Blueberry fundraiser raises over $2,000!
On July 25th, the Rotary Club of West Jacksonville stepped up to the challenge of selling 14,000 pounds of blueberries with only 4 days of advance notice and publicity. At the club meeting on July 22nd, many members volunteered to spend part of their Saturday working the blueberry stands in San Marco and Avondale.
As of July 24, 1,000 pounds had been sold through pre-orders. A special webpage was created with information about the sale, recipes for blueberry dishes, and an order form to place pre-orders. The sale was marketed through e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, and mentions in the Florida Times Union and on Channel 4’s The Morning Show. Many folks forwarded the e-mails on to their friends, and Saturday morning the stands were busy with activity.
Although the club didn’t sell all 14,000 pounds, 5,000 pounds were sold and over $2,000 was raised for the club’s charity fund. The fund is used for college scholarships for high school students on the Westside, a teache’s supply closet, water filters for the Dominican Republic, and towards the Bill and Melinda Gate’s matching grant challenge to eliminate Polio.
There are many people to thank for this incredible effort on such short notice.
First of all, thanks to Jeff Collins for making this opportunity available to our club. Also, thanks to Jerry Mackoul for providing the refrigerated trailer to store the berries. A special thanks to the Dutton family for allowing us to use their property on the corner of San Juan and Herschel. Thanks to Karen Butler for bringing sandwiches to Jeff, Tom and Marshall and for doing the money drops.
Thanks to all of the volunteers who stood in the hot July sun waving signs, selling fruit and handling customers.
Volunteers included:
Mark Hulsey
Phil Voss
Tom Sandlin Jr.
Andy Hariton
Nina Sasser
Don Wilkinson
Vince Coyle
Paul Mohrman
Steve Noack
Patti Chapman
Preston Keyes
Stew Irwin
Also, thanks to all Rotarians who stopped by and bought bags of blueberries. And thanks to John Green who stopped by to buy a few bags and ended up running to the local bank to get $200 worth of singles.
The Avondale volunteers were even delivered 2 complimentary pizzas by the local Hungry Howie’s.
This event was a lot of fun and could be an even larger fundraiser for our club next year. If you are interested in buying additional blueberries, Jeff Collins still has some available. You can e-mail him at jhcollins@ccim.net.
Easy Blueberry Cobbler
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup sugar
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup milk
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
Mix and pour into Pyrex dish with half stick butter melted. Pour 2 cups blueberries on top. Bake at 350 degrees until browned and bubbling, about 30 - 35 minutes.
Chaucer’s Blueberry Chill Smoothie (for those of you familiar with the Gainesville landmark)
INGREDIENTS:
1 to 2 frozen bananas
about a cup of fresh blueberries
a dollop of vanilla yogurt
a squirt of honey
a dash of cinnamon
apple juice up to just below the top of everything.
The measurements were never exact. Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.
Blueberry French Toast Casserole
Ingredients:
* 12 slices white bread, crusts removed
* 2 packages (16 ounces total) cream cheese
* 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed
* 12 eggs
* 2 cups milk
* 1/3 cup maple syrup or other syrup
* Sauce:
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 tablespoon cornstarch
* 1/2 cup water
* 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
* 1 tablespoon butter
Preparation:
Cut bread into 1-in cubes; place half in a greased 13- x 9-i x 2-inch baking dish.
Cut cream cheese into 1-inch cubes; place over bread. Top with blueberries and remaining bread. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Whisk in milk and syrup, blending well. Pour egg mixture over bread mixture. Cover and chill 8 hours or overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Cover with foil and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 25-30 minutes more or until golden brown and the center is set.
In a saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch; add water. Bring to a boil over medium heat; boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in blueberries; reduce heat. Simmer for 8-10 minutes or until berries have burst. Stir in butter until melted. Serve sauce with French toast.
Serves 6 to 8
Blueberry Muffins
(NOTE: you can use butter instead of shortening. Shortening will make the muffins more “picture perfect”, but butter will taste better and it’s healthier for you)
Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups sifted flour
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 cup shortening
* 1 egg
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1 cup blueberries (or a bit more if you wish!)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a different bowl combine shortening, egg, and milk.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients.
5. Carefully fold in blueberries. Don’t worry if you crush a couple, the juices make a nice color swirl.
6. Bake at 400 F for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden.
Blueberry PIE!
Ingredients:
* 3/4 cup white sugar (I use 1/2 cup)
* 3 tablespoons cornstarch (I use 1 Tbsp flour, 1 Tbsp cornstarch)
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 4 cups fresh blueberries
* 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
* 1 tablespoon butter
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
2. Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon, and sprinkle over blueberries. (I use a bowl with a lid, so I can shake gently to distribute mixture evenly over the berries)
3. Line pie dish with one pie crust. Pour berry mixture into the crust, and dot with butter. Cut remaining pastry into 1/2 - 3/4 inch wide strips, and make lattice top. Crimp and flute edges.
4. Bake pie on lower shelf of oven for about 50 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
Pie Crust Recipe:
(NOTE: There are two main secrets to light, yummy, flaky pie crusts. The first is to not over work the dough, and the second is to never ever touch it with your bare hands! Wear vinyl gloves to keep the shortening from leeching out of the crust and into your hands!)
Ingredients:
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2/3 cup shortening (or butter. Again, not as pretty, but tastier and healthier)
* 5 to 7 tablespoons water
Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl sift together 2 cups flour and salt.
2. Using a pastry blender (or two forks), cut in 1/2 of the shortening until flour resembles cornmeal. Then cut in the rest of the shortening until pieces are pea-size.
3. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the water over part of mixture; gently toss with a fork. Push moistened dough to side of bowl. Repeat, using 1 tablespoon water at a time, until all the dough is moistened. Divide in half. Form each half into a ball.
4. On a lightly floured surface flatten one dough ball. Roll from center to edges into a 12-inch circle.
5. To transfer pastry, wrap it around the rolling pin; unroll into a 9-inch pie plate. Ease pastry into pie plate, being careful not to stretch pastry.
Blueberry Butter
8 c. blueberries
8 lg. green cooking apples, peeled, cored & sliced
8 c. sugar
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. mace
1 tsp. nutmeg
Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil, then simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Cook until thick. Put in jars and seal. Makes 8 pints.
Blueberry Smoothie
Ingredients:
1 ripe medium banana
3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt
3/4 cup skim milk
Pinch of cinnamon
1/2 cup crushed ice
Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.
Blueberry Pancakes
INGREDIENTS
* 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1 1/4 teaspoons white sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 cup milk
* 1/2 tablespoon butter, melted
* 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, thawed
DIRECTIONS
1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. In a small bowl, beat together egg and milk. Stir milk and egg into flour mixture. Mix in the butter and fold in the blueberries. Set aside for 1 hour.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.
Blueberry Sauce
Ingredients:
* 2 cups fresh blueberries
* 1/3 cup sugar
* 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation:
Wash and crush blueberries; add sugar, lemon juice and salt. Mix well. In a small saucepan, bring blueberry mixture to a boil; boil 1 minute. Add vanilla. Chill.
Serve over puddings, cake, or ice cream.
