Grandma and Blueberries and Rings

I love blueberries and always have, since my dear, wonderful Grandmother made blueberry muffins for me when I stayed overnight at her house.  That sweet, fresh baked smell would waft into my bedroom at my grandparents' house when I woke up.  I'd get up and sit at the breakfast table and open a hot blueberry muffin and steam would rise out of it so the butter that I liberally smoothed into both halves would melt and ooze into the delicious cake and blueberries. The dough of the muffin would be almost wet with that sweet, hot butter and the combination was sheer heaven.
I knew Grandma loved blueberries, too, and our family had had a summer house in Grafton, New York, on top of a hill that had blueberries growing all around the house.  My parents took me to that summer house when I was 2 years old, and I've been told that they were picking blueberries into cans, only to find out that as fast as they picked, I was eating them!

These aren't my grandmother's hands.  Grandma's been gone about 20 years now, bless her.  But, they're one of my sister's hands as she was making the following recipe another sister found in a little book she'd kept from Grandma's things.   The sister whose hands are in the picture decided to make the recipe and I thought I'd share it with you here:

Double Blueberry Shortcake (more ingredients for the blueberry sauce are listed in instructions below):

2 cups sifted flour
2 T sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 ts salt
1/2 cup butter
1 slightly beaten egg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries

Sift together the dry ingredients, then cut in the butter.  Combine egg and milk, stir into flour mixture.  Divide dough in half, pat half into greased 8 x 1 1/2" round cake pan.   Top with berries.  On waxed paper, roll remaining dough to 8" circle.  Invert and fit dough over berries, remove paper, sprinkle dough with 2 tsps sugar.  Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes.   Cut into 6 wedges, serve with warm blueberry sauce:
In saucepan, mix 1/4 cup sugar and 1 1/2 T cornstarch...blend in 1 cup cold water..cook and stir till mixture is boiling.  Add 1 cup blueberries, cook 3 minutes and remove from heat.  Stir in 1 T lemon juice and 4 T butter.

Now for the part about the ring.  I inherited Grandma's diamond engagement ring, but the wedding band, tiny diamonds all around the ring, is ...all of ours.  I have more than 2 sisters, but that's all I'll say for anonymity sake.  So, every Christmas, at some point during the day, we have a fun little 'passing of Grandma's ring'  ceremony between all of us.  Each one gets to keep that ring for that whole year.   I notice that most of us wear it quite often during that year.  We adored both our grandmothers, we've always been lucky girls in respect to marvelous family, thank you, God.

SO, there was my sister, who'd received this recipe in the mail as we all did the other day, and she decided to try the recipe. As she was working with the dough, on her counter top, she realized she was wearing Grandma's ring.   Rolling out Grandma's recipe, wearing Grandma's ring.  And she sent the above picture to us all.  Kind of 'full circle', isn't it?  In more ways than one? :-)

I hope you try the recipe.  If Grandma made it, it'll be good.  Not only did we have marvelous family, but THEY COULD COOK! 

z