Blueberry BBQ Sauce

I had a flat of blueberries delivered to my door last week. That's 12 pints. Almost 10 pounds. Of blueberries.

The longer I blog, the more crazy tales I have of things that are mailed to me. The delivery truck drivers who are assigned to my house probably either think I'm crazy or that the person who lives at my address looks like Jabba the Hutt. Depending on the day, they're probably half right. 

The absolute sweethearts at Wish Farms were kind enough to gift a flat of blueberries to each member of the winning team for the #Hashed competition I mentioned in my Food Wine Conference recap earlier this week. They also shipped a flat of blueberries to the winners of the Blueberry Toss contest I entered, so in a way, I'm glad I didn't win or I would have blueberries coming out the wazoo. {As a side note, though I didn't win, they did include my recipe submission on the Wish Farms site, which I thought was pretty cool!}

As you can imagine, we have all been eating LOTS of blueberries around here. Even Farley. And luckily, Cole has become quite fond of blueberries as a snack, so he's been helping out, too. 

But we still have about 6 pints left after snacking, smoothie-ing and baking all week, so I knew it was time to come up with another recipe for blueberry consumption. With this weekend being Memorial Day Weekend and all, and so many folks taking to their backyards to grill with family and friends, I thought I'd rework an old recipe that could add a special touch to otherwise ordinary grilling.

Blueberry BBQ Sauce! 

Not only is it patriotic to add a touch of blue to your red and white {meats}, but it's also a nice way to sweeten up the day with an unexpected twist that guests will appreciate.

I first posted a version of this recipe 4 years ago {!}, during one of my Tailgate Thursday posts. Back then I used to start by making a strained blueberry syrup, and later adding it to the rest of the ingredients. But that was back when I used to have more time and less children {fury and human} tugging on my apron strings, so I changed things around a bit for this version, and I actually like it better!

My first blueberry bbq sauce attempt back in 2012. 

Blueberries and sauteed onion, garlic and dried herbs make an excellent sweet and savory team, while vinegar and hot sauce give that zip and zing that perks up your taste buds. {I used a combination of Raspberry Wine Vinegar and Chardonnay Vinegar this time, and it really enhanced the berry flavor, but if you don't have those, just use regular red wine vinegar and it should still turn out great!} I blended my sauce in the food processor for a smoother consistency, but if you don't mind some blueberry skins and onion pieces, feel free to keep it chunky.

Whether you slather this sauce on ribs, toss it with chicken wings or dab it onto your burger, you'll be happy you tried something new! Have a safe and happy weekend, and don't forget to pause and remember the brave men and women who gave their lives for our country! 

Blueberry BBQ Sauce

1 pint blueberries
1 1/4 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
2 strips of lemon zest {just peel with a vegetable peeler avoiding the white pith}
4 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, minced

2 large garlic cloves, grated

1/2 teaspoon ground sage

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 cup red wine vinegar 

1 teaspoon hot sauce

1. Combine the blueberries, water, sugar and lemon zest in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.

2. Reduce the heat to medium and allow to simmer until reduced by about half, stopping to smash the berries every now and again. {This takes awhile -- about 15-20 minutes. When it's ready the bubbles will be slower and the liquid will be thickened slightly.} Remove from heat and set aside.

3. Meanwhile, in another saucepan or in a medium pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until softened and translucent, about 5-7 minutes.

4. Sprinkle in sage and thyme, and cook for another minute or so. Stir in vinegar, hot sauce, and the blueberry mixture and bring to a bubble, then reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for another 6-8 minutes until the mixture has thickened a bit. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

5. Pour the mixture into a blender or food processor and blend to desired consistency. {Or don't if you want a chunky sauce.} DO NOT blend boiling hot liquids as they can blow the top right off of your blender!

Pour into a jar with a tight fitting lid and refrigerate until ready to use.

Note: Remember that since this sauce has a higher sugar content, it will burn easily if cooked over high heat. 

Food Blog Forum Orlando Recap {Part 2}

{For Part 1 of my Food Blog Forum recap, click here.}

How do you deal with meeting new people for the first time? What's your reaction when you find yourself in interesting social situations? {i.e. Meeting people you've already read all about.}

Me? I'm a babbler.

