TGIF: Basketball, Blue Bell and Blueberry Crumble

Blue Bell and Blueberry Crumble [RECIPE]

The Spurs lost last night, but I introduced Blue Bell Ice Cream to some of my new friends, so that's gotta be a win for Texas! I can't say that I was really upset because I've learned to save my sports-centric emotions for the LSU Tigers and now TAMU Aggies football seasons. My dear friend Laura who hails from San Antonio was not having a good time, but I can empathize. LSU hasn't won a bowl in the past two seasons and A&M was 5-5 before Heismanziel, so I wouldn't wish that disappointment on anyone (except for maybe Bama fans). But I digress...

It was a lot of fun hanging out with new friends! I've joked before that we'd make the perfect poster for diversity: we've got folks from Italy, China, Argentina (or Canada, I'm not sure where his loyalty lies), Israel, and the Philippines. Occassionally, our lunch table includes folks from Zimbabwe, Mexico, Russia, and Bangladesh. They must all try things that are quintessentially Texan such as BBQ, kolaches, and Tex-Mex, but I couldn't let them leave Texas without trying ice cream from the Little Creamery in Brenham.

After a delicious dinner, I brought out the The Homemade Vanilla to go with my homemade blueberry crumble. Fresh out of the oven, the crunch of the crumble was perfect with every bite of bursting blueberry flavor as if they were bubbles of sweetness popping in your mouth. I have to admit, some of my guilty pleasures are food and alliteration. But, since it's Friday, I'll leave the lessons for next week and share the recipe for my blueberry crumble instead. It was great for our get-together and it could be great for your summer parties. Blueberries are ripe and cheap in Texas right now and kids love making it because they get to destroy the butter to make the crumbs.

Blue Bell is great by itself, I personally love the new Southern Blackberry Cobbler as well as the Rocky Mountain Road, but who says you can't add a little more sweetness? Have a great weekend y'all! :)

Blueberry Crumble adapted from Gourmet Girl's Blueberry Crumb Bars

via 225 Baton Rouge

Ingredients:

Crumble
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cups sugar
Stick and a half (a little over 1/4 lb) unsalted butter at room temperature (leave out for a couple of hours is best, but in a pinch, carefully heat in microwave for 10 seconds)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg

Blueberry filling
2 cups blueberries (but really, why limit yourself?)
juice of 1 lemon (~2 tbsp)
1/2 cup of sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8"x8" pan.

1. Mix dry ingredients and blend well. Add butter and cut in with your hands; you want to make small and huge chunks of crumbs. Whisk the egg in a small bowl until blended and carefully add it into the flour/butter mixture to make sure it's evenly distributed. If it's forming one large mound of dough, add more flour and blend til you get crumbs.

2. Press a little over half of the flour mixture into the pan. Pat down gently, but make sure it's compact so that none of the blueberry filling seeps through.

3. In a medium bowl, mix the cornstarch, sugar and lemon juice. Add blueberries and toss gently. This go-round, I discovered tossing the blueberries in a closed tupperware container instead of a bowl got good results.

4. Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 20-30 minutes. If it's taking too long, turn it up to 400 degrees for a few minutes. Let it cool a bit and then serve with The Homemade Vanilla and enjoy a Texan summer!

#DellInterns13