With an abundance of peaches and blueberries in our area, I was struggling with what to do with them to make the most of what's available.

I had dried peaches, made peach jam, blueberry jam, peach pie filling, frozen some with sugar, frozen blueberries and then came across recipes for Peach Chutney and Blueberry Chutney.

We had never used much chutney but I decided to try the recipe and after a few changes to the original recipes, our family can't seem to get enough of it. We've shared a taste with everyone who has visited us this week and so far, everyone who's tried it has asked for a jar. It's been a hit on pulled pork, fried chicken strips and even biscuits! We've also served it with crackers and cream cheese and that would make a great quick appetizer any time! I've canned quite a bit of both peach and blueberry chutney in half pint jars.

Both, along with an apple curry chutney will be includd in gift baskets for friends for Christmas.

For both of these recipes, adjust the spices to suit your desires. We like our food hotter than most so the amount of jalapeno peppers may be too much for you. If in doubt, start with fewer, and add more if needed.

Blueberry Chutney
(makes 2-1/2 - 3 pints but can easily be doubled if you want more)

4 cups blueberries
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
3 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 tablespoon chopped or thinly sliced ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 jalapeno peppers, thinly sliced (more or less to suit you tastes)

Add all ingredients to a large pot. Make sure the pot is large enough for the ingredients to simmer without boiling over. Simmer, stirring often til as thick as you’d like it. I simmer mine for about 1-1/2 hours.

Put into jars as you would for any canning procedure. Process in water bath for 10 minutes.

Peach Chutney
(makes 7-1/2 - 10 pints depending on how thick you cook it down)

4 quarts peaches, pitted, peeled and chopped
3 cups brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
1 cup raisins
2 cups chopped onion
1/4 cup mustard seed
4-6 tablespoons finely sliced, peeled fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4-10 jalapeno peppers, sliced (remove seeds if you want less heat . . we leave them in)
4 cups cider vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a pot that's plenty large enough that it won't boil over. Simmer til thick, stirring real often. It tends to want to stick if you get the heat too high or if you don't stir it enough.

Fill hot jars, leaving 1/4" head space. Remove air bubbles. Adjust lids and rings. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

I guess we’ve had blueberries in the freezer for for about 4 or 5 months. They have taunted us by keeping their shape and brilliant color. We have used a few for some waffles and a gallon or two more for jam we gave out at Christmas. But by in large they have remained in their frozen state just waiting for a chance to really be enjoyed.

I think the cold weather has been good for us and bad for us. Good because it has allowed Pan and I the opportunity to eat a lot of our freezer foods and dried foods, but bad for us in that we have found ourselves baking more and more and eating even more. NOT GOOD considering we have seriously changed our eating and benefited in both health and weight. So, yesterday with the skies darkening for rain and the thermostat sticking at 41 degrees, I thought it would be a great chance to reach for the blueberries and make some Blueberry Wheat Skillet Cake.

Inspired, in part, by the recipe Ms. Chiot laid out (including beautiful pictures) I set about making something a little different from our normal eggs and spinach.

We chose to go with a skillet cake because cast iron is a lot more fun, cooks a lot more thoroughly and doesn’t have the aluminum byproduct found in so many non-stick pans. Besides, it feels a little more “real,” if you know what I mean.

Keep in mind that I used whole wheat flower predominately and not a whole lot of sugar as I didn’t want the S’bucks sweet muffins that are often high in glucose and low in real flavor. Not to mention I made a blueberry sauce/powdered sugar “dressing” to finish off the top.

Blueberry Wheat Skillet Cake

2 cup of wheat flour
2/3 cup white flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup of sugar (double this for sweeter muffins)
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 eggs, room temperature (I used brown eggs from the *girls* outside)
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons of room temperature buttermilk
3/4 cup melted butter
1 1/2 – 2 cups berries (fresh or frozen, allow to thaw a bit if using frozen)

Heat oven to 400. Put cast iron skillet in oven for 5 minutes. In large mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and lemon juice. Stir to combine.

In another bowl crack eggs and whisk. Add vanilla extract and buttermilk to eggs and stir to combine. Remove cast iron skillet from oven and melt butter in skillet swirling around to coat skillet.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and lightly fold until almost combined. When almost combined add berries and stir to incorporate. If batter is too thick add a little regular milk. You want this batter to be too thick to pour, but not too thick to smooth into edges of pan.

Spoon batter into cast iron skillet and put in oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack for 5-10 minutes.

I have to admit that the taste was wonderful. Oh, I almost forgot. I made a topping by taking 2 Tablespoons of blueberry jam, microwaving it for 25 seconds. I spooned that across the top of the cake. I then sprinkled powdered sugar liberally over the whole cake. Served with a cup of hot coffee this was an ideal way to start a busy day of rental movie watching, pants hemming, chicken coop cleaning and Facebook checking!

So? What are you waiting for? Go get some berries, get some eggs, and start cooking! Bon apetit.