{I know what you're thinking. Me? Babble? Never.} ;)

I start talking and then I can't shut myself up. I talk to fill the silence with timid people. I talk to "put it all out there" and be open. I talk because I want the other person to feel like they're not the only one sharing. Or oversharing as the case may be.

So, even though I consider myself quite social, I can also be quite socially awkward. At least, that's what it feels like when it's happening.

You can imagine how I felt going into Friday evening's welcome reception with 125+ of my closest "friends" that I've never met.

Disney did their best to make us all feel at ease... beautiful little bites of food circulated the room, an open bar served up some liquid encouragement for flowing conversation, and the surroundings weren't too shabby, either.

Within the first few minutes, I found myself chatting with Elise Bauer from Simply Recipes {one of the very first food blogs I ever stumbled upon}, Megan from Wanna Be a Country Cleaver {one of my more recent favorites! I totally hugged her. I'm a nerd.}, Julie from The Little Kitchen {whom I had the privilege of meeting last year at Central Florida BlogCon}, and Lindsay from Love & Olive Oil.

Can I tell you what I said to these lovely folks? Nope. Not a word of it.

I was tuned into the Babble Station. All babble, all the time. I proceeded to yammer on for the rest of the hour with various other bloggers.

Fun Fact: I spoke with Tina from My Life as a Mrs. and we discovered that we're practically next door neighbors. Like, we shop at the same grocery store and everything. I also got to meet 2 more local bloggers -- Denise from Creative Kitchen and Michelle from The Domestic Mama & The Village Cook . South Florida Bloggers represent! ;)

By the end of the reception {which, by the way, was signaled by a woman walking around the room playing a xylophone-type contraption... Oh, Disney.}, I had made my way around the room and spoken to quite a few people but still had so many more I wanted to chat with!

We quickly changed into comfier "play clothes", and made our way to the Magic Kingdom in hopes of getting to ride a few of the highlights and catch the fireworks display & the parade.

Did I tell you we recruited a new park-hopping friend to our group at this point? Erin from Eat Drink Bake Cook {For the life of me I cannot remember the order of these words. I say it differently every time.} ... she was a doll!

It was just a tad windy waiting for the boat on the dock.

So, the three of us took on the Magic Kingdom after dark. As we discovered, there were a lot of changes to the park since the last time I visited, which made it sort of difficult to navigate. {Read: We got lost. A lot.} But we still managed to get to ride a couple of the "Mountains", and even some of the attractions in the new and improved Fantasyland.

Over by the new Beauty & The Beast area in Fantasyland.

Most importantly? I got a Dole Whip.

That is one happy Dole Whip-eating girl. 

We called it a night after the parade since we knew we had to be at breakfast by 8:00 a.m. and before I knew it, my alarm was going off and it was time for the conference!

..................................................

I'm SO not a morning person. But I have to say, the whimsical breakfast spread presented by Disney definitely made losing some sleep a little less painful.

How often do you get to start your day with a light-up fruit salad?

As if glowing breakfast items weren't enough to wake us up, we also received our swag bags around this time... oh, the swag! Our sponsors and friends really spoiled us rotten. I'm pretty sure I've already gained a few LBs from exploring all the edible goodies we were given.

Swag, unloaded from the bag at home. I'm pretty sure some of the stuff isn't even pictured here.

Guess what I'll be talking about in the next post??

You guessed it: More FBF, and more FOOD! 

I'll be sharing some of the insights I gained from listening to the wonderful presenters, as well as our Disney-tastic lunch. Can you believe everything I've shared all happened within the first 24 hours of the conference weekend?? No wonder I'm still recovering!

Since I've been busy getting back into the groove this week, I haven't had too much time in the kitchen, so I'm sharing an older recipe that was popular at a 4th of July party last year that you can bust out at your Memorial Day gatherings. 

It's a Strawberry-Peanut Butter Tart, and I'm pretty sure there's no way to mess it up. Not even if you're tired from a weekend of Disney fun. It's pretty, can be made to look "patriotic", and basically tastes like a big PB&J flavored cookie. How All-American is that?

Click over to the recipe here.