Dear Liza,
We ate a delicious lunch at Topaz Farm. This property used to be Kruger’s, but was sold last year to a lady named Peggy, who happens to be a friend of Auntie Katie’s.
We ate cheeseburgers and visited with the chickens, and then Auntie Bridgett drove us home on a long winding path through lots of cool neighborhoods of north Portland.
Once we had rested, Auntie Bridgett and I got down to the business of saving all those blueberries!
We developed a good system last year, and improved on it this year. With her sharp eyesight, Bridgett is in charge of washing the fruit and picking out the under-ripe ones. It took several batches in the sink to get them all done.
As she rinsed the berries and put them in a colander to drain, I collected them. They rested on a towel-covered baking sheet for a minute to get the extra water off. (If you do this, make sure to use a towel you don’t care about, because it will get stained.)
When the berries were dry enough, I used a big cup to help hold the freezer bags open and put the berries in by handfuls until the bags were a little more than half full, and carefully sealed them up airtight.
I laid them in the freezer in a single layer, and once they are frozen solid, I will stack them like beautiful blue bricks! Yum!
But of course, we didn’t freeze ALL of them. We nibbled quite a few as we went, and I baked a cobbler from a recipe I found last year on the ‘net. I don’t know what it is called, because when I copied into my cookbook I called it “Better Blueberry Cobbler” to differentiate it from “Martha Stewart’s Blueberry Cobbler.”
Whatever it is called, it is delicious! Here is the recipe if you feel like cooking.
Better Blueberry Cobbler
The recipe calls for an 8 by 8 baking pan, but I use a 7 by 9 because that’s what I have. You will mix the topping in two different bowls.
In the pan, put 3 cups blueberries, 1/4 cup orange juice, and 3 tablespoons of sugar.
In a small bowl, mix 2/3 cup flour, 2/3 cup oatmeal, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and a pinch of salt.
In a bigger bowl, soften 1 cup of butter and beat in 1/2 cup sugar, 2 eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla until it is all light and fluffy. Then blend the flour mixture into the butter mixture and plop it all on top of the berries. Smooth the topping out with damp fingers to avoid doughy parts.
Bake at 375 F for 40 minutes, let cool a bit before serving. Great with any kind of cream!
Not all adventures end so deliciously!
Love,
Grandma Judy
Dear Liza 
OK first of all… if you ever come help me with cherries or raspberries, the 1st thing we need to talk about is what constitutes a “Single” layer in the freezer…. LOL… then, 2nd, that Blueberry Cobbler looks Divine!! I may try the recipe with cherries that I have in the freezer… I love picking fruit also… I didnt grow up on a farm, but there is something about ‘receiving’ the fruits of trees that God put here for us to eat from that just talks to my heart… I think that’s why I have things growing on my deck also… 1st cuke is forming… and tomato is reddening… and the Green Red-pepper, is finally showing signs it might turn red. LOL.. OH! Broccoli looks great!. Pictures to follow on FB.
Love ya all…
Ruthie
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Well, hello! The ‘single ‘ layer was really single, if you only count berries. They were resting on other things, but not each other, until they were frozen. We only have a small freezer and big ambitions.
Sent from my iPad
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You are hilarious!
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