If it sounds to good to be true...

it probably is, except for my Blueberry Coffee Cake.

I am coming back from the dead and not as a zombie! After being on a higher dosage of medication for a week, I am feeling fairly normal. Still tired, but that might be normal. This has been a week of ups and downs. My youngest son had more car problems (he is extrememly hard on cars, need I say more?), that was a down. J was here on Tuesday and spent the night, definite up...absolutely the week's highlight! My oldest son has fallen prey to a secret shopper scam (I did try to warn him, but he didn't listen). This is a down, though more for him than me. He was sent a cashier's check, which they deposited. I won't relate all of the details, but it was supposed to be a quick $300.00. He kept saying that if it was a scam, he would know before any harm was done. As of last night, their account showed a $1,000,000.00 overdraft. Yes, that is one million dollars. Monday is a holiday, so Tuesday is the earliest that they can try to straighten this out.

The one good thing that has come out of my whole hormonal imbalance, is that I have just been too tired to be super mom. I have been pulling back from the boys over the past year. My resources and my energy have not been able to stretch far enough to cover both my needs and theirs. I admit that I have not completely cut them off, but they have learned to be much more independent. Of course, where the grandchildren are concerned, I still put them ahead of myself. I just have too hard a time seeing my grandchildren go without. I also have decided that it is easier and cheaper to help out sometimes, than to face the possibility of having everyone move in here, should they lose their house.

I have to keep reminding myself of what I was doing at their ages. I also never called my parents for help, unless it was a dire emergency. (Of course, their fathers have no problem saying no...actually their fathers are not above asking them for help.) It is sometimes hard to find a balance as a parent, but I am finding my way.

The good news is, I am going to give you my recipe for Blueberry Coffee Cake. I adapted this from Cooking Light, no this is not the light version. I was able to buy blueberries for $1 per pint, everything else I had on hand. Bear with me, this is my first recipe post. Also feel free to ask for clarification if I leave anything out.

Ingredients

1 and 1/2 cup of all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup granulated sugar

1 stick (8 Tblsp.) of butter, softened...real butter NOT margarine

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 and 1/3 cups of buttermilk

2 cups (one pint is close enough) fresh blueberries

1/4 cup of turbinado sugar (or brown sugar will work just fine)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, stir with whisk.

Cream together butter and granulated sugar. Add in vanilla and eggs, mix well. Alternately add in flour mixture and buttermilk (about a third each time) mixing each time after adding.

Grease and flour a 9 inch deep dish pie pan (or other deep 9 inch baking pan), or use a baking spray.

Coat blueberries with a few tablespoons of flour, this will keep them from sinking to the bottom.

Spread half of the batter in the pan. Evenly place half of the blueberries over the batter. Cover with other half of the batter. Place the rest of the blueberries on top. Sprinkle the turbinado (or brown) sugar over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cut into wedges and serve warm. Yum.