We're talkin' big, juicy, burst-in-your-mouth BLACKBERRIES. Mom and I had a hankerin' for a blackberry cobbler, which has been coming on for a couple of weeks as we kept checking the neigborhood berry bushes during walks around the block. We had picked a few here and there, just sampling, checking for the prime moment.
Today was IT. We visited an old favorite place (no, we do NOT tell where our best blackberry patches are - this is akin to fishing, folks, don't ask - don't tell), and enjoyed a fine hour or so of picking berries and being out in the warm weather, with the bay breeze to keep things comfy.
When we were kids, we picked blackberries along our street, by the dishpan full. We earned some summer shekels by taking the berries to the little local grocery store, where the berries were loaded into cannery flats and taken to the valley for processing. I think we got about $1.5o a flat. "Normo's" was the name of the store - which is now one of the ubiquitous chain of Indian-owned little stores around the country. Things change. But not the flavor of the blackberries!
Mom has been picking berries for more years than she has fingers and toes - times four! She recalls that their homestead was surrounded by fields of berry bushes. They picked them by the bucket, and got about 75 cents for a big pail. That was big money, for folks who saw little real money in those days of the depression and raising a large family by any means at hand.
She still loves picking berries. All of us kids grew up picking berries of one sort or another as they came ripe over the summer. The blackberries are still a favorite. Getting into a good patch laden with big 'ol berries is like finding gold.
That silvery circle is a quarter, to give a comparison for the size of these berries....
It just don't get much better, for a summer day in Bay City.
Mom fusses and fusses as she sees folks picking "HER" berries along the street, until she can get out and pick a couple pails. Then when there's a few quarts in the freezer, thoughts turn to bubbling pies and biscuit-topped cobblers.
Now can you see why we love blackberries? And it doesn't hurt to live just a few miles from the Tillamook Cheese Factory, where they make icecream from heaven. "Old Fashioned Vanilla" was made specifically to go with blackberry cobbler and pie, doncha know?!
It's too bad they haven't figured out a way to put aroma into blogs. You would be overwhelmed, I'm tellin' ya. This stuff is food of the gods. Here's my recipe, as much as I actually do a recipe.BAY CITY BLACKBERRY COBBLER
Using a 1 quart casserole dish. (Adjust amounts for size of pan you use.)
Oven 350 degrees.
Put 3 cups of clean fresh blackberries into ungreased baking dish. Gently stir into the berries: 3/4 to 1 c. of sugar - (depends on how sweet and ripe the berries are), about 1/4 c. corn starch, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. allspice, dash salt, 1/4 c. water.
Bake 15 min. Stir gently to get berries in middle moved to outside. Bake additional 10 min. During this time, make the cobbler topping:
Mix together 1 1/2 c. Bisquick mix, 3 T. sugar, 3 T. melted butter, about 2/3 c. milk or enough to make very thick batter.
When the berries are just barely bubbling around the edges and the center is hot also, drop dollops of the dough onto the surface. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar. The hot juices cook the biscuit dough evenly from underneath while the top browns nicely - no uncooked dough in the middle!
Bake until cobbler is browned on top and firm to touch; 15-20 min. Check at 15 min.
Did you know cobblers are named for the cobble-stone shaped dollops of dough?Did you know you can founder on Blackberry Cobbler?
But what a way to go!
Now I have to go find a cloth to dry my screen, I drooled all over it! Yum! Yum! Brings back some memories of us picking with Gram when we were kids!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you were finally able to get some blackberries. Megan and I attempted to pick some a couple of days ago, but Jesse ate them as fast as we picked them! Thanks for another great recipe!
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