Things that I love — baking, eating, shopping and shopping, not necessarily in that order! Happy Friday, you guys! I'm excited to share with you this peach & blueberry crumble that only takes minutes to put together and my recent shopping experience at Marshalls. They sent me a gift card to go shopping and I had a blast!

First, is the mise in place. I get all of my ingredients out and start working. I had frozen my super ripe Harry & David Oregold peaches that I received a couple of weeks ago. If you're using frozen peaches, run the baggie under cold water so you can break them apart.

At the last minute, I decided to add lemon juice and zest…to give it a little different zing in case it's overly sweet too.

Mix everything up and throw it into your baker and…

add granola. I used Cascadian Farm Berry Cobbler Granola cereal. They offered to send me some a few weeks back and I didn't think anything of it. Don't tell them, I wasn't too sure we would like it when the box arrived. But I love to eat it with milk for breakfast and Curtis loves to put it on top of his ice cream and when I hatched up a plan to make this recipe, I wanted to make it super easy peasy to I used the granola cereal. Stick it in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes and wait…

I have to tell you the story of these shoes. Most people who know me, I'm a t-shirt and jeans girl, no make-up, super laid back about fashion, sometimes I blow dry my hair, most of the time not. But last year, I decided I wanted to start wearing make-up and I actually enjoy wearing it…not putting it on and figuring out what the heck I'm doing but I enjoy it when it's all done.

I signed up for stitch fix and I have been trying my hand I getting a little more dressed up lately. A couple of months ago, I was at Marshalls and these shoes stopped me dead in my tracks. I have a pair of red shoes (they are flats btw) but I have never owned a pair of pink/coral shoes…these are SO NOT ME. But they are me, I fell in love and had to have them!

The box with my size had two left shoes in it, I asked an employee to help me and he was able to find the matching pairs and I went home with my purchase. Knowing full well, I needed to find clothes that go well with these super fun shoes!

I told you earlier, that Marshalls sent me a gift card, they had no idea of my obsession with their store nor my pink shoe purchase haha!

Aren't these butter dishes cute?

I love glass jar mugs…you know this right? I want all of these…

So this is what I came home with! Jar glass mugs that have a chalkboard finish on them so you can write names or whatever you want on them, fun glasses that were only $1.99 and tons of Le Creuset items that I will use over and over again.

Photo by Julius, thanks for taking this photo of me!

And then this dresss, when I saw it on the rack, I knew I had to have it! It's a Calvin Klein Jeans dress, the material is very light and is supposed to look like jean material. I added a glittery skinny belt I bought on super clearance last year, to give it a little shape.

My number one criteria for a dress is I must feel comfortable. I literally own 5 dresses that I never wear because every time I put them on, I want to tug or pull or hide in a trench coat. I'm starting to get into dresses more…because I'm starting to finally find ones that are comfortable and I feel comfortable in! …and do you see my fave shoes again?

The dress, the kitchen gear — all $100! It might have been $103 but still, a steal! Thanks to Marshalls for feeding my kitchen goodie/prop obsession and now my new pink shoe obsession. PS and by the way, I'm fumbling my way through fashion so forgive the super awkward arm on waist pose. I have NOOOO clue what to do with my hands in pictures.

Sorry for the slight diversion to shoes and a dress…that I'm in love with. Back to this crumble. Make it okay? And enjoy the weekend!!

What are you doing this weekend? And while you're at it, I would love to hear the best steal you have gotten at Marshalls…spill it!

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Peach and Blueberry Crumble Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 4 to 6

Ingredients

• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted (divided in half)
• 3 Tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• zest of 1 lemon approximately 1 to 2 teaspoons
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 Harry & David Oregold peaches sliced into wedges
• 1 cup blueberries rinsed and drained
• 1 1/4 cups Cascadian Farm Berry Cobbler Granola cereal

Instructions

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Mix 3 tablespoons melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, lemon zest and lemon juice together in a medium mixing bowl. Add peaches and blueberries. Mix to combine. Pour into a baking dish.
• Top with granola cereal and the remaining melted butter. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Serve warm topped with vanilla ice cream.
• Crumble can be stored in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days, reheat so it's warm before serving.

