One Berry, Two Berry, Pick Me a Blueberry!

We had a berry yummy adventure yesterday at a local Blueberry field. After a nice Father's Day lunch, we went with a group of friends from church to a little blueberry field and brought home lots of delicious blueberries (in our pails and our bellies!). Ace had a blast running around and discovering the bushes with "a TON of berries" and even Lucky grabbed a few berries to add to the bunch.I love baking with blueberries, but at $4.99 a lb, cannot afford to do it often. Last year we got a bunch off our bushes, but they didn't do so well this year. We've wanted to go berry picking for awhile now so we decided no better time than the present! They were only $2.00 lb so we came home with 14 lbs of berried bliss!This morning we made blueberry pancakes and tomorrow morning we'll be savoring the delicious sweetness of Blueberry Cream Muffins.Here's the recipe:BLUEBERRY CREAM MUFFINSINGREDIENTS* 4 cups all-purpose flour* 1 cup sugar* 6 teaspoons baking powder* 1 teaspoon salt* 2 eggs* 2 cups milk* 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted* 2 cups fresh blueberries or frozen blueberries** FILLING:* 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened* 1 egg* 1/3 cup sugar* Dash saltDIRECTIONS1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat the eggs, milk and butter; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the blueberries. Spoon about 2 round tablespoonfuls into greased muffin cups.2. In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, egg, sugar and salt; place about 1 tablespoon in the center of each muffin cup (do not spread). Top with remaining batter. Bake at 375 degrees F for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in muffin comes out clean. cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.*If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw before adding to batter.For anyone who likes to freeze berries, I've found that if I separate them (unwashed & dry) on cookie sheets and freeze them like that first, it's much easier to put them in bags and use as much as you need rather than having to defrost the whole bag.This way they come out one berry at a time and you don't waste any. We use frozen berries to cool off oatmeal or just eat frozen! They're so yummy!If you plan to take your little ones berry picking or are baking something berry delicious be sure to check out this terrific little book!Jamberry by Bruce Degen. A whimsical little story about a boy and his bear friend who travel the land in search of blueberries, razzamatazzberries and everything in between! This classical little story is a delight to read! Complete with brightly colored illustrations and written in verse; this book will have you and your little ones shouting for a Jamberry adventure!