I’ve always dreamed of living in a place where I could pick blackberries.
Off I’d head, early morning, basket in hand.
Maybe some gloves.
These things can be scratchy, to say the least.
I might take one of the dogs.
Sometimes I read the blogs of women who live in such places.
They have so many blackberries that they blog about jam.
But I live up on the mesa.
Near the mountains.
And there aren’t any blackberries growing wild.
In fact, there’s nothing growing.
Unless someone planted it in a yard.
And then:
They have to pay the water bill.
Silly, huh?
Wanna eat locally here?
You better enjoy cactus, of which I have plenty.
(I do have a sour cherry tree and rhubarb….)
I once had a $37. tomato I grew on the deck.
I pay hundreds a year for a couple of patches of grass.
(So my dogs don’t have to pee on rocks.)
All that leads you to know that if I made blackberry anything,
my blackberries came from King Soopers.
On sale.
10 half-pints for $10.
Deal?
No, but it’s as good as it’s going to get.
And were we glad to get cobbler made from store-bought blackberries?
Uh-duh.
Alyce’s Blackberry Cobbler made from Store-bought Blackberries
7 c washed blackberries
1/2 c white sugar
1/3 c all-purpose flour
1 cup flour
1T white sugar, plus 1t for dusting crust right before baking
1/4 t salt
2t baking powder
4T butter, chilled
6-7T milk
1T melted butter
In 2qt casserole or a deep-dish pie pan, mix the berries, sugar and flour. Set aside.
In a food processor, or using a pastry blender or two knives, mix the dry ingredients for the biscuit topping and cut in the butter until it’s all crumbs. Shouldn’t be even, but will have tiny irregular bits and pieces. Add milk, one tablespoon at a time, either processing briefly or stirring constantly with a fork. When dough holds together, pull it together into a ball and knead it a few times until it looks and feels smooth. Pat or roll it out into the shape of your pan and lift it onto the top of the berries, tucking it in to bed around the edges. Brush the crust with the melted butter. Sprinkle with a little sugar on top (no more than a teaspoon full). Bake about 35 minutes, checking in 10 minutes before that. If it’s golden brown and bubbly, get it out of there and put it on a rack to cool. Do let it cool quite a bit or you’ll have berry juice and crust for dessert. Makes a lovely dessert, but a better breakfast. Add some ice cream or gelato if you’re eating dessert. A bit of milk on top of it in a bowl rounds out the dish for breakfast.
Two-dog Kitchen presents:
Whose bone is that?
A little neighborhood news:
I have a flicker (and, no, this isn’t a place to put pictures) on my chimney.
He thinks it’s wood, but the part he’s on is metal.
A hollow, chimey jack-hammer.
Out front, the primroses, which look nothing like roses, are blooming inky, dark purple.
Nearby, a rabbit (he lives here) sits up just like a picture and looks at…?
Our house dove is at the edge of the roof cooing at her mate, who maybe skipped town.
Three young lady deer spent a lot of time peering in my window today, scared of Gabby.
The robins, down to a pair, are in and out, all around.
I’ve yet to figure out where they’re nesting.
My neighbors’ houses have forsythia in bloom. Including Sarah M’s if she’s reading.
Why is yellow so hopeful?
In memoriam: my pool-shooting buddy, Janet Egbert, who died yesterday suddenly…at the beautiful age of 52
Sing a new song; craft a new cobbler; love your friends while you have them,
Alyce
