Skip to main content

The Joys of Eating in Season Series


Blueberries!

As 6AM rolled around I was excited to hop out of bed this morning! I jumped in my car and drove the 11 miles to the town of Corning, CA, my hometown, to do something totally new to me…pick Blueberries! A few days ago a sign appeared on the corner of Houghton and South Avenue that boldly announced, “u-pick Blueberries”.  I was elated to see such a novel proposition in Corning. When my sister called last night to invite me to go with her this AM I was thrilled! We arrived at the site not having any idea what was in store for us except for a few helpful hints from some relatives who had been going daily to pick there. One, go EARLY! Less people and the berries are firmer as is the case with most harvesting. Two, pick from underneath the plants where the berries are bigger, juicier and firmer.

We grabbed ourselves a bucket, which we informed we should fill up for $5. They are easy to pick with no thorns unlike our other summer favorite, Blackberries! My sister and I have made a yearly ritual of picking blackberries from my property here in Vina for which we make an incredible blackberry apricot jam. YUM!

After we heaped out buckets we paid up to the very nice lady in charge and headed home with our blueberry bounty in hand. I was able to layer 4 cookie sheets for freezing, fill up a normal sized clamshell and make smoothies for my family for $5! That’s amazing!

I probably don’t need to mention the benefits of eating fresh blueberries but I will anyways just for giggles. The antioxidant content is VERY high, and even more so from a right-off-the-bush berry! They are great from curbing those “sweet” craving and wont fill your blood with all those nasty sugars like high fructose corn syrup ( the Bain of our existence, buts that a whole other article!) and refined white sugar.

As I sit here drinking my smoothie I am elated to know I am supporting farmers in their pursuit of supplying the community with healthy and delicious food. It is becoming increasingly harder for small family owned farms such as this one to survive. With the government under pressure to subsidize soybeans, rice, wheat and cotton, these small fruit and veggie farmers get no support. Jack Hedin in an article in the New York Times weaves an interesting story about the woes of these farmers in this article http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/01/opinion/01hedin.html.

Fresh Blueberry Smoothies

The following is the recipe I used this morning to create these delicious smoothies I am drinking as I write this.

Fresh Blueberry Smoothies
Make a whole pitcher.
1-2 cups blueberries
½ cup Frozen blackberries (optional)
1 cup of yogurt, any flavor, but I chose Tillamook’s Blackberry Pomegranate.
Ice to top of pitcher and fill with milk

Blend until smooth and enjoy! It makes a very subtle beverage with a beautiful color!

Eating in season is easy here in Northern California with something ripe for the picking 365 days of the year! Please let me know if you find any other great u-pick places! I’m hooked!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The art of listening (and reading)

A friend of mine just submitted a post to her blog http://mealsandsteals.blogspot.com   that made me think. actually, it made me listen and think. So in response to her prose, I write this….LISTEN. It really does go a long way. My husband tells me I don’t listen sometimes and he is SO right. There are so many beautiful sounds in this world that get muffled with the high paced life we live. I many have, from time to time, given the impression that living it the country on this farm is all peaches and cream. Which would be wonderful, but, it is incorrect. However, if I listen to Lindsey, the above mentioned blog author, I could change some of that chaos in to calm if I practiced listening in the moment. In my garden I have found that there is a peace that exists. I get a sense of calm and relaxation from simply visiting it. I find a bed and observe what is happening there whether it be the tips of potato vines just peeking through the soil, or new baby plants and flowers emergin...
1 comment
Read more

Figs!

As I cruised the aisles in Costco the other day, I found a happy surprise, FIGS! My grandmother had a huge fig tree in her yard way back in the day. I rememeber eating them fresh off their tree with their fascinating flavor. I was curious, with my adult palette, how I would like figs now. So, I bought them up. Summer is in full swing here so they were forced to sit in my fridge awaiting a day when I arose early enough to fire up the stove to make the following recipes. I'm so glad I did! I found a great way to use my homemade bread I had frozen and waiting for its chance to become Bruschetta. The recipe,  Bruschetta with blue cheese and roasted figs , is in both Polish and English. Scroll down for the english. (Hint: Bake at 400 degrees).  Fig and Blue Cheese Bruschetta Recipe number two was very similar save the addition of Prosciuttio and the omission of the bread. Here is the recipe I used, Prosciutto Roasted Figs Recipe .  I think would be great fall a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Delish recipe, had to share!

Photo via my iPhone, E. Henderson This recipe is by far one of our new fans. My husband thought it was like quiche without the crust (and much MUCH lighter in calories than a traditional quiche). It all started when I spotted a butternut squash in the store and had to take it home. I do this. I commenced sitting on my counter for some time before I resigned my self to just steam it in the oven and force myself to make something out of it. Of course, I then went to Pinterest and got a hit on this recipe. http://www.closetcooking.com/2012/11/butternut-squash-mushroom-sausage-and.html Of course I can never just make a recipe, so I did tweak this a bit. I used Swiss Chard instead of Kale and used already cooked squash so I skipped that whole step. I also used Colby Jack as my cheese of choice because that what I had in the fridge. Servings: makes 6+ servings Prep Time:  10 minutes Cook Time:  50 minutes Total Time:   60 minutes Ingredients 1/2 pound Italian sausa...
Post a Comment
Read more