Disclosure: I have received free products or value from Marshalls or The TJX Companies, Inc. in connection with my affiliation with Marshalls Project FAB. I also received free samples from Cascadian Farm. All opinions are my own and I only work with and mention brands that I love. There is a referral link in this post. I use a plugin for affiliate links so there may be other affiliate links, y'all, just FYI.

The post Peach and Blueberry Crumble appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

I made these mixed berry mint slushies for Jenny's baby shower! I was so excited when Amanda and Marla reached to me and asked me to join in on a virtual baby shower to celebrate Jenny's 3rd son who's due to arrive soon!

Jenny is such a sweetheart, always has a smile and she has some mad baking skills! I have always wanted to try her Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies and her White Chocolate S'mores Gooey Cake Bars!

She along with a few other friends are pregnant right now and I can only imagine how uncomfortable it is with the heat being a little bit unbearable for us un-pregnant folk…so I thought I would come up with a fresh, cool and refreshing drink to enjoy. It's chock full of berries and I used Katie's mint-infused simple syrup, it's easy to make and is a wonderful addition to this drink!

I know that Jenny is so excited! I hope Jenny was totally surprised and I wish we could all be there in person to help her celebrate! From far away, I'll raise my slushie glass and say a huge congratulations to you, Jenny!

I love, love the mint-infused simple syrup in this drink. It's not too sweet and it adds another element of refreshment to the drink. You can use fresh fruit if you want but be sure to freeze them to add more to the iciness of the slushie.

I added orange juice because I didn't want it to be pure ice and it's the same ingredient we used when making raspberry sorbet smoothies when I worked at Haagen-Dazs back in the day.

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Mixed Berry Mint Slushies Recipe

An easy and refreshing drink that combines 4 types of berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries & blackberries) with mint!

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 2 drinks

Ingredients

• 2 cups of ice
• 1 cup frozen berries strawberries, raspberries, blueberries & blackberries
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 4-5 Tbsp mint-infused simple syrup
• mint leaves for garnish

Instructions

• Add alternating layers of ice and berries into a blender. Then add orange juice and simple syrup to taste and blend.
• Add 3-4 mint leaves to each glass and pour slushie into it.
• Makes 2 10 ounce drinks. Serve immediately.

Be sure to visit everyone else who came together to make someone for Jenny's Baby Shower!

Amanda: i am baker Special Cake for a “Picky Palate”
Amanda: Kevin and Amanda Cinnamon Blueberry Biscoff Breakfast Cookies
Angie: Bakerella Baby Faces
Averie: Averie Cooks Chocolate Banana and Biscoff Graham Bars
Bev: Bev Cooks Horseradish Deviled Eggs
Bridget: Bake at 350 Cute as a Button Cupcakes
Cheryl: TidyMom Salted Caramel Cupcakes
Gaby: Whats Gaby Cooking Blueberry Buttermilk Cake
Heather: Heather's Dish Perfect Pancake Bites
Julie: The Little Kitchen Mixed Berry Mint Slushies
Kathy: Panini Happy Baby Oreo Ice Cream Pies
Kristan: Confessions of a Cookbook Queen Homemade Animal Crackers
Lauren: Lauren's Latest Mini Chocolate Lava Cakes
Lori: Recipe Girl Oreo and Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Maria: Two Peas and Their Pod Cookies ‘n Cream Sheet Cake
Marion: Sweetopia Baby Shower Cookie Favors
Marla: Family Fresh Cooking Blueberry Mint Agua Fresca
Michelle: Brown Eyed Baker Shrimp Nacho Bites
Naomi: Bakers Royale – Chocolate and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Trifles
Recipe Boy: Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cup Stuffed Oreos
Robyn: Add a Pinch Blue Velvet Cake
Shaina: Food For My Family Ginger Plum Preserves
Shelly: Cookies and Cups Oreo Pop Baby Rattles

The post Mixed Berry Mint Slushies & Jenny’s Baby Shower appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to attend a trip sponsored by Dole Food Company. I learned a lot about their fresh fruit and vegetables operations and came away with a greater appreciation for the people who grow the produce we eat and especially for the hard-working individuals who work on the fields and in the processing facilities. It's hard, hard work and when you savor every bite you eat tonight or from now on, think of how the food made it onto your plate and who was involved in it.

