After performing my devotions at the Book Sale, we rode our bikes to a hostel on a hill overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. It was time for another pass at the blackberry thickets nearby, which yielded a few quarts of luscious, juicy berries.
I looked like an ax murderer, or the victim of one, before long. My hands and all my clothes were stained a nice, deep red blood color, but berry picking is a lot like eating Cracker Jacks -- there's always yet another perfect one waiting to be chosen.
I made a pie. A BIG one. Blackberry and apple. It was ambrosia. The ancient gods would have fought over it had they been here. The best foods are those we grow or find ourselves. Wild berries have no additives, no artificial color or flavor, no middlemen. The fewer people who handle what I eat, the better I like it. Even though I'm still plucking thorns out of my scratched flesh. Because a mere few hours ago, those berries were a part of the landscape. Now they're a part of us.
You should have been here.
22 comments:
oh... that looks so delicious!!! I love nothing more than fresh berries!!! YUMMY!!!
If only I could bake! ~M
Thanks for visiting me. Thanks for your encouragement. Thank you so much.
My heart,
Thank you for coming by for your piece of pie.
It may not cure all, but it comes close. :<)
Man does that look good! The corn flakes I'm eating at the moment now pale in comparison ;-)
Michael,
Well, they only pale if you expect them to be something other than corn flakes. Like pie, for instance. :<)
Actually, that's still my favorite cereal, along with Cheerios. But I used to wonder where the nice strawberries pictured on the box were when I was a kid. They shouldn't imply things that aren't true. :<(
I have this thing called an oven in my kitchen. I have never used it for food preparation. Perhaps, the next time you are in the neighborhood, you can drop in and show me how it works.
yum pie....
Ok have to go bake now!
Girl, I SO want a piece fo that. Fedex to Michigan? I'll send you some apples in return.
Yum! We don't have any good eats like that around here...everything is cemented over! :)
I need one AND I NEED IT NOW!!!!
Peace
Mist,
First you steal some berries...
Shadow,
You go, girl. Fall is Pie Season.
Christina,
Louie, I think this may be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Parlancheq,
So sorry. Where in MA are you? I lived in Marshfield, between Boston and the Cape. There were still woods and meadows then, as well as beaches.
Odat,
I know you do. I feel your pain.
Correction: I WILL feel your pain once the last piece is gone. :<)
We used to pick blackberries along a path next to my grandmother's house in Louisiana when I was a kid. She never got the chance to make pies out of them though. We'd put them in the fridge with sugar sprinkled on top, then devour them chilled.
That pie of yours looks mah-velous!
Katrice,
My family did the same thing when I was a child. We all went out in the woods to pick blackberries, each with our own pot or collander, and I always ate as many as I pooled.
That looks SOOOOOO good! And I don't really like pie.
One question? How'd you ride your bike with all those books??
Lex,
A good pie is a great joy. I don't use Crisco or other junk in the crust, nor do I make them super-sweet. We're about to finish it off now, heated, with vanilla ice cream.
I drove to the book sale. Flip didn't feel like poring over books for hours in a dank and crowded building that smelled like burnt popcorn, so we went out on our bikes afterward for the berries.
Oh yum. That looks so GOOD. I love berry picking. I never manage to bring very many home.
Our neighbors went apple picking yesterday and left a big bag of apples for us on the porch. I'm going to make apple crumble... It's so fall.
Urchin,
Mmmm, apple crumble. One of my favorites.
What time should I be there?
Nice neighbors, too. Being new seems to have its benefits after all. :<)
Mmmm!! Our bodies are never happier than when we're adding bright & colorful nutrition-filled fruits and veggies. So what if you baked all the nutrition out of 'em!
I grew lots of things this year but one of my favorites was the zucchini. We have had zucchini almost every night for pretty much the whole summer. I've made loaves and loaves of bread. My kids & hubby love it.
I feel like I have. My grandmother has a lake home in Northern Wisconsin covered with blueberry bushes. Talk about a great pie!
Djn,
Now that sounds great! I'll raise you one blackberry pie for one zucchini breead, with all the nutrition baked out of both.
Sven,
I agree. The lake and blueberries woud be worth the winters. I lived in the Minneapolis area long ago and still remember the immense beauty and heartstopping cold of that area.
I want pie!
You even have Martha Stewart pastry cut outs. It looks perfect!
I buy the frozen store brand pie shells and canned fruit. I add my own twists and call it homemade. Sad, huh?
Oh, lightning bug's butt calls it this: Ho'- made. (as though I'm a 'ho'or supmthin')
come by anytime. yes being new does have it's privileges-or wait- is that *american express* has it's pirvileges?
Jali,
I'm a pie ho' too.
Urchin,
I'm American. I want privileges, too.
Post a Comment