Blueberry Muffins 
(Adapted from a recipe submitted to All Maine Cooking 
[edited by Ruth Wiggin and Loana Shibles, Courier of Maine Books] 
by the late Margaret Chase Smith, senator from Maine) 
“this may be the future. Perhaps we 
will compromise and go to existing 
fields to put desirable clones in open 
places left by herbicides.” He also 
anticipates that, as the cost of hand 
picking rises, “they’ll invent a picking 
machine.” In fact, the University of 
Maine has already developed a rake 
head suitable for machine harvesting 
on level fields that are weed free. 
In general, Amr Ismail is an op- 
timist. He sees a bright commercial 
future for lowbush blueberries al- 
though he concedes that “once we get 
to propagating and planting, we won’t 
be dealing with the native, natural 
plant any more.” Ismail, of course, 
has faith in his clones. But Tom Rush, 
general manager of A.L. Stewart and 
Sons, thinks hard times are ahead for 
the lowbush blueberry. He told the 
Wall Street Journal that by 1985 half 
of all Maine growers will be forced 
out of the blueberry business by low 
prices. Ismail and Rush may actually 
be talking about a similar future, since 
only well-capitalized blueberry oper- 
ations will be able to survive in a 
market dominated by Ismail’s culti- 
vated clones. 
The ordinary consumer should be 
concerned about the future of Vac- 
cinium angustifolium , but there is 
really no legitimate position for most 
of us to take, except to hope that 
the cultivated lowbush berries of the 
future will continue to taste as good 
as the experimental varieties I sam- 
pled at Blueberry Hill. For the time 
being, the only sensible thing is to 
cross your fingers and make the trip 
to Washington County in August to 
taste the quintessential American 
berry in the only place you are sure 
to find it fresh. 
Once you are in Maine, you can 
even arrange to pick your own berries. 
For me, this foraging, which is almost 
always technically a trespass on some- 
body’s land, is one of the most ex- 
hilarating things to do in the outdoors. 
Robert Frost caught the beauty and 
mild mischief of it in his horticul- 
turally precise poem, “Blueberries”: 
You ought to have seen how it 
looked in the rain, 
The fruit mixed with water in 
layers of leaves, 
Like two kinds of jewels, a 
vision for thieves. 
Raymond Sokolov, a writer with an 
interest in the history and preparation 
of food, is editor of Book Digest. 
Wi cups fresh blueberries 
IV 2 cups flour 
V 2 teaspoon salt 
3 tablespoons sugar 
1 tablespoon baking powder 
1 egg, lightly beaten 
3 4 cup milk 
3 tablespoons melted shortening 
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Wash the blueberries and drain 
thoroughly. 
V 2 cup plus 1 tablespoon shortening 
Salt 
V 2 cup brown sugar 
2 cups blueberries 
V 2 cup white sugar 
1 egg, lightly beaten 
'A cup milk 
1 cup flour 
1 teaspoon baking powder 
Whipped cream 
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. In a saucepan, combine 1 table- 
spoon shortening, a pinch of salt, 
and the brown sugar. Cook over 
3. Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, 
and baking powder. 
4. Stir the beaten egg and milk to- 
gether and then stir into the flour 
mixture. Add berries and melted 
shortening. 
5. Mix well and pour into a greased 
muffin tin, filling each compart- 
ment three-quarters full. 
6. Bake for 20 minutes. 
Yield: 9 to 12 muffins 
medium heat until the sugar melts. 
Then stir in the blueberries and 
pour mixture into a greased baking 
dish. 
3. Beat together the remaining V 2 cup 
of shortening with the V 2 cup white 
sugar until smooth. Then beat in 
egg and milk. 
4. Sift together flour, baking powder, 
and 14 teaspoon salt. Mix with mix- 
ture from step 3 to make a batter. 
5. Cover blueberry mixture with the 
batter and bake for V 2 hour. Serve 
with whipped cream. 
Yield: 8 portions 
Beth and Millie Gardner’s Baked Blueberry Pudding 
(Adapted from Cutler Cookery, 
United Methodist Church, Cutler, Maine) 
120 
