For years I was trying to find a homemade Blueberry Muffin recipe that I felt was truly worth the calories.   Since I was a child, I have been obsessed with these treats.  Anything with berries actually, but Blueberry Muffins are irresistible to me.

Blueberry Muffins were not popular in Puerto Rico while I was growing up in the 70’s and 80’s. I think I first tried Blueberry Muffins during summers at Camp Ton-a-Wandah in Hendersonville, North Carolina.  Since I was 10 years old (1983), my parents would send me there for four weeks every summer until I became a CIT (counselor in training) at 16.  I absolutely loved it!  Camp was a refuge to me and a place where I could develop my individual interests (each girl made her own itinerary and chose her own classes), learn new things (cross-stitch, horse back riding, archery, rifle, drama, synchronized swimming, canoeing, diving, badminton and even some BASIC programing language), made new friends (some of whom I still keep in touch after more than 20 years) and enjoy nature in a way that was not possible in the rigid and structured itinerary that you have during the school year in a metropolis.  In addition, I practiced my favorite sports like swimming, tennis and volleyball.  I also learned some “naughty” thing like what “mooning” was, “short-sheeting“, and even about discipline and consequence when one of the oldest campers was expelled for having some Southern Comfort in her shampoo bottle.

However, what I learned most in summer camp at Ton-a-Wandah was about leadership (I became Chief of my tribe the Navajos), compassion, respect, fair game, competition, order, discipline, geography and culture (some counselors were from UK, New Zealand, Australia), tradition, tolerance, self worth, friendship (I was given the first Goofus Award for Hilltop), camaraderie, sharing, to enjoy nature, teamwork, history and literature (we went on field trips to Carl Sandburg Home and the Biltmore Estate), independence, responsibility, a chance to miss and value your family, to have fun outdoors, to appreciate the differences and believe it or not, to eat new things! Some foods I really liked, some I was repulsed by them. But that’s what life is all about, taking a look at your choices and then make decisions about what you want to include and exclude. As you may know from experience or have heard from friends, camp food is, well… not the most appetizing, but I learned to try new things to survive! Ja!

My best friend from camp was Nilla (Nilla Vanilla, Je!) from South Carolina.  We became friends my second year at CTAW.  After 20 years apart, in October 2005, we had a camper reunion at Ton-a-Wandah’s Grown-up Girls Getaway and spent an unforgettable weekend eating camp food, sleeping in the cabins, knitting, doing the canopy tree ropes course-zip line, wall climbing, canoeing, taking freezing cold showers and talking about what we had been up to during the past 20 years.  The only difference from our years as campers was that we had a beer in our hands!  Je!

I truly felt as if time had not passed.  As if those two little girls that enjoyed all those summers at CTAW were still trapped inside of us. I was amazed to compare my childhood memories of that beautiful place with my “adult eyes” perspective.  The rooms seemed smaller, the distances shorter, but the majestic beauty of the lake and the forest as sublime as always.  Even the aroma was the same, the bull frogs still croaked at night and Ton-a-Wandah was still a serene  “place by the water falls”.

My wish is that my daughter has that same opportunity to live the Ton-a-Wandah experience as I once did.  I will eternally be grateful to my parents for letting me live this amazing camp adventure during my childhood that helped shape who I am today.

Nilla wrote a few weeks ago encouraging me to attend this year’s TAW Grown-up Girls Getaway… I think I’ll accept her invitation to renew, rejuvenate and let that little girl inside of me roam free!

Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

Batter

7 tbsp unsalted butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2  large eggs

2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup of milk

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries or frozen unsweetened (dredged with a little of flour)

Topping

1/4 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tbsp granulated sugar

2 tbsp light brown sugar

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tbsp cold butter, cut into small cubes

Procedure

1.  Preheat oven 375ºF.  Cream softened butter and sugar with paddle attachment of an electric mixer for about 5 minutes, medium speed.

2.  Sift together all-purpose flour, salt and baking power.  Set aside.

3.  Add eggs to the creamed butter and sugar and beat just until incorporated.

4.  Add flour mixture in 3 batches at low speed just until combined. Do not over beat.

5.  Add milk and vanilla extract and continue to beat just until combined.  Scrape bottom of bowl with spatula and carefully fold in blueberries.

6.  In a small bowl prepare the topping by mixing all ingredients with a fork until it resembles large crumbs.

7. Grease 12 muffin tray with some butter (you may also use paper liners) and scoop batter to fill 3/4.

8.  Generously sprinkle top of batter with the topping mix.

9.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes (ovens vary) until it is light brown.  Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in middle of one muffin and it comes out clean. Do not let it get dark brown.

10.  Let cool on wire rack and store in covered cake dome or air tight container.