August is time to rake in blueberries for fresh muffins

   August is a busy month in Washington and Hancock counties because it is the height of the blueberry season. Blueberries are a member of the Vaccinium genus and there are many varieties of this delicious little berry. They grow wild all the way from the northern tip of Alaska to Florida. There is apt to be confusion about the difference between blueberries and huckleberries. Actually huckleberries belong to a different genus, Gaylussacia and they always have ten hard little nutlets in them where the blueberry will have tiny, almost un-noticeable seeds. Huckleberries are always wild but blueberries of some varieties are cultivated and can reach a fairly good size.  If you are outside of New England and see a box of what you think are blueberries, but are called huckleberries, they probably are as the blueberries and huckleberries all get called huckleberries in a lot of places.
    Blueberries are an old American Indian food.  They were a major source of food as many tribes ate them fresh, cooked them with meat and dried them to use in the winter.
   We may think of the blueberry as wild but a lot of care goes into the production of this important Maine crop. Blueberries can be an aftermath of a forest fire but to get good production a blueberry barren must be sprayed to keep out the pests and the fields are burned over every other year to keep down the scrub and to promote the growth of the bushes. Most growers also put hives of honeybees in the fields to increase the yield. Most, but not all of the blueberry fields are “posted” to keep recreational berry pickers out, so if you are in a blueberry area please check before you pick the berries. Just because they look “wild” doesn’t mean they are.
   The blueberry harvest in Maine has been fortunate the last few years with the right kind of weather and production has increased every year. Many small towns in Hancock and Washington Counties used to have blueberry canneries, known locally as “the factory”.  Most of these have given way to a small number of strategically located large freezer plants that now do the majority of the processing.
    Modern technology has been making attempts to develop a mechanized blueberry harvester but most of the berries are still raked with what looks like an upside-down dustpan with teeth. The berries go into large baskets and then into a gas-powered winnower that blows the chaff out of the berries. They are then put in wooden blueberry boxes or flats, each holding 30 to 35 pounds, and from there to the “factory”. Blueberry rakers are paid by the bushel for their work. Rakers are given “sections” similar to potato pickers but the sections are marked out with string. One old-timer who had raked berries, dug clams and picked potatoes did tell me that of these three back breaking occupations that picking potatoes was still the most difficult!
    When most people think of blueberries their first thought is Blueberry Muffins. I haven’t found any figures on it but I imagine that the majority of blueberries are consumed in muffins.  There are many kinds of Blueberry Muffins, this first recipe is just your everyday muffin.
BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted and cooled
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups fresh blueberries
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1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
      In a large bowl, stir together the flour, the cup of sugar, baking powder and salt.  In another bowl stir together the milk, cooled butter, egg and vanilla until they are well blended.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir the liquid mixture just enough to combine.
    Mash 1/4 cup of the berries and stir into the batter. Carefully fold in the rest of the berries. Do not overmix. Grease twelve large (3 x 1 and 1/4-inch) muffin cups. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups and sprinkle with the Tablespoon of sugar. Bake in a preheated 400°F. oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center of one of the muffins comes out clean.
     Put the muffin tin on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes and then remove the muffins to the rack to finish cooling. Serve warm or cool completely and store in an airtight container at room temperature.  These muffins also freeze well. This makes 12 large muffins.
    This next recipe for Rich Blueberry Muffins is probably my favorite as the batter stays white with the whole blueberries nicely suspended in the batter.
RICH BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted and cooled
1 and 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
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1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
    Sift the 2 and 1/2 cups of flour with the baking powder, salt, and the 1/2-cup of sugar into a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs and cooled butter.  Stir the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring only to mix.
    Mix the berries with the 2 Tablespoons of flour to coat the berries.  Fold these berries carefully into the batter. Spoon into greased muffin cups, filling each cup only two-thirds full.  Sprinkle the tops with the Tablespoon of sugar.
    Bake in a preheated 400°F. oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Serve hot with lots of butter. This makes 16 to 24 muffins, depending on the size of your cups.
    Fans of bran muffins and those that are always looking for a way to use wheat germ will like these super healthy Branberry Muffins. Because they use whole-wheat flour and brown sugar they are a “heavy”, but good, muffin.
BRANBERRY MUFFINS
3/4 cup bran
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon finely grated orange rind
1/4 cup oil
2/3 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup raisins
    In a large bowl, mix together the bran, whole wheat flour, wheat germ, salt, baking soda and orange rind.  In a small bowl, combine the oil, buttermilk or yogurt, and egg. Stir this liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and mix.
    Add the blueberries and raisins and stir only to mix. Spoon into lightly greased muffin tins.  Bake in a preheated 400°F. for about 20 minutes, depending on t he size of your muffin tins. This makes 8 to 16 muffins, again depending on the size of your tins.
    Finally, a blueberry corn muffin, called in a very old book MicMac Cakes. They are not a sweet muffin but for those who favor cornbread, very good.
MICMAC CAKES
1 cup cornmeal
5 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries
1 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons melted butter
    Sift the cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, flour and salt together into a large bowl. Stir the blueberries into the sifted dry ingredients.  Combine the milk, egg, melted and cooled butter.  Add this liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and blueberry mixture.  Stir only to dampen the dry ingredients.
   Spoon into greased muffin tins, filling three-quarters full.  Bake in a preheated 400°F. oven for about 20 minutes. Makes about 12 average sized muffins.