Blackberries picking and cooking

'Off I went, into the wild green yonder...' It's blackberry season (or it was last week when I went picking.) I braved the stabbing thorns, skin-piercing mosquitoes, and head-buzzing deer flies in the wilds of my son's property. Yup - all for the joy of picking my own berries. There's such a rewarding feeling about foraging for your food. Kind of like being a pioneer woman (or cave woman, depending on how far back you want to go.) When you walk out of the "jungle" with your pail of berries, sweat dripping, feeling like you've just done battle with nature - you feel great knowing YOU picked those beautiful berries. You may get a few strange looks from folks willing to pay $3 a pint for their berries. I give them strange looks for paying such an outrageous price, what the heck do you do with a measly pint of berries?



Don't these look yummy?? They were, trust me. They're so pretty and shiny :)


So, other than eating them on cereal and in my yogurt, here are a couple of recipes you might like. Oh - and have you ever made a smoothie with blackberries? It turns a delicious shade of purple!

Blackberry Cobbler

• 4 cups fresh blackberries
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
  
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375°. Place blackberries in a lightly greased 8-inch square baking dish. Stir together egg, sugar, and flour, and cinnamon in a medium bowl until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle over fruit. Drizzle melted butter over topping. Bake at 375° for 35 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly. Serve warm with whipped cream, or even better - vanilla ice cream.

Blackberry Freezer Jelly

2 cups blackberry juice (either use a juicer or sieve to get the juice)
2 TBS lemon juice
4 cups sugar
1 pouch CERTO

Measure juice into large bowl (one with a spout is great.) Measure exact amount of sugar and stir into juice. Mix well, let stand 10 minutes; stir occasionally. Stir pectin into lemon juice. Stir mixture into juice mixture. Stir constantly for 3 minutes. Pour into jelly containers. Let stand at room temperature before putting in freezer or refrigerator.
Note: Sure-Jell or Fruit Pectin can be used for lower sugar recipe or no sugar recipe - follow their directions.