Little adventures and local freshness!

Here in Quebec we live in a pretty harsh climate, with extremely cold and snowy winters and generally very wet springs that cause a whole lot of flooding, but there's something pretty magical that happens in the summer here in Quebec. Our local farmers work incredibly hard to bring us some of the most beautiful produce, I'm talking the freshest fruit such as blueberries and strawberries and raspberries to the crispiest and sweetest corn and cucumbers and zucchini and this goes on well into October with apples and squash and pumpkins and tomatoes! I could go on for days but all of this to say that they make it worth the long wait through the terrible weather!

Anyways, last week Jacob and I had a quiet afternoon just the two of us and we decided to go on an adventure together, just me and my big boy! We hopped into my brand new Ford focus and we took to the road toward my favorite part of the province, the Eastern Townships! We went off without a plan just picking our turns as they came and this lead us through the beautiful country side, through fields and fields of corn and farmland and with a good soundtrack on we drove on until we found a farm stand by the road!

Now here's a bit of back story on my love for the Eastern Townships! When I was little my grandparents lived on the sweetest plot of land near Brome Lake and my family spent a whole lot of time up there, just picking berries and eating them on the porch swing and feeding the ducks by the river and I'll never forget the smell of my grandmother's kitchen where homemade pies were always on the menu as well as every possible fresh and seasonal goodie you could think of. We spent weekends there outside in the fresh air and I absolutely loved every moment up there and will cherish those memories forever! In fact Mike and I have been dreaming of owning a home out there in the very near future where we can create our own sweet memories with our little family!

So when I saw that the Denis Charbonneau orchards had a fresh corn stand last week I couldn't resist! We stopped by the side of the road and strapped on our masks and headed in! I have always loved this family farm, between their September orchard season to their March maple season which I was so sad to miss this year this has always been a favorite of mine, but due to covid so many of these local maple farms suffered enormously as the pandemic hit right in their peak season and it was absolutely heartbreaking! That being said, I promise to support as many of these farms as I can in the future in hopes to make up for lost time, I know I'm only one person but hopefully I'm not the only one!

On our stop we were able to find some fresh Quebec corn which is unlike any other corn I have ever eaten, it is so sweet and crisp and only gets better with each summer day! As well as some freshly picked blueberries and some of their homemade strawberry apple cider which was exactly what my overheated pregnant self needed!

I mean look at those perfect kernels! They didn't stand a chance with us and we devoured them almost immediately!

As for the blueberries, this little pastry chef could not wait to bake something fresh with those beauties. Cue my lemon blueberry yogurt cake! A cake so moist and naturally sweet that can be a perfect treat for a last minute hangout with friends or simply a nice addition to a breakfast spread! It's very easy to make and so yummy!

Lemon blueberry yogurt cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Zest of one lemon

1 cup of your favorite vanilla yogurt

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Juice of one lemon (approximately 1/3 cup)

1 cup of fresh blueberries plus more for sprinkling on top!

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease your pan of choice, I like using a 9 inch glass pie dish simply because I think they're very pretty but you can use whatever you prefer but I would suggest doubling the recipe if you'd like to use a Bundt pan!

2. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and zest in a bowl and set aside

3. In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment (or a handheld electric mixer, or your arm and a whisk if you have that kind of stamina!) Whisk the eggs and sugar until they are light and fluffy

4. Slowly stream in the oil while still whisking

5. Mix the yogurt with the lemon juice

6. Add the flour mix and yogurt while alternating but making sure you're left with a bit of flour mix at the end

7. Toss your blueberries in the flour mix and carefully fold into your batter (the reason you want to toss your berries in the flour is to make sure they don't sink to the bottom of your baking dish while it is baking!)

8. Pour your batter into your prepared dish and sprinkle a few extra berries on top. Bake for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and the top is nice and golden!

9. Let it Cool and sprinkle with icing sugar when you are ready to serve it! This is also very good with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! Enjoy!

Like I said, this cake is kind of a go to for just about any event you can even feel free to make it with other berries or without completely and let the lemons speak for themselves! We brought it over to a friend's house this week and they absolutely loved it but I also love having this sitting around to have with coffee in the morning, it's just such a fresh classic!

Till next time!

Stay sweet!