, but if you just want to serve it with icing sugar, and maple syrup, that's fine too. My family loves it, I hope your's will too. Ingredients 12 slices day-old bread, cut into cubes **or enough slices to fill a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish quite full. 2  packages cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes 2 cups fresh blueberries/or frozen 12 eggs, beaten 2 cups milk/ or 1 milk and 1 cream 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup maple syrup Sauce 1 cup white sugar 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1 cup water 1 cup fresh blueberries/or frozen 1 tablespoon bu...

Gosh, maybe I am wanting fall to arrive, a cobbler and a crisp within days of each other !! Well I won't pull out the sweaters just yet, but it is my favorite season...just saying. In my freezer I had a bag of blueberries, and a bag of strawberries from last years crop. I decided to mix them together, for this berry crisp. I used the recipe for the Strawberry Crisp , from last year. I still used the 4 cups of strawberries, and just added the small bag of blueberries, not worrying about the extra fruit to much. xo, Diana

Happy  π (pi)/ Pi Day everyone !!!  If you remember anything at all about math class way back in the day , we learned that  π (pi)= 3.14, and well, today just happens to be March (3) the 14th, also known as Pi Day. Listen I don´t make these things up you know, for me it was just another excuse to use up some more frozen blueberries, and bake a pie. Although, does one really need an excuse to bake a pie, this blueberry pie was amazing, the only thing missing was a big scoop of vanilla ice cream, to kerplop on top of it. Blueberry Pie - Double Pie Crust 6 cups (about 2 1/4 pounds or 1 kilo) of fresh (or frozen) blueberries, rinsed and stems removed (if using frozen, defrost and drain first) 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest 1 Tbsp lemon juice 1/4 cup (about 30g) all-purpose flour (for thickening) 1/2 cup white granulated sugar (100g) 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 2 Tbsp butter (unsalted), cut into small pieces Egg wash ingredients: 1 egg 1 tablespoon m...

I don't know what it is about, Sunday afternoon, that always leaves me feeling sad. Right around 4pm, it just hits me like a ton of bricks. I suppose it has to do with the fact that the weekend is over, and that Monday morning is just lurking around the corner. It is almost, as if I still get that knot in my stomach, you know the one, like when we were kids, and you knew that Monday, meant going back to school. Crazy how somethings you can never shake or forget. Dinner around ours, on Sunday nights, is usually breakfast food. I had bought some frozen blueberries, and decided upon making blueberry pancakes. I had to giggle, when I saw there lovely hue, because it was quite reflective, of how I was feeling....blue. this is the recipe I used, I just added in a bag of Bluberries xo, Diana

This past weekend, my family and I were invited, to visit a most wonderful place, on the island, Quinta do Galo. The purpose of the visit, an interview for "Azoresgal", and a chance for our family to get to know this special place. The Quinta do Galo , is tucked away in the lovely village of Terra Cha, amidst many trees, andat the foot of some rolling hills. At the front gates you are greeted, by chickens and roosters who roam freely, and are not at all bothered by the presence of humans. Along the path, there are orange trees, chestnut trees, lemon trees and even some wonderful Magnolia trees. Once inside, it is almost as if you have been transported into an old village, with all its wonderful little cottages, and ox carts. That of course, is just the surface of this magical place. They have all the ammenities for you to be able to spend the day there, even have a party or get married in the chapel. They have horses, and ponies for riding, they will even host birthday parti...

Streusel: ¾ cup light packed brown sugar ½ cup all-purpose flour 1 tsp cinnamon ¼ cup butter Cake: ½ cup soft butter 1 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 2 cups all purpose flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt 1 cup sour cream 2 cups berries (fresh or frozen) •Streusel: Mix together sugar, flour and cinnamon; blend in butter until crumbly •Cake: Cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. •Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream. •Spread batter in greased and floured 13 x 9 inch pan. Sprinkle evenly with berries then, streusel. •Bake in a 350F oven about 45 minutes or until tester inserted in centre comes out clean. Serve warm. Makes about 12 to 16 servings.