Guess what we did on Friday? Can’t guess? Here’s a hint. It’s in the picture… BLUEBERRIES!!!
Let me tell you what kind of great time I had!!! We went to the Briar Patch in Dacula, Georgia*, a pick your own berries place about half-an-hour from our home. Nice! $6 a GALLON for blueberries. See ours? (Note the baby feet) But I get ahead of myself. Bambi, the girls and I got to the Briar Patch early and got all our gear out of the van: A thick blanket, a wagon, camera, sand pail and a little chair with straps for the baby. Yikes, what I won’t do to get out of the house!
We picked up two buckets and started into the berry field. Eleanor, after a brief discussion of the difference between red berries and BLUE berries, was eager to start. Her theory was pick one for the sand pail, and 43 for for the mouth. We picked for about 45 minutes. You do the math. I think Eleanor ate more than a gallon of blueberries. (You can’t know how HAPPY I am that she uses the potty now.)
At one point, I was standing in a patch of poison ivy, and then I was bitten by a fire ant on the thumb. At this point there is no sign of the poison ivy blisters on my legs, but my ant bite still hurts up to my elbow! Saralyn even ate a few blueberries (she barfed them up after a bit, but most solids gag her, that toothless wonder of mine!)
I made simple blueberry jam when I got home. 4 cups berries and 3 cups sugar. Add heat slowly till the mixture hits 220 degrees. Cool till set and refrigerate. And, yes, my family DID catch me eating my own jam with a spoon. What of it?
Bambi and I combined our pickin’s at the farm and came up with that gallon, which is now three -fourths gone. We’ve enjoyed raw berries, jam, pancakes, and I’m about to make Alton Brown’s Blueberry Coffee Cake. I was meaning to freeze some. But I haven’t. I think I may need to go back to the farm tomorrow. Who wants to play hookie and come along?
*2503 Cammie Wages Road, Dacula. 770-962-4990. Hours 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.