We had wonderful cooking demos and tastings from Chef Michael Foley and Chef Daniel Kelly, both from Chicago. They ‘made' us come up with our own salad recipes and didn't get annoyed when we had all of these different ingredient requests.

The night before the demos at dinner, we had a salad that had blueberries in it. It was out of this world…seriously, if you have never had blueberries in your salad before, you are missing out. When thinking about my salad, I started first with blueberries. Funny, huh?

I seriously blanked out except for blueberries. My friend, Brooke, (who I'm so happy to have met finally in person) helped me and said maybe you should add a soft cheese. When I mentioned this to Chef Michael…he said he had the perfect thing for me! Halloumi. What? What is halloumi? I had never heard of it. And umm, mind blown. Cheese that you grill or really actually fry. It's amazing!

I had to give you a picture to show you how I fried the cheese!

I added blackberries because when I asked about the blueberries, Chef Daniel said he had something else for me. He handed me some blackberries and they were so amazingly fresh and right then realized how much I was missing out by completely ignoring blackberries for so long. I need to add more blackberries to my life.

They had to make it into my salad…and then I'll be honest with you, I added strawberries because my salad needed color. It ended up working out pretty well and the balsamic vinaigrette works well with the cheese and the berries!

5 things I'm obsessed with now since my trip

1. putting berries in my salad, you already knew that
2. lavender EVERYTHING – I need to make this
3. getting back to Carmel Valley Ranch again, it's so beautiful there
4. putting berries in my salad
5. putting berries in my salad

See how gorgeous it is?

And these lovely ladies, it was so fun to spend time with such good friends and make new ones. And see Brooke, Shari and Lauren as well!

At the Dole event, I paired their baby spinach and spring mix but when I got home and found their baby butter lettuces, I added them in too. A wonderful salad I will be making over and over again.

Thanks to Dole for the wonderful trip, the amazing experience especially opening my eyes to creating salads in a whole new way!

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Triple Berry Salad with Halloumi Recipe

A truly easy salad to make that includes three kinds of berries, a balsamic vinaigrette and halloumi cheese. If you can't find halloumi, substitute with a soft cheese or exclude it.

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 8 minutes minutes

Total Time 23 minutes minutes

Servings 1 salad

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Sunnyridge Farms blueberries, washed
• 1/2 cup strawberries, washed and chopped
• 1/2 cup Sunnyridge Farms blackberries, washed
• washed handfuls of various greens (I used Dole spring mix, baby spinach & baby butter lettuce)
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt & pepper
• Halloumi slices preparation in the instructions

Instructions

• Prep and wash the berries.
• Using a whisk and small bowl, whisk together vinegar and olive oil. Add salt & pepper to taste.

How to prepare Halloumi (instructions from Chef Michael Foley)

• Cut the cheese into 1/2 thick slices Heat a non-stick pan on low heat wih 1/8 inch of olive oil Lightly flip the cheese and add 1 tsp of butter to finish it off Allow cheese to cool slightly on a plate lined with paper towels That's it, it only takes a few minutes to cook!
• Toss salad greens and berries, top with cheese and drizzle dressing on top!

Notes

from The Little Kitchen with the help of Brooke  & Chef Michael Foley & Chef Daniel Kelly

Disclosure: All of my expenses for this trip was covered by Dole. I am only expressing my sincere opinions here and I was not compensated nor was I required to write this post…I wrote it because I wanted to share this recipe with you…and my obsession with berries in salads now!

