Hi again Jan :-) I'm really happy that I could help. Fresh blueberries are one of the easiest fresh fruits you can use - no peeling, no slicing etc. I did want to mention that fresh cranberries are also very easy to deal with. Just do the same thing with them - rinse drain and pick over for stems and discard any that don't look too good. You would not believe how easy it is to make your own whole berry cranberry sauce! You can also replace half of the blueberries with cranberries when they are in season, in the muffin recipe, if you like. I have used frozen blueberries in this recipe too. Do not thaw them before you use them in a recipe - muffins or pancakes. If you use them in the muffins, you will find that the batter is a bit more stiff than when you use the fresh ones. The cold just kind of freezes the batter or makes it cold enough that it's a little harder to stir but still delicious. I think you would find frozen ones closer in taste to fresh than the canned ones. If you do decide to substitute half of the blueberries with cranberries, you may want to coarsely chop the cranberries since they are usually larger than blueberries. I usually do it in my food processor so they don't roll all over and off the cutting board onto the floor. Also, someone suggested that instead of using plain sugar on the top of the blueberry muffins that you can use cinnamon sugar, and chopped walnuts if you like, with delicious results as well. Good luck, Jan and if you have other cooking questions, don't hesitate to ask here. We have all been where you are - just starting out cooking not really knowing too much. We are very happy to help if we can and if we know the answer.