Linked to Mama to 4 Blessings, Shibley Smiles, and 5 Minutes for Mom.

Mom Blog Monday Blog Hop ~ I'm the Featured Guest

Welcome to Raising Knights! 

I was fortunate to be randomly picked to be the featured blogger for the Mom Blog Monday Blog Hop. Make yourself at home and poke around my blog, check out some posts, copy some recipes, leave a comment or two. Be sure to follow via GFC or email because I'll be having some giveaways in the near future to promote my new business, To Love and Protect. Thanks for stopping by!

If you are a regular reader or found me by accident, then read on to find out more about the blog hop and then link up your mom blog. 

Are you a Mommy blogger? Do you blog about your kids? Do you blog about great things for Mommies?

 Do you wanna meet other Mom Bloggers?

This blog hop is hosted by The Not-So-Secret Confessions of a First Time Mom , Luxury Living Frugal Style, and So Easy Being Green!

Rules?

All we ask is that you follow So Easy Being Green, The Not- So- Secret Confessions of a First Time Mom, and Luxury Living Frugal Style.We are the first three on the linky!Then follow spot #4 which is the featured blog! Be sure to leave us a comment so we can follow you back!

We would LOVE it if you'd grab our button and put it somewhere on your blog or in a blog post! This would help us spread the word. However, you aren't required to.

Blueberry Almond Buckle

We absolutely love blueberries here! They get eaten by the handful and star in muffins, smoothies, pancakes, and waffles regularly. I took LJ, IB, and M2 blueberry picking yesterday. Well, M2 slept on my back in the Patapum carrier. The boys didn't last very long in the sweltering heat, but we did manage to pick about 2 1/2 quarts of sweet purple berries.

My plan was to make muffins, as usual, until the boys let me know that they were tired of muffins. So, when we got back home, I went for my King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking cookbook. I quickly decided on Blueberry Buckle. While I was gathering my ingredients from the pantry, I noticed a bag of sliced almonds and thought I would alter the recipe a bit. I also doubled the recipe but the following recipe is for the original 9X9 pan size. Just in case, you don't want a LOT of this super yummy, moist, flavorful, whole-grain coffee cake bursting with sweet blueberries and topped with buttery, crunchy, cinnamon-y streusel topping, use the recipe as is. If you double, you can use two 9X9 baking dishes or a 9X13 for a tall cake. That's what I did and it needed to bake for a few minutes longer, ending up with the bottom corners a tad bit overdone. Barely noticeable, though. If you would like a better presentation, use a round springform pan and slice into wedges. We're more into quantity and quality around here.

Blueberry Almond Buckle

Streusel
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cups rolled oats
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cups sliced almonds (opt)

Buckle
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cups milk (I used almond milk)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract (opt., if not using, double vanilla)
2 cups blueberries, rinsed (fresh, or, if using frozen, do not rinse or thaw)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour a 9" square pan.

Make the streusel: Whisk together sugar, flours, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in the butter to make medium-size crumbs. Toss in almonds, if using.

Make the buckle: Whisk together flours, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Cream together the butter and sugar in large mixing bowl until light and fluffy, then add the eggs, one at a time, stopping to scrape the sides between additions. Stir in half the dry ingredients, then the milk and extracts, scraping down the sides. Stir in the remaining dry ingredients, then gently fold in the blueberries. Spread the batter in the prepared pan, and sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top.

Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45-50 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool, in the pan, on a rack.

Linked to Tuesdays at the Table and What's Cooking Wednesday.

My New Business - A Sneak Peek

For a few months, I've been busy researching, planning, and working on a new business venture. As I get closer to being ready for the grand opening, I'd like to give you a sneak peek at what I've been doing and get some feedback. 

Would you please go to To Love and Protect, take a look around, and let me know what you think so far? Do you see anything that needs to be fixed (broken links, grammar, spelling, etc.)? What do you think of the homepage collage? Is it too busy? Keep in mind that it is still under construction. I have been ordering and adding inventory this week and there is plenty of content to be added. But after you have looked at something for so long, it's difficult to see it objectively. Your comments are greatly appreciated. 

Make sure you are following or a subscriber because once my store opens, you may see a giveaway or two here at Raising Knights. Oh, and at the blog for To Love and Protect. Thank you for your support!

Wordless Wednesday #13 - Berry Pickin'

{Subject: LJ, Photographer: M1}

Linked to Mama to 4 Blessings, Shibley Smiles, and 5 Minutes for Mom.