The post Triple Berry Salad with Halloumi appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

These are my favorite homemade blueberry muffins and I have been making them for years! You start by making a blueberry jam on the stove and that gets folded in with whole blueberries in the batter.

And the lemon-sugar topping that goes on top takes these muffins to the next level, the folks at America's Test Kitchen are geniuses!

This article was modified March 21, 2025, updates to the photos and the rest of the article coming soon!

Let's talk about these blueberry muffins, I have been wanting to try this recipe for a couple of years ever since I saw it on America's Test Kitchen on PBS. I love that you make a blueberry jam with half of the blueberries.

Spray your muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray or a baking spray, I like Baker's Joy. Whisk the dry ingredients and when adding the wet ingredients, just fold them in to combine. As the instructions say, the batter will be lumpy and that's fine. Don't overmix.

I used my cookie scoop to put the batter in the muffin tins and then you scoop 1 tsp of the blueberry jam into the muffins and swirl them. Add the sugar and lemon zest topping and pop them into the oven.

I let the muffins sit in the muffin tin for a few minutes and then I use a butter knife or offset spatula to remove them halfway, as pictured above, and cool a little bit longer.

Serve them with softened or spreadable butter and you're good to go. These are my new go-to blueberry muffin recipe, so good! The lemon zest on top along with the sugar tops off a great muffin recipe!

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Blueberry Muffins

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings 12 muffins

Ingredients

Lemon Sugar Topping

• 1/3 cup sugar 2 1/3 ounces
• 1 1/2 tsp finely grated zest from 1 lemon

Muffins

• Non-stick cooking or baking spray I used Baker's Joy
• 2 cups fresh blueberries about 10 ounces, picked over
• 1 1/8 cups sugar 8 ounces plus 1 tsp
• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 12 1/2 ounces
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp table salt
• 2 large eggs
• 4 Tbsp 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

For the Topping:

• Combine sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir. Set aside.

For the Muffins:

• If not already done, move oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray muffin tin with baking spray.
• Add 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to a small saucepan at medium heat. Allow to simmer and cook, mash the berries with the back of a spoon until all of the berries are broken down. Stir frequently and cook until mixture is thickened and reduced to about ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature, about 15 to 20 minutes.
• Add flour, baking powder, and salt to a large bowl and whisk.
• To another bowl, add 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs and whisk until thick, about 45 seconds. Whisk in butter and oil slowly, until combined. Then, whisk buttermilk and vanilla in, until combined.
• Using rubber spatula or a wooden spoon, fold in egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Do not overmix. The batter will be lumpy and that's fine.)
• Using an ice cream scoop or cookie scoop, add batter evenly to each of the muffin cups. The muffin cups will be full. Take one teaspoon of the cooled blueberry jam and add to the top of each mound of batter. Using a chopstick or skewer, swirl the jam into the batter a few times. (Cook's Illustrated says to use figure eight motions.)
• Add the lemon-sugar topping evenly over all of the muffins.
• Bake the muffins until they are just about gold on top, about 17-19 minutes. Halfway through the baking time, be sure to rotate the muffin tin. Allow muffins to cool in the muffin tin for about 2-3 minutes. Using a butter knife or offset spatula, remove the muffins from the tin and allow them to rest at an angle. Cool for another 5 minutes and place on a cooling rack. Serve with softened butter.
• These muffins can be stored in a zippered plastic bag for 2-3 days.

Notes

From Cook's Illustrated. Must have subscription to view original recipe.

Other blueberry recipes you might enjoy:

• Blueberry Hand Pies
• White Chocolate Bark with Blueberries
• Blueberry Cobbler
• Blueberry Pancake Oatmeal
• Blueberry Slushy with Mango Wine
• Triple Berry Kale Salad
• Blueberry Breakfast Smoothie
• Strawberry Blueberry Smoothie
• Frost Bite Mocktail

Do you have any blueberry recipe favorites? Please share what they are in the comments below!

The post Homemade Blueberry Muffins appeared first on The Little Kitchen.