Berriness (Recipe 23)

Summer has the best fruits and veggies. Strawberries are still on sale. And this week all the blackberry bushes in the forest around us have burst into bloom. I went out Monday morning and picked over three cups full of blackberries. My legs look like I went through a war zone (thorns are vicious!) but it was worth it. 

Blackerries don't last very long, and I knew I wanted to make some sort of berry dessert with strawberries and blackberries. I googled away and came up empty handed. I was already coming up with my own recipe for dinner (fish tacos) and I figured, why not go all the way and have dessert be a made up recipe too. And that is exactly what I proceeded to do. 

The Recipe: 

• Blackberries
• Strawberries
• Apple
• Sugar
• Lemon Juice
• Sour Cream
• Marie Cookies (or Graham Crackers)
• Butter

I'm terrible at measuring when I'm just making something up off the top of my head. So, bear with me. I first mixed together some Marie Cookies (they only sell them in Europe and Africa... I think Graham Crackers would be the closest substitute in America) with butter, vanilla, and cinnamon until it was a good crust consistency. I then smushed that mixture into the bottoms of greased muffin tins. 

Next, I mixed together enough blackberries and strawberries as well as one apple. I then poured in a little bit of sugar (probably 1/2 a cup) and some lemon juice. I also am still on a sour cream roll, so I put in a dollop of sour cream as well. 

I then put them in the over for about 25 minutes on 350ºF. 

When they came out, I let them cool for a while. As they cooled I whipped up a concoction for the top. I basically grabbed everything white in our fridge and whipped it together. 

The Recipe: 

• Whip Cream
• Cream Cheese
• Sour Cream
• Vanilla Yogurt
• Vanilla
• Powdered Sugar

I mixed enough together to get the consistency and flavour that I wanted. Again, so sorry, but I don't know how much of everything I put in. Oops. 

When the berry things were cooled I put on some of the whipped topping and dusted the topping with a bit of Lime Zest. 

And Vwala. The nameless dessert that was probably terribly difficult to follow. It was good though and had the flavour of Summer fruit. Mmm. If you can come up with a name for it, I would love to hear it!

Strawberry Jam (Recipe 12)

It is 8:13am. The sun is streaming through the kitchen windows flooding the room with that dazzling golden light of the morning. I just got back from a 1.75 mile run and have determined that morning runs (i.e. runs at 7:30am) are the best. The dew is just lifting off the ground which makes the air more humid which makes breathing a … breeze (ish). While I was running I got the urge to write. Which brings me here – sitting at the tiny table in our new kitchen, a bowl of Cherrios in front of me and a piping hot cup of coffee to my right. And even though we still don't have internet, it doesn't mean I can't write now and post later. And so, without further adieu – strawberry jam.

Strawberries are in season. And strawberry season may just be one of my favourite produce seasons. Maybe it's because Africa never had berries and I'm making up for the three years without them. Or maybe it's just because they have the perfect mixture of sweetness and tartness. Not to mention that they are a beautiful piece of fruit. The fire engine red colour with the dark green leaves poking out at the top. Can I just say again that God is an incredible Creator? If looking at the fruit He has made doesn't bring you to praise Him, well… it really should!

Because strawberries are in season and because Aldi was selling them for $1.00 a pound I couldn't help but buy enough to make Strawberry Jam. I found an easy recipe online that called for three ingredients:

• 2 pounds Strawberries 
• 3 cups White Sugar 
• ¼ cup Lemon Juice 

 First, I set to hulling and slicing the strawberries or taking out the greenery leaving delicious slices of fruit.

I put the berries in a pot with the lemon juice and sugar and set my jars in hot water to sterilize them. 

Again, handy cooking tip, setting wooden spoons over a boiling pot will keep it from boiling over. The jam is ready after it has boiled for a bit and the berries have been squashed to your preferred size. 

Take the jars out of the hot water and set them up ready for jam to fill them. 

I'm sure there is an easier way to get jam into jars, but I just took a spoon and slowly but surely filled each jar. 

Vwala. 

Once the jam is in the jars, place lids on them and place them in boiling water until the lids have sealed. 

Sonya, Damarise, and I played some Dutch Blitz while the jam was cooking. 

Once the jars have sealed, take them out, label them, decorate them, give them to friends, whatever you want! It's easy, delicious, and the smell from cooking it is how Summer should smell.