Black and Blue

 While Mike's parents were in town they asked us to take them to a fruit farm.  Have I mentioned how much I love Oregon yet?  :) We took them to Rowell Bros. Berry Farm since they are awesome and cheap.  Only $.50/lb. people!  Seems insane, right?  Well, considering how much a pound of berries would cost at the grocery store.  Last month the kids and I picked raspberries and this month we hit up the blueberry and blackberry patches.  

 

 

 

 

After a tough morning of picking blueberries...

 

So, I'll be honest and say I've never been much of a blueberry fan.  But apparently there is quite a big difference in taste and quality when they come from a local farm grown without pesticides and then picked ripe yourself.  Go figure.  I couldn't stop eating the things.  As I was picking I just kept thinking of the wonderful treats I was going to make, such as blueberry pancakes and muffins, blueberry scones, blueberry crisp...  you get the idea.  But to be honest, the only thing we ended up making were pancakes one night and the rest of the blueberries we ate by the handfuls from the bowl I left in the fridge.  That's how good they were. 

Fresh whipped cream is so good on pancakes.  Don't buy Cool Whip, the real stuff is much better, trust me on this one.  

 

Breakfast for dinner is a favorite in our house.  I don't think I will ever master the art of taking appetizing food photographs, so these will have to do.  I set up this plate and then couldn't find my camera.  By the time I grabbed my phone to take the shot, the cream and butter were already turning into soup from the heat of the pancakes.  Oh yes, and don't forget the REAL maple syrup.  Not the corn syrup stuff.  

Now onto blackberries.  While my boys and I were gathering blueberries, my in-laws were off picking buckets of blackberries.  They came back to the car with more than I anticipated!  

Here is one beautiful bowl of berries, freshly washed. 

 

And if you're getting a bunch of berries and fear they will mold before being able to use them, look no further than this tip from foodlushblog.  It actually works!  So after washing them and rinsing them in a colander, there are plenty of delicious things you can do with them.   

 

For instance, homemade blackberry milkshakes.  Wow. 

My in-laws picked enough blackberries for me to make shakes, jam, and this dutch oven cobbler when we went camping with friends this past weekend.

photo courtesy of completelydelicious.com

I am extremely excited to live where we do.  There are wonderful organic farms all around and not only is local, organic food delicious and healthy, going to pick it yourself is a fun activity that I am so happy to share with my family!