What are Blueberries Doing in my Mac N Cheese?!

So a couple of Christmas vacations ago, my husband and I drove from the family cabin in Rose Valley, WA to Cannon Beach, OR. It was a dark and stormy night which made it for a scary drive to and from. Because the rain and windy was getting so bad in the evening, we decided to stop and get some dinner hoping everything would calm a little down before heading back to the cabin. We Yelp'd to see what was good around town and came across a restaurant called Castaway Tini Tiki Hut. Um ok, I thought, a tropical themed restaurant in the middle of a cold and stormy little town? Sure, it's a beach town... but ok never mind. Good Yelp reviews=worth a try. In the end, the food and drinks were fantastic and anytime the chef comes out to greet you, that is a sign of a cool place. I approve.

Fast forward to why I'm writing this. Husband got the crab fritters and I got the mac n cheese. But when the dishes of deliciousness came out, there were these mysterious little blue round things sprinkled on top of the food. What is that? I wondered. I took a bite of one and it was a blueberry!? Who in the world puts blueberries on savory dishes?! Well, the chef at Castaway Tini Tiki Hut does and you know what? It totally works!!! Don't knock it until you try it. In fact, we tried it last night.

Blueberries in Pasta.  Who'd have thunk?

We had some friends, Katherine & Brian, over the other night and I made some penne with meat sauce. Well we had another friend, C.J., over last night to help finish the leftovers (sauce is always better the next day right?). I got the recipe from what else? Pinterest (see the recipe here).  And I substituted the ground beef for lean ground turkey.  Boiled up some al dente penne and TA DA!  Pasta with homemade tomato meat sauce.  So easy and simple, yet so delicious and impressive. 

So when our buddy came over last night, the husband washed some blueberries and put a bowl of them on the table.  The boys sprinkled them on their pasta and instantly C.J. loved the combo.  So I encourage you to all sprinkle some blueberries in your pasta and give the flavors a try!  Don't get me wrong, it's totally weird.  But it really does bring the flavor out!!!